The creator of the Myloverberry cafe chain shared how she and her husband drove a successful business into debt
Not long ago, Artsiom and Ksenia Bykouski boasted about how they, as students, earned enough from chocolate-covered strawberries to open their own cafe — and then several more. Now, all that remains of their former success are huge debts. The brand has been sold, the family has fallen apart, and their beloved corgi was almost seized.
Ksenia Bykouskaya (Shchasnaya). Screenshots from her Instagram throughout.
Just a few years ago, Artsiom and Ksenia's story captivated thousands of Belarusians. It had it all: teenage love that grew into marriage, and a joint successful business from scratch...
When the couple met, Artsiom was 18 years old, and Ksenia was only 16. She and her friend went into a cafe where the boy was working part-time as a waiter. And then things started to happen.
While the lovers were studying at BNTU, they noticed the idea of selling chocolate-covered strawberries in Moscow. The couple hoped to earn enough from it for their dream wedding. They bought the necessary minimum of equipment and began making those very strawberries in Ksenia's kitchen.
Later, in an interview, the boy and girl said that Artsiom's father didn't like the idea — the military man considered the occupation unserious for a future construction engineer. Their teachers were also not thrilled, thinking that full-time students should be studying, not dipping strawberries in chocolate.
But the young people were not deterred by others' opinions. A year after starting this work, they bought their first car for $3500 and went on vacation to Egypt.
In 2022, they organized a lavish wedding and also opened their first Myloverberry cafe in "Minsk-World". The family said they invested $70,000 in the project, which they earned from strawberries.
They decided to bet on an Instagrammable interior and delicious desserts. By the way, thanks to this, they hardly had to invest in advertising: beauties eagerly took photos in the pink interiors, published them on their social networks, and tagged the cafe.
In 2023, Artsiom and Ksenia opened another cafe in Minsk, and in 2024 — in Grodno. They also had their own production and a space for master classes. The couple boasted an annual turnover of 2.5 million rubles. But even then, they were taking out loans for vacations to sunbathe in Phuket.
Literally a few months after the happy family shared their successful story, an announcement appeared that the Myloverberry cafe chain was for sale for $400,000.
And regular customers of the cafe had noticed earlier that something was wrong — when almost half of the menu was missing at Myloverberry.
This year, Ksenia decided to tell the truth about the huge debts and explained when everything went wrong.
— At its peak, we had 73 employees on staff. And everything was really cool until, on the fifth anniversary of our brand, we announced that we were expanding and opening a new large restaurant-style cafe. By then, we had already rented a space on Dzyarzhynski Avenue and taken out a loan to create the cafe.
Ksenia admits: she and her husband were so happy about the expansion that they made a big mistake — they stopped looking at prices. Because of this, they spent 2.5 times more on renovations than planned. More than $150,000 went into opening Myloverberry Tropic.
And simultaneously, the family was working on opening a cafe in Grodno, as well as creating a designer space for master classes.
— We had no money left from the loan, and we had to borrow huge amounts from acquaintances and friends. At that time, we didn't realize that a huge cash gap had already begun, and we were having fun with our large team at our New Year's corporate party.
The opening of the cafe in Grodno was successful, with many guests from the first days. The revenue was not bad. But an unexpected problem arose — the transition to a new tax system.
— Neither we nor our accounting department were ready for this. At the beginning of January, we had to spend an amount we didn't have — about 90,000 rubles. We had to sell an apartment from my parents to pay this tax.
Artsiom and Ksenia did not lose hope and looked for all options to increase income. For example, they made trendy Dubai chocolate, which they sold through Wildberries. The chocolates, by the way, they again made together.
— Our confectioners didn't help us because we couldn't pay them on time. At that point, you already noticed that everything was bad. You started writing that half the menu was missing — because we simply didn't have the money to buy products.
At the end of 2025, they finally managed to sell the Myloverberry brand (only one cafe remained working under it), other premises were also sold. But the founder still needs to pay off $130,000 in debt.
— My car and apartment together are worth less. It wasn't completely unexpected; we knew something like this would happen. It's just that they didn't send me a letter or anything. They immediately blocked the accounts.
Ksenia explains: the debt arose from the loan they took from the bank for business development.
— We paid the loan for a year and a half, but then circumstances arose after which the business could no longer pay this loan, and we waited for the loan to be transferred to us as individuals. That's when it was transferred.
Not only were accounts frozen, but the car was also seized. They cannot take the apartment because it is the only residence, but they came there to inventory all property and confiscated what was possible.
The woman was surprised that they even wanted to take their dog. But she couldn't find documents stating who specifically bought the corgi.
— We initially thought it was a joke. And we asked: "What will you do with her? Why do you need a dog?". To which they seriously replied that the dog would be handed over to "Fauna gorada" (City Fauna). Of course, we will not give our dog to anyone.
In the comments, Ksenia added that she also owes friends and acquaintances — another $60,000.
This year, in mid-June, Artsiom flew to work in Georgia. Ksenia hoped that if her husband managed to settle in the new place, she would move to him.
— We had been preparing for this event for a long time. It was a very difficult decision, because we had never been separated for more than a couple of days. And now it's unknown when I'll be able to come to him, because at any moment I could be prohibited from leaving the country. That's what's scary... But it would be foolish not to try when you're given such a chance to gain new knowledge and work experience.
But recently, Ksenia admitted to subscribers that her relationship with her husband is over — and she herself doesn't understand how it happened.