Building a Business in Italy

COSTA SMERALDA, ITALY. How to Italy, a consultation company helping people move to Italy, announced today that it is offering a series of practical workshops on the sun-soaked island of Sardinia.

The first two-day workshop will focus participants on how to start a business in Italy. Italy experts Emma Bird and Mario Berri, whose forthcoming book Starting a Business in Italy: How to set up and run a successful business in the Bel Paese is being published this September, will tell you what it takes to launch a start-up in the country.

Gin Wilcox, a travel agent from Cheltenham, UK, took part in a previous workshop on starting a business in Italy.

She said: “When I got back everyone told me I was looking really well, and I think they meant I was looking happier! I certainly feel really positive about my move to Italy now. I felt quite emotional about it all, both before I went with friends expressing doubts, and while I was there, with people throwing up all kinds of problems I would have to face.

"But two days with Emma and Mario changed all of that, and I now talk about 'when' I live in Italy. I think the workshop was quite a cathartic experience all around. It was more than just practical advice, but emotional support as well.

"I know I have come away with the ideas I had firmed up into definite plans. I no longer tell people that I want to live in Florence, I tell them that I am going to live there."

Workshop participants come from all over the world and topics include avoiding culture clash, business etiquette, an introduction to Italian taxes, marketing your start-up on a shoestring and how to kickstart your network in Italy.

Participants will also have individual consultations with Emma and Mario to talk about their idea in confidence.

The two-day workshop, which runs from September 29 to October 1 2006, costs Eur490 and also includes two nights’ accommodation, meals, drinks, a welcome aperitif and transfer to and from Olbia airport.

“I never thought I could set up my own business in Italy," said Emma, who used to be a staff reporter on regional newspapers in the UK.

"But I love it. Running my own company has ironically brought me job security, but above all a sense of freedom, a chance to enjoy the lifestyle on offer in Italy and the opportunity to build my future."

She added: "I'd never go back to working for someone else."