Those In the Know

Finding finance in Italy can be notoriously difficult, unless you happen to have rich relatives. The banks here are cautious to say the least, and rather reluctant to invest in anything too new. A recent article in the Financial Times referred to Italy’s banking system as being ‘relatively unsophisticated’, and this comment says it all.

However, despite the reluctance of Italian banks to support new Italian business ventures, Italian entrepreneurs who know English well enough, and are able to produce a convincing business plan, can look elsewhere. London for example. Businessisin is aware of one at least one major Italian start-up, and now, successful on-line business that sought and obtained finance from far-sighted investors in the United Kingdom. The company concerned was MutuiOnline, and from small beginnings, the site has grown to become one of Italy’s foremost on-line residential mortgage services.

Despite being affected by worldwide caution stemming from the American sub-prime crisis, MutuiOnline is a shining example of what Italian entrepreneurs can achieve.

If you are an Italian businessman with a concrete idea, which is backed up by a comprehensive business plan, and you can understand this article, then you stand a fighting chance of getting your idea off the ground.

Even if you are not Italian, but would like to set up a business venture, or wish to expand into Italy, then bypass Italian banks and head straight for the real movers and shakers. London would be a good place to start, even if sub-prime induced worries may mean that investors may be reluctant to invest in all but the most innovative and potentially lucrative business ideas.

For those who find that their idea does not catch the eye of venture capitalists or angel investors based in London, there is always New York.

Danea Easyfatt 2006

Those who are registered for IVA - VAT in the UK, have to prepare VAT invoices and it is useful to have some way of monitoring cash flow.

It is possible to rely on Word and Excel or a small investment in some ‘tax-deductible’ software to may be in order. Last year I bought a program called Business Monitor (Buffetti chain of stores) to keep things under control. Alas, the program did not live up to expectations. It was not at all intuitive to use, read difficult to use, and, to be honest, was probably aimed at larger. However, even simple things, like setting up a customised invoice and finding information, were not straightforward to say the least.

Enter Danea EasyFatt 2006, a Windows accounts and invoice management application, which I acquired at the start of 2006. How I wish I had invested in this application before. It is easy to use, intuitive, flexible and regularly updated - for free, unlike Business Monitor which required an additional payment to obtain a year’s worth of updates.

In addition to being updated at no cost, EasyFatt allows you to make amendments easily (correct mistakes) and to keep your invoice numbering sequential. This is something that Business Monitor could do, but only with some serious messing around. Danea also exports invoices to .pdf format, so you cannot easily make other errors. You can even set up different invoice styles for different organisations if you want.

Everything is clearly at hand and the initial summary screen with its task list and list of outstanding payments is very useful too. Creating new invoices is greatly simplified by the fact that you can use an existing one as a basis, so you don’t have to go typing everything in all over again. Business Monitor could not do this, despite giving the impression that it was more ‘professional’. Not that EastFatt’s functionality is limited. Not at all. It has plenty of functionality and is easy to move from one computer to another should the need arise. You can export data to Excel and OpenOffice Calc for further analysis.

OK, the program is all in Italian, but if you are working in Italy in the Italian system this is to be expected. The only way you could get an English version would be to have someone build you the software, which would be expensive, not to mention difficult because you would need to instruct a translator and errors could creep in. But why bother? Small companies will have Italian employees, and they will find this system quite easy to manage. Additionaly, at least you can be pretty sure that Italian software is going to be well geared towards the Italian system.

Businessisin would recommend this software to small organisations working in the Italian market who wishe to keep everything in one simple to get at place and at 79 Euros + IVA (VAT) it is very good value for money.

There is also a more sophisticated version of Easyfatt 2006, Easyfatt 2006 Professional at €139.00+IVA (VAT), and this extended version adds stock management and can also be integrated with e-commerce solutions, amongst other useful features. For the more demanding user there is Easyfatt 2006 Network, which is the same as the Professional version, but can be built in to a Windows based office network. This version currently costs 388 Euros plus IVA at 20%.

by Alex Roe (from a similar article which first appeared on Blog from Italy).

Contact information for Danea Soft Snc:

Danea Soft Snc
Via Diaz, 162
35010 Vigonza (PD)

Partita Iva e Cod. Fisc. 03365450281

Tel. 049.893.6588 - Fax 049.893.6596

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Monster.it Adds New European Jobs Section

It is now possible to for Monster users to search for suitable positions not only in Italy, but in a variety of countries throughout Europe.  However, the ‘Europe’ referred to by Monster.it is not only the European Community, but the entire geographical area, including the Russian Federation, amongst other countries.

You can see the complete list here.

For young objective-oriented Italians looking to extend their horizons, this initiative by Monster could prove very interesting.  And, those who are applying for jobs away from their homeland should remember that overseas work is often better paid than similar positions in Italy.  Further, this often means that such people can command higher salaries when, and if, they decide to re-enter the Italian job market.

Hop over to Monster, and see if can find the job you are looking for.  Oh, and knowledge of another language, such as English, will help you a great deal.

Palmer Studio legale are hiring!

Palmer Studio legale are hiring at the moment:

The following positions are presently available in our Milan and Bologna offices:

• 1 fully licensed lawyer with a minimum of 5 years experience in the fields of contract drafting and M&A.

• 1 fully licensed lawyer with a minimum of 5 years experience in litigation and arbitration.

• 2 trainee lawyers with a minimum Italian university degree mark of 100 or equivalent.

Priority will be given to applicants who have studied or worked abroad.

If you are able to work both in Italian and in English and you wish to develop or hone your professional skills in an international environment that is both challenging and motivating, then please send your CV to the following e-mail address:

opportunities@palmer-legal.com

Job Seekers and Job Hunters

Italian job seekers and employers are becoming more and more net savvy. And the big recruitment sites have not let this fact escape their attention. Monster.com, operating in Italy as Monster.it geared up for the surge in hi-tech job seekers sometime ago, and now, it is strange to find someone who is actively seeking work who does not have his or her CV/resume posted on Monster.it. However, it is not solely the likes of Monster who have turned to the potential of the Internet to help match job seekers with their ideal jobs.

Indeed, the site Infojobs.it has a greater share of the Italian market than Monster does, and this must mean that it is true to say that the European flavoured Infojobs service, founded by Spanish entrepreneur Antonio González-Barros, has a greater appeal to both Italian job hunters and employers.

Italian companies are working ever more closely with on and off line recruitment services nowadays, and the detailed profiles that are held by these services mean that finding the right person for the right position is becoming easier. It would also appear that those who are selected are satisfying their employers more readily than back in the old days of the rather random post and advert in a newspaper and wait approach which dominated the job market before mass adoption of the Internet.

It is now possible for recruiters to keep tabs on high potential youngsters, as updated CVs on the recruiters websites can give a good idea where someone is going, and whether they are moving forward, or back peddling. The process must be relatively straightforward. Tag those individuals with good degrees, or notable achievements and track their movements from one top company to another. Then, once these ‘rising stars’ have obtained enough concrete experience, the head hunters can pounce.

Another direction which those looking for potentially valid employees can take is that of LinkedIn, the business networking system. On LinkedIn someone, armed with enough patience or a methodical search strategy, can find individuals who could turn out to be effective employees, and companies are tuning to this system to find the right team. Business is in knows of at least one company in the Venice region of Italy that successfully identified and recruited personnel via LinkedIn. Lateral thinking, it seems, can often pay off.

In fact, the pay off for many employers who exploit the likes of Infojobs.it, Monster.it and Linked-In is that they end up with high quality, and proven, employees. From the candidates point of view, especially those who are high-fliers, can satisfy their urges to reach the top of the pyramid as quickly as possible.