OK – tonight’s meeting is full of good useful info. We have info and (if the signal is good) a demo of a free short-cut tool for all you social network marketers not already using it. There will be updates on some of the big events going on “down south” plus all the local news, your updates and more… Look forward to seeing you later
The theme of last night’s meeting was Business Issues & Challenges for 2012.
We are still deep in the “crisis” and we asked our members to talk about the challenges that they are facing in the coming months. This elicited a very interesting discussion amongst the members, with each member outlining the challenges that they are facing within their own businesses.
The output of the discussions follows:
| Business | Issues faced by the Business Owner |
| Business 1 | Prices have not increased in 10 years but this has not prevented a decline in overall client volume. Customers are having to choose between a meal out per week or whether to afford the services on offer as the prices are similar and the exchange rate has been detrimental to a mostly British target market most of whom are reliant on pensions. However, this particular problem has been alleviated of late with the rise of the £ against the €.The service is provided at weekdays only, so younger employed and self-employed people are not generally able to attend events. Targeting schools is a possible alternative strategy, as schools are cutting back on the teaching of non-core subjects.
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| Business 2 | The main challenge is getting business through the door, many communities are “tied” to their current providers and there is only a very small window of opportunity around the time of each annual contract renewal that can be exploited.Competition is predominately from traditional Spanish providers who tend to provide inadequate information on how community money is spent. A frequent lack of transparency and auditability opens up dangers of negligent or even criminal behaviour on the part of current incumbents. Whilst this is a concern for each community, it opens up opportunities for a business offering a transparent and properly conducted professional service.
Apathy of the expatriates in Spain is perceived as a problem: they want to complain but they won’t actually do anything about their complaints. Getting concerted action for community voting is therefore a time-consuming process that eats into the profitability of each project. Another issue facing expatriates is that the laws governing communities are poorly understood.
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| Business 3 | The owner of this business started it as a foil to Facebook pages that have information and offers that disappear very quickly due to the timeline nature of Facebook. Using an internet platform allows Facebook linkage – but permits posts to stay “live” and relevant longer – offering a discernible benefit to contributors.There are two key challenges facing the owner. First, start-up costs and barriers to entry are low and so competition is extensive. A second problem is that the owner also promotes the site with a Facebook page and potential clients post (at no charge) on the FB page rather than posting them (at no charge but slightly more effort) on the proper site.
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| Business 4 | This niche business has been operating for four years and the main challenge is raising awareness. The size and scope do not currently justify significant expenditure and so most promotional activity currently takes place via Facebook.Hires are either nightly (special events) or weekly (e.g. cruises).
Having business premises would be ideal to help generate extra custom.
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| Business 5 | Outside the summer season, there is a specific part of the day which is extremely quiet and the challenge facing the owner was how to improve occupancy during this period. Members had several suggestions for improving trade during this period, drawing on their experience of similar businesses in the area. |
| Business 6 | Trade has been steadily increasing, both in terms of volume of orders and order size but cash flow is a problem as they ask for a significant deposit with full payment on delivery.Filling backhaul and, to a lesser extent seasonality are issues that are challenges facing this business. Increasing fleet size is being examined by the business owner, but there are investment and employment legislation issues which need to be considered in more detail before taking this step.
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| Business 7 | The nature of this business is that there are no barriers to entry relating to cost or qualifications. In addition, while the generic service can provide the opportunity for increasing each client’s business trade, no guarantee can be offered that this will be the case. The client needs to provide the goods and services required by consumers, but this is the owner’s ultimate responsibility.The business is particularly affected by the poor economic climate and a particular challenge facing all owners of businesses like this is the difficulty of selling a service which does not yield immediate benefit to clients. |
At a future meeting, we will also discuss possible solutions to the challenges faced by our members. This is also bound to be a very interesting meeting.
Well we are back – noisy and busy and altogether all the Marina Alta Business Club members did really well – we really pulled together and made loads of useful contacts
Standing/ Represented at the event were
The Copishop from Javea Port – with their UK TV system - that even works on slow ADSL 1mb connections
2020TEL – Mobile phones – low tariff and Smartphones
Easy Flatpax – “We bring IKEA to YOU”
U P Publications Ltd - UK Publishers direct to Spain
Mai Griffin - Artist and Author
Rabbit FX – Currency Exchange
The Sign Shop – Signs and Printing And Phoenix Computers
Fontana Design – Website Design, Site Marketing, “Ethical, Efficient and Effective” !
Adam Simmons and Associates Ltd - Transport Efficiency Consultants
Jacksons Administradores – Chartered Accounts and Accountancy for Urbanisations
Xàbia Democrática were our guests at the meeting in Peri Pera last night. The team, led by Oscar Anton, joined local expatriate businesses to discuss local issues and to exchange information. Our thanks to Oscar, Marie, Georgina and Norman for joining in our discussions. The photo was taken by Georgina Rodriguez.
Our next meeting is on 1st July at Peri Pera in Javea Port (Marina Alta Business Club) – could members do me an enormous favour, please – if you have details of local fairs and events for August in your community – please could you bring them with you to the meeting… as I have a cunning plan 
Thanks
Gaile
Looking forward to tonight’s meeting – it will be good to catch up with everyon’s news – big question on everyone’s lips must be the new Labour law – will they, won’t they – is it happening on June 16th or will the Unions stop it??
Join us tonight for the discussion on how the changes will affect our businesses… Peri Pera, Javea Port – 7:30pm
Gaile
Great meeting last night. Seeveral articles have been offered for out imminent Newsletter and general reports that not only is business picking up, generally, but collaborative working within the club is providing increased opportunities outside.
Our next meeting will be on 20th May 2010
Our next meeting is on May 6th – so not for another 2 weeks.
Advantage one is that it will give a few of our members a chance to send family/guests home in a safe and post volcanic atmosphere and equally it will give a few memebers stuck abroad a chance to get back here… without missing a meeting
Advantage two – it is UK Election night – so the meeting WILL finish around 9:30pm…. Promise
Gaile
The Marina Alta Business Club Meeting will be in Peri Pera, Javea Port on Thursday night – normal time of 7:30pm – hope to see you there
Yes – It is already the third Thursday in March – so I hope we will see members and guests at Peri Pera in about an hour… The next meeting will be on April 1st – same time, same place… I need to have some ideas from members about a Summer event we can run in June… we already have had a volunteer host at a private villa near Javea – so now we need a theme for the evening, suitable for members and their personal guests…
Over to you…