DOING BUSINESS IN ITALY

Canal & Serraglia's expert advisors support international investors in setting up a business in Italy or in sourcing and acquiring an existing one. The offices are located in the North Eastern region of the country, very close to Venice and well connected to Europe, America and the East.

ITALY: THE IDEAL LOCATION

Italy is strategically located in the heart of Europe and the Mediterranean: With over 9.000 km of coastline and a its climate, it's always been a gate connecting the East and the West. Italy can offer a domestic population of 60 million consumers and a potential European basin of 400 million people.

Since the late 50's, Italian economy has seen a powerful and fast growth that turned family run businesses into world market leaders in Fashion, Mechanics, Furniture, Home appliances. Engineering, Design, Food and many more sectors. Even the crisis has represented an opportunity to some italian companies to renew their structure to create world class products. Italy is now the fourth largest ecpnomy and the second biggest manufacturer in the EU, and "Made-in-Italy" is a very valuable asset throughout the world.

The excellent cost-benefit ratio of Italian companies, their medium size and a huge market potential means that doing business in Italy is a great opportunity.

WHY CHOOSING THE NORTH EAST OF ITALY

Italian North East is probably on of the best options for doing business in Italy. The largest region of the area is Veneto: It offers the highest density of companies in Italy (very similar to that of the most efficient German regions) and the lowest unemployment rate (about 6%). The business model, although being family driven, is very cosmopolitan and highly specialized in occupying market niches: There are many clusters of companies ("distretti") working in partnership for a greater efficiency in sector as sports shoes, stainless steel, fashion, furniture, mechanics.

The infrastructure is very good and connects by road or by rail Venice and all major Veneto's cities to Europe. From Venice, Paris is a 2 hours flight away and it also takes more or less the same to fly to Berlin or London. Venice's Marco Polo is the Italian 3rd airport, and other important airports are located in Treviso (our hometown), Verona and Trieste. Milan can be reached in less than three hours by train, and Rome in less than 4 hours.

Venice port system, with the strengthening of Suez canal, is a serious candidate to become a major European hub to receive goods from the Far East.

A FEW TIPS TO DO BUSINESS IN ITALY

Italians have an informal business attitude, however gaining their trust and respect is crucial for an effective communication and succesfull business in Italy. These are a few tips about dealing with Italian businesspeople, bearing in mind that italians are often guided by first impressions:

• handshake is expected when meeting and leaving
• punctuality is not a priority. Being a few minutes late is considered acceptable, although if you're on time it'll be appreciated
• Italian usually use the third person (lei) as a form of respect and do not use first name
• when you partner will trust you enough, you'll be asked to use the first person "tu" and the first name, although this is not always the case
• in doubt, always address people ad "Dottore" (male) or "Dottoressa" (female), meaning that they graduated from University
• Italians love to build their relationships around a dinner table, in fact eating together is a very good way to creat strong ties
• do not talk with Italians about how much they earn, it' s considered impolite
• word-of-mouth is very important, so building a good relationship with one partner can open up many doors
• August is not generally the best time to arrange a meeting since many Italians are on vacations

Canal & Serraglia Doing Business in Italy north east Venice