Tackling lands of confusion

December 17, 2007 · Filed Under Work · 5 Comments 

Whilst trying to stand this sausage thing on its feet, I’ve discovered that it is not all that easy to find the information you need. In Italy, getting the right, well almost, information often means wasting half a day or so in some anonymous public office somewhere, clutching the inevitable numbered ticket. And often these offices are only open for half a day.

On the other hand, get it wrong, and if the authorities do catch up with you, they will stamp on you hard, and you pay for your ignorance in the form of large fines. Explaining that you could not find out where to go to obtain the information you needed, is, of course, no defence.

Still, maybe I’m moaning about nothing. I mean, there are lots of foreigners who set up enterprises around Italy, and I cannot believe all of them are totally without the requisite permissions. Then again, with the right finance, you can hire a decent adviser and get him or her to dig around for you. On the condition that you know what information he or she should obtain for you, or feel that you can trust them enough to ‘get the job’ done.

Hiring someone to prepare the ground for you is an option, but, there are other options. Spending some time on the web can help, but you do need to know the terms you should be searching for, as I’ve been discovering. Once you have the right terms, you can target your search much more effectively. Knowing some Italian does not harm either, as you might imagine.

While Italy is renown for it’s Byzantine, or should that be ‘Machiavellian’, bureaucracy and complex legislation, it is by no means the only country in Europe where finding what you need to know is not easy. Apparently France is the equal of Italy, in terms of trying to set up a business.

Still, if and when you do manage to overcome all the little (!) obstacles, you should feel some sense of satisfaction, although once you are out in the ‘business battlefield’, so to speak, that sense may be rather short lived. In Italy, if you do start making some money, you may well find that the dear old tax man will whittle it all away rather quickly. This is in part why Italian businesses use just about any and every loophole they can find to keep themselves in profit, or it could be argued that it is as a result of Italian businesses exploiting every trick they can, that the dear old Italian tax man takes so much away. Catch 22?

Me, and my partner ‘in crime’, Gaetano, shall keep plugging away, in an attempt to raise our ‘child’ into ‘adulthood’. And as every parent will know, this is by no means an easy thing to do. And juggling other things around at the same time is not going to be easy, either. ‘Why do it, then?’, you may ask. Well, there are lots of reasons. Here are a few: creating something from nothing, being in control, meeting challenges, and, let’s be honest, cash. ‘Can we do it?’. Yes (I am arrogant), and we are sure as hell going to give it a go.

The ball will roll on, but, if it does not end up in the goal, we’ll have to be brave and call it a day. This is going to be the difficult part.

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I’m a drug addict

November 6, 2007 · Filed Under Me · Comment 

It’s true, I can’t get enough of the stuff. And it gives me such highs. Every day, many times a day I need a dose. This addiction even manages to keep me going all through the night. There is no way I can give this drug up, it’s hold on me is too strong. There is no rehab centre that can cure me, no psychologist that can talk me out of it. I’m one hundred percent addicted. I have been addicted just about all my life, more or less ever since I left school.

And it can be an expensive addiction, costing quite an amount each month. Heaven only knows what the annual cost of my addiction is, but it is no small amount, I can assure you. This addiction is not waning, I find myself needing greater and greater quantities, and this desire sometimes has a negative effect on my life, making me far to introspective at times. Yet this pursuit must continue. I need to try ever stronger mixes of this potent drug. I’ll never give it up - not until I pass away from this old earth, that I can guarantee.

What is this drug that is eating away at my very existence? That has caused such an inescapable addiction, that cannot be thrown off, and grows stronger by the day. Read more

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Writing to Ambassadors, Consuls and the like

October 15, 2007 · Filed Under Milan · Comment 

Once people know that you are English and that you speak Italian, you often end up with some interesting requests for assistance.  Indeed, the other day, someone asked me to help her write a letter of invitation to the ambassador and the consul of a certain large country, which happens to be the origin of that ‘English’ dish curry, to speak at a conference to be held in Milan later this month.

Well, one of the letters was well received and at least one of the above mentioned parties has agreed to attend.  The person in question even complimented the style of the letter he received, which I guess earns me a few brownie points.

Sometimes, a well written letter can make all the difference, and help create the write, if you will excuse the pun, impression.  If anyone out there needs some help in this respect, and thinks I may be of some use, then send me a mail outlining what is needed, or even the letter in Italian, and I’ll see what I can do.  I will charge a minimum fee of around 50 Euros plus IVA for a a single A4 page.

Although 50 Euros may sound like a lot, if it clinches a contract or gets that all important acceptance to an invitation, then I think the expense will be justified.  And you will then have a copy of a letter which you can use again in similar circumstances.

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