CHAPTER 8. OPENING DATE TARGET

Back from Easter holidays, and back to work. Acording to the Shopping Center contract conditions, the limit date to opening is June 30th , but I expect to be open before that date. It depends basically in how much time could need the Xunta Tourism Department to approve the file and finish all the paperwork. Theoretically, they say that the whole process usualy takes 45 days, so thinking in a two months gap would be realistic. Getting all the documents ready and registered at the Xunta Office in April’s first week, and taking into account that there are two long weekends in May, the first estimated target date should be June 10th.

Notice that at the bottom of this page there is a link, “Subscribe to: Posts”, wich allows you to receive in your “Favoritos-Fuentes” Internet Explorer folder the new posts in the blog, usually once a week. It’s useful because if you are interested in this project, you don’t need to guess when a new post should be placed, you will always get the the latest version.

CHAPTER 7. IT'S OFFICIAL

Finally, the contract has been signed up. A littler later than I expected, but it’s just done. In a few days, it will start the next phase. It includes final negociation and signing of the contract with the tour operator, and collecting all the documents needed to get the tourism agency license.
One of the main things I have to face next is the agency staff selection process. After the Easter holidays, I will put an advertisement in local paper (Faro de Vigo) asking for applicants.
As an excepcion, and I also think as an advantage to people who read this blog and should be interested in apply for the job, here is an advance:

The agency will be placed in Vigo (Plaza Elíptica Shopping Centre), and in order to cover all the timetable, I will need two people:

PROFILE ONE

Tourism Graduate
Experience in travel agency (one year should be enough)
Full time contract – 40 hours a week (at first, for one year; after that, it should be permanent)

PROFILE TWO

Tourism student
Part time contract - 20 hours a week (same conditions)

Notice that the agency will be placed in a shopping centre, so usually the working week is from monday to saturday. In adition, there are 8 sunday’s opening by year wich will be paid as an extra.

If someone is interested, please, send a mail with your CV, as complete as possible, to:

ontripviaxes@gmail.com

In the e-mail field “Asunto”, indicate “Ref.: BJ”. I will answer all the applicants.

CHAPTER 6. OFFICE, ALMOST DONE

Today I’ve reached an agreement about the renting contract with the shopping centre’s manager. The contract, as all shopping centre contracts I’ve always seen and signed, is really strict for small companies, and deep inside, you have the impression of doing a deal with the devil. Anyway, the contract’s sign next week would mean the end of phase one. I’ll get the office evacuated by the actual tenant in April 15th, and the opening deadline to my office will be June 1st, despite is possible I’ll be opened at the end of May, after the exams. Time enough to arrange the office according to my standard and brand image of the group.
Then phase two, the process to enter the company in the Business Register office, will be ready to begin. In order to do it, I’ve already asked at the Treasury Deppartment for the temporary N.I.F., I’ve deposited the 60.101,21€ required to found a travel agency in the bank, and probably on friday next week I’m going at the notary public to give him the bank certificate and sign the constitution deed. I think the whole procedure should take a month.
Once I’ll get the Register’s certificate, and the rest of documents would been collected, It will start phase three: to process the travel agency commercial activity licence at the Xunta de Galicia. At the same time, I’ll start the employees selection process, to save time. I have to hire two people, one of them full time and another part time. Even though I will talk about it in another “chapter” later.

CHAPTER 5. UNEXPECTED DELAY

It seemed everything was clear to sign the contract, but in the last moment, the owner tried to modify some of the clauses and I refused to allow that. So, the pact is broken, and I’m on the search again. However, I think I’ve been lucky with this change, because I’ve found another office inside a shopping mall, the Plaza Elíptica Shopping Centre, and despite the prices are a little more expensive, the office is much better placed, with a bigger amount of people walking around and lots of complementary services, as security crew, cleaning staff, parking, restaurants, bars, coffee places, shops and cinemas. Furthermore, I’ve been searching in the internet news about the centre and there is also a negociation with the FNAC to install a 3.000 metres shop inside it, so the perspectives are quite good. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to have a meeting with the manager to stablish the contract’s clauses, and we will start to prepare all the documents needed to sign in a few days.

CHAPTER 4. LITTLE BY LITTLE

Four weeks later, finally I’ve reached an agreement, not a contract yet, to let an office. Of course, I haven’t been looking for the office along these whole weeks. It was exams time, and I had to study. Furthermore, after the exams, I took a five days trip to London, a town I always wanted to go. I have to say, despite it’s not the object of this blog, that it is an incredible town, with a lot of places to visit and lots of things to do. I enjoyed my time very much, and I also took some good pictures, my favourite hobby. You can watch some of them linking through "My Travel Pictures" section, on the right column of this page. I hope I could go back in October for another few days.
Back to our subject, the office I’ve found is well placed, with a reasonable amount of middle-upper class people living around, close to a comercial mall and cinemas, very central and with an affordable parking in front of it. It’s square shaped, 5 meters shop window, and the best of all, it’s almost ready to use, wich means I don’t have to spend money in repairs. Next Wednesday or Thursday, I hope we´ll sign the hire contract.

CHAPTER 3. KEEP ON SEARCHING

January 15, 2008

Second week looking for an office. Now it’s time to organize the search. I’ve divided the Vigo map in five areas where I’d like to put the office, and I’m triying to scan one area each day, looking for empty offices and visiting all the estate agencies in the area. Yesterday, in zone one, I have had nine interviews with different state agents, and there was nothing interesting to consider. Today is a typical awful, rainy and strong windy day in Vigo, and I just have visited only two estate agencies. I have been offered a posible office, but I’m not very confident about, because the street is too hidden. Tomorrow I’m going to take a look at it, and of course, I’ll keep on searching in area two.

CHAPTER 2. FIRST STEPS

January 12, 2008

Second step. Once the name of the company is registered, and the company’s deed is ready to start the legal procedures, in orden to be fully operative, it’s neccessary to find a place to install the headoffice. Usually, an average travel agency needs a business office between 40 and 60 square metres , enought to place three or four work desks, with a wide window to place the advertising displays with trip’s offers, and more recently, to install a big 42-50 inches plasma screen, were people can watch movies about destinations and last minute offers. It’s important to select a good location, in a street with an enought amount of people passing trhough, walking as well as by car or bus. I’m just in the middle of this process, and I can say it’s not easy to find the right place. I’ve seen this week at least 5 offices, and none of them was good enought according to my requirements. Next week I’ve arranged right now, 3 more visits. I hope to find the right place before the end of january.

CHAPTER 1. WHY DO I DO THIS?

December 21, 2007

In the begining of 2007, I decided to perform a deep change my life. It was a very well thought decision: I was thinking about it for two years. Those changes I thought about, concerned to my personal life as well as my professional one. I was working in my own videogames and computer’s company for 13 year’s, since late 1993. It was my first company, and it has meant a very good period in my life. However, I don’t like videogames yet, and I’m very tired of working in big shopping mall’s. In June, I’ve made my choice. I sold my old company, with a good profit, and after a few sabbatical months, I’m ready to start over. I would like to found my own travel agency. I like to travel, I like to visit other countries and cultures. I like tourism. These are also the main reasons because I’ve started to study this course. Now, I’m in the begining of the process to create another company. Today, I’ve got the company’s name, Ontrip S.L, registered at the Mercantile Register, as well as the web page name, www.ontrip.es (the page is still under construction, it doesn’t work yet). That’s why I could say that today is the birth date of my new company. I hope in three or five months my travel agency will be open.