CHAPTER 13. UNEXPECTED OVERTURN

Last week, in chapter 12, everything related to staff selection process seemed to be solved, but last Friday, things changed in a radical way: two of the people I had selected, turned back their mind and decided they didn’t want the job, and I still need one more person to work. That means I have to start again with the process and the interviews. I have selected six new applicants, and next Wednesday will be the second chance. I hope there will be no more delays this time.
About the deed, it seems this is going to be the week when I get it back from the Business Register, but I don’t want to get my hopes so up because there is a long holiday since Thursday till Monday.
The last open matter, the refurbishment estimate for the premises, also seems to be ready for this week, maybe on Tuesday, as the contractor told me this afternoon, despite I tend to think it won’t be before Wednesday.

CHAPTER 12. MOVING FORWARD

About the last friday applicants, I have just taken my decision. I have made my choice based on the human resources department’s reports and my own evaluation, and I have selected two people. One of them has experience as a tourism agent (she’s doing that job at present) and the other one is a tourism graduate looking for her first job. I think I have taken the right choice, but that is something nobody could know before the agency starts to work.
About the premises, yesterday (tuesday) I have been there with the building contractor to mesure the office and tell him the way I want the decoration, and tomorrow morning I will be there again with the electrician, to decide the number and location of the light spots, as well as the plugs for the rest of the stuff, phone and internet connections.
Finally, I have to go to Málaga University next month, May 4th, to take a short course about travel agencie’s management, and I already have purchased my AVE ticket from Madrid to Málaga.

Things are moving forward, despite I'm still waiting for the deed's registration at Business Register.

CHAPTER 11. I GOT THE KEY

Yesterday, I went to a meeting at the Shopping Centre head office in order to inspect the condition of the premises and its supplies (electricity, air conditioning) and to get the key. That means I have been given the office, and now it’s time to renovate and decorate it as a travel agency. It will be necessary to polish the floor, paint the walls and change and redistribute some light spots, before to place the furniture and the rest of items (computers, plasma TV, pictures). Next monday I will meet the building contractor to ask him for an estimate, and if we agree the price, I hope the works will be started in less than two weeks.

At the same time, next friday morning, I will interview the final applicants shortlist in a row, and I hope to find two people I would like for the job.

Once this two tasks will be finished, in adition with the company registration (the deed is still in the Business Register, and it probably will be there for two more weeks), it will be time to start the paperwork at the Xunta. June 9th still stands as opening date target.

CHAPTER 10. TIME-OUT WEEK

This is a transition week. Once registration process and contracts are signed up and taking their course, it’s a good opportunity to dedicate time enough to close the staff recruitement. After considering the amount of CV received, I have done, with the help of the Main Office in Malaga, the very first selection. Now, there are about fifteen applicants selected and next week they have to pass a personal interview, in order to choose the best person for the job. All of them fulfil the requirements relating to degrees and job experience, and the decision is going to be difficult. I think it’s very important, when you have to work selling something directly to people, to have a positive attitude, to be enthusiastic, outgoing, respectful and to be able to smile a lot. This is important in every job, but it’s even more important when you work in a travel agency, because you are selling something expensive wich people can’t touch or see, and the final picture that customers are going to retain is the one they had received from the people who sold them the travel.

CHAPTER 9. CONSIDERING APPLICANTS

The selection process is getting started this week. The job offert apeared last sunday in Faro de Vigo newspaper and I’m receiving a lot of CV each day. That means the decision is going to be difficult. I will consider all the CV received till next saturday, and start with the first sifting next week. If someone takes more than a week to answer to a job offer, I think he or she must not be really interested in the job. I also have to say that I’m a bit surprised, because I put the job offer at the Tourism notice board in the UNED faculty in Pontevedra last wednesday (march 26th), and I have got just only one CV. I’d prefer to offer the opportunity to work in a job related to tourism to somebody who should be currently studying tourism. However it seems there are no people interested in that kind of job, wich is strange considering the fact that for 3rd grade students I think it’s also a chance to get some credits as a part of the final graduation project.

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.