City of Fuengirola Encourages SMEs to Network

In Fuengirola small and medium size enterprises form 95 % of all companies. The tendency seems to continue as last year over 1100 new SMEs started their work in the city.

-Fuengirola seems to be very popular among the entrepreneurs as every day – in average – three enterprises were established last year in the city, says Mr. Ricardo Von Wichmann, the Head of Business Development in the city of Fuengirola.
–  Almost half of the new companies work in the hotel and restaurant or wellbeing business, he continues.
– Also the amount of real estate and different service enterprises is growing.     
     At the same time, only 160 enterprises were shut down. There are plenty of reasons to be happy about the situation.

VON WICHMANN gave a presentation about the role of the city at SmartWorkPlaza’s business breakfast.
     Among many other things one reason for this good boost is that in 2011 City of Fuengirola implemented a new system for opening the businesses with less than 750 m2 space or no space at all.
– Since that, the opening process has been much quicker, Von Wichmann says.
– If it earlier took at least three month to go through the system, now you can deal with the documentation and requirements in couple of days.
      The new procedure is based on electronic signature and 95 % of the companies uses this opportunity.
– In case you are dealing with health issues, the electronic opening is not available, says Von Wichmann.
– Then you need to go through longer way and the process can take months.
     The situation is the same with businesses having more than 750 m2 of space.

ANOTHER important thing to remember is that whenever you organize an event, which is not mentioned in your original establishment documentation, you need to notify the City Hall about it.
– Luckily, if you have some regular events, it is enough if you inform it to the city administration once a year.
      Von Wichmann emphasises the importance of the notification procedure.
– If you skip it, we in the city administration cannot help you in case the police or taxation authorities want to check your business.
    He strongly advices to contact the City Hall always if you feel unsecure. On the top of licenses and permissions mentioned above, there can be other surprises. They are not overwhelming, in case you consider them – in advance.

THE MOST important thing to be developed at Costa del Sol is the cooperation and better mutual communications among the SMEs. Von Wichmann sees the better awareness of each other and networking crucial for the business. 
– For this purpose, we have established a new committee in the city administration to work in order to improve the networking between the companies, he says.
– There will be different training for the entrepreneurs, as well as concrete help to help the companies, says Von Wichmann.
– And by the way – one member of the new committee is the owner of SmartWorkPlaza, Ms. Pauliina Manso.
   He asks us to stay tuned: the city hall will soon tell more news about the development steps.