When you think about creating a business that allows you to work remotely, you probably think of dozens of perfect destinations for it, whether for their good climate, their tropical beaches, their mountain landscapes full of disconnection or large cities full of opportunities.
The safest thing is that it never crosses your mind to move to Georgia, a country between Europe and Russia, but Juan Carlos Trueba from Lanzarote didn't think twice.
At just 26 years old, this young man from San Bartolomé arrived in Georgia on March 18 and, in just two months, has managed to open a successful international digital marketing company called Volcanz Digital.
Juan Carlos has already worked with clients such as Barceló Hotels, Iberdrola, Renault, Yoigo or Canva, one of the four largest private capital companies in the world, and plans to continue growing in the coming years.
Currently, Volcanz Digital offers a specialized service in SEO, with the aim of positioning its clients on the internet, so that they appear first in searches.
“We also carry out a comprehensive strategy, where we improve the company's brand, whether with social networks or advertising, and we do another series of more niche services, such as sales improvements in marketplaces such as Amazon, to give them more visibility,” adds the young man.
“The 4-Hour Workweek” as a starting point
While studying Economics, Juan realized that job opportunities didn't really fit with what he wanted to do in life, so he went to work in the United Kingdom to "get out of the loop".
In London he met a friend who recommended a book titled "The 4-Hour Workweek", a book that, according to him, "changed his life", that was the starting point that would encourage him to start his own business.
"They explained a lot about how to work online, without depending on a schedule or geographic area and without working a large number of hours," says the founder, CEO and Head of Digital of Volcanz Digital. "It was very shocking to read all that and see that digital marketing could give me everything, so I started learning more about marketing in a self-taught way."
Shortly after getting a job at an agency, Juan Carlos also began working with his own projects and clients, so he ended up creating his own company. However, as the months passed, he realized that scaling from Spain was somewhat complicated, "either due to lack of contacts or lack of infrastructure", so he decided to move his business to another place.
The million-dollar question: why Georgia?
"I started researching different countries where digital nomads go and I found Georgia," explains the young man. "Some friends had already come here and told me very good things about the country."
And Georgia presents a very advantageous geographical situation for businesses like Juan Carlos', since it is between Asia and Europe, allowing him to expand his range of clients.
"For me, who works with different time zones, the country is incredible," he adds. "When I arrived I realized that there are more and more people related to digital marketing who come to Georgia, from youtubers and influencers to Amazon sellers, it is a very rich country culturally."
In addition, the young man insists that creating a company is "quite simple", since you can do it in "just one day". "The bureaucratic ease that exists in the country and the tax advantages are very good for entrepreneurship," explains the CEO of Volcanz.
He also highlights its quality of life, since it is one of the cheapest countries in the world. "Taking a bus or subway can cost you about 30 cents approximately."
But it hasn't all been a bed of roses, since Georgian can be a very complicated language. “The alphabet is totally different from ours,” explains the young man. “This language was created to defend themselves from Russia at the time and thus make understanding with them difficult, that is, it was done with bad intentions so that others would not understand them.”
Juan Carlos tells the anecdote of going to a supermarket, taking a canned product thinking it was one thing and, when opening it, realizing that it is something completely different, but insists that people are “very respectful”.
“There is a very good international climate, so if you have difficulties communicating with the locals, there is always the international side that you can lean on,” he adds.
An even more international future
For now, Juan Carlos' plans are focused on attracting and retaining clients, but also on expanding the business in terms of infrastructure.
“We are going to open a headquarters in Miami, in the United States, probably this year, to cover the entire map”, the young man anticipates. “Right now we have enough access to Asia, Australia and Europe, so it is very easy to attract clients in this geographical area, but if we want to go to America, as a whole, it will be much easier for us to do it from there.”
In addition, he adds that the American continent makes it “very easy” in bureaucratic and fiscal terms, so they could start operating there “quite quickly”.
The “boom” of young entrepreneurship
More and more young people are launching into the world of entrepreneurship, some driven by the appeal of “being your own boss”, like Juan Carlos, and others by the difficulties in finding work, either due to lack of experience or due to their nonconformity with the working conditions offered.
But there is a key factor in this “boom” of entrepreneurship and it is digitalization. “Today it is much easier to set up a business, especially digital ones, since they do not have physical dependencies, such as a premises or an office,” explains Juan Carlos.
With the pandemic, many companies were forced to evolve and move to the digital world “by force” if they wanted to survive. “The coronavirus crisis generated a lot of demand towards these sectors and, if you add to that the fact that the internet offers a wide range of possibilities and that young people dominate this space very well, this moment becomes a very favorable climate for entrepreneurship,” emphasizes the CEO of Volcanz.
“Lanzarote is becoming the focus of many digital nomads”
In addition, with the rise of teleworking, places like Lanzarote have begun to sound more and more among digital nomads, whether due to their climate or the quality of life that the island offers.
“If you enter pages like Nomadlist, you will see how Lanzarote, Gran Canaria or Fuerteventura occupy the first positions, they are becoming the focus of many digital nomads,” exemplifies Juan Carlos.
“On the island, a space is being created where ideas can be shared and where digital development is being forged, and not only at the Canary Islands or Spain level, people are coming from all over the world,” he adds.
So the young man encourages anyone who has an idea in mind to start their own business. “Everything starts with a discovery process, where you have to realize what you like and what you are good at,” he says. “The internet is a very good place for this, since there are countless free tools and courses to learn.”
"A business starts by solving problems"
However, he insists that creating a personal project is not an easy task, because along the way there is “suffering and stress”, since “many things are not achieved when one wants”. Although Juan Carlos insists that it is a path that is worth it.
“A business starts like this, solving problems, sometimes we involuntarily help another person and we realize that it has helped and, if from there we manage to replicate them, we will manage to start a business”, explains Juan Carlos. “In the end it is putting a price on what we do and creating a way in which we can scale this idea”
“We should all do the exercise of looking back and seeing everything we have traveled, our progress, that is what makes me move forward,” says the young businessman. “All people have something to contribute to you, they teach you something, whether good or bad.”
“Starting a business today is easier than ever, especially with digital professions”, he concludes.
