/ 14 DIC 2014, 12:10 AM
In 1998, Fabian Vargas began development company websites Zews in Perez Zeledon, while still few businesses or agricultural enterprises had a website.
As the market is small, Vargas began contacting local companies that were poorly designed and developed sites. When you contact them, many prospects refused to do business and hung up the phone when I told them where the company is located.
Do not be frightened. To remove resistors, wrote on its website that “a responsible provider will serve well if I live in another country” and applied the tips that encourages its customers to optimize Internet, known with the concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Currently Zews has customers in Dominical, Uvita, Puerto Jimenez, Sarapiqui, San José, Alajuela Palmares, Moravia, San Marcos and the United States. Many firm located through Google, communicate via Skype and cancel services via PayPal or bank transfer simple. “Now there are more customers who know that it is possible to develop projects through Internet” he said.
Despite several limitations and to an initial distrust of customers in areas like Perez Zeledon, San Carlos and thrive Guanacaste developers of software and websites that made the leap to meet customers Metropolitan Area, Central America and the USA. UU.
“About 50% of companies in the north exported regularly or have already recorded some sales in another country,” says José Pablo Rodriguez, founder in 2002 of the Nortek company in Ciudad Quesada, is now Avantica San Carlos, and promoter of the Chamber of Business Information Technology and Communication in the Northern Zone (Cetic-ZN).
Exit to grow
In rural areas, three types of business is located. Firms are developing software , websites and services.
Are coexist with quality-of heterogeneously micro business support networks, equipment maintenance and creation of websites, and even some who install billing systems or point of sale.
These are kept in their regions for the facilities to directly serve customers or because the owner decided not to grow and stay in the area.
are also regional offices of national firms such as Babel and Avantica Group.
The third type includes developers that made the leap from your location to provide services to clients in the Central Valley and even in other countries, because the regions are a small market for growth.
“No one could survive only with customers in the area,” says Kristian Smith, owner of Web Solutions, which is located in Bagaces, Guanacaste, features six people and has most of its 350 customers in San José, in addition to Panama, Nicaragua and EE. UU.
Also, Ronald Jimenez of the Roldma firm, located in Palmares de Alajuela, says most of his customers are from San José as in the Western region (covering Also San Ramon Naranjo, Greece and Athens) there are no companies in the amount and necessary to grow the business only with local projects size.
Roldma is a firm focused on platforms and my for logistics and employs three people.
Group Babel was born in Perez Zeledon in 2002 and a year its -the founding brothers Edgar and Esteban Oviedo moved to the Central Valley, leaving a small office of 15 people today in the south.
Edgar Oviedo, CEO of Babel, explained that it is very difficult to have the whole company in a rural area, because margins are low and consuming operation.
Another case is that of Avantica San Carlos, born in 2002 as Nortek, has 80 employees and to further expand their businesses joined a few years ago Avantica Technologies.
Potential and Limitations
Rural areas are attractive due to lower costs.
The availability of computer firms are prepared by regional offices of universities, many of whom choose to keep their lifestyle and not move to the metropolitan area, where the costs are up to 30% higher.
Experience of San Carlos convinced Avantica whose headquarters are in Los Yoses and was founded by Mario and Luis Carlos Chaves brothers, both of Liberia to create a seat at the head of Guanacaste. There employ 15 people.
Babel reproduced the experience of a rural based Latagunga, capital of the province of Cotopaxi in Ecuador.
But the potential developers in rural areas is limited by weaknesses in computer training, lack of bilingual staff, lack of quality Internet services and constraints for greater access to other markets, says Rodriguez .
Luis Carlos Chaves Avantica CEO and president of the Chamber of Information Technology and Communication (ICT chamber), acknowledged that there firms are forced to invest more in raising the level of computer in the Central Valley, as in the regions forming the gap is larger.
In Guanacaste, for example, are “big” deficiencies in the preparation of the computer, despite the presence of universities, said Herrero, Web Solutions. “Train a boy he cost us six months,” he said.
Still, companies from regions offer updated technologies and services. Rodriguez, Avantica San Carlos, said that 90% of developers in the north incorporates “aligned” technologies with global trends.
In this way also contribute to its customers especially in these regions, have advanced technologies.
Oviedo, Babel Group, noted that a firm like Zwet helped many companies in the south that neither dreamed of having sites now have a web presence.
Products, services and markets
Types of companies: There microenterprises (1 or 3 people), developers have less than 10 employees and offices of firms with payroll cies up to 80 employees
Features: Develop and install software (web and mobile) and operating systems; cloud services, consulting, infrastructure and networks, software quality assurance, communication and social networks, online and digital marketing.
Markets: The micro focus on the local market by proximity; small customers in Central Valley and foreign firms; headquarters of signatures for all types of customers.
Source Signatures consulted
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