Recoop, a cooperative run by six graduates in art, conservation and restoration, is one of the success stories of the Kordin Business Incubation Centre (KBIC).
The six friends, who graduated together in 2003, had a dream to provide professional and scientific restoration services. But to do this, they needed a place out of which to operate.
Two years ago, friends directed them to the Institute for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprise which, in turn, directed them to the KBIC.
"Here, we found the professional people to give us the help we needed to make our project work. Before coming here, we had to personally go to clients. Now we have a place clients can come to retrieve their work, to see our work and to speak to us," said Recoop member Paul Muscat said.
"Moreover, if we happen to be out of the office, the receptionist takes messages for us and we would know exactly who called, why and when.
"We have not just been given the space, we have been given much more. We have been given managerial advice and this has helped greatly since, although we are professionals in our fields, we lack managerial skills, which are crucial in business,"
He said that through the KBIC, Recoop got its premises as well as help finding funding to procure certain equipment.
The cooperative, which does all kinds of restoration work, has been given a wide variety of jobs which include the restoration of a church bell, a marble chest table, the bronze door of the Naxxar parish church, the Gozo war memorial and the St Dorothy Convent façade.
Their marketing is by word of mouth, which is leading to work without expenditure on advertising.
This is not to say that success has come easily. In fact, for their first year in operation, they had to work without getting a pay, using the money they earned to invest in their set-up.
While this could have been off-putting, the staff at the KBIC assured them that it was normal practice.
Now, Recoop's members are each getting a wage. And as work flows in, they are seeking advice from the KBIC on employing help to take over some of the administrative work so that they would be able to dedicate more time to restoration.
Mr Muscat said that because their work was extremely time consuming, their problem at the beginning was to find a balance so that they could be competitive.
The KBIC advised them to focus on quality. Their continuous advice and encouragement gave them the strength they needed to build their business.
They have now established a clientele and with every job they also give their clients a basic report explaining the restoration process, the manufacturing technique, the problems encountered and the treatment given. The report also includes photos.
Their aim, Mr Muscat said, is to promote education and awareness of the scientific way of restoration.
This aim will be promoted further with the eventual setting up of an association of conservators and restorers.
The KBIC currently houses 25 companies and it is 75 per cent full. This means that it is close to saturation point, which is reached at 80 per cent.
This is because some units have to be kept vacant so that if existing clients need to expand operations, there would be space for them.
Cooperative manager Brian Grima said that although services were given at a cost, they were indirectly subsidised. They also received help to obtain their loans. He pointed out that an agreement was recently reached between Malta Enterprise and Bank of Valletta, recognising the bank as the sponsor of ME's innovation projects at the KBIC.
The idea of the KBIC is to give clients the opportunity to have someone to refer to for advice, highlight the options and give a second opinion.