Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1387622
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 JUNE 2021 16 COMMERICAL Growing despite weathering a pandemic CITY Falcon moved to Malta just months before the pandem- ic hit in March 2020. However, plenty of sunshine, help from third parties and self-imposed cautionary steps have allowed the City Falcon team to not only survive this trying period, but also grow at the same time. In fact, the company has flourished since first setting foot on the island. City Falcon transforms unstructured fi- nancial news and content from over 3,000 sources into struc- tured data, and then delivers analytics, insights and news in real time. Yet, since coming to Malta, it has launched several new features, added content and onboarded new clients. It has also expanded its prod- uct into 18 new languages and recently relocated its senior management here. Founder and CEO Ruzbeh Bacha is not lowering his business prospects any time soon. "The company is moving towards becoming a cash flow-positive company by next year, and hopefully a uni- corn in a few years' time," Ba- cha said. Bacha pointed to three fac- tors which have impacted City Falcon's feat. "With the help of Malta Enterprise, City Fal- con was able to make claims for wages early on, for which we received a three-month advance," explained Bacha. Meanwhile, significant tem- porary price reductions from suppliers, as well as a cash con- servation programme imple- mented by the company, have helped reduce cash burn. The latter has since ended as client leads have picked up. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Bacha would not think twice about choosing to invest in Malta again. "Mal- ta Enterprise has been very helpful in assisting and sup- porting our business. Besides that, Malta's climate is prefer- able to London – even though Mediterranean summers are awfully hot like back home in India! And the high number of foreign residents makes it easy to entice new workers to come here as they know there is a big expat community. So, invest- ing in Malta remains a good idea," he said. When it comes to Malta's size, Bacha praised the proximity of places and activities, and the options for sports endeavours, adding that he has lost 13 kilograms since moving to Malta. However, the island's size also comes with its disadvantages. "The smaller population compared to cities like London does mean that one meets the same people at events sometimes. This can be good or not, depending on your approach," he said. Bacha went on to highlight things that can be improved in Malta, such as procedures for the opening of bank accounts, and further digitalisation of processes. Nevertheless, he feels that the government is taking active steps in the right direction. "With the move towards digitalisation and video calls (which allow us to close deals in the UK and US, for example, remotely), cash and other sup- port from the Maltese govern- ment, and of course 300 days of sunshine per year, there is no better place for businesses in the EU than Malta right now," he concluded. For more information about City Falcon, visit www.cityfal- con.com. Free webinar on successful project management IDEA Academy is organising a free webinar aimed at imparting practical tips on good project management and, particularly, on how to prevent a project from failing. Big projects fail at an aston- ishing rate. In fact, a whopping 70 per cent of organisations ex- perience a project failure over one calendar year. The toll such failures take is not only fi- nancial. Employees, who would have devoted time and effort to complete their share of the work, are often left feeling de- moralised. In this free webinar, project management expert and academic Joseph Mall- ia will be outlining the most common causes of a project's failure, how to spot the warn- ing signs and what steps to take next. He will also home in on what it takes to plan a success- ful project and what key ingre- dients are required to ensure success. Planning is important; how- ever, one also needs to embrace change. Dr Mallia will explain the differences between the traditional and agile approach- es of project management, and what benefits may be reaped. The webinar, called 'Why your Project will Fail (or Suc- ceed!): Tips for Success', will be delivered on July 7, at 6pm. To register for this free webi- nar, please visit: bit.ly/ideamal- tawebinar-pm