A trusted advisor in Milan for your business in Italy
Strategic guidance and a business plan built to be executed — for entrepreneurs and investors setting up, relocating or growing a business in Italy. In English, alongside your lawyer and accountant.
Where you are
You've decided to build something in Italy. You may already have — or will soon have — a notaio, a lawyer and an accountant for the legal, immigration and tax side.
What you also need is someone who understands the business itself: the market, the strategy, the plan that actually holds together. Someone based in Milan, discreet, who works in your language and stays with you from the first idea through to execution.
That's what I do.
What I help with
Four situations I work with
Bringing a proven business to Italy
You've built something that works abroad and want to bring it here — adapting the model to the local market, building the Italian supply chain, the marketing and the team on the ground. Strategy and business plan, but also the operational shape of the business in Italy.
Relocating and building here
You're moving to Italy — for personal or family reasons — bringing capital, skills and energy. What you need is the local mindset, the information and the network, and a business plan that speaks the language of Italian banks, institutions and the market.
Opening a commercial presence
You want a base in Italy to sell products you make in your own country — and a plan that makes that route to market real.
An idea conceived for Italy
You've had an idea worth building, you love this country, and you meant it to happen here. Let's turn it into something concrete.
What I do — and what I don't
I build business plans, provide strategic guidance, and stay alongside you through to execution — as your single point of contact on the business side.
I don't handle company formation, visas or tax. Those stay with your notaio, immigration lawyer and accountant. My role is to get the business right and to coordinate with them, so the strategy, the plan and the paperwork all point the same way.
Why the plan matters here
A business plan is not a document you file and forget. It's a working tool — to run the business, to raise money, to align partners.
In Italy, banks and partners assess forward-looking plans before they commit. A credible plan is not bureaucracy: it's what opens credit, alliances and access to the local market.
Your advisor
A manager who has represented foreign companies in Italy
For thirty years I've worked where foreign companies meet the Italian market. I've been country manager for international ICT companies, and international marketing director across electronics, marine, software, food and chemicals.
For groups of different nationalities — European and beyond — I've been their reference point for entering and growing in Italy, in sectors from finance and food to media, gaming, music and telecommunications. My experience also spans automotive, family services, business services, industrial goods and energy.
Not a compiler of numbers: someone who has represented foreign businesses in Italy, and who knows how the market, the banks and the local partners actually read a plan.
How it works
A clear method, a direct relationship
A confidential conversation
We talk through where you are and what you want to build. No commitment.
Understanding your objectives
What the plan is really for — growth, funding, partners, entry into Italy.
A structured, personal engagement
A clear method, but a direct relationship: you work with me, not a rotating team.
In person in Milan, and continuous remotely
We meet here; between meetings the work continues, in English.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Do I need to live in Italy to own a company here?
No. Italian law sets no residency or citizenship requirement for the shareholders or directors of an S.r.l. (the Italian limited liability company). You need an Italian tax code (codice fiscale), and for non-EU nationals without a residence permit a condition of reciprocity with your home country must apply. If instead you plan to reside in Italy and run the company yourself, that's a matter of visas and residence permits for your immigration lawyer. Please verify your specific case with your legal and tax advisors.
Do you handle visas, company formation or tax?
No. I work on strategy and the business plan. Company formation, visas and tax stay with your notaio, immigration lawyer and accountant. I'm your single point of contact on the business side and I coordinate with them.
Can we work entirely in English?
Yes. The whole engagement — conversations, working sessions and the plan itself — can be run in English.
Will you work with my existing advisors?
Yes. I act as the single point of contact on the business side and coordinate with your legal and tax advisors, so the strategy, the plan and the paperwork all point the same way.
Is this confidential?
Every conversation and document is treated as strictly confidential.
How long does a business plan take?
It depends on scope and on how ready the information is. Around eight weeks is realistic for a complete plan; in urgent cases it can be compressed. We set a realistic timeline in the first conversation.
I'm here to help you make it real — a concrete, achievable ambition. Together we'll build the business plan that delivers it.
A business plan is only real if it gets executed.
Get in touch
Let's talk about your business
Tell me about the project. I'll get back to you within one business day for a first, no-commitment conversation.
20154 Milan, Italy
info@giovanniviani.it
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