Le Mat a social brand and franchise system

developed and owned by social entrepreneurs

London, Richmond Fellowship

the 11th of November 2014

Renate Goergen

Since the 80ties as a result of the closing process of Psychiatric Hospitals, the battling against prisons and for inclusion of unemployed and excluded people Italy’s social entrepreneurs started to develop social cooperatives in order to create jobs and a better life.

They act in the general interest of the communities for a more sustainable and inclusive development….they create not only jobs in many economic sectors but also social and democratic capacities for members and workers and specially for people with lower social opportunities…

Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps….ASHOKA

Who are social entrepreneurs?

• To battle against stigma and to invent interesting and decent (and paid) work

• To live in their communities as responsible and included citizens and to act for a more sustainable development

• To battle against unemployment and social exclusion by self-help, collective self-employment, social entrepreneurship

• To feel socially useful and EMPOWERED

The Le Mat people decided to become social entrepreneurs

Who and what is Le Mat?

• A brand standing for social entrepreneurs in tourism• A assembled know how to become a successful social

entrepreneur in tourism• A group of social entrepreneurs and tourism experts

working as consultants, mentors, supporters • A way to replicate successful experiences in tourism

and recovery and to avoid errors • A way to transfer experiences and to share marketing

strategies• A growing European Network of social entrepreneurs

welcoming travelers• A SOCIAL FRANCHISE SYSTEM developed and owned

by social entrepreneurs

Our first Hotel “HOTEL TRITONE” in 1985 was small and old – 18 rooms without bathrooms. To create some decent jobs and more sustainability we had to restore the building and to reach a middle size standard accommodation. It took us about 3 years to find the money and than we started again with 16 rooms all with bathrooms.Hotel Tritone is still a nice accommodation and the staff is teaching to the new Le Mats how to become good hoteliers

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In fact, after the first years managing HOTEL TRITONE we decided that ACCOGLIENZA and SUSTAINABLE TOURISM had to be our job, our business model!

We developed our competences, the organization, the marketing concepts…

We knew to be UNIQUE but we had to stabilize our product, the services…

We wanted travelers to come back and we wanted to guarantee for our clients always the same quality…

ACCOGLIENZA IS A HARD BUT EXITING WORK!!!!!!

In many years we learned how to become an INNOVATIVE TOURISTIC PRODUCT!!!

And the economic results of our marketing strategy permitted to create 6 ½ good jobs in Hotel Tritone!!!!!

We learned that our story-telling could make the difference in creating the loyalty of travelers!

So we started to think about branding and replication: the special Le Mat places

- From 2001 to 2005 we worked on developing the SOCIAL BRAND Le Mat, to write the Manuals, to experiment replication in Italy together with 14 other social co-operatives.

- We learned about the possibility to apply franchising in the social and tourism sector.

- We developed our own SOCIAL FRANCHISING SYSTEM

In 2000 the European Programme EQUAL gave us the chance to try to realize a big development project. We worked as a partnership of social entrepreneurs all over Italy together with Hotel and Tourism experts, and with the associations of people with disabilities.

“If somebody uses resources merely “to reinvent the wheel”, it is rightly considered as a waste. Yet, the systematic replication of projects in the non-profit sector still remains the exception to the rule. This is understandable -many players in the so-called third sector rightly see themselves as “social change agents” – as an outlet for innovation. They prefer to focus their energies on the development of new approaches. Imitating those of others is considered as “not sexy”. The result is one pilot project after the other. Many prototypes, but few replications.The potential gains offered by the scaling up of successful prototypes into other places, have largely been neglected. There are, nevertheless, those exceptions to the rule that show the following: Systematic replication with local adaptation not only leads to greater efficiency and faster expansion. A well-organised replication process can lead to intelligent project networks with positive qualitative effects.”

Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen

SOCIAL FRANCHISING IN 2000 WAS SOMETHING NEW FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS!

Developing LE MAT

• We developed Manuals and we are still increasing them

• We developed training methodologies

• We developed the LE MAT MANIFESTO, the LE MAT TRAVELER ASSOCIATION and the European Brand Platform

• We developed blogs and social network activities

• We developed touristic products and relationships with tour operators and sustainable touristic networks

• We work in our communities to develop touristic systems wherever there is a LE MAT SPECIAL PLACE

• And we developed TERESA, the Le Mat traveller, as a innovative storytelling marketing methodology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIBsSVp6xwM

At the moment there are more than 16 SPECIAL PLACES LE MAT in ITALY and others are in a learning process! It is possible to visit them all!

For example: the 2 Hotels/restaurants GRANCAN and LE SALETTE in VERONA have about 30 rooms each, with bathrooms. The restaurants work mainly with business clients from the wine producers in the area and organize music and other events. A special characteristic of these hotels are about 40 stable clients living here. They are persons with a long psychiatric story. They have no own home but here they find an “open community”. They have their privacy but they have also the chance to work in the hotels.

The “Cadore Valley” is in the very north of Italy, in the high Dolomite mountains. The story of the social co-operative here is deeply linked to the social and economic weakness of the area. The former industry broke down and people are unemployed. So a group of them decided to set up a co-operative in order to do the community work and to welcome travelers as a new job and development chance for the area!

Here you find a video story about them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__fSHw1jT9I

Le Mat's social entrepreneurs like tourism to be something more than spending free time and consuming new adventures, more than a specialized industry. We like tourism as an opportunity to restorecommunities and landscapes… a tourism able to open minds towards those who are different from us, a tourism where you meet people and where you can listen to the thousands of stories and cultures of a local community and where the local community is curious to meet, to exchange and to welcome who comes from abroad, discovering unknown methods, thoughts and actions…

In 2008 we started the franchising process in Sweden together with Vagen Ut a consortium of social co-operatives. Today there are already 3 SPECIAL PLACES in Sweden http://www.lemat.se/en/

Brussels, the 26° of June 2012

LE MAT EUROPE was set up in 2008

We are working in POLAND, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, RUMANIA, SLOVENIA, GERMANY, SPAIN……wherever there are social entrepreneurs who want to learn and become part of our branding and social franchising strategy

LOGO vs

THE SOCIAL FRANCHISING PROCESSStep by step by step by step by step by step…..

Le Mat‘s Vision

From exclusion to Entrepreneurship:

Le Mat is a worldwide brand standing for special places managed by special people and for

special values. Everybody can find real „accoglienza“ and special values because the Le Mat hotels, hostels or other places are managed

by people who experienced exclusion.

WHAT IS A SPECIAL PLACE LE MAT????

Guests feel to be in middle of social entrepreneurs, their colleagues and friends, their local network: they feel to discover not only traditional tourist sides but a SPECIAL WAY OF LIFE!

Travelers find a lot of information not only about the surroundings but about relationships, the functioning of the enterprise, the costumers etc, a good (equal) and traceable price, no physical, psychical, sensorial and cultural barriers…..

The beds are really good, the breakfast is excellent and very nice people give the welcome!

The traveler feels included in the community, as a citizen for a whileThe quality card of THAT UNIQUE LE MAT and information about all the OTHER LE MAT are available and you can become member of the Travelers’Association Le Mat….and much more

A Hotel, a Hostel, a B&B, a ship, a restaurant, a beach….a UNIQUE PLACE, managed by UNIQUE PEOPLE with SPECIAL VALUES!

Le Mat‘s Mission

• Le Mat is replicating through social franchising well functioning experiences in the field of travelersaccommodation, local sustainable development and empowerment of excluded people

• Le Mat develops tourist products which respect and involve the local community‘s culture and history

• Le Mat‘s branding and marketing system is based on storytelling and on the Le Mat traveler‘s experience

• We would like a Le Mat special place in each community, in the metropolitan or rural areas.

How to become a special place Le Mat

• You like our vision and you agree with our mission?

• You think that our values can be interesting not only for workers and managers but also for travelers?

• You like to welcome travelers who are different from yourself and need some help to feel secure ?

• You like to work in a group sharing the planning and organizational activities and taking decisions together?

• You want to set up a business with a lot of responsibilities towards other people, quite hard and never the same?

YOU MAY BECOME A SPECIAL PLACE LE MAT- You have to want it and to ask it- We tell you about all the services we can offer- You are asked to give a self description of your organization and

your plans- We agree a visit, we analyse your project (the already existing

hotel/hostel or your needs and ideas to open one)- We write a proposal about all the next steps you need to

become a LE MAT SPECIAL PLACE and the costs of our consultancies

- You agree and we sign the contract TOWARDS BECOMING A LE MAT

- At the end of the process you become a LE MAT SPECIAL PLACE, you pay your yearly fee related to the services you want and need and once a year we come and control!

Le Mat may be your permanent social and business partner, your brand

• We help you to find YOUR SPECIAL PLACE, to set up your business plan and to develop the best architectural structure and interior design and furniture also if you have already a place

• We show you other Le Mat stories with and you learn from their stories, errors and successes

• We teach you a innovative marketing concept and many other things you have to know to be a SPECIAL LE MAT GROUP

• We never leave you alone because you will be part of the growing Le Mat community – entrepreneurs and travelers

• We tell you what you are doing wrong and how you can become better

Is there something else you have to know before starting your LE MAT career?

- Yes, you have to know that we don‘t sell you the license of the brand

- You have to use Le Mat’s graphic platform and payoff

- You have to participate in the Le Mat community life

- You have to write your own Manuals by using the Le Mat Manuals with our help and support

- You have to follow our marketing strategies and to learn the Le Mat story telling

STARTING with a group, clear ideas and a story to tell!

Le Mat has to be a special place which means that it has to be different from al the other places and you have to tell WHY it is a special place!

Le Mat means special people are working and planning here. So you have to tell us WHO are these people and WHY they are special.

Le Mat stands also for special values. WHICH are these values and HOW can the TRAVELER experience them!

THE SPECIAL PLACE – standards and additional services - organization - a methodology to control costs and revenues, to develop marketing strategy etc.

- Why this place and not another one?

- How many rooms?

- Describe the rooms

- Which kind of clients?

- Deciding the prices

- Where we find the clients?

- What services in addition?

- Let’s prepare the business plan!

The most important question is:

Who will manage the place?

Who will be the SPECIAL PEOPLE?

- They have to plan and to become responsible

- They have to choose their clients

- They have to develop the business plan

- To share the responsibilities

- They have to tell the story, every day, in the Hotel and on the social networks…..

HOW to recruit workers and mangers?

It‘s important that those that work in Le Mat‘s special places really take the choice to do it.

Accepting, learning and sharing responsibilities are very important tools in any recovery process, in the re-inclusion to work and in the empowerment process

In order to take a choice you must know about your opportunities, your career chances so you have to be involved in the planning and decision processes.

That‘s why we believe in the co-operative model!

SPECIAL VALUES and LE MAT’S STORYTELLING

How do YOU choose YOUR Hotel?

- Certainly you will look to the price, the location, the accessibility but you also would like to find a unique place, YOUR place!

- We all like to dream a little bit before traveling, we fancy the light, the colours, the smell, the people and we would like to be sure to give our money to the BEST people!

- And if our imagination was correct, if we found a place that exceeded our expectations we will tell everybody about; instead if their website and pictures told lies….we never will go back

Storytelling ha to be learnt but may be the best marketing tool we can use

because it involves the traveler before starting and possibly also after

The loyalty of clients is the most important partner in our business but it’s

sure that he has to find touchable VALUES!

The Le Mat Traveler

- We have to search our traveler, to understand needs and values, to welcome her/him in a very unique way.

- We have to tell her/him who we are and ask her/him to become better in our job

- Than we can ask her/him also to speak about us and our work…maybe our traveler becomes our best and more efficient agent

THE LE MAT TRAVELER IS A SPECIAL PERSON

BECOME A LE MAT TRAVELLER!

And last but not least an important question: the Le Mat costs

We can help you to find the best LE MAT PLACE. We will evaluate the building according to the potentiality to generate incomes and we will do it together with you teaching you the methodology to link the value to your business plan..

We care about the human resources, the SPECIAL PEOPLE involved in the Le Mat business from the chambermaid up to the manager. We want them to become able to realize daily the most UNIQUE and SPECIAL LE MAT travelers ever visited. We are convinced that they make the difference.

We don’t know how much training and support you need but the time we spend with you are our costs and we apply a daily rate from 500 up to 750 Euro (junior or senior consultants). Together we will plan the budget.

We come to UK but we also can organize study visits to Italy and Sweden and we can work with you through Internet.

Maybe the first Le Mat special place will cost some investment in training, consulting, writing the Manuals. The second will become must cheaper because you will be able to replicate!

Social franchising Le Mat is a process: at the end of the process you may use the Le Mat brand

If you are interested in becoming a Le Mat we plan the training and consultancies activities together.

Together we decide the timing, the contents, the possible partners and the amount of money to invest in order to achieve the quality standards and the know how you need to use the brand.

We sign a pre-contract.

After completing the process you become a Le Mat franchisee and we sign the contract. Once a year we do our control visit (a day work). We prepare a report after a discussion with you and we suggest the improvements you need to do realize.

The control visit is your annual minimum cost/fee.

In addition you may use some of our available services or at least you will participate in some Le Mat community activities as workshops

Le Mat is growing….do you want to be a part of it?

Our Swedish colleagues use to say: “Do not offer square solutions to all, because some people are round. We have got bats in the belfry, drug abuse in our baggage, criminal

thoughts, disabilities, stress symptoms and 11 social enterprises with a turnover of SEK 39 million a year”

LE MAT – Special Places, Special People, Special ValuesA SOCIAL BRAND to mainstream SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP in TOURISM

www.lemat.it www.lemat.se

THANK YOU