FRANCO PIANEGONDA- A SUCCESSFUL ITALIAN ENTREPRENEUR IN JEWELLERY SECTOR.

Frikonomics.- Tell us about your professional career.

Franco Pianegonda.- I come from a simple background. My grandfather was a poor farmer who had to go to Australia about 100 years ago to cut sugar cane for a living. When he made some money, he returned to Italy and bought a farm near Grisignano where he raised five daughters and a son. He bought a home in Campodoro where I was born. In Italian, this word means field of gold. How magnificent is that!

His son, my father, raised me on that farm. We worked hard and got on with our lives. As a boy, I used to help by looking after animals and the earth. We were not poor but we were not rich either. My father worked as a road builder in Switzerland for some years to take care of us.

I went to work straight after high school. I had begun with studies in electronics but I did not like working in that sector because the daily contact was with machines, not people. I preferred to work in a shop because it involved sales and contact with people.

As a boy, I had worked part time in a factory making jeans, so I took a job selling jeans, T-shirts and similar things when I was 18. By the time I reached 21, I wanted to become a better person and improve my life. My ideal was to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to be somebody by age 40.

Many local jewellers came with their wives and children for clothes to the shop where I was employed. They looked rich and successful to me. I thought, 'I am not less than them'. So I became determined to sell jewellery.

A lady who bought jeans from me decided to take a risk and try me out as a salesperson. She gave me a briefcase full of inexpensive jewellery and I went from client to client with enthusiasm. Her husband refused to help me. 'If I give you training, you will leave,' he said. But he gave me a briefcase and a sales zone. My father bought me a car, so I proudly became a salesman working on commission.

After a while, I became his best salesman but he reduced my commission saying that I was earning too much. That is when I decided to break out on my own. I was about 24 years old. I knew the local market for jewellery and had many ideas about designs and making more original and beautiful things. So I had jewellery made for me by local artisans and workshops. The artisans were surprised by my designs and some even resisted them. But a few agreed to execute my ideas.

The area around Vicenza is a national treasure for Italy because it has the best workshops and artisans for all kinds of jewellery. My designs were successful and I soon hired people to help me with the commercial work.I am grateful to you, the women and men who buy my jewellery, and to our clients, collaborators and staff everywhere who work so hard. My creations are pieces of my heart living with you every day and I hope they help you to make yourself happy.

I am almost entirely a self-made and self-taught person. To satisfy you and other people like you, I took opportunities wherever I found them and learned whatever was necessary to provide the quality and innovation you expect. Perhaps, the luckiest thing for me is that I have almost no formal education as a designer. So I have an open mind and enjoy breaking rules. My entire focus is on being true to myself and being true to you. I do not try to make cute or pretty jewellery crowded with precious stones to make it colourful and expensive. I prefer jewels with a strong personality that can be your friends for a long time.

I think life as a person is meaningless without love of truth and without the force of character to maintain personal integrity in spite of problems. All our lives are a combination of happiness and difficulties. Truth and character allow us to enjoy the happiness more fully and to deal with problems more honestly, while living with courage each day.

Frikonomics.- Let's talk about your company (history, evolution…)

La Maison Franco PIANEGONDA.- The Franco Pianegonda Company is a fast growing global enterprise located in the heart of Italy’s jewellery-making region at Grisignano di Zocco near Vicenza. It has fully-owned and franchise stores and top quality retailers in the major cities of Europe, North America, the Middle East, the Far East and Asia.
The main office is located in Grisignano di Zocco near Vicenza but from 11 of September will be in the ancient side of Vicenza.

Its founder Franco Pianegonda started in 1994 as a young creator of extraordinarily powerful and innovative jewellery for women and carried his designs from store to store. Soon, so many orders poured in that he had to expand his enterprise. Franco’s ambition is to make his creations the most loved jewellery for everyone who wears it. For business clients, his core philosophy and his company’s motto is, “Your success is our success”.

He believes everyone in the enterprise, from the receptionist to the President, must be devoted to this clear vision. The goal is to bring delight, not just satisfaction, to all customers.
Franco Pianegonda   other stores in the world are in Miami, Jeddah, Dubai, Lisbon, Moscow, Corfu, Athens. In Italy: Milan, Verona, Padua, Rome, Naples

Frikonomics.- How the jewellery sector has been affected by the current economic climate? Which are your expectations for the near future?
 
Franco Pianegonda.- Jewellery sector has been affected like every other sector. The plans are to triple  its share of revenues coming from China and India by 2013 betting on the insatiable appetite for luxury goods in Asia while western markets wane. Jewellery buying in China and India helped to push global gold demand to a decade high of 3,812.2 tonnes last year and is expected to remain a key driver in 2011, analysts say.

We want to focus more on Asia, on China and India where consumers have strong appetite for jewellery, while consumer demand in Europe is a bit tired," China and India account for 7-10 percent of sales at Franco Pianegonda jewellery maker at present, but Asia's share would rise to 30 percent by 2013.
(ndr. These answer is taken from the interview of the international agency of information Reuters ahead of the Baselworld watch and jewellery fair in Switzerland which runned from March 24 to March 31).

Frikonomics.- From all the countries you have worked on, which ones would you recommend to the entrepreneurs to do business with and which ones would you recommend to avoid?

Franco Pianegonda.- Every Country has more or less commercial benefits.
Our main market is the woman, it is in the respect of her. A woman is like a universe. In her daily life, she manages professional success while building a happy family life and taking care of herself and others. She is the fire of energy at the center of her universe. I see the jewels I create as the flames of her energy, I want the jewels to express the diversity of a woman's personality. That is why I have chosen the universe, cosmos and galaxies as the themes of my new collections.

Frikonomics.- As an example of a successful entrepreneur, What advice could you give to new entrepreneurs who are thinking about to establish their own business? (Tell us some of the main characteristics that an entrepreneur person must have to succeed).

Franco Pianegonda.- Confidence, determination, courage. Ability in decision-making skills; have experience but want to learn. Be creative and innovative. Ensure the brand image, to have entrepreneurial spirit and be motivated by a desire to increase own abilities and skills.

Frikonomics.- Thanks a million. Receive a warm greeting from all the Frikonomics team.

Franco Pianegonda.- It is a pleasure, thank to you