Daniel Crenna

Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.

Earl Wilson
Abstract
Business ventures often fail even when market demand is demonstrated and evaluated by peers, and when the
project team is capable of producing the work. In this informal case study based on the author's own experiences, the
topics of market size and fit, team size, human dynamics, business validation, and interaction design are explored to
form a picture of how a business with seemingly promising prospects could still fail. Specifically, the challenges
faced by small or single-person implementation teams are discussed, with suggestions for overcoming these
challenges to produce more realistic and viable businesses.
Introduction
Most entrepreneurs enjoy reading the success stories of technology companies and their leaders, both local and
global. Depending on the entrepreneur's disposition, these stories can be motivational, such as when the entrepreneur
can identify with the hero, or they can add pressure, such as when the hero sounds less capable than the entrepreneur
perceives themselves to be. Stories of success are so captivating that we forget that most of what we do as a
technology entrepreneurs will be classified as failure.
If an entrepreneur is in this game for the long haul, they will fail so many times that they will no longer differentiate
failure from success, because like any human endeavour that improves with practice, the art of business building is a
steady march of preparation, timing, execution, and aftermath. And while the current opportunity landscape lets us
attempt more experiments than were possible in the past, this only means that we can fail faster and cheaper,
ultimately failing more often.
While most of the stories we hear are written like victory speeches, this story is about failing. In this particular case,
the story is not about failing particularly fast or cheaply; in fact, the story is perhaps even about failing at failing
well. This article is not meant as a means of helping you avoid failure, but instead hopes to serve as a signpost. To
quote J.S. Cournoyer, "this is who you're competing with." By sharing failure, we all stand to gain by the
perspectives of similar people working towards similar goals. If we have no stories like these to tell, we might think
our world is made of shining stars and obvious frauds, rather than the richer landscape of many talented, inspired
individuals who are earning success one failure at a time. If we make that mistake, we might not even try.
Background
In the summer of 2009, I was finally coming to terms with a previous failure to build a business in the dating
industry. I was a victim of something I like to call the "Frind Paradox", named after Markus Frind, the programmer
that created the Plenty of Fish dating site that, despite its many technical, security, design, and character flaws, and
much to the chagrin of a crowded marketplace with demonstrably better solutions, continues to generate more than
ten million dollars in advertising revenue annually. The paradox is defined as the mistaken belief that a terribly
executed plan plus perfect timing is always defeated by a well-executed plan after the fact. (Hint: it is not). Eager to
start another chapter, and with the encouragement of new colleagues in a new city, I began development on
Lunarbits, an e-commerce platform for selling digital goods.
I had a vision for a platform that gave absolute control to the content creator, whether they wanted a traditional "one
URL equals one download" type of experience, or whether they wanted to stream video content within a browser to
a subscriber base. In effect, Lunarbits was meant to possess all of the flexibility of Shopify, without the out-dated
transactional approach to content purchasing of Fetch or Pulley, or countless other market participants.
Shortly after the initial flurry of excitement and imagination of what Lunarbits could be, I began product
development. The Lunarbits brand was a happy stroke of luck, as I had found the logo (Figure 1), complete with its
nerd-chic design, on BrandStack, an open marketplace for brand identities. In hindsight, the name Lunarbits is not a
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great brand name. It suffers from not having an obvious relationship with the proposed solution. This issue is
especially problematic for products competing in the consumer Internet. I had chosen to focus my first marketing
vertical on technical content producers - software developers like me that thrive on teaching others - and wanted to
look like PeepCode, a popular screen-casting platform, while doing it. Using my own passion about a frustration I
had, I replaced my own individual desire to solve the content delivery problem, with the intention of solving it for
anyone.
Figure 1. The Lunarbits Logo

The immediate next step was applying for, and being accepted into, Ottawa's Lead to Winprogram. Lead to Win is a
six-day, intensive, business-building exercise put on by successful entrepreneurs in the region who are passionate
about growing opportunities. Through a series of keynotes, peer evaluation, and private planning, culminating in a
"big pitch" to a small group of successful CEOs and investors, business ideas are put through the ringer to determine
if they, and the people behind them, have what it takes to become successful technology businesses. Each business
that passes the evaluation is tasked with creating at least six jobs within three years. Lunarbits was put to the test,
and came out the other side with the green light: "Go build this!".
Validation Is Not Enough
Regardless of the size of the team, we routinely seek out the counsel of others when determining the potential value
of a new venture. We support this idea culturally with business incubators, angel and venture capital investments,
and strategic partnerships or ecosystem development. In many ways we are seeking permission, from people with
experience, from informed business theory, and from ourselves, to invest a significant amount of time, effort, and
money developing our vision. The thinking goes: if our plan is validated, it stands a much higher chance of
succeeding, and the sacrifice is worth the risk.
But validation is not enough. In many ways, the act of validation is a brilliant way to postpone the hard work,
because it takes you out of the details of delivery and you become engaged in a socially acceptable form of
pretending through financial forecasting, customer and market analysis, and partnership development. These are
important tasks that I believe fit further down the spectrum, certainly after the initial launch stage, where validation
is no longer on the radar. When you are in the thick of it, there is some small solace in knowing that other people
approved and believed in your vision, but putting too much stock in others' armchair business development keeps
you in your own metaphorical armchair, away from making real progress that can be validated by paying customers,
or a lack thereof.
With Lunarbits, validation was never the problem; on paper, Lunarbits is still a viable business and its competitor
landscape remains largely unchanged after two years. However, that does not mean it is a good idea. And that does
not mean it will not fail for countless other reasons.
Mockups Are Not Enough
We often hear abstract lessons about failure, but there are plenty of concrete reasons for projects to falter. One of
them, which applies more specifically to software but has broader applications, is designing without mockups. This
approach assumes that the vision of your business has its own natural metaphor that can express itself in software
without disciplined work. With Lunarbits, I paid up front for quality graphic design of the website (i.e., the
brochure), admin portal (i.e., the back end), and default store theme (i.e., the marketplace). When I met with the
designer, I had an idea of how the application should "feel", but I only brought feelings to the table. I thought that
my vision was obvious and that the design would be self-evident. It was not. I was surprised to find myself tonguetied when asked simple questions, such as: "What happens next?" with respect to customer workflow.

The reality is that front-end work is one of the most challenging details of a business, because it is the most obvious
to the customer. It is easy to take great design for granted, and that is half of the trap, believing that it is an
afterthought. It is not the pudding, it is the proof. Rather than put the brakes on Lunarbits until I had articulated a
complete picture of how the application would work, I had the designer work on a basic concept, and I hoped I could
slice and dice and reuse most of the general layout to fill in the blanks for development areas I had not fully
imagined. This ended up being the kiss of death, because I spent more time trying to jam an evolving application
into the design elements I already paid for, rather than start over. By the time I realized my mistake, I was already
too stretched financially and emotionally to turn the corner; I would need to rewrite Lunarbits to fit the metaphors I
learned building it, which I could have learned if I had "built it out of paper" first.
The lesson is that you cannot know the generic without attempting the specific. I now recommend to everyone that
there are two very specific stages that you should go through before you spend a cent on graphic design. The first is
using a mockup tool (or a good pencil and pad of graph paper) to outline every screen of your application, even
those that seem obvious to you. Make copies, and then assemble them into "decks" that represent tasks your
customers need to perform, such a "sign up for an account" and "upload a new video". When you can see all of these
interactions clearly, the next step is to throw them away.
Mockups are not enough. They are a great mental exercise, but they do not go far enough in preparing you to truly
know what you need from a graphic designer. Instead, you should build a live interaction system, which is
essentially the entire application, using an unremarkable, unbranded theme. You can find clean, standards-compliant
software application themes from many online stores, though I have the most luck with modern treatments
at ThemeForest.net; these themes typically cost less than $20, but they are priceless in that you can reassemble them
into any of the screen designs you created at the mockup stage. This live interaction system will allow you to build
out your project from back to front. Hire the designer last, but start the design first. This approach will pay off both
in terms of the ownership you will have over the vision of your product and in the amount of input you will be able
to provide to get the design you need the first time.
Going Alone May Not Be Enough
I have always been an advocate of solo entrepreneurship. I consider myself a "code soloist", someone who has the
imagination to solve a problem and the broad base of technical and communication skills needed to build it with
their bare hands, with the exception of graphic design, which should never be left to software developers or other
mere mortals. Yet, over time, I have learned that certain categories of problems need teams, no matter how ambitious
or capable the soloist. It is more a question of simple human dynamics than it is about the character of the person.
People are energetic beings, and we cannot sustain a high degree of intensity or capacity for work indefinitely
without encouragement and consistent feedback, which are impossible to provide for yourself.
Building a technology business is a grind. Like any stressful, all-consuming journey, you need supporters, both for
accountability and momentum. They cannot be the kind of supporters that do not understand the problem space you
are trying to tackle, have their own focus and projects, or are able to separate themselves emotionally and financially
from any challenges that come up. Those kinds of supporters are called "friends", and while they are essential for
your well-being, they are not enough. Your true supporters need to be in it for the long haul, and take on as much
risk as you. These kind of people are called "co-founders", and you need them if the kind of business you are
building solves a problem your mother can understand. In other words, if your business is well understood by nontechnical people, and it is trying to provide value to "anybody" (which is itself a sign of business planning
immaturity), the market you are after is so horizontal that there is little hope of achieving success without a team.
With Lunarbits, I made the mistake of continuing despite an inability to form a team. Left alone long enough with
the massive task of architecting a platform that could be used by anyone, I lost interest. I attempted to manufacture a
technical support team by extracting components of the underlying infrastructure and offering these components to
others under an open source license, hoping that releasing them would attract other developers to my cause. Do not
do this. The overhead of extracting takes you far away from shipping anything tangible, and the myth of external
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contribution coming in a timely fashion, or for areas that really need improving, is a vicious one. Nobody ever built
a business with crowdsourcing alone. Open source is an effective strategy for business development in a variety of
situations, especially when the core product is a platform used by other developers, or seeded to the general
population as well-documented, well-loved hosted platforms likeWordPress. But I suggest that, for hosted solutions
that are charging monthly service fees up front and rely on execution as a key market differentiator, there is simply
too much pressure to ship and too many proprietary aspects that must be carefully separated from any potentially
sharable infrastructure. The time and effort needed to open source before you have shipped your first version will
have a direct impact on your momentum, which is the most critical "soft" value you have in the beginning. Save
open source for when you have already established a first version and are looking to improve cheaply, rather than
gamble that the mere idea of open source's potential, with no concrete examples, will be enough to gain developer
confidence and support.
Scratching Your Own Itch May Not Be Enough
A lot of the time, we take colloquialisms at face value because we expect a "truism" to be true. That is why it is easy
to read and believe sentiments like "scratch your own itch" - the idea that a virtuous circle is created by the
entrepreneur that is simultaneously solving a problem that they themselves need solving, while at the same time
being uniquely suited to solve it. There are clear benefits to this strategy beyond capability, especially as an antidote
to the mistake of "going it alone", since the creator is intrinsically motivated by a real frustration where they can see
a solution and are capable of producing it. A lot of effort normally destined for user stories and usability testing is
liberated by the entrepreneur's ability to use themselves for feedback.
Often what we want for ourselves is not generally useful to others, at least not in numbers high enough to justify the
time and cost necessary to see an idea through. As entrepreneurs tend towards a narrow and focused view so that
they can find underserved markets, we also have unique needs. With Lunarbits, my initial frustration was that there
were no turn-key options for remixing and selling digital content (specifically instructional videos); existing
solutions did not have the flexibility of a hosted storefront or the ability to restrict purchased content to download
versus online consumption, or they required multiple integrations between shopping cart, storefront, and back-end
delivery systems. The frustration of realizing that I would have to create my own platform to solve the problem of
selling my digital content was replaced by the idea that there was a real need for this in the general public, rather
than the idea that this might be useful for a small group of people who demanded major publisher quality for their
indie video commerce projects. In hindsight, I should have realized that the needs of this niche group are clearly
different from the needs of the general public.
A compounding problem of "scratching your own itch" is that wanting something for yourself is not the same as
wanting something for everyone. While it is easy to make imaginative justifications for how others will benefit from
the solution to a problem you have, and while you may even represent a large market of solution seekers, it is a
mistake to think that a solution that solves your problem is generally useful as-is. Entrepreneurs grossly
underestimate the amount of time and effort it takes to take a working concept and make it widely available, stable,
scalable, and supported. From a design perspective, interactions that make sense for a prototype are rarely well
received by the general population without refinement. An additional problem is that once the solution works, the
entrepreneur's problem is solved. This takes away the motivational leverage, but leaves a large body of work that
seldom resembles the original problem and has more to do with maintenance than creation.
Big Ideas May Not Be Enough
As indicated earlier, Lunarbits as a business idea is still just as viable and just as validated today as it was when I
began two years ago. What many entrepreneurs will pay lip service to, but generally fail to recognize in any of their
own ideas, is this: "if it's broke, it could be because it ain't worth fixing." Similar to the Frind Paradox, sometimes
bad solutions exist because better solutions are not worth the effort. This is a real phenomenon. It could be a
function of the market's expectations, or the secret, real truth behind the profitability of some seemingly attractive
segments, but I believe that if I launched Lunarbits tomorrow, chances are I would have a very real problem
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attracting a sufficient number of subscriptions to sustain a business. I come to this conclusion based on the number
of competitors that have launched in two years (two) and by the number of those competitors that are deviating from
the existing entrenched and uninspired business metaphors (zero). This does not mean there is no room for
disruption in the digital goods market, but it does mean that I am skeptical that anyone "going it alone" could crack
it, at least without burning out ten feet from the finish line. The idea is simply too big.
Sometimes the big vision we have cannot be solved well for all of the people, all of the time. This is a curious
property of big ideas: they all start with an optimistic burst of energy that seeks to topple the status quo, but their
proponents forget that the existing solutions did not spring up out of a lazy person's mind, and it is a mistake to take
any of them lightly, no matter the apparent gap between a new idea and their reality. To maximize your chance of
success, when faced with a big vision that cannot be solved well for all of the people, all of the time, the correct
response is to shrink the vision, or get a new one.
Conclusion
In the end, Lunarbits failed not because it was a bad idea, because nobody believed it would work, or because its
team was not capable of creating it. It failed for regular, human reasons. I simply could not sustain the effort long
enough. I did not spend enough time up front getting the experience nailed down before spending my budget on a
designer. I did not find a co-founder even though the scope and effort required to execute a full-scale platform
clearly demanded it. I spent too much time generalizing infrastructure details hoping for external collaboration
through open source efforts. I kept pursuing a huge problem I could not solve alone in an acceptable amount of time,
for the widest possible audience. I did not interpret the lack of market movement as a possible warning sign that
there was not a strong market to begin with. I mistook my own problem of needing a flexible content commerce
application to warrant a common and widely desired solution. I scratched my itch for so long I forgot what I was
scratching. After two years of hard work, I could not access any of the original inspiration I used to feel. The
problem was, and is, "dead to me".
I do not have a success story to tell today, but I will in the future. I will because I recognize that success and failure
are identical experiences of effort and learning, but have different outcomes depending on whether a lesson is truly
learned, rather than merely witnessed. It would be easy for me to postpone telling my failure stories, choosing
instead to reminisce on them fondly and cite them in victory speeches, but the truth is that these painful experiences
are most of what we do every day as technology entrepreneurs. These stories are important. The more we share
them, and the data behind failing, the better chance we all have of understanding where we fit, and learning what we
need to take the next step.

Rural development through the establishment of a community partnership company: the upper Meza valley
development programme1
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Case study presented at the Eighth FAO/REU International Rural Development Summer School, Malaga, 18-23
September 1995.
M. Mesl
Nov'na Studio for Rural Development, Ravne na Koroskem, Slovenia
The agency Nov'na Studio for Rural Development decided to extend its Rural Community Development programme
through the establishment of a Community Partnership Programme (ALP) based on the process of 'activating local
potential' in the Upper Meza Valley of Slovenia.
In developing the Programme for ALP four elements were deemed important:
Background data for programme development.
The concept.
The partners.
The strategy.
Background data for programme development
An analysis of the area to be developed (Upper Meza Valley) revealed the potential, the problems and the obstacles
against development of the potential. These were manifested in the following way:
the process of global restructuring of the area's economic base caused high unemployment (stagnation of
the traditional industry which represented 70% of the area's GNP; closing of the mines which were a major
source of employment; the changing market conditions for agriculture);
efforts by individual developers did not influence the economic situation to any great extent as
unemployment continued to rise; and
there is a rich supply of natural resources such as forests, landscape, geographic location suitable for rural
tourism, a rich natural and cultural heritage, people qualified in traditional skills relating to wood
processing, metal and machinery industries.
The conclusions for this analysis were: that the overall potential for development is good and there is opportunity for
individual entrepreneurial initiative and ideas but the following obstacles must be overcome:
lack of information and specific knowledge relating to farming and industry;
lack of investment and start-up capital (labour intensive industry; low income structure and a negative
image of the area for investments from outside);
poor access to markets (lack of knowledge of available information and poor infrastructure); and
lack of infrastructure in the area for development of new economic activities.
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To overcome the outlined obstacles it was necessary to organize the individual development of the area into a
comprehensive united development activity through a community effort. This opened up opportunities for further
development in relation to accessing information, start up capital and for assuring the necessary infrastructure
conditions in the area for the development of new economic activities and for the future quality of life.
The concept
The concept was that ALP be established as a Community Partnership Company and that it should be:
owned by local communities, companies and individuals, as equal shareholders, managing the company
on the basis of common development strategy and operational programmes;
operated as an non-profit making organization, which is investing its income and profit into the
priority development activities in the area;
operated as a development agency, which is covering and supporting the whole development process,
from the business idea generation, consultancy in business planning and development, designing, training,
towards the financial and marketing support; and
operate as an incubator, supporting the development of new businesses from the beginning until they are
ready for independent, successful development.
The partners
The partners in the company, who expressed their interest in shareholding, are:
the local communities of: Ravne na Koroskem; Crna na Koroskem; Mezica and Zerjav;
the existing industry i.e. Mezica lead and zinc mine with its seven companies; forestry and wood
processing industry and two tourism (hotel) companies;
private companies in the field of tourism (seven accommodation and food providers) and private
companies in the field of services (five units);
the development and consultancy agencies (six existing companies); and
farmers, farm co-operatives and some individual farmers.
In the first phase thirty companies and individuals signed the agreement to join the company. The input for each
member for the establishment of the company was from 50 000 to 200 000 Slovenian Tolars (about 250-1000).
The strategy
According to the potential and the needs defined in the Development Programme, the company strategy will be
mainly oriented towards:
assuring professional assistance in generating and developing new economic activities in the area through:
- creating an entrepreneurial climate in the area;
- providing motivational and training activities for potential entrepreneurs;

- providing in one place at a reduced cost professional high quality and regular support in developing new
businesses at reduced rates and adapted to the real needs of the community; and
- providing business services for new entrepreneurs, offering space, administration and accounting services.
assuring harmonised, systematic and long term quality development of the activities in the prospective
development fields through:
- tourism development: realisation of the community tourism offer of 'King's Matjaz Park'; raising the
quality of the existing tourism offer; developing new activities; developing marketing strategy;
- wood processing: organizing forestry and basic production; motivating and supporting development of
new activities in processing; and
- development of new programmes adapted to the traditional industry: exploring existing knowledge, places
and equipment.
assuring the necessary infrastructure conditions in the area through:
- environmental planning and protection: avoiding further ecological problems and conflicts;
- organizing building and industrial zones; and
- developing physical infrastructure: traffic connections, communications, water supply.
ALP Operational programme. Priority projects and activities
The ALP Operational Programme as outlined includes the priority projects and activities for the year of initiation
1994-95. These include:
establishment of the local development company;
entrepreneurship and small business development; and
development of the prospective economic activities.
Establishment of the local development company
Elaboration of the concept, organization of the community partnership in developing and marketing the products of
the area
Why?
Professionalisation of the community development efforts with the establishment of a partnership company is a new
concept in the Nov'na Organization. Therefore to be successful in the pilot example (in the Upper Meza Valley) it
has to be systematically and efficiently prepared and developed.
Aims and purpose
- To collect and adopt suitable experiences from other countries in the field of organizing community
development activities;
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- to develop an appropriate methodology for the concept of community partnership companies;

- to define organizational issues and rules for the company; and
- to prepare a strategy and an operational plan for managing the company.
Expected results
- An elaboration of the concept and methodology for the Community Partnership Company in Slovenia;
- an organizational system, management and development; and
- a strategy and an operational plan.
In this development, experience from EU member countries (Ireland and Scotland), where the concept is known and
successful, will be adapted to the Meza Valley environment. The transfer of this model and experience to other parts
of Slovenia can offer an opportunity for change at a time when the whole system of communal organization is in the
process of change.
Financing
Financing sources will be:
- EU contributions for technical support from Ireland; and
- Ministry for Economic Affairs of Slovenia, small business development fund.
Building renewal and equipment
Why?
In the Upper Meza Valley there is no community or business centre suitable for developing common activities and
services. On the other hand there are a lot of unexplored buildings in the area.
One of the partners in the company, i.e. the Forestry organization, offered the company a building in the centre of
Crna na Koroskem, which can be developed into a company seat and business centre for the whole area.
The valley, which is known for hard industry (mining), with no tradition in small businesses and entrepreneurship
and which has a very typical rural Slovenian settlement (two local centres, more than twenty small villages and a lot
of individual farms in the high mountains), needs a Development Centre to provide support and services.
Aims and purpose
- To develop a community business centre in the unoccupied building, provided free of charge by the
Forestry organization to the ALP Company;
- to organize suitable places for Company offices, administration service, education and training needs and
a business incubator; and
- to assure the necessary technical equipment for the business support centre.

Expected results
The provision of:
- five offices for the Company and for the business administration service, with all the necessary
equipment;
- two centres for information and training activities; and
- business incubator with four units suitable for organizing new businesses in the fields of services and
domestic crafts.
Financing
Financing sources will be:
- EU contribution for technical equipment;
- company investment, input from the partners;
- donors;

- credit; and

- national funds for development of depopulated areas.

Entrepreneurship and small business development
Business centre development
Why?
There are five consultancy and development agencies in the Community of Ravne na Koroskem, there is also a lot
of specific knowledge in other companies in the area, which is not recognised nor offered to the potential users. On
the other hand, in the area there are more than 220 private companies and enterprises, which are searching for the
development and administration support for their businesses. There are more than 500 unemployed people, with a
growing potential of unemployment from existing industry. There is a generation of about 110 young school students
with almost no job opportunities and there are farmers, looking for opportunities to supplement their income, which
is badly needed in the high mountain farms. All of them are potential users of the business centre, because they are
thinking about self employment but they do not know how to start. Many people need to do something but they do
not know what and how; they may have already started a business but do not know how to manage finance and
marketing; others want to expand their business but they do not have money and knowledge.
Aims and purpose
To develop a business centre with appropriate offices in order to:
- provide all the necessary support for small business development in the area;
- offer administration, accounting and consultancy services at favourable costs;
- ensure that all existing knowledge in the area will be organized and used; and
- provide all services from one central venue.
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Expected results
- Business incubator for four new businesses;
- employment for three young qualified people who will be able to service at least one quarter of the
existing small businesses; and
- organization of a consultancy group leading to better utilisation of existing knowledge in the local
development companies and other organizations, improved exchange of ideas and team work and needs
covered of all the target groups of people.
Financing
Financing sources will be:
- Ministry for Labour, Family and Social Affairs;
- Consultancy Business, partner's input; and
- Ministry for Economic Affairs, small business development fund.
Motivation and training activities for small business development
Why?
There is a negative climate and image in the area which needs to be changed. This is due to the poor economic
structure, poor income, traditional thinking and general stagnation with rising unemployment. Some entrepreneurs
have taken the initiative for self employment, but all of the potential entrepreneurs face the same problems at the
beginning i.e. how to start, where to get money, how to organize and how to avoid the risk involved in new
businesses. There is a lack of information and specific knowledge on these aspects.
There are a lot of motivation and training programmes for entrepreneurship and small business development in
Slovenia. But mostly, they are too far away, they are expensive and they are not relevant to the needs of all target
groups. Training programmes which are tailored to the 'needs' of the people concerned are required.
Aims and purpose
- To organize systematic motivational activities in the area for idea generation, job creation and self
employment through information exchange, presentations, workshops and training programmes for
unemployed people, young people, farmers, etc.;
- to organize training in entrepreneurship, testing ideas, business planning;
- to organize training in management, marketing and other business functions;
- to organize training for special needs in tourism, services and manufacturing; and
- to organize 'training of trainers' for people involved in development activities for project leaders and for
potential managers
Expected results

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According to the needs expressed in the preparation phase of the project, there will be about 150 people involved in
different kinds of motivational and training activities in the first year. A group of ten people will be involved in the
'training of trainers' programme through the technical support given by the EU project and partners.
Financing
- EU contribution for training programme for the Group of Project Leaders and Consultants;
- Ministry for Economic Affairs, subsidising the cost for the training programmes in entrepreneurship and
business development;
- Ministry for Economic Affairs, fund for tourism development for specialised training for tourism
providers; and
- Ministry for Labour, Family and Social Affairs, workshops for unemployed people.
Development of the prospective economic activities
Tourism.
Wood processing.
Traditional industry.
Development of the community tourism product 'King's Matjaz Park'
Marketing strategy' and promotion
Why?
The King's Matjaz Park has a cultural and historic significance which provides attractions for both natives and
foreigners. Therefore, a global promotional strategy is being prepared under the brand name of King's Matjaz Park'.
This will include a marketing and communication plan which will market benefits and features and will be
supported by promotional material and action.
Aims and purpose
- To prepare a systematic and quality programme for changing the negative image of the area (as an
industrial area with ecological damages) to an area with a new trade mark 'King's Matjaz Park', which will
focus on a specific quality tourism offer that is community owned; and
- to develop suitable informational materials and to organize promotional activities.
Expected results
- A portfolio with a representative prospect of the Upper Meza Valley;
- a folder map and catalogue of the tourism offer;
- guides for thematic tourist roads;

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- an information terminal;
- signposts and route markings in the Park;
- postcards; and
- organized promotional activities for marketing 'within' and 'without'.
Financing
- EU contribution, preparation and materials;
- partners' contributions, financing the activities; and
- Ministry for Economic Affairs, Tourism Department, co-financing the promotional materials.
Information centre of King's Matjaz Park
Why?
The essential tourism infrastructure in the area is developed (hotels, inns and restaurants, ski facilities) but nobody
really markets them and because of that they are empty and in bad condition. The potential for tourism development
is great but the information infrastructure for its promotion is poor.
Aims and purpose
- To establish a professional marketing structure for tourism offer in the Meza Valley;
- to organize a central information office for promotion and booking of the existing tourism offer; and
- to organize tourism packages and linkages between the carriers.
Expected results
- An organized Tourism Centre in a suitable building (old) centrally located with professional staff end the
necessary equipment;
- organized relevant information about the existing tourism offer in the Meza Valley;
- organized packages and guided activities for tourists; and
- an organized central booking system.
Financing
- EU contributions for office technical equipment;
- partners' contributions for collecting and organizing information; and
- Ministry for Labour, Family and Social Affairs, costs for the employees (public works).

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Arrangement of the thematic tourist roads

Why?
In the initial project of the 'King's Matjaz Park' (KMP) there are several thematic tourist roads planned as mountain
bike roads, historical roads, geological roads, etc. These roads will contribute to the whole tourism offer and attract
specific target groups of tourists. Development of thematic roads will also be the basis for further development of
the supplementary services and tourism offer for the potential carriers in the mountainous rural surroundings.
Aims and purpose
- To signpost all the important elements of the natural and cultural heritage and to include them into the
tourism offer. There are more than sixty dendrological, geomorphological, hydrological and botanic
monuments and many other ethnologic and cultural monuments; and
- to develop and signpost the interesting recreational roads on and around the Peca mountain, such as
climbing and mountain bike roads.
Expected results
- Signposted marked roads for mountain bikers; marathon around the Peca mountain (common programme
with the neighbouring country) and 'Wild hunt', marathon roads for children; and
- signposted and marked historical roads with interpretation points as 'miners' road' and 'Geotrans',
presentation of the mining tradition and history.
Financing
- EU contributions for the preparation of the interpretations;
- Ministry for Labour, Family and Social Affairs for signposting and arranging the roads (public works);
and
- Ministry for Education and Sports for preparation of the educational materials on the historical roads.
Tourism attraction 'underground of Peca Mountain '
Why?
The area, which is not known as a tourist destination, needs a special element to attract tourists. The 300 year old
mining tradition is the most important heritage of the area and this can provide the much needed attraction for the
area. Within the initial project, a programme for development of the interpretation centre in the old mining shaft on
the mountain is being prepared. In about 1.5 km of shafts, tourists will be able to see the development of mining
over 300 years, the life of miners in different historical periods and natural development of minerals. Such
attractions cannot be found anywhere place else in Slovenia or in neighbouring countries.
Aim and purpose
- To transform a 1.5 km of the shaft into the oldest mining settlement on the Peca mountain into an
interpretation centre, which will attract different target groups of tourists in the area.
Expected results
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- Design the presentations in 1.5 km of old mining shaft;

- development of the tourism company which will ensure approximately seven working places for the mine
workers (the mine will be closed in two years);
- development of supporting tourism elements in the surrounding area (in the mountain village of Helena);
- in the long term ensure more than ten new working places; and
- attract 20 000 tourists in the first two years.
Financing
- Ministry for Economic Affairs for technical arrangement of the shaft, education and pre-qualification of
the potential employees;
- EU contribution for designing the scenography in the shaft; and
- individual investors for developing the tourism offer in the outside buildings.
Development of the ski-fields on the Peca Mountain
Why?
On the other Austrian side of the Peca mountain there is already a well known ski centre. Development of the
common facilities on both the Slovenian and the Austrian side of Peca is an old idea which is now an opportunity for
development. The plan includes extending the ski fields from the Austrian side across the top of the mountain to the
Slovenian side as well as the development of ski-lifts and support services. This will be supported by investment
from the Austrian partners.
Aims and purpose
- Establishment of the joint-venture company for development of the ski capacities on Peca mountain; and
- development of the ski fields on the top of Peca mountain, with connection to both Austrian ski centres
and Slovenian local centres.
Expected results
- Two ski-lifts on the Slovenian side (1900 m) in the first phase (1995); and extension of the ski fields on
the Slovenian side and the development of other necessary infrastructure on the Slovenian side.
Financing
- Austrian partners, investment in ski-lifts; and
- Slovenian partners, investment in local infrastructure and local centres.
Development of the hotel Planinka in Crna Na Koroskem
Why?
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In the privatisation process, the local Community of Crna na Koroskem became the owner of the Hotel Planinka in
the town centre which represents the basic tourism infrastructure and the largest accommodation facility in the area.
The hotel is in a very bad condition. The planned tourism offer of KMP demands a high quality infrastructure.
Aims and purpose
- To raise the category of the Hotel, to adapt its offer to the high quality needs; and
- to extend its offer from accommodation and food only to include elements that are needed in the area (e.g.
recreation facilities).
Expected results
- Adaptation of the building which is categorised as a pension into a four-star hotel; and
- exploration of the existing building i.e. unused spaces for the different supplementary elements of the
tourism offer which will ensure new jobs and employment.
Financing
- Austrian partner for investment in accommodation facilities; and
- local partners for investment in supplementary activities.

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