When Joaquin Pinto Ferrand came to Malta on holiday, he was intrigued with the country’s history and culture, but he had never thought he would be launching a multi-national business from the island. For the Peruvian it was love at first sight, as some years later, he , decided to enrol in an MBA in Malta and eventually laid down roots on the island. While perusing his studies, he met Juan, his business partner and a short five years later, at just 39, they are looking at internationalisation and establishing a permanent presence in a number of countries across the globe.

Quite the dizzying ride, which started from the oddest of places, yet the most significant. “Studying in Malta we realised that all students, but especially those coming from Latin America were experiencing the same difficulties. They had issues with getting their Visas sorted, with finding accommodation and logistics in general. It can be quite hard to navigate a completely foreign country in a language you might not be proficient in,” Joaquin Pinto Ferrand from Boom Studies Malta explains.

“We were experiencing it all first hand, and we quickly realised that there wasn’t really someone who was doing anything about it the way we wanted to tackle the issue. That is when we understood that this could really be an opportunity for a business venture – and that is how Boom Studies was born.”

In fact, Boom Studies takes students from Latin American countries, such as Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, and Colombia by the hand, and helps them navigate their way to a studying trip to Malta – helping them get around the forms and permits, and accessing high-quality services, making it an easy and enjoyable experience for all.

“Students appreciate when they are welcomed at the airport by someone who has been speaking to them via videocalls from way before – someone they recognise and who speaks their language. It provides them with a level of comfort and a sense of security for their parents. It is a real one-stop-shop that takes care of all the lose ends,” he continues.

“Customer satisfaction is extremely critical for our industry, and customers often consider the entire experience, from flight to flight, when asked how it went. This means that a smoother journey, with comfortable accommodation and a friendly welcome goes an extremely long way in making a customer happy. Schools know this and we are seeing more and more entities approaching us for help as we increasingly become leaders in this sector.”

In fact, schools might even be considering hiving off parts of the operation, farming it out to operators such as Boom Studies. “It makes a great deal of sense. Apart from increased customer satisfaction, it also makes good business sense for schools to trust us with taking care of their students, who we build a strong rapport with, even before they step on Maltese soil.”

Naturally growing a business in a fast-moving industry hasn’t been easy for Joaquin and his teams. “We did, and still do 14-hour days, to manage the workload, but we are lucky to have dedicated individuals who put their heart in the job and probably that is what is leading to our successes.”

With full time staff in Malta, Latin America, and a presence already established in Canada, Ireland and Dubai, management across 12 time zones is no joke and takes a great deal of coordination. “Sometimes we have to set meetings at 8pm, in order to make sure that we can have everyone on the call at a decent hour,” Joaquin remarks. “My background in the pharma industry thought me that while you need to have all the structures and procedures in place to ascertain quality and standards, you must remain flexible, in order not to hinder growth – that is perhaps the wealth I brought with me from my old industry, which I am very happy to adapt here,” he notes.

“There’s no fancy formula or a secret to success. You need to have a solid vision of where you want to go. Our vision is to be the leading platform for Latin American students who want to travel abroad for their studies, by no later than 2026. Not a small goal, we are aware, but this ambition empowers us to guarantee a quality service to our customers, to be present in different countries and be bold with every decision we take.”

Looking ahead, Joaquin expands about his vision for Boom Studies in the near future. “We believe that a hybrid presence is very relevant for our market, combining a strong presence in the countries of origin and destination of the students, with a high-quality online support across the board. Then it will be head-on internationalisation. Next in our journey we are looking at replicating our Malta success story to other countries where students will likely be interested to go and study. In fact, we already opened a subsidiary company of Boom Studies in Canada, and we are looking forward to replicate this in Ireland, and Dubai as well soon. Our current compliment of 40 employees is set to continue growing, as our Malta-based company is currently growing overseas.”

Asked about his experience starting a business from scratch in a completely foreign country, Joaquin has mixed feelings, yet he is extremely grateful that he persisted.

“Obviously it wasn’t easy and while Malta has an immense list of advantages such as being in the EU, in the Schengen area, the Euro, the common use of the English language and its strategic position, bureaucracy can get the better of an investor. It all comes at an additional cost, building your network from scratch, and finding the right people to help you. You need to be extra passionate about your dream, as opening a simple bank account or registering your company can be extremely disheartening in Malta,” Joaquin shares.

“My advice would be to roll out the red carpet for investors as sometimes the opposite impression is given. This is what determines choosing one country over the other. In Canada, we chose Montreal based on the help that was afforded to us – and its not even the largest city there – we literally couldn’t give up the excellent service that helped us, in the same way that we help our students.”

With a newly inaugurated boutique guest house in Sliema, Boom Studies has now taken its lodging capacity up to 200 own beds, while it still reaches out to third parties at peak seasons. “Our new boutique guest house is called  ‘Citizen Suites’, and this goes along with our values, as we truly believe that we are helping in creating a generation of global citizens.”

“This is what motivates us to grow and strive on. Seeing students coming from all sorts of backgrounds, furthering their studies and growing as well-rounded people,” Joaquin concludes.