The biggest story we never told

Post by Rimi

As we near the end of one of the most difficult years for the tourism industry, ​we have PLENTY to be thankful for. And boy, do we have a story to tell…​

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Cue dreamy music and blur to flashback: November 2015 
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​We are racing to submit our incentives application. A critical factor in our financial planning for MINUVIDA rests on getting a government incentive that would reimburse us for up to 70% of construction costs. 

After extensive research and our consultants’ expert opinion, we are certainly a shoe-in for the funding, as ours is one of the best projects they’ve seen. 

Our application is IN! The first one in that year´s round. 

We start construction with bullish confidence, a massive renovation project to transform a dilapidated villa into Quinta Minuvida. 

But something wasn't right.

We were supposed to receive an answer in "about two months" from our application. But nothing. When we inquired, government bureaucrats informed us that our application needed extensive revisions due to new, stricter program requirements. So we scrambled to resubmit information, which ultimately wasn't deemed satisfactory by the program deadline.

Instead of receiving 70% of our construction costs back, we were not going to receive a dime.

I felt like the rug had been swept out from under us.

Meanwhile, construction continues. We sold everything, including our condo in Boston, liquidated mutual funds and invested our life savings. We went to local banks and applied for a construction loan. No one cared about our past successes. They wanted three years of operating history. Tough luck.

This was truly rock bottom, I thought. (My post-pandemic self is now giggling) 

However, we had planned for this possibility.

This was "worst-case scenario".

So we changed a few things in our construction plans. Value engineering. Ah, now I get this term.

We started small. We made our own decorations with driftwood and lots of love. We started with the basics and reinvested as we grew. We only put the fancy local wood floor in the yoga studio nearly two years after opening.

We had some really amazing first guests who didn’t mind the bare rooms and minimal furnishings. It was the experience that mattered.

Maybe that’s how it should be. 

Yes, I even learned how to use a machete.

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This was truly rock bottom, I thought. 

However, we had planned for this possibility.

This was "worst-case scenario".

At the start of 2020, we celebrated five years since moving to the Azores and launching MINUVIDA. We were keenly aware of how focusing on the triple bottom line (people, planet and profit), and PURPOSE has lead to tremendous personal and professional success. 

Celebrations + Gratitude
Thanks to our experiences starting MINUVIDA, the pandemic wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. We learned then to plan for the worst-case scenario. 

We reopened this past May with a nearly sold-out summer season and successfully hosted three group retreats rescheduled from 2020. 

As the year winds down, we are reminded of what led to our success: 

Aligning decisions with values: Purpose + Planet
We are an intentional, sustainable business. Not all our business decisions are about turning a profit.

We receive dozens of requests to host groups and yoga retreats every year and say NO to most of them. What?! It’s worth spending the time to find the right people rather than quickly fill rooms with the wrong ones. Been there, done that.

While many businesses make a significant portion of revenue on alcohol sales, we have chosen not to sell alcohol at all, a decision that supports our mission to help people connect with their wiser selves. 

We have five full-time employees, as well as a varying number of part-time staffers. We partner with businesses on a regular basis to support our transportation and meals needs for our burgeoning groups and retreat market. We purchase artisanal bath products from a local supplier. Our success leads to their success.

You're unlikely to find another business on this island with the guest to staff ratio at Quinta Minuvida and most people here think we are crazy to carry such high operational expenses. 

By focusing on what we do best, João and I have put our efforts in generating the kind of revenue that permits our high employment levels. We have focused on growing the top line, not trimming the bottom line.

We have also adopted a thrifty lifestyle. We wouldn't care if our staff had better cars or clothes than us. It would be a testament to our success. And of course we don't give a damn about what kind of house, car or suit our business peers parade around the island.

Moreover, our sustainability pledge has one of its strongest pillars in our commitment to provide local employment and fair wages in an impoverished community. 

We will never sell out
We have seen our favorite places getting written up in the New York Times and then getting overwhelmed, exhausted and burned out and then having to outsource so they could stay sane, losing "what made them special" with it. 

What we are doing is really special. We want to make it ever more special. We want to remember the people that come through our property. We want to welcome them back. 

So, we have chosen to give our best those who chose us. And we are taking planned weeks off so we can rest and recharge.
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ANNOUNCING: MYMINUVIDA PROGRAM
We are inviting you to even more intimate and exclusive experiences with us on a application only basis.