newbie....business ideas

[mrsunshine]

hi all
where do i start?
myself, wife and 2 children are looking to move to Spain hopefully next year at the start of the tourist season.
We've talked of it for years but with the imminent prospect of redundancy and few local opportunities with my experience I think its now or never.
Favourite location is Costa blanca which weve driven from Carthengena to Javea checking out potential places to settle.
But the other big desision obviously is work!
If im honest i dont really have any transferable skills, but am honest, hard working, and reasonably intelligent. (at least i think so)
I have had a few ideas but the one i would love to do is run a parasail boat.
I have costed the equipment and could fund them thro the sale of our house leaving around 30k for renting over there and other expenses.
Am i dreaming?...I am really sick of the UK, hate the weather its gets me down, and starting up a similar business in UK would be impossible.
I suppose im looking for encouragement, or to be told im being stupid....
If this seems viable where do I start to plan my life, soo much to think of and if Im honest it frightens me to death.....but I know if I can get through the first year and keep a float (no pun intended) then there would be no turning back.
Look forward to any replies

[jojo]

Originally Posted by mrsunshine

hi all
where do i start?
myself, wife and 2 children are looking to move to Spain hopefully next year at the start of the tourist season.
We've talked of it for years but with the imminent prospect of redundancy and few local opportunities with my experience I think its now or never.
Favourite location is Costa blanca which weve driven from Carthengena to Javea checking out potential places to settle.
But the other big desision obviously is work!
If im honest i dont really have any transferable skills, but am honest, hard working, and reasonably intelligent. (at least i think so)
I have had a few ideas but the one i would love to do is run a parasail boat.
I have costed the equipment and could fund them thro the sale of our house leaving around 30k for renting over there and other expenses.
Am i dreaming?...I am really sick of the UK, hate the weather its gets me down, and starting up a similar business in UK would be impossible.
I suppose im looking for encouragement, or to be told im being stupid....
If this seems viable where do I start to plan my life, soo much to think of and if Im honest it frightens me to death.....but I know if I can get through the first year and keep a float (no pun intended) then there would be no turning back.
Look forward to any replies

The grass is always greener..... I'm not gonna say anything about any business plans, what I will say is that I have been totally and utterly dissappointed with the weather here. The houses or the lifestyle isnt designed for the cold. Since mid october it has been cold, its rained and its been windy. One or two sunny days in between, but the nights are freezing and its costing the earth trying to dry clothes and heat one room. I've scraped ice off my windscreen more mornings than I care to think about and Spain is just as miserable - if not worse than the UK when its cold.

Sorry if that sounds miserable, but thats how it is. I havent taken my outdoor coat off since I went out at 9am this morning, cos the house is sooooo cold. I doubt its gonna warm up much til at least March/April

If you do come over here - DO NOT BURN YOUR BRIDGES! Plan your return before you leave!!

Jo

[Stravinsky]

Hiya

We're in the area you are looking at. We have no frost here, and although it does tend to get a bit wet at certain periods Nov through Feb, I'm relatively happy with the climate

You have to expect some relatively high power bills in the winter, we pay about €90 a month for heating etc.

But having said that I've been outside in my T shirt recently, and even now in the high winds we are experiencing today Its still 60ish.

You'll need to do a lot of research into a parasail boat, for I believe you need something like a masters licence, not sure of the exact name, but I remember someone trying to start a skiboat business and in the end the beaurocracy and licencing was so heavy that he gave up

[MRVT]

Even if you have an international certificate of competence from the RYA (which you need to even drive a boat here), as soon as you become resident, it will become invalid. You will then need all your qualifications to be done in Spanish. The red tape will be an absolute minefield, and that's even before you can find a site to use as you cannot operate within 200 meters of the shoreline!

[jojo]

I said I wouldnt mention the business side of things cos I'm not up on all the rules and reg, but one thought about the parasailing thing would be the reaction of the existing guys doing it in whatever area you decide. I doubt they'd take too kindly to a "foriegner" coming along to dilute their business.

Judging by other responses, maybe a re-think? I'm beginning to wonder what businesses would be started up in Spain that would be viable?

Jo

[griz616]

Originally Posted by jojo

I said I wouldnt mention the business side of things cos I'm not up on all the rules and reg, but one thought about the parasailing thing would be the reaction of the existing guys doing it in whatever area you decide. I doubt they'd take too kindly to a "foriegner" coming along to dilute their business.

Judging by other responses, maybe a re-think? I'm beginning to wonder what businesses would be started up in Spain that would be viable?

Jo

Hi
How about an employment agency, find some work for "temps" works in england evan with no full time jobs available? griz

[jojo]

Originally Posted by griz616

Hi
How about an employment agency, find some work for "temps" works in england evan with no full time jobs available? griz

Would need fluent Spanish I think and most work seems to be "word of mouth" and "who you know", unless you can think of a way round any of that???

Jo

[chris(madrid)]

Originally Posted by griz616

Hi How about an employment agency, find some work for "temps" works in england evan with no full time jobs available? griz

This is true and could work. But fluent Spanish will be a MUST.

The point is that even if you decided to dilute your business by targeting only expat customers - you'll find you'd end up needing other languages for STAFF - Why? - because ime there are STACKS of other nationalities out there that are prepared to work longer hours and for less.

The start up cycle is NOT short - we've a friend here who has an agency. One point - DO NOT BUY INTO ONE OF THE FRANCHISES. Our friend find that the BEST employees are Eastern Europeans btw. She helped us find a cleaning help - Romanian lady speaks excellent Spanish. Works hard and well.

[SteveHall]

But who would fund an agency? I have been interviewing for staff back to back for a couple of weeks and it has cost me 42 euros in total for one small add in the Swedish monthly paper. Other than that it's been word of mouth, expat web sites (free ads) and a couple of posters in the Norwegian and Finnish club. There is no way I would pay anybody 2/3 euros an hour more for finding a cleaner or a 1000 euros for finding an employee when there are hundreds fighting for every position at the moment.

In the 80s my ex-wife ran 4 employement agencies and people were often desperate for temporary staff (I even had to turn up on a night shift as so she did not lose a valuable contract!) That was then and this is now!

[chris(madrid)]

Originally Posted by SteveHall

But who would fund an agency? ---- There is no way I would pay anybody 2/3 euros an hour more for finding a cleaner or a 1000 euros for finding an employee when there are hundreds fighting for every position at the moment.

Depends a bit where you live. I was of the same mind.

Where we are - we looked long and hard - but found the choice though plentiful - lacking in standard. And if your Spanish is dodgy - you're open to all sorts of "misunderstandings".

We've a friend with an agency and she made us a present of her fee - which was nice though not expected. The lady who comes to us travels a good 40kms each way - she is really excellent at her job. What's more if she cant make it one day - the agency would send us a replacement. Though generally we simply wait - trust is a strong factor afaic.

If you want full time help then I'd deal direct with all the palaver of SS etc - but for a couple of hours a week - it's not worth the hassle imo, Steve.