Moving to Spain..jobs business?

Question

moving to Alicante region my wife wants to set up a day spa, anybody there any thoughts or hints, we wish to have clients of all groups local and foreign.

Answer 1

Hi the previous answers are correct in many ways but at the end of the day if everyone decided it was too much hassle etc, nobody would do anything new. If you are going to start up a business I would suggest coming over here for a few months, maybe take a long holiday and rent an apartment in the area you are thinking of setting up the business. Then have a look at the premises available you do not have to buy you can rent properties so you are not tied, also see what competition if any is in the area, are there going to be people who would use your business. You would also have to get your NIE number which allows you to work, you can`t do nothing without this, I would also say Alicante is busy with tourists but it is a city so it will not be like places like Benidorm where there are mainly Brits. One last thing if you are going to set up a business here it is essential you learn spanish to quite a high level as it will make your life in Spain so much easier. All the best if you decide to go for it.

Answer 2

Pay more attention to what others wrote.

but here is the short of it:

you will fail.

Answer 3

I go along with what everyone else has said before.  It is not easy and you do need to do a lot of research and you need to speak the language.  A very lot of people have failed in business here.

Answer 4

Whenever you are looking at starting up a business, do the research, and do it carefully.  I see so many business coming and going so rapidly where I live, and the internationality doesn't even enter into it, here.  too many people think they can either charge a fortune for their services, to make a bundle, or that they can undercut the competition, and they fail to take into account ALL of their expenses (especially taxes) and all of a sudden, the business is closed.

Make sure you do ALL the research.

I believe that any venture in another country is going to be very difficult, because there are business practices and laws that you just won't understand until it is too late.

I assume you are British, because if you are not from an EU country, even owning your own business, you will want to have a work permit.

Too much red tape in Spain for my taste as far as starting up a business.  Take care with it.

Answer 5

Both focus and Sue (previous posts here) have given great advice. Loads of people think it´s easy here to survive and make decent money but it is not. I have lived here 17 years and the changes are incredible, we are saturated with Brits who open a business and then after a while they go bust and lose money. Some of them then go on t.v and bleat about how bad Spain is and how they got ripped off but it is simply a case of doing your homework before parting with your hard earned cash.

Focus has said the same as I would say........come rent a place for around a year (if you don´t speak the lingo then you can learn whilst here, it helps tremendously) get a real feel of living in Spain. It is not for everyone, just cos we have sun alot of people think they will be happy here, and some are not.

I am not trying to put you off but if you look in the local Brit press there are 100´s of businesses for sale.........why? They had the same dream as you. So sorry to be the bearer of more sad news like the others posted here. Good luck.

Answer 6

I most strongly advise that you rent a small villa and stay on 'holiday' for a while so you can check out the idea of setting up a business.  So many people have come over to Spain with similar ideas and found that it doesn't work.  They then find themselves in deep trouble .

Please check it out first as it can be a very expensive clanger.