Opening a internet cafe in spain?

trigga

Hi there, im planning on opening a internet cafe with a friend of mine in a tourist area in spain, I have enough money for everything i need, and i know what i need to do. im currently looking to rent a place around 300 euro a month so plus with internet and electricity will be around 450 a month so it would be like €15 euro a day to break even.

Main concerns im having are on the legal side. Do i just sign for a place to rent set up the computers and stuff and take everything in cash. Do i have to register as a business or something? How do i pay tax. Do i just open a business bank account and put the money in there?

help?

brightonman123

i would see if it works in the UK first.. expand if successful, or buy into an existing one over there..?

no idea re the legal stuff, either here or Spain!

Savvy_Sue

Having spent a couple of holidays in Spain not so long ago, and looking at what's happening in the UK, and knowing someone who opened one in France and then closed it, there's a few things to consider, apart from the legal issues.

I think of internet cafes as soulless places with cubicles, coffee and not a lot else. I've never been in one since my friend's closed (and his was a bit different!): I always choose cafes with free wifi these days, where the focus is on the food and drink with the internet as a sideline.

There are even some cafes with free wifi where you can borrow a laptop!

so what sort of cafe are you planning to open? The answer to that question is very important.

Location is everything, and is the one factor you can't change.

Have you ever lived in Spain? do not even think of running a business out there until you have some idea of how their bureaucracy works. It's quite different to ours: some things are a great improvement, but others ...

Likewise get advice from an expert in Spanish business planning.

If you don't speak Spanish fluently, start learning now. You will spend a fortune on translators otherwise.

But what my friend learned is that you can't run a cafe and have a life. You might manage it for a while, with minimal staff, but you HAVE to open when you say you will, or you lose business. Even if you don't feel like it, even if the sun is shining and you'd rather be on the beach, even if you're ill or the dog's just died. He coped until his wife was in hospital, with two children to get to and from school.

paulwf

trigga wrote: »

im currently looking to rent a place around 300 euro a month so plus with internet and electricity will be around 450 a month so it would be like €15 euro a day to break even.

Sorry but that sounds a bit naive to me. I have no idea what is required in Spain but in the UK costs include:

- Advertising
- Accountant (and you'll need a good one, UK tax and VAT laws are difficult to understand at the best of times let alone Spanish rules)
- Water rates
- Business rates
- Waste collection contract
- Insurance for premises, public liability and employers liability
- PRS license (i.e. a license to play music)
- Repairs - leases are generally fully repairing so be careful of that, plus you will need to upgrade and repair computers over time and any bits of furniture...customers won't treat your property with respect and there will be lots of them so everything wears out a lot faster than at home.

There's probably a lot more I've missed as it is too early in the morning for me, and there is lots of silly stuff like having to pay to get fire extinguishers checked and first aid certificates renewed.

I haven't mentioned anything about catering as I'm not sure whether you were planning on serving any food and drink?

Again, I have no idea what the situation is in Spain but will a €300 a month premises really be in a prime location with enough space? Given how low the hourly charge is at internet cafes how many customers a week will you need to break even including paying your wages?

Any business plan should also consider the future potential, at least for the next 5 years. Netbooks and smart phones (iPhone etc) combined with wifi hotspots have changed the way we access the net on holiday so much over the last 2 years but I wouldn't be surprised if their usage doubles in the next 2 years...what is your plan then?

Savvy_Sue

All that paul says is stuff I'd have thought of too, eventually.

pitkin2020

Have to agree with Paul, to "cost" everything other than rent at less than £150 euros seems a bit naive. Not only have you got the additional costs paul has already listed your going to need to provide a decent internet connection. If you only intend to run 2 computers a standard one line broadband connection will do, if you plan on running a few computers your going to need an expensive broadband connection which could even set you back 150 euros a month.

Have you actually found somewhere to rent for 300 euros a month or is that just what you would like to pay? I suspect rent for a half decent location is going to be a little more.

I may be wrong but I don't think you have actually made a decent plan yet and this is purely an idea that if you don't plan properly and just rush into will make you bankrupt within 6 months.

Savvy_Sue

Also, if you are taking over an existing cafe, do make sure you see the full accounts and read the lease / rental agreements very very carefully. We were chatting to someone on Lanzarote who described how a vague friend had taken over a cafe where his wife had worked. He said "You really must check the accounts" and their reply was "Oh no, I know it's taking about X euros a month, that's what they've told me." He knew from his wife that it was nothing like that, and when this 'friend' started up he found the same, AND that most of the equipment was leased separately and was removed before he moved in.

Needless to say it all ended in tears ...

trigga

Hi there again, Well yes i live in spain, and yes i have seen a place for 300 euro in the right location! i have been to the area many times for holiday and its mostly young people 17 - 25 me actually being in this age group knows that people dont bring there laptops on a clubbing holiday but find themselves using the expensive internet cafes in the hotel or other internet cafes to check in online, facebook, im not going to take over an exsiting one i am going to buy some all in one pcs from dell brand new that cost around 380 i have super computer knowledge and know how to set up all the networks and internet cafe software.

The main help i need with is do i just rent the place throw some pcs in there and take in cash, do i need some sort of licence to trade or to be open or something, do i have to register a business name ?

TM1976

Irrespective of whether you business model works or not and I have some reservations your chances of getting advice on running a business in Spain and the tax/trading regulations on here is virtually nil.

Try asking some other expat business owners in Spain where you live.

pitkin2020

As above, this is primarily a UK forum, maybe google spanish business forums and see what comes up. You really need to speak with someone in the same country that knows the legality of that particular country.

jfdi

Is it just me? We've not used an Internet Cafe for YEARS - & certainly never paid to use one even when we did!

And the last few years when we've gone away have managed with mobiles & lappies & free WiFi - even with a Farmville addicted son!

Surely in europe, at least, there's not a future there?