Opening a internet cafe in spain?

Savvy_Sue

The OP thinks there is a future, at least among those who go on 'clubbing' holidays. I am not in a position to argue with him, since I never have and never will do such a thing, nor do I mix in such circles, even though all my sons are in his target age group.

However, while I can believe that you might not take your laptop on such a holiday, don't all you bright young things do internet on your mobiles these days?

And have you seen how small a netbook is? I can fit mine in my handbag. It then doubles as an offensive weapon if I swing it round my head. :rotfl:

And if you live in Spain, start asking questions there. Maybe start at the town hall? See if an expat wanting to start a business is welcomed with open arms, or frozen out.

trigga

Thanks alot guys ok will do. There are no free wifi zones in the area. even in the hotels you must pay alot which i did when i was looking for a apartment around here. Also using 3g internet over here is not only slow it is VERY expensive!!

taken from the o2 site i found out this, £3 per MB, which really isnt alot! most people will not even turn on there mobile in another country because of the ridiculous rates. Why not pay 1euro and surf fast internet on a real computer.

i have researched alot on the internet and have also been around the exisiting internet cafes in the area.

pitkin2020

Sounds like you have done your research on your target audience and the intended area. If you think its viable then give it a go. Like I said try and find some spanish sites for legailty of setting up a business or as Savvy_Sue said pop down the town hall and see what they say. From what I do know about business in spain, don't expect this to happen over night as I beleive they have a lot of red tape and they are never rushed. Just make sure you comply with there rules and regs and you should be fine.

C_Mababejive

Many Spanish are ruthless business people and will bleed you dry..beware.

paulwf

Write a full business plan including start up costs and a five year turnover projection. Also fully cost your expenses as I outlined above. As others have pointed out you may need to get local help to fill in some sections of the plan as this is mainly a UK forum.

Without a plan you are destined to fail as it will make you prepare for every aspect of running a business.

One area that still concerns me is your turnover. Sure you might get lots of tourists but they might only be staying 15 minutes to have a quick check of their Facebook and email. They probably won't be staying all day as they have better things to do. Maybe I'm wrong...you'll need to hang out in the other cafes for a few days and find out.

Don't think that just because similar businesses exist yours will succeed. I could find any number of businesses where they don't draw a wage and perhaps a relative owns the building...make sure it can make a living for YOU.

What are your thoughts about where technology will be in 2 or 5 years time? At the moment netbooks and smart phones are nowhere near saturation point, but remember how digital cameras and mobile phones went from being rare to ubiquitous in the space of 5 years? (On that note I remember a photo developers that opened around 2001, can you guess what happened to the poor guy?) Mobile carriers have already come under a lot of pressure to alter their roaming charges and that will start to apply to 3G too. And if netbook uptake increase it is trivial for every bar in the area to give free wifi access.

briona

trigga wrote: »

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?

Hi trigga

There's one major thing I think you've overlooked here, and that's your social security payments.

To open a business, you would need to register as self-employed. Unfortunately in Spain when you register as 'autonomo' you pay a fixed rate of social security – currently around €260 pm – regardless of how much you earn. Then there's tax of about 20% and IVA (VAT), which are payable every quarter... When you factor all of the above in I suspect your break even costs would be considerably more than €15 per day!

For further information I suggest you post your questions on any of the following forums:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=75
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/spain-expat-forum-expats-living-spain/
http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/forum/
http://www.notesfromspain.com/forums/

Briona

briona

Also, I will be moving to Spain in a couple of months so I have been doing lots of reading up!

I bought a book called "Live & Work in Spain" by Guy Hobbes and Heleina Postings (see Amazon link below) and it says this: "Starting a new business involves a lot of bureaucracy, paperwork and hence legal fees. Even if you decide not to incorporate a company, you could find yourself waiting six months or so for the town council to approve an opening licence." from which I deduce that you are pretty much going to need the ayuntamiento's (town hall's) permission to open anything!

Further on in the book, it goes on to say that there are as many as 57 steps involved in starting a business (really!) and that there are minimum amounts of capital which need to be invested depending on the type of legal entity you choose.

I would advise looking into this further or you could find yourself being shut down (minus any cash you had invested) before you have even got going. And remember that you will be dealing with Spanish law, which is quite different to British law!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Work-Spain/dp/1854584308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263593499&sr=8-1

Briona

Information taken from the named book, chapter entitled "Starting a Business", pp300-347.

Savvy_Sue

briona's points have jigged my memory of some conversations with British ex pats in Spain, it's a huge step from being self employed unofficially to declaring and therefore working legally, all because of those NI payments.

SO different from the UK where you don't have to pay ANY NI when you first start as S/E as long as your earnings are very low.

And tax, from the Living Abroad thread on Silver Savers, is another ball game entirely with very complicated rules.

Savvy_Sue

briona's points have jigged my memory of some conversations with British ex pats in Spain, it's a huge step from being self employed unofficially to declaring and therefore working legally, all because of those NI payments.

SO different from the UK where you don't have to pay ANY NI when you first start as S/E as long as your earnings are very low.

And tax, from the Living Abroad thread on Silver Savers, is another ball game entirely with very complicated rules.

mum-of-3

trigga wrote: »

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?

A lot of these seem to be closing down abroad now as most hotels offer free wifi, with iphones etc thats all as a tourist people seem to need.
As a business customer they would take their laptops with them and again look for hotels, bars and restaurants which offer free wifi.
Would you be able to cover the locals too- can you speak spanish?