air conditioning

Hello everybody,

I'm new to this site,and looking for advice.

I'm an air conditioning/refrigeration engineer and am looking to starting a business in Spain,dealing with domestic,industrial and commercial air conditioning and refrigeration.I will also be offering a mobile vehicle air con service.

What I would like to know is,where do I start?

Can anybody advise me as to the best areas,where this kind of business would take off.

Also,can anybody tell me about the likely pitfalls I'm possibly going to come across.

Any info or advice would be gladly appreciated.Thanks for your help

Hi Bigalf,

I would guess that Airconditioning engineers are in demand, especially in the developing areas such as Murcia where many major new developments are taking place.  But it's the type of skill that is in demand all over Spain, especially if you have industrial A/C experience.

The thing in your favour is that many people buying off-plan, don't always want to go to the major suppliers or the developers for their air-conditioning due to the extra cost, but often don't have a choice as they don't know anyone, so it's often a case of getting yourself known and getting a good reputation, which takes time, but probably worth it in the end.

I have a friend in Malaga who runs his own A/C company.  He's only been there for a couple of years and he said it started slowly but now he's struggling to keep up with the demand.  The thing is, you'll get asked about other things to such as pool pumps when they fail, because people see you with your electrical gear and say things like 'hey! do you know anything about...', know what I mean?

I would start by trying to get over a couple of times to different areas, just for say 3/4 days, drive around and get a feel for the place.  You want to be able to live and work in a place you'll like and where there is potential business. 

Cheers,

Hi Bigalf, the first and possibly the most important thing is, do you speak Spanish?

To get the best prices from the wholesalers and to deal with the commercial side of your business you will have to be able to negotiate the prices in Spanish, or possibly suffer paying higher prices.

Once you have mastered the language you need to brush up on the Spanish versions of the air-conditioning units as they still sell old spec. systems as well as the new spec, and they have different brand names.

Example costs for a 2 bedroom property;

From; 1x 12000 btu and 2 x 9000 btu units R407C gas standard split Daitsu units (hot & cold) are 1.625,00€ installed.

To; 1x 12000 btu fujitsu unit, 2 x 9000 btu units (hot & cold) all in inverters  2,499.00 € installed.

 When you have mastered these first two things there are loads of new builds on the Costa’s that require air-conditioning, so if you can convince the punters that your honest, reliable and can give competitive quotes (recommendations are the way to go) you’ll be well employed, but be prepared to have to put in the hours!  

Sping.