I plan to start a business in Spain sooooooon!

My family owns an apartment in the Vega Baja, and in a couple of years we plan to sell up in the UK, sell our apartment and buy a family home in Sosta del Sol, largely because our daughter will need schooling - and we are led to believe that this area offers more options for internaltional schooling? Another possibility for an area is Alicante itself?

I have a small company in England in the engineering sector empoying only 5 people, I plan to generate a sister company in Spain and hoped that someone on here may point in in a direction so that I can begin the planning process. I plan to manufacture and repair whitemetal bearings such as my company in England does. I anticipate keeping the company in England operational, but focus most of my efforts in getting the business in Spain up and running-unless someone out there thinks I would be bvetter off selling it?

Anyone got any notions that can help me get this dream underway?

cheers

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Hi ruscoe
I haven't a clue about white bearings or what they do/are for!!
I see you haven't had any replies yet................
Be patient, I am sure someone knows about these bearing thingys in Spain!
Good luck with your venture, research is the best way forward before you take the plunge!
Kind regards,

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Thanks Fibby, I only posted it yesterday,and I appreciate your reply. I know most people won't know about whitemetal bearings, but somebody will - and hopefully someone who uses this forum.

you are a star
Paul

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Best thing you can do is get on a plane to wherever it is you plan to settle and find out. You can talk to the locals and see if there is a market for what you have - then you will know

Good luck

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Hi,

As far as I understand, white metal bearings are used in many applications in the engineering industry. As far as Spain is concerned, most engineering firms are located in the Ebro region, Barcelona, and the Bask country. You will find very few takers on the Costa del Sol, on average a thousand km removed from Spains industrial areas. So, if your company in the UK is doing fine, keep it, as you will need the income to live on the CDS. On the CDS, you find a wide choice of international schools, of which most are expensive and sadly lacking in standards. Because the state has more control over the standards of public schools, and hardly any over international schools, the results are mediocre. The so called international schools here offering an English curriculum are businesses, who pay for their accreditations but are seldom accountable. There are some good ones, but they are few and far between.

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Thanks for that,  intend to keep the business anyhow, however I do plan to set up a business doing this n Spain, I will look into what you have suggested and consider Barcelona. Again many thanks
Paul

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If you are planning to start a business you should apply these following:

If you have ever considered or even dreamed of going into business for yourself, you've already engaged in some degree of business planning. Most likely your planning was intertwined with your thoughts about the personal issues that accompany a decision to start your own business.

In its most general sense, business planning is all about taking your dream and turning it into reality. A business plan is the document you create when you take an idea for a commercial endeavor and work through all the factors that will have an impact on the successful startup, operation, and management of the business.

 

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Thanks for the message. I started a business in the UK in 2006, my wife started a midwifery degree inthe same year. We have long wanted tomove to Spain with our daughter and I would want to set up a sister business on the samegrounds as my current company - and allow my company in the UK to fund a start-up. We plan to move once my wife has qualified, wouldthere be an opportunity forher towork as a midwife in Spain-without being a fluent Spanish speaker?

My problem is I amstruggling todecide upon what region  to focus my attention, it will be an engineering company which repairs and manufactures white metal bearings primarily used in the power generation, utilites and chemical/oil industries. Would it make any difference where I located it?

 

cheers,Paul

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Hi Ruscoe, I don't know anything about engineering, so will leave that to others. However if your wife is qualified in the UK, is that transferable to Spain. Teaching qualifications are not. So take advice from a Spainish universits before your wife finishes her degree in case she needs to take additional units. Is she a qualified nurse. You will both need to learn Spanish, and will do in time, your daughter will teach you if she is young enough. There will be a need for English/Spanish midwifes in the English areas of Spain. And if qualified in Spain should be able to open her own practice, or with other clinicians, such as gynecologists. With the right research you may find that your wife will be the main breadwinner for a while until your business is profitable.

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Hi Ruscoe - I think you would need to talk to an accountant or lawyer about setting up in Spain - the regulations are complex and if you would need staff then employment legislation is very different to the UK. 

Also, I looked at working here as a Social Worker and would have had to get my qualifications accepted by Madrid and then I would have had to sit an exam in Spanish to work for the local authority.  (I ended up being an Estate Agent and just love it though!)  I don't know if the Health Service operate in the same way but don't expect it to be easy.  She would need to have fluent spanish before considering working here as a midwife - even in an area like Alicante where there is a large ex-pat population.  Most of the expats are older and not of child-bearing age anyway!!  Spain also has very high unemployment so there may well be a lot of competition for jobs in the health service.

Sorry to be so negative but finding work is the hardest thing to do here.  I know people who have had to go home because they could not find work.

On the positive side, if you do manage to set up your business here, good customer service should put you ahead of the spanish competition.  I have found the idea of customer service to be totally alien - manana but without that level of urgency - and if you can deliver quality goods quickly then you will be streets ahead of the competition.

Good luck!

 

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Hi Ruscoe (&Clair)

Interesting point Clair about professional qualifications, and I had not thought about the age group of ex-pats. Having said that perhaps your wife needs to look a lot broader than midwifery.  Child care may be another option, where she could open a nursery caring for babies, either for tourists why want a day care facility, or even ex-pat mothers who now need to work. Again as Clair has said the first thing is to look at the regulations.

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The advice about a lawyer is important.

I started two companies in Valencia area with the help of a Spanish lawyer. Later on it turned out that he was not a lawyer at all...

Also I was not informed that there is no embezzlement in the valencian law!

You can guess what happened.

Finally I found a real lawyer and started a legal process three years ago. And we are still waiting for a court date.

Better luck for you and be careful, very careful.

 

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Hi Ruscoe,

I´m fairly sure that for your wife to be able to work as a midwife in the Spanish NHS, she will need to do the dreaded "las oposiciones" entry exam, which all public sector jobs require you to sit and pass.  This usually involves a fair amount of study and there are organisations that provide classes to help you pass, but at a cost.  Your wife´s midwify qualification may be recognised in Spain but she would still have to do the oposiciones as I understand it.  This would be in Spanish as well.  I guess she could work in a private hospital or clinic, in which case she wouldn´t need the oposiciones.

My wife is Spanish and is a UK qualified teacher with 10 years teaching experience.  She spent 9 months preparing for the oposiciones.  She passed but because there was so much competition for places, she only made it on to the waiting list for supply type work.  The jobs went to those with the highest marks.  It looks like she will have to try again in 2 years time when the next oposiciones are held for teaching jobs in Andalucia.

Sorry to put a further dampner on things.

Best of luck

David

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Hello there

i found a site dealing with setting up businesses in Spain recently. If you would like details please send me a pm as i do not think I am allowed to simply publish on this forum.

Jean

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Hi Ayrez, the very best of luck. Let us know how you get on. The idea of looking at private hospitals, or even with another midwife as a business partnership may be worth investigating. The midwifery college may be able to give you access to a membership list or even post on their own forum.

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Hi Rickiebear.

We are not starting a business but retired here in Murcia. I  found a site that might help and passing on details.

Thanks for the good wishes though. Don´t have time to run a business nowadays, we are far too busy lol.

Jean

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Sorry Jean, got you muddled up with another post. Hope you are enjoying your retirement.

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