26 Degrees in the Shade . . .

The Importance of Location To Your Spanish Bar Business

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Hard Talk

If you buy your Spanish Bar in an established area you will

1. Not have to worry too much about somebody copying your idea and opening a bar restaurant doing exactly what you do a few doors away or even next door to you.
2. You will know from the outset the size of your catchment area and it’s social-economic aspect.

If you have really big catchment area and not too much competition; you will be very busy during the summer and have just enough customers to keep you going during the quieter months. Forget December in Spain, as most of your regulars will disappear, visiting family for Christmas.

If you only intend to work 6-7 months a year, which means you have another source of income you can ignore my advice, but if you intend to live on the income from your bar or restaurant, then please regard this post as the most important piece of business advice I have given to date.

We have thousands of apartments and villas around our bar, plus we are very close to a large hotel and we need all that potential to make a good living.

What Made You Leave The UK? Part 7

Buying a Bar and/or Restaurant in Spain - My Advice

20 years ago neither my business partner nor I knew the slightest thing about catering or running a bar. We bought a going concern and then sold it and bought another business (Graham’s Pizzeria) which was also a walk in business.

However, we did change the menu and the way in which it was run extensively. Now 20 years later here we are still making good profits and we have made many friends along the way and been very happy doing what we do.

Remember: if you want to leave the UK and invest in a bar or restaurant in Spain, all you need to do is:

• Follow the advice in my blog
• Have some funds available to invest
• And finally you must really want to do it and want to succeed

My advice to anyone who is prepared to sell their assets in the UK and come to live in the sun in Spain is :

1. Either start from scratch with a bar shop unit and fit it out yourself or,
2. Do as we did and buy a going business and then build it up, using your personality and ideas.

There Are Disadvantages In Starting From Scratch

If you fit out your own place from scratch, it will cost you a lot of time and money. You’ll have to buy the unit and then pay tradesmen to completely fit it out. Then you’ll have to wait for all the necessary paperwork to be issued from the town hall before you’ll be able to take a penny. Don’t forget that whilst you are doing all this you’ll have to find money to cover your living costs and when you’re all finished and ready to open, you’ll be in the lap of the gods as to whether you’ve chosen a good position or not.

A lot of people do choose the above option, but personally I would always be prepared to invest my money in a walk in business, which is already established, and taking money every day.

Your Business License

It’s important to mention here the most important document for your business - the Opening License. If a business is brand new you may have to wait anything up to a year before you are granted your Opening License and you cannot open at all until you have this document displayed on your wall.

If you buy a going concern you can transfer the existing opening License into your own name. This is a quick and relatively straightforward process. The newer the Opening License is the better.