Wanting to move to Andalucia

[MarkF]

MarkF - Yes I am a self employed Mobile photographer at the moment so I do know that it can be hard work to get a constant income. What is your business line?

I am an electrician by trade but have always "fannied about" for myself, if I can earn enough not to have a boss then I am happy. I hope you don't think I was too harsh in my comments but I honestly feel a B+B would be a bad move, unless, like I said, you had and an "angle".

Speaking of which, I find it amazing that that so few B+B's offer anything different, even bicycles for a family would make a big difference.

I have 2 businesses, an electrical one and this one which is internet based. I firmly believe that the net is the best way to earn a crust if you are living in Spain. I am not highly educated so my reasoning is "What else could I do in Spain"? What fruitcake would employ me in anything else other than a minimum wage position? Nobody, that is why I have to do it myself.
B+B no! B+B with bicycles, quads, astronomy gear or horse riding etc maybe!

[Want to move]

Once again many thanks for your replies.

Something different is exactly what we wanted to offer, and we are giving it some thought at the moment

I will be on and off over the next cople of days due to business commitments but any replies I will answer on my return.

[BENIDORM]

Some good answers, I can only add that you really should try to be unique, but not too quirky...There are plenty of good business openings in Spain, but all will require a lot of hard work, and don't expect to get 'rich quick'..

Olive....Good ideas there.....but I'm surprised that you admit to watching Great Bustards mating.......you naughty person.......

[peteroldracer]

The suggestions by wise ones here about having a USP - a Unique Selling Point - are good. If you have connections with hobbyists - whether it be mountain bikers, birdwatchers, nudists, paintball fighters or whatever, you could think about making a place really attractive to them. You would need to research that there are enough of them to make it viable - and that means enough that really would come to you in Spain to do their thing to make it profitable for you. There was a series a couple of years back about people doing their thing abroad, and the entrepeneurs that looked like they were going to make it work did their market research, checked out all the local rules and politics to make sure their business was very welcome in their chosen place, then started the work but at the same time actively sought bookings with non-refundable deposits. This not only keeps the pressure on to get the thing up and running, but validates your business plan - there are loads of friends and acquaintances who will say "Oh yes, we will certainly come" but back off quickly if you try to close the deal by saying "OK, we have 2 weeks free from the xth of Maybe, please give me 200€ deposit now, and you only need pay me the rest three months before you arrive".
There - a positive posting! lol

[Cassandra]

You should also give some thought to what running a B&B actually involves, all the laundry, cleaning, including cleaning toilets and Spanish plumbing to cope with! Do you really want to do all that?

If you do still want to then I would agree that specialising is the best way. We have one B&B in our village which has been here some years and the owner can arrange art classes & yoga/meditations holidays for those interested but despite being well established she still has to supplement her income by making cakes & deserts for local restaurants. A second one opened a couple of years ago but despite being very luxurious and quite successful they closed it a year later because they just didn't enjoy running it. They'd both had fairly high flying careers previously (one in IT) and taken early retirement.

You say you are a professional photographer. Could you incorporate that into your B&B, there is some stunning scenery in Spain and photography classes may be of interest to people.

[Campo Kenny]

Open a Scalextric themed b&b with a 100 foot 4 lane track and have a dedicated Subbuteo room in the donkey shed and you'll clean up .
Run constant video feed of FA cup finals and 1980's Grand Prix with a few Top gears thrown in and the place will become a legend............I'll book now if it's a goer A petrol engined 1/5 scale hovercraft which will skim over the grapes and bounce into the pool will also ensure guests will return on a regular basis........................bliss!

Kenny

[MarkF]

Open a Scalextric themed b&b with a 100 foot 4 lane track and have a dedicated Subbuteo room in the donkey shed and you'll clean up .
Kenny

I'll book that!

My link to what I do vanished, I don't know why I am hardly going to get any business from A.com Anyway, my point is.......................that everybody told me that there was no market for what I wanted to sell, I was wasting my time. Yet, years later there are loads of copycat websites and it's big business and like I said if I can do it, anybody can. I think it cost me less than £100 to get started!

[MarkF]

My advice to "Want to move", or for that matter anybody coming to Spain without an income and needing one, would be to try and generate some income from a website or through Ebay, even a few hundred a month can make all the difference. Building & hosting a site is peanuts, get someone to rank it and pay them only on and after results and you are on your way.

[Fruity]

We have lived here for 10 years and during that time we have had many ups and downs and soemtimes even considered going home but I think that is typical of an expat anywhere in the world after the first few months, if you are to move to Spain then you need your wits about you and be prepared to work hard and stay focused. The CDS is well known for scams and timeshare but there are good points too

Are you planning on retiring or will you need work when you arrive? Watch out for estate agents trying to make a quick buck out of you and play your cards close to your chest, you could check out http://www.ambientjobs.com they have a host of jobs available in Spain and also an advice centre but focused mainly on the Costa del Sol, but if it is the Costa del Sol that you are considering then their website will help guide you in many areas.

I hope you can make a good decision about where to live and be happy

Fruity

[Want to move]

Hi all

Thanks for your recent postings.

MarkF - I did get your link and viewed it, yes you are right - no one will be bothered in A.com.

Anyway all your comments have been very welcome and I thank you for your help and advice.

We will definately still consider our options and there are many of them, not just the B&B, and I am quite willing to give go.

Once again thanks to all of you that have participated in this forum.

Maybe`s will bump in to some of you at some point.

Vicky

[ICCSL]

One of the main reasons B & B's set up by British people fail in Spain is because they are not marketed. If you don't advertise no one knows that you exist.

We have several people around us who rent out self contained apartments or have B & B's and the only ones that are booked on a regular basis are those that advertise constantly. It might cost you less than 1,000 euros to advertise the business over a year if you choose wisely. One of the most successful apartment letting people I know lives 2 villages away from me and her business is continous - she has been fully booked for 6 months of this year. She advertises on all of the free directory sites, has lots of links on other sites which cost peanuts and she has some paid listings on prominent sites. She spends a lot of time just placing her ads and listings on as many sites as she can. She also pays around 50 euros per month inclusive for two magazine adverts.

Her apartments are in a small village where there is absolutely nothing to do but she gets repeat business because quite a lot people like to spend a week or two relaxing in quiet, country surroundings, walking to the next village for a beer or taking a relaxing drive around the countryside whilst enjoying spectacular mountain scenery. In the apartments she has placed a stack of tourism leaflets and brochures so if her guests want to go somewhere, they know what is available.

I have seen so many people fail because they think that someone is just going to knock on their door and ask if they have a room or apartment to let - inland that is pretty unlikely. To make it successful means a lot of hard work and as most of us know only hard work usually produces profits.

Tina

[Want to move]

Iznajar seems to be a place that we keep going back to, however we don`t know an awfull lot about the area only what we`ve got off the net. Obviously we need to go to the area to check it out but if anyone can give us some insight we`d be very grateful for the head start.

Info we`re looking for are weather conditions both summer and winter, schools in the area, local ammentities, markets etc

Hope someone can help as it`d be greatly appreciated

Kind Regards

[Marina]

It's very hot in the summer, you would want to be on a hillside to catch the breeze not in a valley. The winters can be very cold, particularly inside. There is still plenty of sun during the winters and you can sunbathe in Jan/Feb, but you will need heating inside. Traditionally the houses in the area have very small rooms which are often heated by means of a heater filled with hot coal underneath a chenille tablecloth. The family will sit around the table with the cloth over their knees. Bliss!... but you can't take it with you to the bathroom
When we had a house there we never did find much in the way of markets or other amenities, though that could have changed by now. Loja was the nearest place for amenities.
There are plenty of primary schools around but I'm not sure about secondary, though they must be there somewhere. One thing to bear in mind when considering secondary education, is that being a rural area the aspirations of the local teenagers, that your children will be mixing with, may not be as high as those in cities. If you are aiming for a university education for your children in the future and want them to mix with like minded peers, you may have a problem. There isn't an international school in the area that I know of.

[Want to move]

Marina

When you say cold winters, what is the average temp for that area? Is it as cold as the UK?

Many Thanks

Vicky

[Marina]

Sorry, I don't know the average temperatures. I don't even know if it's actually colder than the UK or if most places just aren't geared up for winter, ie no central heating.
I do know that the house we bought had been empty for a couple of months and I spent the coldest couple of nights of my life sleeping in it! The bed felt like a slab of marble and never did warm up until we had a wood burner installed. I can't tell you how many layers of clothes I slept in but I had my hot water bottles tied on to make sure I didn't loose them in the night!
Our neighbours all used thermal sheets and I would highly recommend them.
I'm sure someone on here will know the temperatures. Don't forget that the winters here are short and unlike the UK, the worst weather doesn't last long at all

[Want to move]

Many thanks for your help Marina, it is greatly appreciated.

Vicky