erg84

Hello All - First post here

I'm a Yoga teacher here in Manchester and I'm quite seriously looking at the idea of taking myself to Spain instead to see if it works out..

Looking mainly at Barcelona/Alicante or Malaga areas.

I suppose my question is, I'm trying to gauge where would be best (if anywhere) to set up shop. I'm wondering if my target market should be more geared to the Spanish market or the Expat market (my spanish is of reasonable conversational level).

If I go, I'll be taking about 10,000 euros with me to get me going and intend on lving in the cheapest way possible until I establish somewhat of a stable income (I know this will mean living in a shared apartment and scrimping on everything for a while).

I know my question is quite vague, but I would like some feedback/answers/thoughts nonetheless! - And if you're an expat living in spain, out of interest have you ever tried Yoga? Do you know of Yoga Classes nearby, especially those with a native English speaker?

Advice is most welcome!

Lucyspain

I went to yoga in torrevieja and Alicante. I enjoyed both. I would say there is definitely a market for it, the teacher in Alicante had 6per class minimum with classes every eve. She did classes in Spanish, though I would think if you could do them in both languages it'd be better. Hope that helps

cricketman

I am up in Oviedo which is the wrong part of the country from where you will end up, but just to say that there is a pilates or yoga centre on every street corner it seems.

Plus all the local sports centres have yoga and pilates classes (my wife does them) so it seems very competitive

steviedeluxe

This is only a gut feeling based on my Madrid experiences, but if you're moving to a Spanish city, you will need to market more to the Spanish population. It's easy to overestimate the strength of the expat market but you'll find you get far more enquiries from Spanish speakers if you market to them.

cricketman

The bigger question is why they would choose to go with you when sports facilities in Spain are excellent and yoga teachers are plentiful? You can join a gym for 30 euros per month which includes pilates or yoga classes, or you can pay more and go to a specialist yoga studio.

If you went to an expat area then the advantage is that British people probably dont go to those gyms because of the language issues, so you may be able to attract customers there, but it is a numbers game. Will the market be big enough to be able to support you?

There are no easy answers I'm afraid

And like all sports in Spain, if you want to be a teacher then you must join the national federation and abide by their rules and qualifications. Take a look here:
http://www.feyp.org/

me me

I think you need to do a lot more research about this, there are a few things that you might stumble over that I can point out, but advice from an actual gym owner will of course be more useful to you.

The first problem I see, is that 10k is a very small start up amount, out of that you will need to live, pay for all the legal permits and the notary/accountant fees involved.

You will also have to find premises, and might have to have a change of use application, then there will be the usual hurdles of fire safety certificates, buying of fire prevention/estinguishing equipment etc.

There will also be toilet and washing/showering/changing facilities installed as well as general decoration.

Then there will be the actual equipment itself, for yoga quite minimal, but things like full wall mirrors are not cheap.

Then as soon as you start "trading" you will have to pay you SS contributions, there may be a reduction for starting a new activity but I am not sure about that.

So as you can see, the 10k will not stretch very far, and without wanting to put a downer on your plans, I feel it is not doable, as the start up capital is not sufficient and that is without factoring in advertising and other ongoing costs.

steviedeluxe

I'd tend to agree. 10,000 euros really isn't enough to start a business and you will need to engage marketing resources, especially as you'll need living expenses as well. The upside is that rents are low and you can negotiate hard on that side, but you'll have a lot of other costs eg electricity, gestor, ss from day one.

erg84

I totally agree. If I try to make this move it won't be an impulsive one - I would choose to go around Spring 2015. Asking the questions here is just one part of the start of my research

My thoughts at this point are that it would be a mistake to try to set up a studio from the get go - I can only see that as a highly risky strategy as I wouldn't have an established client base.

To start off, I would be seeking to create a client base (which is partly why I'm asking here, to get a good idea of all of your perceptions of the market in Spain). I would be looking to establish relationships and find teaching slots at established yoga studios, gyms etc. Marketing strategy unknown at this stage still.

So the 10k wouldn't really be required to cover the costs of a start up business, but more to support myself as I start life in spain as a sole trader. I'm anticipating costs such as registering my car in spain. One of the other posts mentioned a license to teach a sport - does yoga count as a sport in spain and does anyone know what licences are required and the costs/process of obtaining one if so?

I suppose I'm trying to find out what licenses/legal loopholes I need to jump through to trade as a sole trader in this way, licences to teach (are they required for yoga?) as well as a good understanding from your perspectives on the best locations for such a venture (as I am asuming that an educated and liberal population would be the best market for me).

Thanks for all of your posts and I'm looking forward to more responses!

snikpoh

Plus also, as a 'sole trader' (autónomo in Spanish), you would need to pay about 270 euros per month for social security payments (NI in UK) - regardless of how much you earn!

erg84

Useful information! - Thank you!

Does this go up on a sliding scale as a declare higher amounts of income?

cricketman

Yes, it goes up to about 700 euros per month

But you can choose to keep paying the minimum amount if you prefer. Once you are in the last 10-15 years before retiring then it makes sense to pay the maximum amount as this determines how much pension you will get

The details you want about being a yoga teacher in Spain should be on the federation link I put in my previous post

If your Spanish isnt good enough to understand that yet then I suggest you get studying or rule out trying to go after the Spanish market

angiescarr

Our local Pilates teacher (Spanish) uses the municipal sports hall (polivalente). She does Pilates and Aerobics. We only pay her 10 per person per month for once or twice a week (she's there twice). that's not much and I don't know whether she gets a grant from the local authority.
You could go from village to village but may come up against locals who are already installed and you'd have to have the confidence to talk to Alcaldes etc. You wouldn't get any grants either as these are for otherwise unemployed locals where they do exist. If you can teach English as well you may just eke a meagre living. Yes, that Autonomo/seguridad social payment is a killer!

Lynn R

In my area (La Axarquia, East of Malaga) there are plenty of municipal sport centres and private gyms/health clubs, most of which offer yoga and pilates classes. I also see advertisements in local magazines for weekly classes in the smaller villages, one teacher will tend to hold classes in 3 or 4 different venues during the week. I don't know how well attended they are - not wishing to be derogatory in any way, but especially since the economic crisis a very large proportion of the expat population are retired people, and I'm not sure how many of them attend exercise classes regularly. I belong to a health club in Torre del Mar where all the instructors and most of the members are Spanish, with a few Germans/Dutch/Scandinavians. I've only ever met 3 other British people there over the last 7 years, and there don't seem to be any at all around at the moment.

casa del sol

Parts of Spain are really restful and tranquil, there are sanctuary style places opening up to help take away the stresses and strains of everyday Europe city living for the cash rich, stress high, time poor people. I can see these styles of holidays doing well in parts of beautiful Spain where the scenery, flora and fauna, walking and peace is in abundance. Might be worth a look.

chrisjolly

As the other members have already said your start up amount is too small to realistically start a new business venture. You may have thought that it was as easy to start yoga classes in Spain as it is in Manchester but sadly it is not. Apart from all the legal stuff, there are yoga classes everywhere and you will have plenty of competition unless you go to a remote area where you will have no clients. This is not a good time to come to Spain unless you have a very large amount of savings! Sorry...