rya

hi all, planning on relocating to spain (andalucia), would like to find work within the surrounding area or jib, is it possible to work in jib and live in spain?? ... plez help any kind of heads up woud be great, many thanks

jojojojojo

Work isnt easy to find, but yes you can live in Spain and work in Gib

Jo xxx

EllisG

if you need to work get the job first ...from what I hear work is hard to come by around here. It is very rare for me to condone work but cash or an income stream is fairly essential

rya

ok thanks guys, i am actually planning to work a mobile valeting unit, i have everything i need to get started so fingers crossed all goes well : ) any views on this??????

jay01

Car washes and valeting stations are very common over here and on most days you will find the Spanish busily washing their cars, how successful you will be I cannot answer but you would need to be where there are plenty of expats even if you are mobile because there is a lot more space here than there.

The cost of self service car washes and valeting is very reasonable so you would need to be competitive and very good, try sounding out companies that might be interested in your services as unlike the UK it is very expensive to be self employed, you would need to take around 400/500e per month just to cover the cost of working By the time you have paid social security, tax, accountants, gestoria, supplies, petrol, public liability insurance or the Spanish equivalent and anything else the Spanish choose to throw at you.

Why not come over and do a research holiday, look for other mobile business and see what they charge, car wash station fees, potential contracts and feedback, location. As with any business idea it is all about the preparation, think very carefully what would you do if it did not work, if you need to be earning to come here than maybe now is not the right time as many expats are feeling the financial squeeze and to be honest I can live with a dirty car but not food, home or other basic living supplies.

lynnxa

I know two seperate families who bought the same 'going concern' mobile valeting service

the first family managed to return to the UK not quite skint- but only cos they managed to sell it on to the second virtually as they got off the plane

the second family...........well the kids just didn't turn up for school one day & they were never seen in the area again - so draw your own conclusions

& this was a few years ago whe things were generally better

Domino

these ideas seem fine when starting to get bored and there are 10 days of holiday left. Its towards the end of the season and someone has put a sign in the window of your favourite pub that does roast beef and yorkshires saying business for sale.

you sell everything including the cat to raise the money, you get out there and find the season has ended, no income for 5 months, you have to get all the licences renewed, the place looks tired and needs a paint job. And you have no money pay our suppliers letalone buy enough to keep you, wife and kids alive.

yup, moving out to Spain\Italy\Greece\Portugal seems a marvellous idea when there's 10 days of holiday left ..... .......

JLFS

I think it may be a bit tricky with your mobile valeting unit, Spanish people do not wash their cars at home, there a loads of car washes around and a very good price.

I have no idea who you customers would be.

It may seem a bit harsh but forewarned is forearmed.

Cheers, JL

gill556

we had 2 different ones in this area. The first was a waterless system and they operated on the ground floor of a multi storey car park but disappeared after a few months. The second is a neighbour who does an extemely good job but then tried pool maintenance and finally odd jobs in the building trade, he still does the odd valet when he can but it would never be enough to live on.

jdr

Place near us, Karcha jet washed, through the wash tunnel, then leathered off for 4€`s

Domino

I know a guy in Uk made redundant and fed up with the IT rat race so he got himself a trailer and kitted it out with all the goodies and a large tank of water. He has been doing this now for the past 5 years, although car wash has become one of the things people drop when money is short.

He approached large companies and got their permission to spend a morning, afternoon or full day in their carpark cleaning cars for people.
I suppose the natural progression would be graffitti cleaning - Spain has a lot of that, but you have to be careful to use the correct materials, pref eco cleaners etc.

I find lots of friends and neighbours meet up on a sunday at the local car wash and make a party of it, inside and out, local petrol station has them queueing up to get in

jojojojojo

Alot of the big shopping centre car parks used to have those little polish chaps with a trolley going round offering to clean cars while their owners went shopping. The last time I was in the UK, they were nowhere to be seen tho

Jo xxx

Domino

Yes, my local Asda had a couple of Polish guys doing that, havent seen them there for a year or so.
I always used to resent the loss of 3 parking places in a small busy city centre car park that also served for 8-10 other small shops where spaces were at a premium

jojojojojo

It was quite a big business around ourway, several men with their trolleys in the big shopping centre carparks. Sometimes it was useful as the would only charge £5 and did a really good job. The last time I was in the UK, they werent there

Jo xxx

Domino

We still have a few of those businesses set up on local industrial estates, one took over a long boarded up filling station.
Last time I went to one the guys wore thin coats, wore trainers - with gallons of water all over the place, maybe staff don't last very long.
Perhaps they have just moved on to bigger and better things having learnt English properly.
That may be one way of learning a local language fairly quickly, can't remember the last time I saw the OH cleaning the car...............
......I have just learnt some more language