sally phil

Right ,
the other half has an idea for a business,but Im sworn to secrecy because he is convinced its sooo brilliant everyone else will be doing it when we finally arrive in 2 years
However he has asked me to ask all you wonderful people on here what you think ,....without actually telling you what it is!!!!

Area we are looking at Quesada and around there,because we believe has a good expat community,tell me if Im wrong

Basically,he will have a van,stop at say 5 places per day for about 1 hour or so each,same place same time every week so people get to know you are there
Its not an ice cream van but Im guessing he would need a similar kind of trading license not sure,he will be delivering things to people save them travelling into say Torrevieja once a week,and it will be mainly aimed and British people
What are your thought on where you would have to a.register the business b.apply for any license he may require,or may not require

Thing is he thinks its such a great idea he is planning on buying van plus all stock in England and starting straight away,soon as we arrive
I admire his enthusiasm but worry that we will get there and just be flatly refused permission on some grounds eg competition to established premise based businesses

Any advice would be greatly received
Thanks again
Sally

Mitzyboy

Without knowing your secret its difficult for people to tell you their opinions

I.E if its to do with food, or electrical items, or video / dvd rentals

It may be that the "idea" is already saturated in the area you speak of

SueG

Right I live in Quesada - whatever business you do here in Spain if you are going to do it properly has to be licensed and the relevant permissions obtained. I never go into to Torre to buy anything. In Quesada itself there is a Lidl, a Consum various English shops, English butcher, an English clothes shop which sell the well known makes. I personally can't think of anything that I can't purchase here that I would need on a daily basis. If you want to send me a private message I can let you know whether some bright spark has already thought of it or whether (in my own opinion) it would work. xx

twyntub

We live inland, so like most Spanish communities we get almost everything like frozen food, ice cream, fruit and veg, etc, etc delivered to the door at prices that the big supermarkets cannot match. Plus the fruit and veg is properly fresh... none of this pre-packed malarky! Everything else can be bought locally at the markets within walking distance, so there is no need for the locals to venture out for anything really. So presumably you're thinking about something that only an expat would need?

Buying a van sounds dodgy... I don't think you can legally import a RHD van so I'd check this out before you start out.

You need a licence in Spain to blow your nose, so it's reasonable to assume that your venture will need one. The GC are usually on the lookout for people with vans. I'm thinking a UK registered van full of stuff 'imported' from the UK might attract a little suspicion?

sally phil

have researched a little and cant find anything like it so far,but we are visiting the area later in the year and sure we will have a much better idea what there is a need for then
Was really more interested in the whole getting a licence for that sort of thing really and wondering how difficult that would be
anyone already doing similar and knows how you go about getting permission to park up to offer a mobile service
Thanks
Sally

john1979

You would be better off telling the people on here the idea in my opinion, I understand your husbands concerns but i imagine it will be something what people already do, especially coming from a van.

Ideas i can think of are a burger van, To hot in the summer for people to want that sort of thing.

Ice cream, Right climate but with the supermarkets selling every available type at low cost the trade is dying.

Cycle hire from a van, search the forum already covered.

UK food etc from a van, Super markets have that cornered and will never be able to complete with there prices.

Peoples thoughts tend to run away with them when thinking of business ideas when moving country especially Spain for some reason. I hope it is a brilliant idea and wish you all the best.

Maybe look into a net based business ?

Myself run a internet based business and thats how i earn an income. Also got a second net based shop in the pipe line but geared to the Spanish market.

You have two years i recall till you move take your time and be patient and things will fall into place if it's meant to be.

twyntub

Not sure how you could research something like that... without being here... it's not like you can Google it.

And never underestimate the ability of an ex-pat community to hold on to its hard-earned euros... That's not to say we're all tightwads, just careful with our money...

sally phil

I know what you are saying,sounds like the market is saturated there anyway with everything to hand or delivered to your door
Personally Id rather not be thinking of business ideas and just come over and look for work and once settled maybe look into setting something up when you know the area and the people
Trouble is me and Phil think very differently and he has had at least 20 ideas this week alone,I think hes worried we will get there and he wont be able to provide for us but thats why we are working our buts off for the next 2 yrs so we can save enough to give us time to find work
Thing is I have Qualifications that may just open a few doors but he has none and he feels its going to be so much harder for him to find work,but now is not the time to panic!!!
Id be interested to know how expats in Quesada area found it to start with re finding work and what they do now,seems like everyone is in IT or retired or is it just me
Sally

TheArmChairDetective

Dont forget it would be a left hand vehicle that would better suit your purpose. Also, leaving non perishable goods overnight in a vehicle might be of a concern so somewhere to unload would be on your shopping list.

As for having loads of idea's...thats brilliant for you both.

sally phil

But most of our ideas seem to be crap or lots of people doing already,I just need my mind to switch off for a few days but trouble is as soon as we made the decision to move its all we can think about
We are going on holiday to Tenerife in less than 2 weeks and we havnt even mentioned it
The only thing we said was we wish we hadnt booked it now because we could have saved the money and be one step closer to spain
Then weve got a week in lanzarote in April,sorry am I peeing you off?
Both hols booked in October before we started seriously talking about this
In 2 years time My 16 year old will have been at Uni for 6 months and our little one will just be starting school age in Spain so it just seems like the perfect time and a window of opportunity we cant ignore!!!!

sally phil

Am going to try and talk him out of the van full of stock idea tonight,why cant e just get a proper job?

TheArmChairDetective

The point is that you were sad and now you have something to look forward to and the planning and the ideas kep you both happy and focused.

Thats a postive and positivity and the seven "P"s will get you what you want

tallbob

I can confirm that, there is no way you can put a RHD commercial vehicle onto Spanish plates

twyntub

...which explains why ALL the RHD vehicles around here are still on UK plates. With no MOT With no tax disc. Or insurance.

tallbob

As I understand it the main reason is the lack of side rear windows , so you are on the wrong side anyway trying to look down a motorway slip road through the non existant rear side windows