Originally Posted by rugbymatt (Post 6131549)

If you think for one second I would ever work for any of the miscreants on this site you have another thing coming!

Originally Posted by Same Difference (Post 6131553)

Just had a look, youve dont a bloody good job there :D

Originally Posted by zel (Post 6131344)

Well done mate! good to see you doing well!

What sort of hardware stuff do you do? I remember you were doing home PC repairs awhile ago?

Originally Posted by XTreme (Post 6132055)

I don't sell hardware as such Darren....I get systems through from my suppliers for my customers and just act as a go between. There's no money in hardware these days (I can remember selling systems for £3500 back in 1995).....so all I do is the software installation and configuration, then deliver and install.
As an indication of prices here, I'm now supplying dual core Pentium base units for €299, and laptops for €399. All with 2 years warranty. Can't fault it!

But that's just one area of the business.....the other side is the website design and webhosting for British businesses in Spain. And I'm on call for them seven days a week.

Hard going......but it's still a great life here! :thumbup:

Originally Posted by XTreme (Post 6132852)

The problem I have with hardware is the guarantee side of things Andy!
There's no money in building systems now, and even if I bought stuff in at the right price from the UK, it would be a logistical nightmare dealing with returns.
So I opt out of that totally by getting the customer to buy direct from my supplier......and in the event of a warranty issue it's all done without any involvement by me other than reporting it. And they have a 2 year warranty throughout Spain with no quibbles whatsoever.
I'm actually more interested in pushing the web side of the business, but as recommendations get spread by existing hardware customers I end up having to go further afield to do jobs.
But the good side of that is that unlike Britain I'm not stuck in traffic and visiting grim industrial estates, I'm seeing lots of the Granada and Almeria provinces and visiting some amazing properties in some very unusual locations.

Originally Posted by XTreme (Post 6130860)

I guarantee that you'll get to see me! :thumbup:

Not sure how much time I'll have to spend with you guys, because I've taken on more and more hardware customers over the border in Almeria now!

I estimate that at the moment I'm working about 90 to 100 hours over a seven day week....it's a legacy of actually being what you claim to be, and actually being capable of delivering every time.

Besides the onsite hardware work I'm taking on at least one new website customer per month, plus there's the support and updating of the existing website customers.....so as you can see I'm pretty stretched.

I tell people that I work 3 times the hours for a third less pay than I did in Britain....but it's still a much better life here! Wouldn't change it for the world!

So you will see me.....and hopefully I'll be able to give you a glimpse of my world. Animals and Gypsies included!

Originally Posted by andyrich666 (Post 6132926)

yes mate, getting harder with laptops now aswell, Dell start laptops widescreen from £180+vat, as it happens on the Dell.es site cheaper than that.

Ok, Web design I did that some time back 2001-2003 era before all this flash malarkey, I think where you are - there is potential from spanish Car hire companies to have a English site, getting them convinced is the problem maybe

I took a realtively small company based in Chelmsford compared to the big boys, they had a small presence at Stansted for English speaking clients, but I got them a better site redesigned in German French and Spanish after a short while there web business in the Summer took over at the Airport, then I left and it fell apart, still there going strong.

if you are multi lingual ( I dont know if you are ) but even if you know more than most, you are one step ahead. More and more younger spanish are learning English so they are able to web design on both scores, but when I was in the Cadiz Province last year, Sevilla and Jerez I saw many opportunity to push multi ling websites, getting the people to pay though is another matter.

Everything is time consuming though, I have loads of ideas rattling round in my head but when your busy with one thing its hard to give time and money to something else - sounds like your hardware side is taking over which is good, so long as your busy thats good.

Sometimes I wish my whole business would collapse just so I can have a go at something else, but while its strong I should carry on, but I am in no wat getting the Life I want.

Every morning this week gone I have woke up depressed, but Im so busy I dont get time to be depressed well not til bed time anyway when everything plays on my mind.

Another month and it will be a year from when I made a 100% decision to jack it and move

Originally Posted by Casa Santo Estevo (Post 6136054)

Andy,
Yes there is a market for English versions of websites. We have also thought about doing updated websites, we are multi lingual. As we see it there are several obstacles.

• The Spanish do not seem to appreciate the power of advertising online. Just look at how many small businesses have a presence here in Spain compared to other European countries.
• If there is a web page, then they do not always respond to an email. That is just down to their way of doing business.
• The Spanish seem to think that advertising is money not well spent.
• We have noticed that some websites have never been updated since conception. This could be that the designers want too much money to do this or the owner of the business simply does not want recognize the potential power of being online. We know one web page that has prices dating back to 2002.
• Web designers here love their Flash presentations. For us it simply puts us off as it takes time to load. Besides search engines have a harder time finding your website.
• Even websites for government departments and larger companies are not so user friendly.

Originally Posted by andyrich666 (Post 6132926)

if you are multi lingual ( I dont know if you are )

Originally Posted by XTreme (Post 6138553)

Hopefully we've now seen the end of the long running ADSL saga!

Telefonica were here on Friday.....and had problems.

They were here again Saturday.....and had more problems.

Then they were back and fore here all day today.....and fingers crossed, everythings OK now! Certainly seems to be at the moment!

They told me because of my location I can only have 1 meg......but in true Telefonica style I'm not sure they got it quite right.

All I'm going to say is......Telefonica Rocks! :lol: