# Advice on Leasing a bar please!



## Nm90210 (Apr 4, 2011)

Hola Everyone!!

Im new to this site and I am looking for advice about leasing a bar either on the mainland or on the islands. Here is some background info re my fiancee and me!

We are due to marry in June and having become very disheartned with life in Ireland so our objective is to move to Spain within the next 18-24 months(giving us lots of time to work on a business plan and research our venture within an inch of its life and take Spanish lessons)

- I worked in Spain for a couple of years from 03-05 in Salou and Majorca. I did barwork PRing and sold shots so I am all too aware of the competition, ridiculous hour, split shifts and 7 day weeks. However I loved it-i had(an still do)plenty of stamina and motivation!! I also worked as a kiddie and transfer rep for an Irish company called budget travel so I know the importance of having a good relationship with Tour ops too. I then went on to spend the winter working in a bar in the french alps which i loved also.
-I have been a retail manager since my return and I am very competant in staff management, customer service and above all cost control

-My hubby to be is an electrician(with lots of Irish charm and charisma!!)he has no bar experience but good business ideas and would learn the ropes very quickly.

-We would be looking to make the move with approx 60 k-this is to cover the lease(hopefully about 20k) rent of bar and our own accom for first 6 months plus any other costs... We are looking to start very small and learn the ropes from here. It is a dream of ours, i absolutely loved my time in Spain and my fiancee is getting very disheartned here in Ireland as his work is extremely scarce.

As I said we are giving ourselves 18- 24 months max to get our research completed. Where would you advise us to start our search-we want somewhere the lease will be cheap, with a good tourist flow and obviously a profitable bar! I loved mallorca when I lived there would this be advisable or are the costas a better bet?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Nm90210 said:


> Hola Everyone!!
> 
> Im new to this site and I am looking for advice about leasing a bar either on the mainland or on the islands. Here is some background info re my fiancee and me!
> 
> ...


There have been a few posts about running bars recently. If you have a look thru you should find them. But the advice is not to bother. Very few bars on the costas are making any money, most would love to get out, but cant. Maybe open one in your home town, or a seaside town in Ireland???? Sorry, I dont mean to sound heartless, but believe me, Ireland would be easier and you'd make more money!

Jo xxx


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## Nm90210 (Apr 4, 2011)

Hi Jo

Thanks so much for your reply-the costs of opening a bar in Ireland are away more than we would be able to afford unfortunately plus the trading hours much shorter than in Spain so would not really be as productive for us... Being honest we just need a change of scenery and a new project and most importantly a challenge... As I mentioned before I used to be a holiday rep for Budget Travel(an Irish company) and loved it so that could be a second income. Plus my financee is an electrician so that too could be another source of income obviously pending passing whatever courses he needs to work in Spain and getting a good grasp of Spanish first? Do you think this would be possible? We have decided to definitly make the move but to prepare properly in advance- fail to prepare, prepare to fail etc etc..! Thanks Jo xxxx


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I agree with Jojo. The situation for bars and restaurants is not good here in Spain at the moment.

There are several bars/restaurants near here for sale or rent but you have to ask yourself "Why have they closed?" 

One is them is really nice, on the main road between Alicante and Benidorm. It was popular and doing quite well. We became quite friendly with the people who ran it but they had to give it up as business was becoming less and less and costs were rising very fast so it was difficult to compete and make a profit.

I think you really need to come here to do your research. That is the only way you will see the actual situation.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> Hi and welcome to the forum.
> 
> I agree with Jojo. The situation for bars and restaurants is not good here in Spain at the moment.
> 
> ...


yes, I agree, research reasearch research - and then more

tbh - I looked at the first post & thought, omg not another one - but as I got into it, it occurred to me that at least this poster is young, experienced, a bit of savings behind them, prepared to work hard & has a good idea already of the pitfalls

I'm certainly not going to say 'go for it!' - but if anyone has the right attitude to make it work, then Nm90210 does

come out, maybe try to get some work in a bar here - maybe if one is for sale that you like the lookof (let's face it, they probably all are for sale) offer to work for free to get a proper feel for the business

but don't burn your bridges back home until you absolutely know you can do it - who knows what can happen in the next year or so?

and in the meantime, yes, learn as much spanish as you can


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

My advice would be... go to the Canaries at least they have more of a tourist trade 12 months of the year.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I know I sounded a bit harsh, but with all the experience in the world, you'll be up against people who have lived and run bars here for many years, who are fluent in the language, understand the rules and regulations (of which there are many) and have already an "in" here. Those people are also desperate and I know as far as they're concerned, when a fellow bar owner closes up the road from them it means a little more business for them. I guess I'm talking about the bars etc along the seafronts of Benalmadena and Fuengirola where, for miles every other "shop" is a bar, there are boards and notices all along offering ridiculously cheap food and drink, PR people trying to drag you in to encourage customers. I've had visitors recently and we've been down there for breakfast and its really quite sad. I hope it picks up in the summer. I got talking to one bar owner, they've been here for 20 years, her whole family used to run their bar, but they've all gone back apart from her and her husband. She said that when they started, they were the only one there. Now they're one of 20 or so along that particular stretch. She was saying its tight and their landlord keeps putting the rent up and unless they clear 300€ a day then excluding wages, they're running at a loss. She said to me that at the moment hard work wasnt the problem, the hardest part was knowing that as they sat there waiting for customers, the bills still had to be paid. However, she did a mean full english and for four of us with 2 coffees each it came to just under 20€ - If I could remember the name of her bar I'd advertise it on here LOL!!!!!!



The Canaries maybe a better choice as they have all year round weather and all year round tourists, I've heard that Mallorca only really has a 6 month window for any real trade and that the winters are not worth even opening up for. 

Sorry, another miserable post from me!! I really dont mean to be negative, but I dont want to see people lose money. Obviously before you do anything, you need to come over and take a look, wander along the various areas that you maybe interested in and go in and get chatting to the owners, get a feel for how things are and make an informed decision. Sadly, its a double wammy here. More and more bars, less and less tourists and more and more unemployed due to the recession. 

Jo xxxx


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Well, in my experience wherever you go in the world the best bars are run by the Irish!

Things have changed an awful lot in Spain since 2005. So many bars in tourist areas like the Costa Blanca have closed or are losing money despite the best efforts of the owners - there are just too many bars chasing too few customers. Anything you see on the market at an attractive price is likely to be one of these failed enterprises.

But don´t give up hope. I echo what others have said about the Canaries, and with your experience, realistic expectations and Celtic charm you might well pull it off. How are your language skills? Can you negotiate Spanish bureaucracy?


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Hi - many of the posts here are negative and I can see why - it's pretty hard going over here at the moment.

But it can be done - we are doing it. We had the advantage of having lived for over 5 years near the bar we now run and seen two different people run it, seen what they got wrong and seen what they got right. You are unlikely to have that advantage of course but what the other posters are saying is true - you need to get over here and research. The other advantage we have and one you might be able to benefit from is cheaper rents at least for the time being. Location is also very important - we are lucky enough to have the only non-Spanish bar/restaurant for many miles around. So my advice is to pick an area and head on out. Good luck.


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2011)

Whereas here in central Marbella you'd be hard pushed to know there was a recession. Every time another new bar opens the place is jammed with people, restaurants come and go but are generally replaced within a month with a new style. Go out on a Sat/Sun evening and the place is heaving with people and plenty of bums on all the seats

However, virtually all of these places are Spanish owned and in good positions.. being central Marbella they generally don't tend to rely on tourists either as there is a healthy population of wealthy local residents

I'd say you've got nothing to lose, come on over with your 60K pick the right area and inject it into the economy


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## casaloco (Mar 30, 2011)

Nm90210 said:


> Hola Everyone!!
> 
> Im new to this site and I am looking for advice about leasing a bar either on the mainland or on the islands. Here is some background info re my fiancee and me!
> 
> ...


i dont know the first thing about bars in general never mind in spain, but i do know about pouring money into a business that is only just floating. 
the stress of barely keeping the head above water, working 7 days a week and not having any money to show for it. we need to downgrade to smaller cheaper premises and change to a charity just to keep the club going.

i know that sounds very negative, but thats alot of money 'to never see again' could you use some of the money to find a cheap place to live for a while get to know the locals before you commit to anything.

when we went to ibiza last year there was an irish bar which had a few people in it, as we had arrived just at the start of the season so it was quiet, the good thing i could see about it, it was in a location where there was just that bar and a Restaurant and 4 large hotels!!! (good location) thing is you have to make double the money in the tourist season to survive the off season. 

have you considered any other options for business that doesnt include tying yourself to a property.


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

Join the thousands and thousands of other people who have had a dream which very quickly turned sour.Please find an alternative to a bar.Do I know what I am talking about?Yes I do.Me and the wife owned a bar in Ibensa square in Benalmadena and god what a relief when we got out. Few things to weigh up;rent on the bar,rent on somewhere to live unless you can afford to buy a place,social security and running costs of the bar.Think how many bottles of Cruzcampo and tapas you have to sell to cover these costs and one thing is for sure I certainly would not look at a bar in the summer months but in winter.By all means don't get me wrong me and the wife know a couple of bar owners that are making a fortune but the thing is they own the freehold.They rent it out then wait for the people to run out of money,give the keys back and then they rent it out again.Another nail in the coffin now is this smoking ban and one last thing if you are determined to have a bar be very careful and look out for rent a crowd.I am sincerely sorry to sound negative but if you go for it I sincerely wish you the best of luck.Ex.bar owner Benalmadena Costa.


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