# To start small shop business in Canary Islands



## VladimirDV (Dec 19, 2014)

Hello to everybody  I am new around here and I hope to receive some helpful information.Thank all of you in advance.
I will start by saying that I have never been to Canary Islands before.I want to ask about the situation there,becouse I want to open small gift shop or pancake/burger shop or....I am still thinking about what to be,becouse I can't invest too much at the beginning.Can somebody tell me where is the most tourist place(which island and city)and how are the rents there?I also want to relocate with my family(wife and 6 years daughter) so where i best to live?Is there a lot of competition in these sectors,and any useful information is welcome 
Thanks again


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

The southern resorts on the larger islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife attract the largest amount of tourists. 

This is because they get the most sunshine in those areas, with year round tourism, in fact European winters are strictly prohibited. 

Caution though, unemployment in the Canary Islands is now well over 30% in places and businesses have to be very competitive to survive


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## VladimirDV (Dec 19, 2014)

Thank you for the information,it is very important to me.Which one is more tourist area Tenerife or Grand Canaria,and which city(resort)?Do you know are there a lot of gift shops and how can I check about the rents in these areas?Thank you again.
Any inormation that anyone can give is most welcome


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## tommy.irene (Apr 5, 2013)

Gran Canaria ..Playa Del Ingles..1 bedroom apartment €500 all in.. You should take a short holiday and look around ..most places are closing due to allincluve holidays..


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## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

In Tenerife, Los Cristinos to Las Americas there is nothing but burger shops and gift shops along the seafront. This idea is totally unoriginal. Now that said it does not mean you cannot make money at it but you need:

1) location on the seafront but these places rarely go bankrupt so are hard to get
2) Be different
3) Spend a lot of money on something really different and classy that people would flock to.

IMO you are far better off making some niche activity that people can do whilst on holiday to make decent money.


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## VladimirDV (Dec 19, 2014)

Thank you for the advice. Now I am collecting information and ideas,so I will be glad if you share your ideas with me.What do you think will be good business to run there?Please share and give advices.Thank you


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

Buenas Noches Vlad. When I read your post an alarm went off in my head. And then, I said, "Lep, wait a minute" and then the alarm got louder and louder.

Nobody is screaming stop! And I am a friend of Bulgaria (remember it was the Bulgarian defeat to Scotland that let Rep of Ireland through to the World Cup in 1990) So, I am shouting stop before your idea takes on a momentum of its own. You have no chance of being successful anywhere in the Canary Islands or Spain with a shop. The idea has been done, done again with a different angle, in fact the ideas of opening small shops are flogged to death anywhere in Spain by anybody who can think.

Keep your money in your pocket and go to Spain if you are retiring or need a good holiday


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## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

Tenerife gets 6 million tourists a year, I am pretty sure I could make a living there if I had to. You need to be different, have good marketing and enough capital to start. 

Have a look at activities in various Islands around the world on Tripadvisor, make a shortlist, see what people are saying about them and then do some sums.


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

maxd said:


> Tenerife gets 6 million tourists a year, I am pretty sure I could make a living there if I had to. You need to be different, have good marketing and enough capital to start.
> 
> Have a look at activities in various Islands around the world on Tripadvisor, make a shortlist, see what people are saying about them and then do some sums.


If Tenerife got 66.66 million tourists every year I am certain that anybody running a new small shop would not make a decent living. How much different can one be running a new small shop? Max is right in one aspect though you need good marketing and enough capital. Spain including Canary Is will suck up all your capital and even will not leave you with enough to retreat to Bulgaria and you will rue the day that you thought good marketing techniques would win in Spain. The government red tape in itself will ensure you will stumble towards even the first hurdle and before you have even one customer.


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## amespana (Nov 10, 2009)

That's not to mention the Chinese competition!


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## VladimirDV (Dec 19, 2014)

Thanks for your advices.It is strange that Canary Islands are promoted as a very good business destination around the web,but while I am reading your posts it looks that it is the worst place for doing business,in other hand it is one of the most visited by tourists place in the world,it is just very strange situation to me.Ofcourse you are all right about what kind of business will it be,and that the competition is very big in everything,that's why your opinions are important to me.
I also thought about letting segways or something like that,is there something missing on the islands?
Please continue commenting


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## tommy.irene (Apr 5, 2013)

Just come over here and see the empty shops.. They are keeping their money in their pockets..


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## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

The biggest problem is 60% of holidays are now all inclusive, so restaurants are suffering. There has even been talk of making such deals illegal. A lot of the restaurants compete on price only, this is also an issue.

So thinking outside the box with an abundance of restaurants, shops etc you need to do something no one else is doing. People still have spending money for activities and I am pretty sure I could extract 20-50 euros per person for doing something no one else is doing.

If you think like a sheep, you will be a sheep.


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

This leads me to conclude that there are no shops in the Canary Islands or Spain....



Leper said:


> You have no chance of being successful anywhere in the Canary Islands or Spain with a shop.


Lep, it's a ridiculous statement. I happen to think the Op stands very little chance of success because he's having to ask a bunch of Internet strangers about very basic things, but to suggest that no shop in the Canaries or Spain can be successful is crazy.

What if I was a little yellow fellow with lots of little yellow relatives back home with links to factories. I could set up a Shanghai ****e Shop and do very well. All the yellow fellows where I live seem to make good money and provide employment for their extended families in the process. So actually, yes, shops can be successful in Spain.


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## alborino (Dec 13, 2014)

Horlics said:


> So actually, yes, shops can be successful in Spain.


Horlics you are right of course but I guess most people imagine optimistic expats are not looking to live at a very low level, work 16 hours a day for 6 days a week, and use their family and friends as slave labour. 

Below my flat in Madrid there is a chinese family. The husband we rarely see as he leaves very early and returns very late from work. The wife runs the shop- 7 days a week, open before I get up, closing after I go to bed. The two kids often seen sleeping in the shop. 

They have been doing that for at least 4 years to my knowledge. They survive. But it is not life as we know it Jim 

In Tenerife my son in law has various boat handling qualifications, he speaks four languages plus bits of others. He probably works 66% of the year but is continually doing stop/start short term contracts. One of his regular boat owners finds trade very seasonal and even with big investments in mooring fees, maintenance and insurance finds it not viable to offer survice out of season or even at the slightest hint of a lack of activity. 

Of course there are exceptions and your assessment of the OP I think is spot on.

OP don't want to offend but please don't do this. As said it is a road that has led many to disaster.


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## Pokerface (Dec 22, 2014)

VladimirDV said:


> Hello to everybody  I am new around here and I hope to receive some helpful information.Thank all of you in advance.
> I will start by saying that I have never been to Canary Islands before.I want to ask about the situation there,becouse I want to open small gift shop or pancake/burger shop or....I am still thinking about what to be,becouse I can't invest too much at the beginning.Can somebody tell me where is the most tourist place(which island and city)and how are the rents there?I also want to relocate with my family(wife and 6 years daughter) so where i best to live?Is there a lot of competition in these sectors,and any useful information is welcome
> Thanks again


Hi Vladimir.
There is always potential for new business but only if your business model is good.
You MUST visit the area before hand if only to understand your competition but before that, you might want to decide exactly what type of business you want.
If you open a burger bar for example, be sure your burgers are better or cheaper or at very least, competitive!
What are you thinking you can do to be different? Why would someone visit your burger bar? Who are the suppliers to you and at what cost? Can you find a supplier which will allow you to make the necessary margins? What are the laws governing this type of business? What do Gift shops, pancake bars/Burger bars have in common? What are you best at?
I´m sorry if you take all this without the good intentions I have, but with what you´ve asked and the way in which you´ve asked, I don´t think you could even write a decent business plan.
Your business model, and a good one at that, really has to be your starting point. You can find a business plan template on line.
This will at least give you some direction, once you start filling in some numbers. Good luck!


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

Hi All, Being Irish and being a fan of Bram Stoker the only Vlad I ever came across up to a few days ago was Vlad-the-Impaler (Dracula to most) who in his vampirical ways sucked the blood of everybody he came into contact with. 

But, our Vlad here is being set up by rather naive people (this is a compliment folks!) who think all is rosy in the garden of business. If Vlad is to set up some kind of shop and run it in a 100% legal way he has little chance of surviving even the first 6 months in trade. You can attach a coffee bar, run a bicycle repair service out the back, set up a facility for homeless dogs around the side and operate an undertakers in the basement or whatever "other angle" you wish, you have a very little chance to make a decent living. 

Spain (including Canary Islands) is a graveyard on all fronts for anybody running a shop. I am not going to comment about the non Spanish nationals shops that are surviving (Wake up and smell the coffee, people!!!!!!).

Vlad, (I hope it's OK to call you Vlad; you can call me Lep) I would rather go down in history advising you not to lose everything in Spain (a given certainty) than be one of those who advised you to take the leap and after your financial demise run for the shelter of "if you act like a sheep, you are a sheep" brigade. Unlike the other Vlad, you stand a great chance of having your life's blood sucked from you.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

In our village, shops have closed and others reopened so net gain/loss is nil.

I'm no expert on business in Spain and I'm uber-cautious but it does seem to me that you need an awful lot of start-up capital, which you must be prepared to lose, if you want to start a business in Spain.
Of course there are shops which are successful...but every time I go to a town or shopping centre I marvel at how some shops manage to stay open....there are some in which I have never seen a single customer. Then there are the kind of shops -and other businesses - that Pokerface has mentioned, the kind that open every hour God sends and just about manage to scrape enough to pay the overheads, let alone make enough to put by for retirement.
People talk about tourists areas as if prospects are better there which to a small extent they might be but of course there is more competition and few opportunities to discover something that hasn't already been done.
Tourism is fickle. The plunging cost of oil has seen air fares fall and long haul flights to destinations in Asia and the Americas will be more affordable for those who have the means to pay for a holiday in the sun. Spain has never attracted the really big spenders and as max has noted the all-inclusive holidays are having an effect on small traders.
Incidentally, wouldn't restricting these packaged holidays be a grave infringement of the free market?

I think the appeal of running a small business is very over-rated. My OH ran and owned a medium sized business and worked the year round, twelve hour or longer days, missing holidays, with all the other work you do when you own a business....get an accountant, pay for private health insurance so you can get yourself sorted and get back to work if you fall ill, pay for your time off....plus , if you are a responsible employer, worrying about the well-being of your employees.
Anyone thinking they can come to Spain, start a business and spent hours lying in the sun is seriously deluded.

Me, I'm too laid-back for that sort of thing. In the end, we decided we'd had enough, in both senses of the words, to keep on working to accumulate more money at the expense of health and sanity. There will always be a few who will succeed but the ones I would think have the better life are those professionals who come to Spain with well-paid secure contracted work, with someone else sorting out their taxes, often with private health insurance provided, paid holidays and ample free time to enjoy living here.


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## Pokerface (Dec 22, 2014)

mrypg9 said:


> In our village, shops have closed and others reopened so net gain/loss is nil.
> 
> I'm no expert on business in Spain and I'm uber-cautious but it does seem to me that you need an awful lot of start-up capital, which you must be prepared to lose, if you want to start a business in Spain.


Something that almost amuses me with the peoples perception of business in Spain, is that it´s somehow different to business, say in the UK.
The fact of the matter is that business is business the world over.
People say how businesses fail in Spain without taking into account various factors;
How many businesses fail in the UK by comparison? The truth being that business of all types fail be it here in Spain or the UK.
The failure of any business is usually down to not implementing what some in the military refer to as the seven "P´s"
Proper Planning and Practice Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
For reasons I can never fathom, people seem to arrive in Spain with an idea. An idea they would never have attempted in the UK and an Idea they´ve never implemented or have any experience of. Speak to any bank manager and ask what business proposals are put to him. Some are plain stupid but people fudge ahead and try them anyway.
Spain isn´t the money sucking black hole many report it to be, but it´s certainly guilty of attracting some very special would be entrepreneurs!


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## alborino (Dec 13, 2014)

pokerface I like some of your points but they seem to balance themselves out.



Pokerface said:


> Something that almost amuses me with the peoples perception of business in Spain, is that it´s somehow different to business, say in the UK. The fact of the matter is that business is business the world over.


However I think with this you are missing the point. UK or Spain is not the issue.

The issue is starting up a business in a foreign country where (pick any 3 from 5 :


You have little support of family and friends.
You have no experience of the system/laws/tax.
You do not speak the language.
Your impression the location is a good place for your business is based on a beach holiday.
And as you say they often have zero experience of the planned business.

If one of my Spanish nephews or nieces said "I don't speak more than 100 words of English, I don't understand the UK system/laws/tax, and I like London because you get lots of concerts there; do you think I should go and set up a business?" I think you can guess what I might say.

One of my spanish nephews last year set up a business in Madrid based on transport. His father had done something similar for 45 years and had contacts. He has friends working that way. He is a fluent Spanish speaker. He knows every trick of the Spanish system. He can live on what I would not get out of bed for. He even thinks driving on the right is a sensible thing to do  He at best is surviving.

So even with the 7 Ps how is it possible a brit fresh of the plane would even do as well as him?

Not based on you Pokerface but what most amuses me is the view that spaniards are lazy, have no business acumen, and lack ideas - and that their world is ripe for the picking by clever *********** .

Cheers that's it from me. Off to Madrid laiden like Santa. Happy Xmas to one and all


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Pokerface said:


> Something that almost amuses me with the peoples perception of business in Spain, is that it´s somehow different to business, say in the UK.
> The fact of the matter is that business is business the world over.
> People say how businesses fail in Spain without taking into account various factors;
> How many businesses fail in the UK by comparison? The truth being that business of all types fail be it here in Spain or the UK.
> ...


It's different to business in the UK or the Czech Republic or anywhere in the world in that some countries are more difficult to do business in than others. Spain is one of them.
Otherwise, true, not that different although the comparative wealth and general economic situation of a country might be important and very different factors to take into account.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Pokerface said:


> Something that almost amuses me with the peoples perception of business in Spain, is that it´s somehow different to business, say in the UK.
> The fact of the matter is that business is business the world over.
> People say how businesses fail in Spain without taking into account various factors;
> How many businesses fail in the UK by comparison? The truth being that business of all types fail be it here in Spain or the UK.
> ...


It's different to business in the UK or the Czech Republic or anywhere in the world in that some countries are more difficult to do business in than others. Spain is one of them.
Otherwise, true, not that different although the comparative wealth and general economic situation of a country might be important and very different factors to take into account.
Incidentally, you left an 'L' out of your list...Luck. And the seven 'p's can't be said to have produced a stunningly efficient military.....


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