# The Big Move - Advice



## adamm19830 (Jul 21, 2014)

Hello everyone,

First of all, I love this forum. I find it a very interesting and informative read.

I'd like to put forward to you all myself and my families current situation and our plan. My aim is to get as much information as possible regarding the move and any views and opinions.

I am 32 years old as is my wife. We have a 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son.

Reason for moving :- A lifestyle change. First and foremost our children are so much happier (and nicer  ) when we are in a sunny climate. We are tired of the UK weather and feel we are in a good position to make the move soon. Whilst I am English, my wife is Polish and we spend a lot of time in Poland during the summer where the weather is consistently 25-38c everyday.

Employment Status - Myself and my wife have our own successful online Children's clothing business. We design and make 80% of all of our products and the remaining 20% is bought in. We have now built it up so that we feel it could be successful anywhere. Our buying market is 60% UK, 30% USA, 10% Europe.

We feel we can move our business abroad and carry on working in the way we do keeping the same customers. We dont feel like we would lose business by moving abroad as our clothing is very unique and we now hold a good reputation. I have been looking into the mail system in Spain, and i know there is correos but also an alternative ' offex ' which i beleive could be a good alternative. Our parcel our normally classed as either a Large Letter or Small parcel in the UK Royal Mail system and always weigh less than 2kg. I'd like to know more info on this service and your experiences.

We can operate our business from home so we wouldnt need any commercial buildings. We would probably look to rent out our house in the UK and rent in Spain to begin with.

We are looking to move to the Costa Del Sol, and ideally in the Nueva Andalucia area as it is an area we know well. My parents had a house there since i was born since we have visited many times! They no longer have the house though.

Any information to start with would be useful to help move us along the process. 

Feel free to ask me more questions.

My wife would like to be in an area where there would be similar aged people we could make friends with.

Regards,
Adam


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## Anciana (Jul 14, 2014)

It is difficult to offer you any advice, when one is not sure what, actually, you are asking about. The legal/bureaucratic aspects of running your business in Spain? Or?


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## adamm19830 (Jul 21, 2014)

Anciana said:


> It is difficult to offer you any advice, when one is not sure what, actually, you are asking about. The legal/bureaucratic aspects of running your business in Spain? Or?


Hi Anciana,

I guess it's everything but I'll try to be more specific below:-

1) We would like to continue our business in Spain. Our only worry is would it continue to be a success. I think it would as the only difference is the shipping method. We currently charge £3.20 for our parcels sent within the UK. These are classed as either a large letter (£3.20) or small parcel (£4.20). What would the approx cost be to ship these parcels to the UK with and without a required signature upon delivery. I looked at offex in lieu of Correos. 

2) which websites are considered the best when looking for a rental property? Would you recommend renting our house in the UK and then renting in Spain in case it all goes wrong. Or would you sell the UK house and buy in Spain straight away? I appreciate its a hard question to answer but any thoughts would be useful.

3) does it cost a fee to register a business in Spain? Would I have to register the business in Spain or could I keep it based in the UK?

4) Have families with young children found it easy for the children to integrate into an international school?


That's all I can think of at the moment but I'm sure there are loads more.

Thanks


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

Check out parcel costs here ?
SEUR: Domestic and International Parcel Shipping, Courier and Logistics Services


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## adamm19830 (Jul 21, 2014)

VFR said:


> Check out parcel costs here ?
> SEUR: Domestic and International Parcel Shipping, Courier and Logistics Services



Thanks, I might be going crazy but when I click on calculate cost, the next screen doesn't have the UK as a destination choice.....


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

You state that you would not need commercial premises as you could run your business from home...

I fear that this will be a big obstacle for you if you want to do things legally. The use of land and buildings on them is regulated, and to operate a business in Spain you will need an operating license from the local authority. 

Obviously I cannot know about any potential property that you may be planning to inhabit, but I think that you would find it very difficult to obtain the necessary licence for a residential property. At the very least it could be a long and costly process.

Of course there are combined residential / commercial properties around, but you should make very clear to any agent that may assist you in your search that you will be running a business from any potential property and that it must be correctly classified for such mixed use. Do NOT trust them when they say "it will be fine, don't worry", check with the local authority first.


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## adamm19830 (Jul 21, 2014)

Overandout said:


> You state that you would not need commercial premises as you could run your business from home...
> 
> I fear that this will be a big obstacle for you if you want to do things legally. The use of land and buildings on them is regulated, and to operate a business in Spain you will need an operating license from the local authority.
> 
> ...


Oh really?! I didn't know that. Seems odd. But I guess it would as people work from home all the time in the UK and it's no problem.

There is no need for us to work away from home. Everything is done from a dedicated room in our house.

I will look into it. Who would be the best to ask? An agent or local authority?


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

If your Spanish is up to it, I would go straight to the local authority, but if not, I would be getting legal help.

The requirements are so varied from place to place and depending on the business activity, you need someone knowledgable in all aspects to give you the correct advice.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

In many places, houses were built with a shop front which might have been used, at one time, as a retail outlet or a bar (there are lots of those). Many people carry on a small business with no signs or outward indication that it is business premises and thus get taxed less.

For yourself you would either have to register as "autonomo" (self-employed) and pay Social Security (this would cover you and your family for Spanish health care which is very good) or you would have to set yourselves up as a small business which would probably cost more to run.

As far as the operation of the business is concerned, much would depend on the amount of potential inconvenience to neighbours (noise, smell, waste, extra traffic, etc.) as to whether you would be permitted to operate from domestic premises (i.e.would the neighbours complain?)

Transport: You could also try MRW, although there are others DHL, Datapost, DPD, etc. Postage via Correos can be quite expensive but if you are going to be making regular shipments, you may be able to cut a special deal with a courier such as MRW or SEUR.


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## Anciana (Jul 14, 2014)

It looks to me like you have to do much more research before you might be ready to move.

Some of the issues you face are important and tricky, some are mundane.

The most important to me seems to make sure you can earn a living in Spain, the other, to make sure you can successfully tackle horrendous Spanish bureaucracy (and, at worst, cleptocracy). 

As far as your business ic concerened the cost of individual shipments might seem important, and to a certain extent it is, but not the most important. How would your clients feel about a Spanish company supplying them versus a British company? 
60% of your market (by volume? by profitability?) is British, you say, so you would not want to loose a large chunk of it. In addition 30% of it is US - perhaps because you market yourself in English only (do you?), perhaps because you are perceived as British. How well do you know your customers? your markets? where do you see expansion potential? How would you go about it? In UK? In Spain?

There are different possibilities: you might want to keep a British label and a British distribution center (for example by hiring someone part time there) and, perhaps, moving the production (on contract) to Poland (since your wife is Polish and probably has loads of contacts there and you spend several months a year there, if I understood you right) - which would free more of your time to do more design and more marketing, that is the more profitable aspects of business.

That might help you with the Spanish bureaucracy problem as well, as you would not engage in any production and/or distribution there. Etc. Etc.

Renting/buying, rental sights and so on might be important for quality of life, but are not vital for your survival and prosperity, so that I would leave for later and concentrate of what's important first.
Good luck and congratulations on starting a successful business.


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## adamm19830 (Jul 21, 2014)

Thanks for all the info everyone.

It is early days so far, we have a 1-2 year plan. Our business doesn't produce any noise other than a sewing machine. I don't think it would be a concern to neighbours.

We are aiming to come over in December so I'm drawing up a shortlist of things I should do whilst I'm there. 

We are a small but successful business, it is just myself and my wife that work for us. We are classed as self employed here in the UK.

I am considering asking some of our loyal customers if the move would affect anything for them. Would they be put off if we were based in Spain. At the end of the day that is our main concern. We would still run the business in the same way, and it would be focussed on reaching the British public. Our main business contact with customers is on all the social media channels so nothing will change business wise. As mentioned previously the only change would be the shipping time. In the UK once we ship an item to a UK customer it arrives the next day, this obviously wouldn't be the case if we were based in Spain. Our items are all made to order though, so if a customer is waiting the normal 2-3 weeks for an item, what's another 3-4 days for shipping......

Renting an apartment is looking like the way forward for us, that way we can keep our house in the UK and rent it out. I know it's a buying market in Spain rather than renting but it's a safer option to begin with.


Thanks again everyone.


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## adamm19830 (Jul 21, 2014)

Could I please ask about private schools.

The one I have seen and known about since I was little is Aloha College in Nueva Andalucia. The fees are approx £410 per month. Is this fee about right for a private school? Or does it seem expensive. 

I'm planning to rent in Nueva Andalucia so this school is ideal. 

I didn't consider school fees into our monthly budget!!! Ooopps


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Your children are very young and would most probably learn Spanish quickly. Is there any particular reason for putting them into an international or private school?


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

[QUOTE[/Our business doesn't produce any noise other than a sewing machine. QUOTE] Given the standard of Spanish house construction whereby someone in the street sneezes and neighbour says Jesus, just this noise could be seen as a nuisance.


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