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sabikeuk
18-07-2011, 11:50
Hi,

I am planning to move to Tenerife and open a business there.

Could someone recommend me a Gestor/Solicitor/Estate Agent who will be able to help me with all required paperwork/licences, setting-up the business, etc etc…

I want to rent a shop, not to buy.

Thank you,
Dan

CIM
18-07-2011, 12:48
Try one of our forum members Goldenmaniac.
Her website is here: http://www.diana-mcglone.com/

bonitatime
18-07-2011, 17:07
If you speak Spanish your local town hall is very helpful and will run through the papers you need and how to get them.
We get our accounts done with Marcos Cabrera in Los Cris they came reccomended generally but are English speakers if you don't speak English but the don't do opening licenses. As for estate agents I would look where you wat the shop to be and then see who us renting in the comercial centre rather than getting an estate agent to show you places. Location is one if the most important factors in a business here.
Good luck and come back and tell us when you open. There was some really great info around but not sure if it can be accessed.

Balcony
18-07-2011, 17:36
As an accountant for ex-pats (and non-resients) Marcos Cabrera is recommended. No bull, just do the job.... tax, payment of local rates etc.

sabikeuk
20-07-2011, 18:19
Thank you all of you for replies and advices.

I don't speak Spanish, so will need someone as Gestor, who speaks English and Spanish and is trustworthy.

Cat Woman
25-07-2011, 15:43
Hi,
The best Solicitors on the Island are Tenerife Solicitors. www.tenerifesolicitors.com 922 717 845.
They are brilliant and really get on with the job in hand. Thay actually do what they say they are going to do and answer calls and emails on the same day if not straight away. One partner is English and one is Spanish, so everything is covered in English & Spanish. They are not expensive. A lot of ex-pats use them and they always come highly recommended.
They are also not expensive.
Sharon. :)

doreen
25-07-2011, 16:04
I have had dealings with these agents for buying/selling businesses: they have a good reputation on the island, and I believe one of the partners has just joined us on here - FRINA Tenerife

http://www.tenerife-business.com/

As has been said, location is perhaps the most important factor (unless you are going the online route) ... we have seen too many businesses fail because not enough research was done at the beginning.

warmwind
25-07-2011, 16:32
Hi Sabikeuk,

I have pm'd you .

cheery
25-07-2011, 17:16
There seems to be lots of businesses for sale in Puerto Colon. Most of them are upstairs so that is probably one reason. If they were at ground level they probably wouldn't be for sale. Or am I missing something?

Irina
25-07-2011, 23:03
Hi Sabikeuk

I did send you a PM, would be glad to help.
Gestors and paperwork is a very important part of starting a business, but is the second step. First is finding the suitable premises in the right location for Your business concept.

Goldenmaniac
26-07-2011, 08:45
I disagree Irina, IMHO once you've committed to the premises that could be too late! The prospective business owner should do their homework first - what will the running costs be? - taxation and social security payments are a big part of that, are they aware of the differences in employment law here? Which Ayuntamiento will they chose to operate in - costs of opening licences vary (even to transfer an existing one) - I would say an initial consultation with some-one who knows the ropes (gestor / accountant or local authority business development agency) is essential before starting to source the premises.

If you are NOT thinking of buying a freehold business property, then in general what you are "buying" is what is called here a "Traspaso". This is a private transfer type of arrangement and what you are paying for is goodwill, stock, fixtures and fittings in the premises (if they are not the property of the premises owner) and also getting the existing business holder to give up the right to what ever is left on their premises rental contract. A much better format is to negotiate a proper lease "cesíon" - but this is not so readily accepted by Tenerife landlords!
Do the math! Look at the potential earnings and see if the return justifies the outlay. Why are the existing owners giving up the business? There are genuine reasons - family, retirement, moving up to a bigger better location etc - but if there is no obvious reason, are they leaving because they couldn't make it? If they couldn't what could you do differently? - perhaps you have more experience in the field, better work ethic, etc etc. but be honest with yourselves could you make it work if they can't.
I would always investigate whether I could set my business up from scratch in an empty unit - would the set up costs exceed the cost of buying an existing business?- Goodwill and location are usually the key factors in that choice.
If you are going for an existing business, remember the concept of a lease as we understand it in the UK does not always apply. Have a meeting with the landlord to firm up what length of rental agreement he will give you as the "clock" starts again at zero when a new person takes over and you must negotiate the rent, deposit and other terms and conditions of the agreement with the landlord yourself.
Also check with the landlord how much percent transfer fee of the transfer price he wants - he may be entitled to as much as 10% dependant on what is in his contract with the current business holder. Are you expected to pay that or the outgoing tennant.
Request a full inventory of items belonging to the business owner (NOT the landlord) to be included in the Traspaso -transfer of business.
Contact the local council to check whether the business has an opening licence or if not would that be looked on favourably. If there are problems what would have to be done?. ie getting the premises up to code and obtaining what is called a proyecto - which are architects plans to either confirm the premises are suitable for the use you intend OR detail what needs to be done and then act on those improvement requirements.
If dealing with food - check with the Sanitation department what level of catering licence - cafe/ bar 1 fork 2 fork etc. you could have in that premises. You may not have the set up to produce full meals for example. Also at least one of you will have to have a food handlers certificate (in Spanish)
If the premises are located as part of a complex or community, as a courtesy check with the "Comunidad" - community association. A friendly approach to the president or comittee can often go a long way - this lets you know what other owners in the complex see as problematic (if anything)
Then you have to get yourself set up as an "autonomo" - self employed person, or you could form a company or partnership but that may be overkill for a small business set up. Remember what ever way you work in Spain either for your self or on contract to someone else you must have already formalised your immigration status. If you are a European Citizen then you need to apply for a Certificate of Registration (http://www.diana-mcglone.com/#residencia) and an NIE number if you do not already have one. If you are non-european the process is too complicated to explain here as there are variations from country to country.

Irina
26-07-2011, 09:32
Hello Goldenmaniac, I didn't say "committ" to a premises, but "to find suitable premises in the right location"! All your arguments are more than valid, but in my opinion before starting a new business one should do a market reserach and find out where your business idea will work best. Once you have identified a few possible locations and found that premises are available, you can start enquiring on requirements and regulations applicable to those particular locations and premises. As you correctly mentioned, the regulations could vary, depending on the business you want to open and the municipality, also each particular premises could have its specifics (community regulations, state of the premises, etc) so obtaining specific information (and not general) will make your business plan more complete.

doreen
26-07-2011, 10:04
You know, I think you two (goldenm and Irina) would make the perfect team for people looking to start a business here - maybe some joint promotion would be in order :)

Todi
26-07-2011, 16:55
From someone who has fairly recently opend a business, and I think I posted on another thread similar to this on the old forum, my advice would be choose a Gestor/translator/advisor very carefully and double check everything.
I used someone to help me apply for my opening licence for a beauty salon and 3 months down the line had to start the whole process again with another Gestor as the original one had applied for a licence for a medical center rather than a beauty salon. So another 1000€ had to be paid to put right this almighty mess up. Needless to say no offer of a refund of the money already paid to her and not a leg to stand on with the council because, quite rightly, I was responsible as I had signed the forms.
Dont put too much faith in people who tell you they know it all, I completely trusted this person and stupidly believed she knew what she was doing, hard lesson learnt:( Upside is I now have a great Gestor who has untangled the mess, smoothed things out with the council and keeps me up to date and legal.
A good gestor is worth their weight in gold a bad one can have disasterous consequences.

woodchip68
05-08-2011, 21:14
Be very careful with whom you choose.

I opened our Spanish branch in Tenerife in 08. We were working with UKTI and a division of the Spanish goverment to access the market and find a location.
We have factories in the Uk, China, Canada and the US, so Spain would be easy peasy. Boy was we wrong. Half a million pounds worth of wrong.
Tenerife is a fantastic place to live, I would rather be here than anywhere in the world. But in our experience we found it to be the most corrupt place that we as a business have ever had dealings with.

We opened a 25000 square foot factory in las Chafiras to manufacture for our Spanish speaking customers.
Spanish new business adviser on the take. Gestor doubled rates. Architect, electrician, plumber, Tom, **** and Harry ripped us off. All on the advise of our adviser and the gestor.

We eventually found out what was happening when it was too late, so we sacked everyone involved.
The adviser of 3 months said that we were his only source of income and took us to a tribunal for the value of 60,000 euros and won

The laws here are so warped and are a million miles from those in the UK and the rest of the world.

If you are looking for Government support, forget it. If your looking for geniune support, buy a pet snake.

The best way to earn money in Tenerife - buy or start a business in the UK - employ a good manager to run it - have your money sent to you in Tenerife and pay the 21% tax on dividends - Fly home on the business every month for a couple of days to monitor it - Simples

CIM
06-08-2011, 00:30
You have to play people off against each other here to get any semblance of whose who. Tell a gestor your thinking of going with another, tell a business selling agent you are thinking of buying through another etc etc, listen to what they say when they start spouting about each other to win you over.
Then go to the other and do the same thing. There will be element of truth and bull**** in what they are both saying but at least you will see what a tricky place it is to find someone whiter than white whom you can place your trust in.

I have found Tenerife shockingly bad as well. It has taken years to get to grips with how things work here and from personal experience, once you get your head around the fact that everyone sees you as a "mark" and once you have met a few good, honest decent and well connected people it does get a lot more straightforward (but by no means easy!) For me it has been all about the people I have got to know (the ones I have stuck with as well as the ones I have swiftly told where to go...) I have to trust the people I work with, with money as a matter of course. Thankfully I have built up a small but decent group of people I can trust and it is paying dividends but I certainly understand your frustrations - its a nest of vipers over here and almost everyone who moves over underestimates how bad it is and how few trustworthy people there are kicking around.

A healthy dose of cynicism will save you a lot of money in Tenerife!

bonitatime
06-08-2011, 16:16
I think we have been very lucky. We came out to Los G in the 80's when there was only a small expat comunity and the locals were pleased for foreigners to come.
I then moved down the coast and we worked for the same company for 16 years and built up many contacts. We are both very cautious which I think helps. I have heard some real hirror stories over the years but it is not just the English There was a German man who had an estate agents at the end of the 90's who moved from town to town along the coast cheating people as he went.

WeeJake
06-08-2011, 23:48
Corina Garcia. Assessorias Royal.... Valdes Centre Los Cristianos. She is Canarian and speaks perfect English. There is NOTHING she doesn´t know. This question, by the way, will bring hundreds of different responses dependant on individuals experience. Contact both British & Spanish consulates and get a list of reputable Gestors and Abogados. And whilst you´re at it, ask them for a concise list of do´s and dont´s when looking for a business. We asked this question ten years ago, and between them both, we ended up with a concise list of "Questions to Ask". With this to-hand it´ll help keep the "Wolves" at bay. Good Luck

bigbite
22-03-2013, 19:38
does someone have a web site for Marcos Cabrera
or the address

Fivepence
22-03-2013, 20:33
does someone have a web site for Marcos Cabrera
or the address

38650 , PLAYA DE LOS CRISTIANOS , ARONA (TENERIFE) , SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE

tel 922752157 :tiphat: