Planning your business
English speaking expatriates may originally have restricted themselves to one or two industries such as running a bar or renting out apartments, but times have certainly changed. We own schools, shops, health practices, newspapers, building companies, insurance brokers, companies that sell, lease or repair vehicles, travel companies, a myriad of different services: in fact the list is a very long one, and growing with each passing year.
There are some limitations, of which language is the most obvious. Although your accountants, gestors and lawyers may speak English, it makes good business sense to learn Spanish. Many of the most successful businesses trade with both the expat and Spanish markets, it may be important to speak the same language as your customers. You will pick up Spanish words and phrases as you become further involved in business, but if you can spare the time, Spanish will be invaluable. Limiting your sales to only the English speaking market may be sufficient, depending on your goals, but in most cases a larger potential market is better than a smaller one.
Like anywhere, the keys to starting a successful business in Tenerife are research and planning, as well as finding a niche that is sufficiently lucrative to support you. Suppliers must be contacted, prices negotiated and sales estimated in order to create a forecast of how your business is to perform. The more you leave to chance, luck or blind hope, the less likely you are to succeed.
You will also need to factor in the costs of opening, licenses and compliance to the law. For this you will need professional advice and the services of an advisor knowledgeable about the type of business you wish to set up, who will present all the right applications and secure the relevant licenses on your behalf.
Most things in Tenerife proceed at a very leisurely pace and bureaucracy moves slower than most. In August it often doesn’t move at all. As you progress from plans to reality, you find that you need one more trait that has not yet been mentioned: patience!
One of the most valuable resources that a business can call on is their accountant, and you will need one right from the start. When you set up a business, of course you will need to ensure that everything is done correctly as small mistakes made early may lead to large and expensive problems later on. But a good advisor is also a sounding board, providing a different perspective and allowing you to make informed decisions, both at start up and when the business is operating. You need to take a long term view when choosing an accountant, and ensure that you are going to continue to get good advice. And if your Spanish is not fluent, you should look for one whose English is.
Tony Bonser, Managing Director of Tenerife Royale, a well known estate agent in Los Cristianos, is well qualified to talk about the difference a good accountant makes. “When we started, we used a big firm of accountants in the south, but found ourselves paying a large fee and only ever seeing a junior member of staff. If we needed 30 minutes to get some advice, you can be sure that we received a bill for it on top of the retainer that we paid. We just weren’t happy with the service.”
You should treat your first meeting with an accountant like an interview, and get some idea of his knowledge and experience. But just as important is to understand his attitude to client care: you need to know if you will be fobbed off to a minion or charged by the hour for every additional question or professional opinion you wrest from them.
“B&G Mobile Accountants came highly recommended to me, so I thought I would see them. And I was impressed” said Tony. “Shortly afterwards we started the transition of our accounts over to B&G, and the service is incomparable. We have a monthly meeting, and we’re getting information and opinions. We had been used to an accountant simply processing paperwork, but now we were getting advice. Having a different pair of eyes to look critically at what you are doing and planning, as well look out for potential problems in the future, is invaluable when you are running a company. It’s like having an expert executive director on the board.”
Hiring a good accountant will inevitably save you money, but it is natural that some would shy away from a specialist accountant, expecting the fees to be as high as those charged by the larger firms. But not all can be tarred with the same brush, and certainly Tony Bonser knows he is getting good value for money. “It really was the best thing we ever did for the business.”
 B&G Mobile Accountants, TenerifeTelephone: 922 273 946Address: You can arrange a meeting on your own premises with B & G Mobile Accountants or visit them in their offices in Calle Teobaldo Power, 2-4F, 38002 Santa Cruz Visit Website or Send an Email |
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