If you have a trade and are skilled in the builidng or utility supply market, there is plenty of work around. This has tailed off a little due to the lull in the property market across the Costas. Neverhteless, as long as you are prepared to align your charges with the local market, there is still plenty of work for reliable and honest hands.
Restaurants and bars employ casual labour, but the hourly rates are still quite low. The holiday and tourist companies are always looking for new staff, but the main reason being that their staff turnover levels are high.
If you work for yourself from home and are able to transfer your working environment to Javea, you will enjoy the move. Many artistic and sole traders have made the move very successfully. Spain and England have arrangements that help ensure you are not paying your tax twice if your primary income still comes from the UK, but it is always wise to get professional tax assistance if you plan to split your time and income across different countries.
Company and Employment Law
Once you are resident in Spain, then setting up a company is not expensive, although it is very bureaucratic and there is a lot of form filling in Spanish. Office accomodation is relatively inexpensive and the banks are very happy to take on business accounts. There are however, quite major differences in the way companies are established here. Directors carry significant responsibility and it is essential that you get local professional advise.
Employing personnel in Spain also has its own nuances. Here it is quite common for external professional services to manage your entire payroll, taxation and employment contracts. In this way much of the hassle of making the necessary declarations and reassuring new employees of your legitimacy is taken away. The additional benefit of such services is that you allay the fears of the taxman as to the payment of income tax, which is a headache you will really want to avoid.
Business Practice and Business Relationships
It is actually quite ironic that the Costa del Sol has developed somewhat of a 'reputaion' for underhand business dealings, as traditionally, the Spanish do much on trust. It is also unfortunate that some of this reputation has spilled over into the Costa Blanca. The reputation has actually come about far more due to the influx of foreign nationals who have brought a very 'short sighted' attitude with them as to business dealings.
Contracts here are important, but not as important as repuation and trust. Prove yourself trustworthy and you will be astonished how much trust you will get in return. Upset just a few people and the grapevine works extremely fast. Also beware of migrant labour. The saying 'here now, gone tomorrow' has never been more accurate.
Business Banking and Funding
If you can't get loans or funding for what you want to accomplish in business in the UK, don't expect to get it in Spain. Partcularly in a risk-averse regin such as Javea. Secured lending is taken on cautiously and unsecure lending with an exceptional level of detail. Very little authority is delegated to local management in the banking community in Spain, so expect to fill out form after form and to wait for authorizations. On the other hand, if you have money to deposit and assets that can be leveraged, you will get a great deal of quality and the service levels will be relatively high.
Support for Business
Alicante has a good reputation for assisting businesses when it comes to the provision of information and infrastructure. There are good networking opportunities, exhibition venues and conference facilities. Valencia is also a thriving city when it comes to international trade. The main Chamber of Commerce in Alicante can be found at: Camara de Comercio, Industria y Navigation. The principal venue for trade fairs is the Alicante Exhibition Centre. and they can provide a full listing of fairs planned throughout the year.
Consumer Spending Patterns
Spain revolves around 'cash purchases', effectivo as they call it and it is very important to the success of any business venture here that you understand this. Credit card penetration is growing, but there is still much mistrust to their use and distance selling remains a slow growing market. Internet trading is begining to make inroads to this, but it will be a long time before you see the levels of e-commerce that you experience in the UK. Most business hre is done face-to-face and deals can be struck very quickly. Expect to negotiate on everything. That includes everything you buy and everything you sell.
Learn the Language
Despite the extensive use of the English language across Spain, the level and quality of the English spoken amongst the local Spanish remains low amongst the general Spanish populace. For this reason many companies here will taken on Northern Europeans to work in sales or marketing roles. When it comes to finance and administraion, however, Spanish companies hire Spanish personnel first, simply because it is essential, due to the bureacracy prevelant in the countries governmental, taxation and legal establishments. The true benefit to speaking the local language,l however, is the speed at which you earn trust and begin to understand the humour and subteties of the local language. It isn't essential in Javea to speak Spanish, but it really does help!
