The truth about opening a business
Opening your own business can change your life. It can also cost you years of savings. The difference is almost never luck: it is doing the numbers first, starting small and surviving the first months.
What the data says
According to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), of the companies born in Spain in 2018:
After 1 year76.9% were still open. Almost 1 in 4 had already closed.
After 3 years55.3% were still open.
After 5 yearsonly 41.9%. More than half had closed.
In 2023 alone319,085 companies were created and 273,451 disappeared.
This is not to scare you. It is so you go in with your eyes open: opening is easy, staying open is the hard part.
What nobody tells you
- The first year you almost always lose money or earn very little. Customers take time to come.
- You will work more than as an employee, especially at first: opening, closing, paperwork, suppliers, cleaning.
- Costs arrive even if you sell nothing: rent, self-employed fee, electricity, insurance, accountant. Every month.
- Your wage is the last thing paid. Everything else gets paid first.
Why most of them close
1No numbersThey open without knowing how many customers they need.
2Wrong placeA cheap premises where nobody walks by.
3No cushionThey run out of money before the customers arrive.
4All on debtLoan repayments eat what they earn.
The good news: almost all of this can be avoided by doing your homework before you sign anything. That is what you will learn here.