Which comes first, Business or Property?

Most people move to Tenerife to improve their lifestyle, and this tends to be uppermost in their minds when they make decisions. It is hardly surprising that so many people fall into the trap of ensuring that their home and lifestyle in Tenerife are organised before they have put in place the means to pay for it.

If you are planning to settle into a new country, then you should start by renting the home you live in. No matter how many times you have been to Tenerife on holiday, living on the island is completely different. You will find that your needs change when you move from tourist to resident and renting for a few months gives you the flexibility to move if your original guess about the ideal place to live is not entirely right.

It is not just lifestyle factors that will define the ideal place to live, but also the location of your business. Buying a property to live in will limit the choices of business location that are open to you, and you may not be able to even consider the best commercial options because they are simply out of range. Ideally home and work will be close together, or else you may fall into the same commuter trap that you left behind!

But the most important factor that ends the dreams of most people that come to Tenerife to settle and start a new life is money. Ensuring that you have enough income to support your new life should be your number one priority.
Having rented your home, your capital will still be intact but your day to day expenses will start to eat away at it. So your urgent priority is to ensure that your capital starts to earn you money as quickly as possible. Forget the beaches; start looking for a Tenerife business for sale!

Finding your business first allows you to know exactly how much you have remaining to spend on your home. Not only will you know how much of your capital is remaining after paying your set up costs, but when you have run your new business for a few months, you will also know how much working capital the business requires.

Most importantly, running your business will also give you an accurate idea of your income. Your income will define your lifestyle and the home you can afford to live in. It is much less risky to do it this way around, than define the income you need by buying a property first!

When moving to Tenerife it is quite natural to want to get your lifestyle and home sorted out as soon as possible. But if they do this before organising their income, they are likely to be leaving the island with their tail between their legs within a year. This is probably the biggest trap that faces aspiring expats and it is the main reason why many hundreds of people fail to make a new life in the sun.

So if you are planning to move to Tenerife, take heed. You may be moving here to improve your lifestyle, but that improvement has to start with your business. Don’t fall into the trap that has shattered the dreams of hundreds of people (and led many of them to financial ruin). Find your Tenerife business first and your home second.