Setting up a bar in Spain may be the most common business, thinking it is the safest, but nothing could be further from the truth, it can be one of the biggest financial nightmares, even if you know how to run it and have great experience.
This is how Javier, owner of a bar “Pou Café Tapes”, explains it, where he has been interviewed for the TV channel. Eric Poncewhere he tells what the harsh reality of having a bar or a hospitality business in the country is.
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“My children decided to start this bar because I wasn’t doing anything at home. I liked to cook, but I didn’t imagine that this would be the way it is,” says Javier, who started the project full of enthusiasm.
For him, the adventure started with a relatively small investment. “It was a good price, I invested 35,000 euros,” he recalls. What at first seemed like an acceptable opportunity has ended up becoming a burden that grows every day, conditioned by the demands of the sector and the obstacles that arise.
The situation is so complex and difficult that his business is barely managing to stay open. “My wife comes to help me and, sometimes, my daughter-in-law too, because I can’t pay an employee either,” he explains, resigned.
In addition, this lack of personnel forces them to work hours that far exceed the 8-hour work day, making them exhausting. “I work from seven in the morning to eleven at night every day,” he says. Even so, that effort is not always enough to achieve everything.
“Many times I find myself at three or four in the morning without being able to sleep thinking tomorrow I have to pay for this, where am I going to get the money to pay it, my God,” he says lamenting.
Javier admits that inexperience has also influenced when running his business. “I had the city councils and the banks who came to have breakfast, but of course, not having experience as a hotelier… they came with a measured time, with their half hour to eat, and I think that undermined my work as well,” he says.
Despite the hours invested and the sacrifice, the situation has become unsustainable for him and his family. “We don’t have resources either; I, for example, don’t have the way to say I’m going to continue with the bar.”
In his opinion, the hospitality industry is going through a difficult scenario throughout the country. “A bar is not to get rich,” he states clearly. That is why he sends a message to those who are thinking about starting a business in the hospitality industry. “I wouldn’t advise a person who doesn’t know about bars to open one.”
His words reflect the harsh reality of owning a bar. “I don’t know how the other bars are holding up, I don’t know, but I’m totally broke.”
Even in the midst of this reality, Javier keeps a promise to his clients and keeps his prices fair. “What the companies I buy with discount me reflects on the customer,” he explains. Since it opened, the prices for coffee and beer have remained unchanged, both at the bar and on the terrace. “The same thing that coffee or beer is worth on the terrace is worth at the bar.”
His way of understanding the business is simple and empathetic. “The price is the same because I also understand people, not everyone is willing to pay prices that are not right.”
Despite the difficulties, it continues to strive to offer a close and accessible space. For him, the bar is more than just a business: it is the desire to provide honest service even in the midst of adversity.