Category: Self-employed in Barcelona

Although I haven’t yet really felt the need to rent a coworking space, sometimes, when I’m working on a project, I feel an urge to get out and about. Fortunately, there’s plenty of great cafés in Barcelona to work in. As well as WiFi and a nice background hum, someone will bring you cake and coffee. Who could ask for more? Here’s some of my favourite places to take the laptop for a stroll. Much more fun than an office!

You also might like to take a look at the other blog I write in, which is dedicated to cafés, restaurants and bars in Barcelona.

Cafés for working in Barcelona (all with WiFi)

Altair Libreria (Universitat)

The downstairs part of the Altair bookshop is a great space for both taking your laptop and working and meeting clients. They have a café with WiFi, with large tables and a serene atmosphere. Although be careful not to get distracted by all the great reading on the shelves around you!

Hotel Pulitzer (Plaça Catalunya)

The lounge of the Hotel Pulitzer is another great place for a mini-meeting, especially if you need somewhere central and with a high level of formality to bring a new international client or partner. I used to come here every week for a regular meetup with one of my clients. Of the two, the Pulitzer is slightly funky and tends to get busier. The Hotel Regina next door is a little quieter if it seems too full. Sometimes the WiFi can be a little slow, however.

TacTic (Sagrada Familia)

TacTic is a café with a difference: instead of paying per coffee, drinks are unlimited and you pay for the amount of time you spend in the venue. This format naturally lends itself well to working in. You can connect your laptop to the WiFi for as long as you want – no dirty looks from waiters. Although I’ve had better coffee, the venue is funky and relatively little known (note, this might change in the future).

SandwiChez (various)

is a local café chain, located in Les Corts, Sarria, Universitat, Sagrada Familia, Plaça Espanya and the Pg de Sant Joan. Watch for more cafes to open soon! Good quality food, good coffee, peace and quiet if you need and large tables to spread your notes over. This is geared up towards the professional set, and you definitely won’t feel out of place with a laptop here. A little expensive, but what isn’t in this part of town?

La Fourmi (Gracia)

One of the institutions of the area, La Fourmi offers food, drink and a welcoming atmosphere that’s great for working in. With large, open windows, comfortable tables to rest your laptop on and (of course) a decent WiFi connexion, this is a good location for checking your traffic or filing your reports with a glass of orange juice (or maybe even red wine? :)) in hand.

Coco Coffice (Poble Sec)

Coco Coffice, which I’ve written about elsewhere, is a novel concept that is somewhere between a café and a coworking space. Like TacTic, they charge by hours rather than consumption, so you can enjoy lots of coffee and cake. Coco Coffice has a specially available meeting room, meaning as well as making use of the space to do some work this is also a great place to bring clients.

What does it take to start a successful business in Barcelona? We ask coworking café Coco Coffice. This post is not sponsored (unless you count free cake :)).

Some of the most successful businesses I’ve known in Barcelona are importers of ideas – they take a concept that’s better known elsewhere and introduce it into the local climate.

Coco Coffice in Poble Sec is a strikingly successful example of this. Their business model -a café to work in Barcelona, where you can take your laptop and pay by the hours you stay there, not by consumption – is fairly novel here.

With a relaxed, calm atmosphere, speedy WiFi connexion, dedicated meeting room at the back, new people to connect with and plenty of delicious cake, Coco Coffice is a great spot for any freelancers looking for somewhere to take their laptop to a café and do some work!

Coco Coffice coworking café in Barcelona: a successful business and a great café with WiFi

I interviewed Axel and Carole, the couple behind Coco Coffice coworking café, to ask about their experience of setting up a business in Barcelona. Read on!

1. Setting up a business in Barcelona. How was it?
   It all happened quite quickly. We had the idea in the beginning of 2016, and then a month or so later we’d already found somewhere to set up in business in Poble Sec. The first summer was quite slow as we were still building our reputation  (also, not many people are looking to take their laptop to a café with WiFi and get work done in summer!) – but then business picked up and things are now going very well.
   Both of us had already worked as self-employed in Spain for over ten years, so we were quite used to running a business here.
2. Did anything surprise you?
   How long it took for people to get their heads around the concept of a coworking café. We had to do a lot of explaining!
3. The boring bit: how do you pay your tax? How did you obtain licences for starting business activity, doing reforms, selling food and drink, etc.?
   The building company who reformed the venue for us organised the licences. We also have an accountant who takes care of the tax side of things. She’s really strict and keeps us in line!
4. What’s starting a business in Barcelona like?
   Working freelance in Barcelona is quite expensive, but there are tonnes of opportunities in the city. It’s becoming quite a hotspot for digital nomads. People working in cafés with WiFi in Barcelona are not an uncommon sight these days! Things are also picking up again now after the crisis.
5. What made you successful?
   We’re constantly adapting to what customers want. When we started, we had no idea which aspects of our business would be the most successful and some of this was quite surprising. Listening to what people ask for and finding a way to offer this is a great way to stay in business.
6. What advice would you give to someone starting up a business in Barcelona?
   Invest a lot of energy into making contacts. Events like MeetUps are great for connecting with people and an excellent source of information. Also, you need to be patient. We tend to expect everything to happen instantly, but sometimes things can take a while to kick off.

On top of Carole and Axel’s recommendations, I’d add that it was very obvious that the Coco Coffice have really managed to create a sense of community. This isn’t just a café with WiFi in Barcelona; it’s also somewhere freelancers can meet and share ideas and projects. As they said “we’ve adopted a lot of the people who come here into our own network”. As much as the coffee and cake, I’m sure this will keep them in business. I wish them every success in the future.

Does your business have a story to tell? If you think the freelancers, self-employed and owner/managers who read this blog would be interested, do get in touch.

Images contributed by Coco Coffice coworking café.

Barcelona is never a city to miss out on a trend. We’ve seen the rise of the “gintonic”, cupcakes and swing dance, and we can now add coworking spaces to the list. Coworking spaces, or “los coworking” as they’re known here, are pretty logical given that the amount of self-employed workers taking on bits and bobs here and there has risen with the crisis. It even looks like it might be part of a global trend.

Hiring a coworking space has various benefits. It gets you out of the house and into a new environment, puts you in touch with new people and is easier to declare on your tax returns than your place of residence. So without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the hottest coworking spots in Barcelona.

Top spots for coworking in Barcelona

The Almogàvers Business Factory is run by Barcelona Activa. It’s designed to be a “business incubator” – a place where new businesses can be nurtured and grow in a like-minded environment. As well as plenty of business services, you’ll have access to complementary services like help writing a business plan. It’s not free, but I believe spaces are heavily subsidised. To get one, you have to apply to empresa (at) barcelonactiva (dot) cat.

One of the coworking spaces that’s been hitting my Facebook feed constantly for the last couple of months is Betahaus Barcelona. Sold as the rather elitist-sounding “New coworking space for the social class”, full information has yet to be released on their website but I believe spaces are fairly cheap – around €80 per month (can that be right?). Betahaus seems to filter the stream of demand whipped up by their impressive marketing campaigns by how cool you are rather than what’s in your wallet: you’ll have to fit in with the “Rolling Beta Family” to be considered here.

Website Coworking Spain is a directory of more coworking spaces in Barcelona than you could shake a stick at. Seriously – I counted to 134 and then got bored. It’ll give you a good general market guide as well – as you can see, prices normally range from €50 – €300 per month, with €120 a seemingly happy medium.

Another interesting address is Comunidad Coworking, who, in addition to providing coworking spaces, offer information about “coworking culture” and networking events in Barcelona.

Text and photos by Penelope

Looking to find freelance work or create a startup in Barcelona?

Cities are ecosystems. And inside each ecosystem, birds of a feather tend to flock together. Meaning that, surprisingly, Barcelona has a far stronger tech presence than lots of people might realise. I can name several contacts who’ve launched themselves into the world of startups in Barcelona, either as employees or founding members. And – this may come as some of a surprise – the city is also a thriving hub for the tech industry.

Where the startups in Barcelona are hiding

Most of these businesses are concentrated into two areas. To the south of the city and near the beach, the “Zone 22@” contains Barcelona Activa, Almogàvers Business Factory and a host of startups and tech businesses. And to the north, near the Ferrocarril stop “Sant Joan” is a large industrial park which hosts a variety of established businesses, like HP, as well as new startups.

These areas have suffered in recent crisis years, with offices closing and companies hard-pushed to fund current staff. But, perhaps because the country’s hit hard times, I’ve also seen a ton of new startups aiming to attract overseas business in the last couple of months. According to El Pais, “los startups” are actually Spain’s way to a brighter future. These tend to focus on exporting overseas, and are often small companies looking for people who want to take on piecemeal projects rather than full-time staff (in fact, Spain has one of the highest rates of part-time work in Europe). This makes them a great bet for freelancers with experience of a particular culture looking to contract their services.

Start-ups in Barcelona

Here’s a couple of my favourite startups in the area:

• Grupo Intercom – Not a startup exactly, this incubator nurtures over fifty internet businesses, the vast majority of which are based around the same model. Heard of Infojobs, Bodas.net, Softonic, EMagister, EnAlquiler or Careesma? These have all done their time here.
• Nubelo – Mentioned elsewhere as a good place to find work, Nubelo has won awards and is an excellently-designed website.
• LetsBonus/Groupalia/Atrapalo – Offer/discount websites. I’m a bit addicted to these 🙂
• EasyPromos – Facebook app best known for it’s free version, which contains all you need to set up Facebook competitions.
• Trovit – Be it a new house, job or car, you can find it all here.

If it’s a full-time job you’re looking for, large international techcompanies like HP and VistaPrint also flock to Barcelona for the cheap wages and multilingual staff.

I hope I’ve managed to convince you that Barcelona is the Silicon Valley of Spain; if you had any doubts you can also find a great “Spain startup map” here!

Text and photos by Penelope

Coworking in Barcelona is in fashion. And arguably, if coworking is in fashion, then riding the crest of the wave is Betahaus Barcelona, currently the largest coworking space in Barcelona in terms of both members and square metres, and based in Gràcia. So what are coworking and Betahaus all about? We interview Edu Forte, cofounder of Betahaus Barcelona, to find out.

Coworking from home

First of all, what is a coworking centre? I’m told that it’s not just a business centre, but a space for meeting people, making connections and getting inspired. According to Edu, “the space stops being just four walls with an internet connexion and a printer”. And at the heart of this is a sense of community or, as Betahaus calls it on their website, “a happy family living in one amazing house”. Although it might seem surprising to have a family that charges you for desk space, at least your new Betahaus colleagues won’t have any embarrassing stories about your childhood to hold against you. Edu calls the space as “something comparable to a university or a library, a third, shared space that is neither the office nor home”.

In a city with a strong international streak and a transient population, it’s perhaps not surprising that the self-employed and small business owners are looking for this sense of community if they’re not getting it via work. In fact, Edu estimates a large majority of the coworkers in Betahaus are from overseas. Among the 170 people working in the centre, there are 35 nationalities and 18 different languages.

So apart from “foreign” (or “international”, to put it a little more kindly), what kind of profile does Betahaus attract? Edu insists on the variety of the coworkers in the space. Given the university comparisons, are they all young? Typically so, but there’s people of all ages in Betahaus. What unites them, according to Edu, is their open-minded spirit. They are “the kind of people who see this mark on the wall, and see an image or a possibility rather than a stain”.

What’s on show?

That said, Betahaus does not skimp on the facilities. “We are not a low-cost model”, says Edu. As well as the standard coworking facilities – desks, terraces and toilets, Betahaus contains its own members’ café, space for holding events, educational projects and a workshop. This is more than just a space where you can lay your laptop – Betahaus holds events such as global start-up competition Betapitch, Big Data talks and much more, making it an important nexus for business trends in Barcelona.

The graffiti on the walls and hammock for siestas make Betahaus feel more like a social club than an office. It’s clear that this is a space for a certain type of mindset that is quite far from the corporate world. That said, I’m reassured to see that the entrepreneurs hanging around do look pretty focused on what they’re doing. Despite the trendy surroundings, it’s good to see the nose-to-grindstone approach hasn’t gone out of fashion.

Are there any notable success stories from Betahaus Barcelona? A couple. One ex-Betahaus member has produced a soft security device which successfully achieved around $240,000 funding on Kickstarter. Acording to Edu, however, the greatest success story is not anyone who’s been wildly successful, but simply “the member who comes here and stays here because they’re doing well and it’s helped them build their business”. Sounds about right.

What does coworking bring to the table?

Coworking spaces are, like any kind of real estate outlay, not free, although Betahaus charges are reasonable enough. Is it worth the cost? Although you might find a few people hanging around who could use your services, this is not always a given. Having spoken to Edu, it seems that the real value of coworking is the water-cooler chat – the social motivation and the opportunity to bounce ideas off like-minded people.

How much is that worth in terms of getting your business off the ground and giving you the lifestyle you want? Up to you to decide. One thing’s for sure – your work environment is important, so before renting a coworking space, make sure you check if it really feels as though it’s for you.

Desks in Betahaus cost from €15 for a day pass to €79 – €229 per month. See their website for more details.

Text by Penelope. Photos courtesy of Betahaus Barcelona (not mine this time!).

Politics, accounting, European economic policy… it’s all very well, but there is another important concern which, from the look of my stats page, it seems you’re all desperate to know more about:

Where’s a good café with a good WiFi connexion where I can take my laptop and get some work done?

In today’s edition we look at my old ‘hood, Gràcia. Enjoy!

Cafés in Gràcia with WiFi

I have whiled away many a happy hour working at Cafè Camèlia and they’ve never (to date) chucked me out, so I feel it is time to repay the favour. This charming café offers a stable WiFi connexion and plenty of sweet treats to get you meeting deadlines. As a plus side for when you’re not in work mode, they also do acoustic nights. The downside? Like many of Gràcia’s charmingest spacest, it’s kind of small and tends to be quite busy.

Cafè Lorca is an undiscovered (well, relatively) gem in Gràcia’s “dark side” (to the left of the Passeig de Gràcia). In a similar style to Cafè Camèlia, Cafè Lorca fits in well with the Gràcia vibe: one part bohemian, one part homemade and one part youthful and vibrant. That said, it is often slightly less busy (or at least on the days when I’ve been there). If you need artistic inspiration to work well, Gaudí’s Casa Vicens is just round the corner, but if all you require is WiFi and caffeine you’ll be equally in your element. Sometimes a little cold in winter. N.b. I couldn’t find a website – link goes directly to Google Maps location.

Oh! Caffe is simple, cheap and cheerful. It is a testament to Oh! Caffe’s available space and volume levels that I have successfully managed to hold a meeting in here to discuss a video. Oh! Caffe won’t offer anything out of the ordinary, just really good basics – space, cheap coffee and (relatively) noise-free. Which actually might in itself be considered somewhat extraordinary. Again – no website.

Is La Fourmi a bar or a café? Depends what time of day you come here. By night, a good venue for a first date, by day a cosy café with WiFi and chocolate brownies. If you’re unable to work with noise, this might not be such a good choice, but if you like a bit of background hum then grab a barstool, sit against the window and watch the world go by.

Back to the dark side! Vigadi is another café that does the “really good basics” concept very well. I have whiled away many a happy hour in here working on projects or simply grabbing a quick tallat before hopping over to catch a train in the conveniently located ferrocarril station next-door. Space, WiFi, peace and quiet and –an important plus- some of the friendliest baristas around.

For more information about Barcelona’s cafés and restaurants, take a look at Barcelonit, the other blog I write in.

And if you’re in Gràcia, you also might like to check out my special mention of Knella in my original post on top cafés in Barcelona to work in.

Text and photos by Penelope

Fancy some froth?

Amongst all those serious articles on tax returns and news on employment conditions, what do you guys read most in this blog? A little birdie (or rather, Google Analytics) tells me that one of the most popular topics around here is the best cafes in Barcelona that are also WiFi-enabled.

I also just moved to the Sagrada Familia area of Barcelona (well, technically Camp de l’Arpa, which is a couple of streets down the road, but let’s not split hairs), which makes it a great occasion to tell you about my favourite working cafés in this area. Cake, coffee and a fast wireless connection? Find it here.

For more information about Barcelona’s café/restaurant scene, you might also like to look at my other blog, which is dedicated just to this subject.

The best cafés with WiFi in Sagrada Familia

Very close to the Sagrada Famila and Hospital de Sant Pau is Tactic. More than just a café, Tactic is an original concept where, rather than paying per drink, you pay for the amount of time you spend in the venue and drinks and biscuits are unlimited throughout. This naturally lends itself well to taking a laptop and getting down to work, especially as they also offer WiFi. The place itself has a young feel and has an Escape Room out the back. It’s a little grungy, but one of my favourite places to work in as it’s quiet and comfortable.

You may never have thought of entering an Argentinian Patisserie-Café, but once you have paid a visit to Mendieta there is no turning back. Mendieta is one of the few relatively trendy cafés in this residential part of town (moving over towards El Clot/Camp de l’Arpa), and is incredibly successful (as the waitress tells me, “Monday morning, Tuesday morning, Wednesday afternoon… it’s always this busy!”). It’s a great place for meeting your mates, but as a work venue in need of a few quiet corners. Still, no arguing with the pastries on sale 😉

Text and photos by Penelope