Hi all,

About a year back a few friends and myself traveled to Switzerland for the first time by motorcycle. Well, the thing is although I've traveled enough in my live I instantly fell in love with this country and now I am seriously considering moving there. Would like to invest some money and buy a business like a small ski pension or restaurant-cafe.

Have no idea how easy or difficult a step like that is, I have a Greek citizenship and have a US Green card (mother & father US citizens).

I would very much appreciate if you give me a tip or two off how to begin. The difficult part for me is that I do not speak the language and although I am planning to learn French (my wife speaks fluently) I think that maybe it is a big risk to have my own business and only being able to speak English.

Any advise would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!!

There are enough opportunities for International people here and enough English speakers. Ultimately would you be the only one doing the fronting or would your wife be helping? If the latter then surely you can make the coffees and she can serve the customers or you can make the beds and count the money and she stands behind the reception. Don't let language be your problem. There are many good and cheap properties in Switzerland for such businesses, some freestanding such as this: http://www.homegate.ch/homegate/deta...CURRENT_PAGE=1
for 130K or live in opportunities such as this http://www.homegate.ch/homegate/deta...CURRENT_PAGE=1

Buying something in the middle of the ski region is subject to shall we say inflated prices...

From my experience of staying in small ski hotels I'd say languuge won't be an issue - if you set up in a French speaking repsort you'll still gets German and Italian speaking Swiss visitors as well as most other nationalities. English seems to be the lingua franca in these places so I think you'll be fine.

For example, my son goes on his annual school ski week (fron german speaking area to french speaking area) only to find his chalet is run by a Liverpool couple who only speak English. They seemed to manage ok.

In a word, go for it (assuming your business plan is valid, obviously ).

Can you operate a pension or restaurant-cafe without qualifications ?

Yes. However the restaurant-cafe is open to the requirement to get the relevant permits to operate as it is in the catering business where stricter controls exist - they vary from canton to canton.

Dear Richard & Swissbob,

Thank you both for your replies and advise. You give me great hope.
I am planning a trip to Switzerald some time late September, early October in order to make a market research. As I intend to invest around 250K euros there is a good chance to find what I am looking for.

Thank you both again

Hi,
Please make sure, when you are looking for a place like restaurant/cafe/guesthouse in the advert, that the price listed is either for:
- taking over the business stock and equipments only OR
- together with the whole building
Most of the times, the price quoted is for taking over the business.
To buy over a business might be easy but then you will still be subjected to answer and fulfill several criterias required by the building owner. Usually they are careful so that the person renting their place are capable to run the business and hence, continue renting the place from them for a long term.
Questions like, your background, experiences and financial backup are the normal questions they ask.

Good Luck.

Sounds very challenging.

Its not extremely difficult to be domiciled in Switzerland.
GmbH = Private Partnership


language not so easy, however, there are many expats here and for example if you were doing a bed and breakfast your customers will be speaking mostly english and maybe spanish. Maybe you can specialize in greek clientel.

wouldn't take long for you to learn some german or french. Then you really dont have to worry about getting screwed over like in the states. Business there (usa) is easier to start while you need less capital but when you get something started I would say there are less sharks in the water.

Good luck.
e

This is not correct - a GmbH is a company with limited liability. A partnership does not have that protection and in Switzerland is called, erm, a partnership.

i would strongly recommend getting a friend or another investor that is swiss and has experience in restaurants and hotels. switzerland is the last place on earth that i would start a business, loads and loads of regulations and paper work and everything needed is very costly.

having warned you. i say good luck. i would look at this as more a life/income buying and not a profit industry. perhaps start small with a bed and breakfast. advertise well. and learn the ins and outs of the industry before jumping in. just renovating a restaurant, or doing some constructions and hiring some staff, can lead to huge costs.

While you speak words of wisdom and it is good to make sure that you are not going to get hit with hidden costs, from personal experience starting companies in Switzerland is no more difficult than starting them anywhere. Sole trader requires minimal paperwork - just AHV as a minimum.
Partnership requires a bit more - AHV and partnership agreement.
GmbH and AG require much more effort but also in other countries if you are wnating the business to actually do business and not front something...

Hi Guys,

First of all, you need to check with the Canton's law, most of the states ask for a "patente" it is a Swiss certificate of capacity.

You can obtain it by following courses in the same area than the place you want to buy. Or you can rent it out. but really carefull!!!

If your wife does the courses, I tell you, you can have a good time here.

It is a guy who has a lots of contacts, look on is site he can help you if you ask him and it is free. [link removed: Nat has made only 3 posts and all contained the same link] I hope you will manage to find a solution, it is a nice country to live.

Nat.

If you are looking for a small pension or resort restaurant I may be able to help. Are you looking in the french part of Switzerland or the German part. there are tricks to buying at a low price. Let me know if you are interested.

Hi bergos,

I have some experience with hotel and restaurant industry in swiss.

Why don't you work in a restaurant or small hotel for 6 months to undertsnd the business,learn language, some tricks of the mobile trade.

You are better of that way i think and its fun.