Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2011: the average 40% fall in notarial business (over 55% in the hardest-hit areas) is a figure from that year, given without a source.
The crisis is now hitting one of what had been, until now, the most profitable businesses around: a notary’s office. People have always said that everyone’s dream is to “work a civil servant’s hours and earn a notary’s salary”. Yet notaries’ offices mirror the pace of economic activity, because behind every corporate transaction, every new company and every mortgage granted there is a notary who reviews, oversees and signs it.
At this stage of the crisis, notarial business is said to have fallen by an average of 40%, and in the hardest-hit, weakest areas the loss of income can exceed 55%.
The bright side of this notaries’ crisis is that they are now considering offering new services in collaboration with the Spanish government. The government has approved a decree that centralises the company formation process at the notary’s office, setting very fast deadlines for setting up any type of company.
The idea is that an entrepreneur should be able to set up a company in a single day, something unthinkable in Spain until now. This encourages entrepreneurship by cutting red tape.
One obstacle fewer: now all that’s left is to decide what kind of business you want to start.
Further reading
- Business ideas for 2011–2012
- Profitable businesses: business tourism
- Business opportunities and ideas in leisure and tourism
- Business ideas in home services
- Business ideas: services for companies
Featured image: Zarateman, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
