Self-employed cleaner at 40 in Spain: the maths don't add up
Invoicing €3,000 to take home €1,000: the mirage of self-employment in cleaning and the risks of starting a business with no safety net at 40.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Self-employed cleaning: invoice €3,000, take home €1,000
A worker over 40, tired of working long shifts for others, is considering setting up a cleaning business focused on company bathrooms and private homes. He steers clear of apartment building common areas, which he sees as a breeding ground for disputes, and of construction cleanups, to avoid needing investment. His first figure is a warning: "I already know I have to invoice €3,000 to earn €1,000." That sentence sums up better than any other the precarious balance of self-employment in a sector where price rules everything.
The first thing those who have been through it warn is that a self-employed cleaner has no safety net. If you fall ill, you lose your client base; if you get injured, your business collapses because your body is the tool. That's why they recommend, before taking the plunge, joining a large facilities company like Ilunion, where collective agreements are usually unionized and sick leave doesn't miccionan losing your clients. And if the urge to strike out on your own persists, the prudent route is to request an extended leave of absence and try it for a year or two, keeping the door open to return to a salaried job.
The sector's dark side also shows: the advice to work without invoices circulates with alarming casualness, though it's worth remembering that Spain's tax agency has a word for that: "fraud." And there's a disconcerting fact, pointed out by someone who has seen the business from the inside: available labour is scarce because those who can find better-regarded jobs than scrubbing. So the 40-year-old entrepreneur isn't just competing on price: he's competing to find someone who can put up with stairs, bleach and end-of-month crunches. With a first employee, exposure multiplies: one fall, a sprain or a bout of depression and the whole model falls apart. The arithmetic of self-employment in cleaning doesn't lie: invoice €3,000, take home €1,000, and the rest is split between the tax office, social security and the first serious mishap.
A worker over 40, tired of working long shifts for others, is considering setting up a cleaning business focused on company bathrooms and private homes. He steers clear of apartment building common areas, which he sees as a breeding ground for disputes, and of construction cleanups, to avoid needing investment. His first figure is a warning: "I already know I have to invoice €3,000 to earn €1,000." That sentence sums up better than any other the precarious balance of self-employment in a sector where price rules everything.
The first thing those who have been through it warn is that a self-employed cleaner has no safety net. If you fall ill, you lose your client base; if you get injured, your business collapses because your body is the tool. That's why they recommend, before taking the plunge, joining a large facilities company like Ilunion, where collective agreements are usually unionized and sick leave doesn't miccionan losing your clients. And if the urge to strike out on your own persists, the prudent route is to request an extended leave of absence and try it for a year or two, keeping the door open to return to a salaried job.
The sector's dark side also shows: the advice to work without invoices circulates with alarming casualness, though it's worth remembering that Spain's tax agency has a word for that: "fraud." And there's a disconcerting fact, pointed out by someone who has seen the business from the inside: available labour is scarce because those who can find better-regarded jobs than scrubbing. So the 40-year-old entrepreneur isn't just competing on price: he's competing to find someone who can put up with stairs, bleach and end-of-month crunches. With a first employee, exposure multiplies: one fall, a sprain or a bout of depression and the whole model falls apart. The arithmetic of self-employment in cleaning doesn't lie: invoice €3,000, take home €1,000, and the rest is split between the tax office, social security and the first serious mishap.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (30 replies).
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