After Bradford Waters graduated from Middlebury College in 1992, he decided to take some time off and come to Seville, Spain, both to avoid taking a boring job in the United States and to learn about international business.
Thirteen years later Brad still has not left. His franchising company, Waters International Enterprises - whose corporate motto is "American Concepts in European Markets" - has successfully franchised tanning salons throughout Seville and is currently working on franchising a series of tourist websites, restaurants and dance studios.
The following is an interview on Waters' views on running a business in Spain.
Matthew Linde: How did you decide to live in Spain?
Brad Waters: After my semester abroad in Spain ended, I went back and finished my senior year at Middlebury and was looking for an excuse to convince my family to let me return to Spain. I wound up enrolling in a business program in Seville after I graduated and came back on July fourth, which was my independence day, as I say. By July fifth I was running with the bulls in Pamplona.
After the semester ended I was nervous about going back to the States and missing out on this life forever. Then, on Jan. 19 1993, I was watching the news with my roommates in our apartment, and around 2:30 a.m., I saw on the news that there was this new thing in Spain called rayas uva, which means indoor tanning.
I said to my friends we should open a business. Then I said to myself, 'Hey Brad, this is always what you wanted to do; you always wanted to open your own business.' Many people who open up a business go through a thought process, but for me I was just like, 'I wanted to do it; I am going to do it.'
I woke up and said to my friends, "Hey guys, I am going to start looking into this," and my friends were all like, "Brad, we were drunk; we do not know what you're talking about." But I still maintained that I was going to start a business.
The next thing I knew, I opened one of the first tanning salons in all of Spain. I thought it was going to cost me around $20,000 to start, but it ended up costing about a quarter-million dollars. I called it Aguas, my last name in Spanish.
ML: What's the best part about working abroad?
BW: The best part is that the culture here makes me realize that businessmen should not be so stressed out, as they are in the States. They are losing focus of their goals and do not realize the importance of enjoying life.
The greatest advantage I have is the fact that I have to look at everything in a different way. At the beginning, I was sure that being American was the only way, and that the way that I did business was the only way. Now I see that there is a different way of doing everything.
Every time anyone sees a different way of doing something they immediately assume that the other person is wrong. Then you realize that this culture has been around just a bit longer than that of the United States, and maybe there are some things that we could do a little better. I have stopped fighting and started to realize that there are different ways to do things, and that way, I am open to [finding] the best way to run my company.
ML: Do you think the Spanish culture is conducive to making the country a global economic leader?
BW: Yes. Spain is the country in Europe where people spend the most number of hours in the office. The reason there is this tremendous potential to be a global economy here is that everyone is focused on doing their work.
The idea that Spaniards are lazy and they don't work is completely wrong. If you ask someone who is working on a job to give you ideas about another job, they will come out and tell you that it is not his job. But for that person's job, he will do it until it is perfect. They will work on Saturday, Sunday, at night and mornings; they will work all the time.
For a company, that is great because with the high rate of unemployment here, employers have very low costs - almost the lowest costs in Europe. This makes Spain a very interesting place for a company that's going to expand or start up projects. That makes Spain ready to be a global force.
ML: What changes have you noticed to Spain's economy over the last 10 years?
BW: The biggest change is what they call the consumismo. If you had a fancy car 15 years ago, everyone would laugh at you. Now, if you do not have it, they will laugh at you. People are more concerned with material goods, and they are losing their values in terms of thinking of happiness in relation to social interaction and instead are starting to think of happiness in relation to what one has.
Depression is going up, stress is going up, the use of Prozac and antidepressants is going up and profits are going up. So, the biggest change in the economy that I have seen is that there is a lot of force in the need for any type of goods that will give you satisfaction.
When I first got here there was only one McDonald's in Seville, and now they know McDonald's better than we Americans do. If you look in any journal you will see that McDonald's in Europe works better than any McDonald's in the States.
It is interesting, actually, that the weight of teens actually goes up almost exactly proportional to the rate of growth of McDonald's in the area. American consumerism is coming here in full force.
ML: What do you think is in store for the future of the Spanish economy?
BW: What I think we will see is that everything that has happened in the States is going to happen here, continually. Working in Spain is like having the Wall Street Journal five years ahead of time - and in Seville, in particular, like having the Journal eight years ahead of time.
Everything that happens in the States from tanning salons to malls to franchises is going to happen here. Everything that is American makes it over here except for American football. But this is the big difference: Anything that happens comes in full force, meaning that if the development of a franchise takes 15 years in the States, when it comes here it might take one year.
Everything has gone through the trial and error period in the States. When I decided to open up a tanning salon I looked at every business in the States, taking the best concepts from each one to do it better. The future for Spain is in American concepts done in a 15th of the time.
ML: Have you noticed any anti-American sentiment in business?
BW:I have been here since 1992, and I have been in business and personal arguments with people. I guess I was a little feistier in the past because I hardly ever get into arguments with people anymore.
Fortunately, the number of times I have been insulted for being an American is the grand total of zero. The anti-American sentiment in terms of business is completely nonexistent, and people immediately assume that you are a better businessman if you are American. People told me, "Brad, do not lose your accent because that is going to help you in business."
I have seen only tremendous respect on the part of Spaniards for being American. Recently, things have been a little more stressful between Spain and the States, but I think that is the same between every country and the States right now.
ML: Have you noticed any differences in the country since the Atocha attacks?
BW: Obviously the biggest thing was the anti-American backlash. If you know anything about what happened, the Republican Party, the PP, was going to win the presidency with Asnar; there was not even a question. Then the socialist, Zapatero, miraculously won. Al Qaeda said that they were going to change the government and they were successful.
People were absolutely furious. They kept saying that the Americans killed these people. Eventually people started to say, "Wait just a second; it was Al Qaeda, not America." This country was very supportive of the United States up until then, but Al Qaeda got their way. People started saying, "Wait, maybe we do not need the States' support as much as everyone thinks we do."
