I remember thinking, “no wonder there are no startups.”
But maybe my research was low quality? It really may have been.
I remember thinking, “no wonder there are no startups.”
But maybe my research was low quality? It really may have been.
Creating a company is the smallest of barriers in many countries in the EU27 this can be done in a couple of hours and a few forms and a few hundred euros. In some countries you can even do it online.
Now the ability to secure investors funding now that is a much bigger challenge, which is why you end up with European startup incorporating in Delaware, or New York to increase their success rate with US VCs.
There's Estonia e-business registration, which is quite a well known thing for registered a startup in the EU, it costs about €350.
1- Create it yourself (using your E-residency and various e-services)
2- Use a service provider that handles all the steps. Note that this method may have some limitations. Service providers can be found at marketplace[6]
For the method 1, here are the costs:
Finding company:
- Creating a sole-proprietor company (FIE): 20 euros, one time [1]
- or, Creating a limited company (OU): 200 euros, one time [2]
Accounting:
- Using Estonia's e-financials (yourself): free for first year, 5 euros starting next year [3]
- or, using an accounting company. I used to pay once a year hourly rate for end of year taxation (R-Form) ~60euros a year. See marketplace [4] for other accounting companies.
Other requirements:
- An Estonian contact address is required to find a company. There are companies providing this service in E-residency Marketplace[5]. Last I checked it was from 5euros/month.
- An Estonian contact person, if you are not a resident of Estonia. Same E-residency Marketplace[5] has some service providers.
[1]: https://www.eesti.ee/en/doing-business/establishing-a-compan...? [2]: https://www.eesti.ee/en/doing-business/establishing-a-compan... [3]: https://www.rik.ee/en/e-financials/service-fee-0 [4]: https://marketplace.e-resident.gov.ee/?services=19 [5]: https://marketplace.e-resident.gov.ee/?services=4 [6]: https://marketplace.e-resident.gov.ee/
>It was low quality. Setting up a business in the UK, for example, costs £40....
£12. See my reply above: https://www.gov.uk/set-up-limited-companyRegulation mostly reduces profits because of so many rentseekers
>I looked up once how one starts a business in a few European countries and what taxes are. The processes I found were really expensive...
In UK [if we're still allowed to count ourselves as part of Europe!] it couldn't be easier... or cheaper:Fill in an online form. Pay your twelve quid [they even take PayPal] and --Hey Presto!-- you're now a company director.
Any actual regulations?