Is The UK Really a Great Country For SMEs & Start-Ups?

Is the UK really an entrepreneur-friendly country? Despite TV shows like The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den, the reality of getting a small business off the ground and expanding to a headcount over 10 is extremely difficult. Local councils in particular are very anti-business and would often prefer to see a town centre colonised by apartments, rather than thriving shops and offices.

Then there’s the employer NI, Stakeholder pension payments and CT to think about, plus a workforce in the UK who sometimes see working for slightly above the benefits package level as a waste of their time. Add on some high office rent, insurance, maintenance & utility charges, plus parking space taxes and you can see why your end product has to be priced quite high – the overheads in both time and money in the UK are considerable.

So, if your insurtech biz is going well, maybe there are other countries worth looking at? Let’s face it, if over half your staff are WFH, does it matter where that home is located?

To give an idea of the best countries overseas to start a business in and using data garnered from a variety of statistical websites, such as Statista, Blacktower Financial Management Group ranked 31 countries across Europe as the best places for entrepreneurs, based on the percentage of the population with university degrees, average net salary, corporate tax rate, cost of living, and office renting cost per square metre.

The report analysed and assigned a value of 1-5 for each factor, each factor being weighed differently. For example, low corporation tax and higher degree percentage in the population would have scored higher.

The countries were then ranked based on which had the highest score overall when the score of our five chosen factors were combined together.

Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries are the most promising

One place new business can thrive is in those nations whose economies are rising quickly to begin competing with those of other more established countries, like France and the UK. Interestingly, the majority of the top countries sat firmly in Eastern Europe.

At the top of the ranking for promising countries for new business entrepreneurs is Lithuania. With a corporate tax rate of just 15%, and low office renting costs, establishing, and turning a profit with a new business could be simpler than anticipated.

Next up, we have Cyprus and Bulgaria. Cyprus has an even lower corporate tax rate, just 12.5%, but its higher cost of living puts it just below Lithuania. Bulgaria, on the other hand, sits in third place due to its low degree percentage. However, all three countries could make prime new business investment opportunities.

Countries offering the lowest rent costs and corporate tax

Besides Cyprus and Hungary, some of the countries with the lowest rent costs include Malta, Slovakia, and the Netherlands. Paying lower costs for good office space is always helpful for a new business, allowing you to invest resources elsewhere.

And to save funds on corporate tax, then Ireland, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic make for good options outside of the top ten.

To view a list of all the countries and to know more about Blacktower please visit: https://www.blacktowerfm.com/news/top-european-countries-for-new-business-entrepreneurs/