Entrepreneurship is a skill that can be learnt. You don’t have to be born an entrepreneur to run a successful business. You can become a good entrepreneur by developing an entrepreneurial mind set and skills.
The start-up procedure is a ‘procedural cycle for a start-up that can be considered complete when a company is fully operational to develop its economic activities’.
Evidence shows that the less burdensome the administrative procedures for setting up a company are, the higher the rate of business start-ups is
Even though the EU business environment has improved, progress remains uneven across different countries. While it is rather easy to establish a new company in some countries, the procedures are still lengthy and complicated in others.
In 2017 the average time to start a private limited company was 3.1 days and cost was €311. The reduction of average time is mostly due to simplifications implemented in Cyprus, Greece, Hungary and Lithuania. The reduction of average cost is mostly due to a decrease in costs in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden.
Current situation and main challenges for SMEs
Unnecessarily burdensome regulation is a barrier to success for SMEs. The amount of time and/or money needed to comply with regulations is proportionately greater for SMEs than for larger businesses, which can make it difficult for them to compete and thrive in an ever-changing and developing market place.
Businesses also experience burdens that do not primarily stem from the underlying legislation, but rather from its implementation by the administrative authorities.
Complex administrative procedures represent one of the main challenges for SMEs when doing business. This is corroborated in several studies conducted over the last few years. In the effort to improve the administrative environment for SMEs and to tackle the obstacles hampering their development, the European Commission committed to the promotion of the “Only Once” principle across the EU, whereby “public authorities and administrative bodies should refrain from requesting the same information, data, documents or certificates which have been already made available to them in the context of other procedures”.
The “Only Once” principle thus entails the elimination of unnecessary administrative burdens when users are required to supply the same information more than once to government. Businesses and citizens would need to provide certain data only once and public administration would then take action to share this information internally.
Support available to start-ups in EU
- COSME programme (notably access to finance)
- Horizon 2020 for innovative companies
- EEN network
- Digital Agenda for Europe – start up Europe – DG CNECT
- Start-up Europe Road Show
- Structural Funds – these have provided some EUR 70 billion in support to enterprises, predominantly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by 2013. Nearly 200,000 projects have been funded that support SMEs, including 78,000 start-ups. This helped create over 268,000 permanent jobs
- European Investment Fund and European Investment Bank
- SME Week – as a platform for discussion and the exchange of views as inputs to policy making
And if you get stuck, keep in mind that at Adeco – Development Advisory & Consultancy Services we support and encourage your entrepreneurship. When you are ready for a consultation, please visit our homepage where you can find the set of services we offer.
“Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.” –W. Clement Stone
For further information: EU – Entrepreneurship and SMEs