If you are reading this article you probably plan, or you have already moved, to Slovakia. There is also a good chance that you are an ambitious and adventurous person since moving to a foreign country is a big decision not everybody is willing to make. If you want to live your life in Slovakia to the fullest and realize your greatest potential, you should seriously think about starting a business.
This article explains 5 ways to do it. But first, let us get the obvious question out of the way: Why should you start a business in Slovakia?
Income Potential
When you invest in a business, you have the opportunity to earn an unlimited income based on your own efforts and the success or failure of the enterprise. This is of course different than working as an employee for a company where your income may be limited by a salary structure and all sorts of other factors.
Being Your Own Boss
More and more people find it increasingly tiresome to work from 9 to 5 in a corporate office environment. Starting a business can be a way to enter into a more flexible lifestyle, which can allow you to spend more time with family and friends.
Self-Expression
Owning a business can also allow you to be more creative and express yourself. You may have a special talent, such as playing music, cooking, repairing automobiles or learning and teaching languages. By turning your hobby into a business, you can make money by doing what you love.
Investment Environment
Slovakia is an ideal investment destination because of its political and economic stability strengthened by the common European currency Euro. Country is the fastest growing Eurozone member within the last 10 years with a steadily growing infrastructure. Also, if you start a business here, you will find educated, motivated and adaptable labor force.
Residence Permit
Finally, let’s not forget that having a business can be used as a suitable reason for getting and later extending your residence permit.
What Project is Best for You?
If the possibilities mentioned above have attracted your attention, the next step is to choose a right business strategy. But which one? What to expect? And what mistakes you should avoid? To answer these questions, we had consulted the experts in SlovakiaInvest who specialize on finding the best business opportunities for foreign investors (www.SlovakiaInvest.eu)
Starting a New Business
You may have an idea for a product or service that meets an unfulfilled need in the marketplace. By turning your idea into a business, you can be the first to meet that need which can result in a profitable venture. The possibilities when it comes to developing new ideas into successful companies are practically infinite.
Building a new business is probably the most fulfilling way to make money but also the hardest. Remember that the road from the idea to a functioning business is not easy, especially for those who want to start a project in a foreign country. A different language, different mentality, different laws — those are first nuances that you will come across with when starting a business in Slovakia. Also keep in mind that before starting something new, doing a thorough market research is absolutely necessary.
Franchising
Fast-growing network of franchises is one of the simplest ways to start a business in Slovakia. Francizing is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Franchiser licenses its know-how, business model, brand, and rights to sell its products to a franchisee. In return the franchisee pays certain fees and agrees to comply with certain obligations.
When you hear someone say franchise, famous brands like McDonalds, Starbucks or KFC will probably spring to your mind. The bad news is that these franchises can cost up to several hundred thousand euros. The good news is that in Slovakia, you can choose from a selection of relatively cheap but high-quality franchises that provide services in a wide variety of areas.
Buying a franchise is for those investors who fall in love with a franchise concept or simply do not want to come up with anything new. The profitability of the franchise is also not only theoretical but can be based on empirical data and real results. You just need a will and a bit of courage.
Buying a Ready-Made Business
If you are considering starting a business in Slovakia, but you do not want to start from scratch, your best investment option may be buying a ready-made business. That means a functioning or a previously functioning business that have been registered in Companies register. This way you avoid a lengthy process you must go through when creating a new company, searching for a business concept and launching it.
There are several types of ready-made businesses to choose from in Slovakia: restaurants, hotels, fast-food places, beauty salons and sport centers are among the more traditional available ventures that spring to mind. But increasingly, it is available to acquire new, 21st century type of business such as virtual reality amusement centers or 3D printing services.
Choosing this strategy, you can start business activity in Slovakia very quickly. For this reason, ready-made business can be a preferable alternative for those foreign investors who want to obtain or extend the residence permit.
Passive Investment
Some people do not really have time or a will to manage a day to day processes of a functioning business. If you wish to invest into a high-quality firm managed by professionals in order to secure a steady stream of revenue, you may consider making a passive investment.
This can be a good strategy for a variety of business projects such as long-term functioning and expanding companies providing restaurant, cleaning, repair, tourist, delivery and other services. Even more typical case is when the investor finds a young startup with a great potential, usually, but not necessary in the technology and IT area.
Passive investment strategy is mainly suitable mainly for those who either have a permanent residence or those who only wish to invest on a Slovak market but do not plan to move here. The reason is that the passive investment usually cannot be used as an argument for obtaining the temporary residence permit if you just buy a share in the company, but you are not registered as the owner of the company as a whole.
Of course, if your passive investment is of such a nature that you are registered as a co-owner of the company, but you do not manage it, you are eligible to apply for a residence permit. Keep in mind that if you choose a passive investment strategy, typically it involves putting a larger sum of money into a project designed to expand.
Real-Estate
Although not a business in itself, Slovak real estate market has experienced a significant growth in recent years and buying a real estate can be a good move not only if you want to find a new home but also as an investment. Good news is that as a foreigner you can buy a real-estate and you do not need to have neither a permanent nor a temporary residence permit.
If you are buying real-estate as an investment, there are a few things to consider. For example, a small or medium sized flat can be rented very easily, either to long-term tenants or via popular websites to tourists. Renting larger flats is more difficult, since it is harder to accommodate several people who necessarily do not know each other. You should also keep in mind, that it is very unusual for Slovaks to rent a house.
Slovakia has a long tourist tradition, especially when it comes to mountain vacation resorts in the north or numeral spas in the west and south of the country. More experienced investors can therefore prefer to invest into hotel complexes. These kinds of investments are more expensive but under a right management they generate an impressive revenue.
Your First Step to Success
Now you know about the investment alternatives, but you may still have some questions like: How do I start? What do I need? Where to find a right place for my business? Do I need an accountant, or a lawyer? How do I register a company? And do I have all the required documents?
If you want these questions answered, get your free consultation at:
Mob.: +421-905-202-950
