Tag Archives: #BusinessConfidence

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The UK is in the top five for the cheapest country to launch a business

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Lockdowns and restrictions have left many of us looking for things to do to fill the time, but what do you do once you’ve baked your fourth banana bread of the week, exhausted every theme for a Zoom quiz, and watched everything on Netflix?

Some people have decided productivity and ambition is key for their lockdowns, launching brand new businesses throughout the pandemic.

In fact, from 2019 to 2020, the UK saw as many as 665,495 companies formed, the second-highest number since UK figures were first reported, in 2009 to 2010.

With so many people starting new businesses and chasing their entrepreneurial dreams, it’s best to have some funds in the bank to give you a head start.

Whilst it’s no secret that you have to factor in plenty of costs when launching a business, you might not have considered just how much your country may charge you to actually form the business in the first place.

So, with many of us looking to save a few pennies, where is the cheapest place in the world to form your very own business?

Rovva analysed data from the World Bank, looking into the costs of starting a business in every country across the globe, and after narrowing down all of the countries, they have found the top ten countries where it is cheapest to form a business.

In first place is Rwanda and Slovenia, where there are no costs associated with registering a business, followed by South Africa which has a £9 fee. Ukraine is in third place with a cost of just £10.

Out of all the countries analysed, the UK placed fifth in the cheapest countries to start a company, with just a £12 fee to register your business with Companies House.

But not every country offers cheap and affordable registering costs to new business owners.

The data revealed that Venezuela charges a hefty fee of £9,062 to register a business, the highest fee of any other country.

The United Arab Emirates is the second most expensive country, with registering fees costing £5,198.

Jon Abrahams from Rovva, said: “We know that starting a business is a personal dream for many people across the world, and it’s amazing to see so many people achieving that dream, even during these difficult times.

“But, whilst achieving those dreams has become a reality for so many, sometimes the costs of starting a new company can stand in the way for many businesses.

“Our research showed that there are some countries where it costs nothing to form a business, and on the other hand, there are those that do require a lot of funds in order to follow a business dream.”

Rovva is the world’s largest business support platform. It puts everything business owners need for their company in one place – every topic, every service, in every country.

Whether it’s a professional business address or a network of drop-in business lounges, Rovva’s got everything covered. It’s fast, simple and totally free to use. Business owners can research, book, and buy all in one place, globally.

Business Research, Industry News

Business confidence rallies in Q4

Following a generally downward trend since April 2018, the Savanta Business Confidence Index rallied during Q4, with a significant rise to 48.

Larger businesses with annual sales above £1m continue to be the most confident group with a confidence index of 50, representing an increase in score of 1 point compared to Q3.

Change in confidence was greatest among smaller established businesses, who represent most enterprises by number, and whose confidence index rose by 4 points to finish Q4 at 48.

Although new start-ups remain the least confident segment at 44, this too represents an increase in confidence of 1 point on their Q3 score.

In terms of geographic location, confidence increased across all 6 regions. This was most notable in Scotland, the North & North-West which recorded a rise of 4 and 5 points respectively.

Despite this rise in confidence, Scotland remains the least confident region with an index of 42. The North/North-West now becomes the most optimistic region with an index of 52. London is the second most optimistic region with a score of 50 (and a rise in index of 3 from Q3 to Q4).

The index of less than 50 in other regions means more businesses are pessimistic rather than optimistic about the current state of the economy.

Of note, whilst 5 of the 6 regions enjoyed at least a 3-point rise in confidence score, the South East index only increased by 1 point at Q4.

Industry sector continues to be a stronger differentiator of sentiment than region, both in terms of the size of the quarterly shifts within a given sector and the degree of variation from one sector to another.

As Q4 confidence rose in 8 of the 9 sectors – confidence in the Wholesale market remained stable.

The biggest rises occurred in Education (up 12 points to 52), Production (up 9 to 50), Transport (up 6 to 48) and Accommodation (up 5 to 49). Confidence is highest in the Education (52), Construction (51) and Production (50) sectors.

In terms of age of business owners, the change noted at Q3 for the 65+ group to be the most confident continues.

Confidence amongst the youngest age group (unchanged at 34) has remained stable following the fall in confidence at Q3 whilst confidence has risen by 4 points amongst both those aged 35-64 (to 47) and those aged 65+ (to 52).

Mark Dennis, Director of Savanta, said:

“With the majority of our fieldwork conducted in the quarter before the 12th December general election, it is interesting to see confidence levels rise virtually across the board. We eagerly await the results from Q1 2020 to see if this trend continues now the election outcome is known.”

Q4 findings are from Savanta’s MarketVue Business Confidence programme, conducted among 3,081 British businesses from start-ups to companies with £1bn turnover, surveyed from 1st October to 18h December 2019. Indices are mean scores based on a scale of ‘extremely positive’ (100), ‘fairly positive’ (75), ‘neither positive nor negative’ (50), ‘fairly negative’ (25) and ‘extremely negative’ (0).