W
hat you will gain …
If you intend to have full information about the advantages of launching business through startup visa in the Europe, this essay has been written for you. After reading this till the end you will have many reasons for a new start.
Subjects you will know about after reading this essay:
* Large European market
* Safety and transparency of the rules
* Diversity of economic structures
* Geographic integration
* Efficient human resources
* Political stability and predictability
* Ease of doing business
* Diversity of cultural geography
* Welfare policies and quality of life
* Large communities of successful immigrants
* Geographical proximity to Asia and North Africa
* Expenses of taking residence and starting a business
* Advanced and reliable ecosystem
1- Large European Market
Any economic activity, including production or service, will be able to be developed when facing with a large, consumption and competitive market. Europe, with 10 million square kilometers, may not be very large, but it has the second highest density population in the world after Southeast Asia. More than 740 million people live in 50 countries in Europe. The temperate climate on most of the continent makes it a great place to live and its fertile soil and always available water has made a typical geography for production.
The European people also consist about 34% of gross world product per capita. Europe with 22.9 trillion dollars tops the US with 21 trillion dollars and China with 14.2 trillion dollars. Also in 2009, Europe became the richest place in the world. It is true that European societies are not as consumerist as the United States, but the rate of using services in this continent is on the first rank in the world.
2- Safety and Transparency of the Rules
Corruption Perceptions Index which calculates and announces the ease and safety of economic and social rules in various factors, is one of best possible resources for understanding the legal evolution of the countries of the world and the degree of adaptability of the people of each country with its laws. In report of the World Bank in 2018, among the 20 countries which achieved the best point in this field, 15 are European countries. The remaining 5 countries are Canada, Singapore, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. For example the US, China and/or Brazil are not included in the list of the bests. This has not been attained by sudden. Don’t forget that the first modern civil laws has been established in the Europe and the constitutional laws of different countries have been written and approved based on the France constitutional law.
There are many stories about the law abiding personality of European people and different world indexes prove that the violence in EU member states is lower than in any other economic powers in the world. For example, according to the Global Finance report and according to the Safety Index, among the top 20 countries in the world, we still see 17 European countries and only three countries from the rest of the world.
3- Diversity of Economic Structures
In Europe you can see various states with different economic frameworks including liberal, social and social democrat. Also, different economic contracts are concluded between the European countries that Schengen and European Union Financial Area are more famous than the others. All these union have caused to have very little economic change in these countries. The mindset of united Europe in some larger countries such as Germany and France has caused that even economic crisis in other countries like Greek, Spain and Italy is controlled in a short period. However, these days some of right-wing governments in Hungary and Italy and the story of Brexit have weakened the European Union, but experiences show that the Unitarian European politicians have always prevailed at the end. This fact was proven in the recent European Parliament election, 2019.
The important point in this process is that the diversity of economic structures and the differences exist in supply and demand process in these countries, has made them the suitable destination for any kinds of business. Some countries are more industrial such as Germany and France. Some emphasize on tourism industry more such as Greek and Spain. Some of them have planned to make the conditions more appropriate for mass production such as Slovakia and Poland and finally some of them move toward investment on startup ecosystems such as the UK, Norway and Slovenia. These various conditions have caused that the entrepreneurship motives are implemented purposeful and quickly in different countries and according to the upstream development plans.
4- Geographic Integration
In spite of that the Europe is divided into Western, Northern, Central and Eastern Europe and each one has differences regarding their land, language and culture, but Schengen and EEU agreements have caused to create kinds of integration in these countries. You, having residence of any Schengen member countries, can travel to all of them without visa and run business or buy a house or car. Also, you can easily travel to the European countries which are not member of Schengen with visa. Distance between some of European countries is very short, for example distance between Vienna and Bratislava (capital of Austria and Slovenia respectively) is 80 km and it lasts 45 minutes with the high-speed rails. Also, the distance between Ljubljana and Zagreb (capitals of Slovenia and Croatia respectively) is 130 km.; to understand this well, let’s say that the distance between north and south of Tehran is 70 km!
You will find the best and densest railways and roads in the world in Europe. Also, very large and long rivers between countries and the surrounding sea and ocean have always made maritime transport a desirable option in Europe. Just keep in mind that the Danube flows through nine European countries.
5- Efficient Human Resources
35 of the top 100 universities in the world are located in Europe. i.e. a little more than one third of the best universities in the world. Also, the second best business school in the world is located in the UK. Furthermore, in the world report of the best entrepreneurship ecosystem in the world, of total 50 cities, 27 cities are located in the Europe. That means the network of entrepreneurship facilities and on their top the efficient human resources are available in most capitals of European countries. The attractive conditions of life in European countries has also led many Asian, Middle Eastern and even American specialists to migrate to Europe in the last decade, in addition to the Europeans themselves. Also most graduates of European universities are attracted by the programs such as startup visa and engaged in entrepreneurship there.
Generally, we should know that nowhere in the world except for the US is efficient in the field of supplying human capital like the Europe.
6- Political Stability and Predictability
If the direct impact of political and social decision –making on economic conditions is not transparent to anyone, we Iranians know it well. The amazing political stability of the Europe during the recent half -century, has converted the Europe to the cradle of investment. Many plans are rejected in European parliament, because they may create this mindset in the market that the Europe behavior is high-risk. The stock market index of major European countries has always been predictable in the last forty years, except during the three-year period when the world economy was in turmoil.
Obviously, the predictability of economic developments in these countries has had the main role in receiving high ranks in investment security.
One of the reasons that the Chancellor of Germany announced for financial assistance package for Greek in 2011, was this issue. She pointed out that if a European country goes bankrupt, in terms of the market, which means the other countries also can be bankrupt and a united Europe will not allow this to happen.
7- Ease of Doing Business
The world ease of doing business index provides a list consist of all countries in the world each year by calculating diverse factors and introduces the best and the worst countries. Taking residence easily, simple rules for ownership, transparent rules for establishing a company, quick access to industrial facilities such as electricity and telephone connections, speed and quality of the credit and loan, desirability of tax rules and many other factors are effective in this ranking. According to the statistics released in 2018, among the top 50 countries in this list, 34 are European countries! That means except for small islands and Vatican, the rest of European countries have finally the rank up to 60.
Constant development of this index in smaller European countries is especially taken seriously. In the recent decade, Denmark or Slovenia, by appearing at the top of these lists, have imposed themselves on the world economy and accelerated the investment process.
This index also is considered a benefit for the startups and small countries which cannot afford the special attorneys expenses for developing their business that will influence on their future success directly.
8- Diversity of Cultural Geography
There are 23 official languages in the member state of the European Union alone. If we consider all the languages of the inhabitants of Europe, it is more than 50 languages, and as you know, the language has a serious impact on the dialect and culture. Europe is a land of great linguistic and cultural differences at very short distances. Sometimes with thirty minutes of driving you will encounter two different worlds. This is one of the attractions of Europe for searchers; the fact that you are constantly meeting different people due to your work or leisure that can be a special attraction which you will not find it in similar developed countries.
This feature has led the European to be adaptable regarding different cultures. This is the reason that the traditional businesses are usually successful in the Europe. You, no matter where you come from, can find restaurants that offer your country food in European countries capitals. All European countries capitals have Middle Eastern and Asian restaurants (even Tallinn, the capital small country of Estonia), or for example selling souvenirs of other countries is natural in the Europe. You can find a shop in Toledo – Spain that sells Iranian Termeh! Or find the Dehn Al Oud Arabic perfume in a perfume shop in Vienna. European are accustomed to interact with other cultures. The French Algerians, the German Turks, the British Indians, and the Swedish Iranians are examples of the potential for immigration and good interaction of European with other nations.
9- Welfare Policies and Quality of Life
There are two ranking system for quality of life indexes in the world. In the Quality of Life Index 11 of 15 countries and in Human Development Index (HDI) 34 of 50 countries are above the European list.
This statistics can guide you as well. Also according to the world statistics, on the list of the best cities in the world to live in and in the top ten choices, the only non-European cities are Vancouver- Canada and Auckland in New Zealand. The best city to live in this list is Vienna, the capital of Austria. (Statistics in 2019).
Religious freedom, behavioral freedom, social security, legal rights, privacy, the right of working and studying, high average income and absence of gender and ethnic differences are the main indexes in compiling these statistics.
Unemployment insurances, the costs most countries pay for children, supporting disabled, and European social -welfare services are world-famous and often modeled.
Urban security is also at the highest level in the world, especially in Central and Northern Europe. An index in which the United States, for example, ranks very low.
10- Large Communities of Successful Immigrants
More than 25 million formal migrants, 6 million informal migrants and 44 million second and third generation migrants live in Europe. Compared to the total population of Europe, this statistics means that about 10% of Europeans are immigrants and their families. Some of these societies, as mentioned, are considered useful by the Europeans themselves. A quick look at European sports teams will show you how immigrants have affected these countries. In general, about 4% of parliamentarians, mayors and local officials in Europe are among immigrants. In this regard, Sadiq Khan, the Pakistani mayor of London, may be considered a very famous example.
Of course in some countries especially Germany, Italy and Hungary, some parts of people don’t go along with this process and have a racism approach; but most parts of these sensitivities are about Turks and Africans. For example Indians, Chinese, Iranians and South Americans who immigrate to the Europe, have been accepted in most cases. Obviously, the lack of fluency in European languages and the religious contradictions that appear in the behavior and clothing of immigrants, are effective in causing such problems.
But obviously in the world of startups, we do not actually face such so-called cultural conflict approaches. The very large number of successful immigrants in the European startup sector and their important role in the European economic ecology is a clear indication of this issue. Read more about this in the section for success stories of this website.
11- Geographical Proximity to Asia and North Africa
This option may not be very important to many; but for the businessmen who want to travel between the two countries constantly or those who are worried about their family or parents due to any reasons and wish to travel is really decisive. The distance between Tehran and Vienna is 3000 km.! distance between Dubai and London is 5400 km. and the distance between the capital of Morocco and Paris is just 4000 km.
A typical New Delhi-Vienna flight will take you there in five hours. Compare this distance to New Delhi-Toronto with 12,000 km. and 23 hours flight time! Apart from the high cost of flights to Australia, Canada and the US, as well as the length of flights, there is another factor involved. According to previous experience, Asians living in Canada or Australia usually visit their own country once a year for the first few years and then increase the time to visit their country up to three years, and this is very natural. No one likes to spend one tenth of their annual income on flights, and this is what happens to many Asians and Africans.
12- Expenses of Taking Residence and Starting a Business
One of the most important and most crucial cases in this list is the expenses you should spend for taking residence permit or visa through the startup visa pattern in a foreign country. It is a common misconception that the cost of this process in Canada and Australia is lower than in Europe.
Maybe it was the same up to 2015, but after accepting a large number of immigrants in these countries, the policies have changed. For example the required capital for taking Canada startup visa is minimum 75,000 dollars, in case that the UK startup visa can be obtained with an investment of 0 pounds! Maybe it is not believable; because it is obvious that Canada is not comparable to Britain in terms of economy, culture or global prestige.
Also the cost of getting startup visa in most European countries is less than 15,000 Euro. Furthermore, you can start diverse and profitable businesses with small investments in these countries.
13- Advanced and Reliable Ecosystem
London, Berlin, Paris and Amsterdam are the best entrepreneurship ecosystems in the world. The high number of innovative business players in Europe puts the continent in the second place after the US. Accelerators, growth centers, venture capital funds, investor angels, and banking and administrative facilitating and support laws have made Europe an attractive destination for risk-taker innovation and entrepreneurship.
