Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about business creation

There are so many types of businesses that it is quite difficult to advice you some particular one. The answer for this question is rather difficult and only you are able to solve this question. You should start from finding a business idea. The success starts from perfect idea, and in order to set up a business you need to find the right one. Unless you have an idea, you will not be able to open a successful business.

Where to get a business idea? Write down all the interesting ideas and choose the most suitable one. You can estimate your business ideas using our table.

Think about what you do well and whether you can make money on it. Use your own knowledge, experience and interests.

Establishing a new company always fraught with risks. Some of them can lead to serious losses or even bankruptcy. Risks can come from every direction and at every stage of business life cycle. The most common are: financial or economic risks, legal risks and human risks. Though you cannot remove all risk, but you can, for example, mitigate it and minimize its negative impact on the financial and operating activities of the company. Managing business risk is crucial to any business. You can read more detailed about risk classification and risk management process here.

Business plan is a written plan of your business, which describes how the business idea will work in practice. You will need it in negotiations with potential investors, financiers, business partners, landlords or suppliers. More detailed description about business plan and the steps of business plan creation you can find at our site.

First of all, it is crucial to know how much money you will actually need to start and run your business. In order to do it you have to prepare a financial plan in order to understand the amount of operating costs and investments before starting your business. Your financing options will depend on how much money you will need. Some possible alternatives where to find money for the business creation:

• Loan financing - banks, finance companies, business angels
• Business Finland
• ELY Center
• TE offices

Read more about Startup funding in Finland and available financing options for startups.

There are several organizations in Finland, where you can get a professional assistance for your business, such as:

• UusyritysKeskus (completely free of charge)
• Finnish Tax Administration (tax issues)
• You can also find other useful links here

1. You should check suomi.fi website to decide what kind of business licenses or permits your business will need.
2. The summary of all main legislation acts relating to business related activities in Finland you can find at our website.
3. The main online database of up-to-date legislative information of Finland can be found at FINLEX website.

Starting a business is quite easy, you need to do just a few steps:

• You should register your business name and send start-up notification, using "Y-form", to Trade Register, Register of Associations, or Register of Foundations, which is supported by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (Patentti- ja rekisterihallitus, PRH).
• Notify VAT register, Prepayment Register and Employer Register, which are supported by the Finnish Tax Administration, only in case if needed.
• Open a bank account for your company.

Now you are ready-to-run, but to start a successful business you will have to apply a bit more efforts!

Limited liability companies, general partnerships, limited partnerships and cooperatives are always obliged to be registered at the Finnish Trade register.

Private trader has to notify with the PRH Trade Register if he or she:

• operates in permanent office, such as business premises separate from own apartment;
• employs people other than family members;
• wants to protect the business name and maintain the rights to the name;
• operates in a licensed business, i.e. needs an official permit for activity.

In order to register your company, you must file a start-up notification to the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (Finnish Trade Register, Register of Associations, or Register of Foundations) and notify, if necessary, Finnish Tax Administration (VAT register, Prepayment Register and Employer Register).

Notification to the Tax Administration is free of charge, others one, as a rule, are subject to a fee. The price depends on the company type and the method of notification. There are two methods of registration: online and paper notification. The cost of the online notification is lower in the majority of cases. You can find a price list at Finnish Patent and Registration Office website.

You can start your business immediately if you are a citizen of EU country, EEA country, Nordic country or Switzerland. You do not require a residence permit to start your business.

If you are citizen of other country and you live outside previously mentioned zones, you will need a residence permit to become an entrepreneur in Finland.

The business structure of your business depends on many different factors. Before choosing the business structure you must take into account a lot of things: the size of the company, capital needs, risks, distribution of profit, taxation, reliability.

Investigate, for example, the following questions:

• What is the size of your company?
• How many people will be involved in the business?
• Will you have employees?
• How many employees will your company have?
• Do you want to limit own liability?
• What is your budget for registration procedure?
• What is the size of the company's initial capital?
• Various business forms have different terms of taxation. You should study tax issues also.

Find out more information at our site.

Starting July 1, 2019, the mandatory share capital of private limited companies in the amount of EUR 2 500 was canceled.

Finnish public limited liability companies are still required to have a minimum share capital of EUR 80 000.

Some types of business require you to obtain a business license or a permit for the activity. You can check whether your business is required specific permits according to your business industry at Yritys-Suomi website.

You can protect your business name by submitting it to the Trade Register which is maintained by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (Patentti- ja rekisterihallitus, PRH). There are two ways of protecting:

• registration of the business by sending start-up notification
• and registration of the business name as a trademark

You will get an exclusive right to business name throughout Finland.

If you would like to change your business name or address (or any other business details), you should notify of changes to the Finnish Trade Register (Patentti- ja rekisterihallitus, PRH). Submit a notification of the change as soon as possible. The form you have to fill out and the associated costs will depend on the type of your business as well as the method of notification (online or paper form). The change of address and contact details is free of charge.

If you have decided to close your business, you have to file a dissolution notice with the Finnish Business Information System (Yritys- ja yhteisötietojärjestelmä), which is jointly maintained by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (Patentti- ja rekisterihallitus, PRH) and the Tax Administration (Verohallinto). Your business data should be deleted from:

• Trade Register, Register of Foundations, or Register of Associations
• VAT Register, Prepayment Register and Employer Register

All instructions and forms can be found at Finnish Business Information System website. Notifications of termination procedure are free of charge in most cases.

Note, that limited liability company can only be dissolved by liquidation or bankruptcy procedure.