Analytics, Baltic, Business, Financial Services, Markets and Companies

45% of respondents in Estonia consider starting an enterprise to be easy, while in Latvia and Lithuania the percentages are 29 and 30, respectively.

“The ease of starting a business determines the number of micro-enterprises and also the broader vitality of the economy. In Estonia, a huge leap has been made in starting businesses because in creating a favourable business environment we are a step ahead of our southern neighbours. If according to the survey, Lithuania has the most respondents who would like to start a business, then Estonia has the most respondents who already have. Annually, about 5,000 more businesses are founded in Estonia than in Lithuania, which has a bigger population,” said Mart Maasik, director of Business Development Division of SEB.

Maasik added that in Estonia, 70% of businesses are founded with one’s own resources; but in Latvia and Lithuania it is even more so, at 76 and 77% respectively, followed by the support of family and friends. The differences lay in the utilisation of state aid – if in Estonia, 11% of respondents had received state aid or European Union support, then in Latvia it was six and in Lithuania zero%, respectively.

People who have already started a business consider the main obstacles to be finding a market for their product or service and recruiting qualified workers. Finding a market is the biggest problem in Estonia, but the biggest problem for southern neighbours is late payments from their clients.

“People who have not yet started a business see the finding of start-up capital as the main obstacle and are afraid to fail. The picture before taking action and the actual life as an entrepreneur are very different,” said Maasik.

SEB conducted a comparative survey in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, in which more than 4,200 people from three countries were involved.