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    2Starting Up a Business

    2011:1

    Starting Up

    a BusinessInormation and guidancerom the authorities

    Considering

    I am considering startinga business. What do Ihave to bear in mind?

    Starting

    I have decided to starta business. How do Igo about it?

    RunningI am running a business.Whats the best wayor me to do it?

    Developing

    I want to develop mybusiness. How can Imove orward?

    Closing downI am going to close downmy business. How do Igo about this?

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    Do you have an idea?

    Do you want start a business? This brochure provides you

    with an overview o what you need to know and do to start up

    and run a business.

    We present the inormation in phases that many entrepre-

    neurs go through: considering, starting, running, developing

    and closing down. Our headings give you a view o what lie

    as an entrepreneur may be like.

    This brochure is one o several products rom six cooperating

    authorities where we bring together inormation and services

    to make it easier or you. You can also check out the website

    or those who run or are about to start a business,

    verksamt.se, where you can nd more inormation, tools

    and e-services rom several authorities gathered in one place.

    Good luck!

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    Contents

    Considering 4Starting up a business while employed 4

    Starting up a business while unemployed 4

    Starting up a business as a student 5

    Starting up a business when under the age o 26 5

    Starting 6Financing your start 6

    Find out whether you need a permit or not 6

    Choose the orm o business enterprise 7

    Protect the business name 10

    Register your business enterprise 10Getting started with marketing 11

    Finding premises 11

    Protecting your ideas 12

    Insuring yoursel and your business 12

    Running 14Do you need a cash register? 14

    Making tax deductions 14

    Paying tax on the earnings o the business 14

    Receiving remuneration or salary 15

    Paying dividends and receiving bonuses 15How VAT works 16

    Closing the accounts and ling

    an income tax return 16

    Submitting your income tax return, your VAT

    and PAYE return and your payments on time 17

    Submitting an annual report 17

    Employing sta 17

    Contracting another business operator 18

    International trading 19

    I you all ill or have children 21

    Developing 23Reaching out to new markets 23

    Financing growth 23

    Managing a growing business 23

    Closing down 24Selling the business 24

    Generational ownership changes 24

    Bankruptcy 24

    More help available here 25

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    4 Starting Up a Business

    Considering

    I you want to succeed as an entrepre-

    neur, you must be passionate about your

    business, work hard and enjoy doing

    business. You have to be able to see

    the big picture in your nances, manage

    your costs and generate revenues.

    Earning money quickly by running a busi ness is a myth. Many entrepreneurs haveto go without a salary or a pretty long timeafer starting up their business.

    One way o starting is to convert yourhobby into a business. To assess whetheran activity is a hobby or a business,the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) looksat three things: independence, durationand the objective o making a prot.

    I you sell your own products, you arealways considered to be independent. I youcarry out assignments or others, you musthave control o how the assignments are tobe carried out to be considered indepen dent. Your business must be conducted on aregular and lasting basis, meaning over anextended period o time. e purpose othe business must be to earn a prot. Youmust be able to show that your business isestimated to provide a nancial surplus onthe long term.

    I your business meets these three re quirements, it is considered to be a businessenterprise and not a hobby. I so, it may betime to apply or F tax (corporate tax) withthe Swedish Tax Agency and begin lie as anentrepreneur.

    Starting up a businesswhile employed

    You can combine employment with running

    your own business. However, you may notwork with anything that competes with youremployers business, nor do anything disloyal

    to your employer. In some cases, your em ployment contract wil l speciy your optionsor running your own business alongsideyour employment. It is always best to discussyour plans with your employer beore start ing up your business.

    e amount o tax you pay will be deter

    mined by your tota l income rom employ ment and your own business. I you are a soletrader, you should apply or an FA tax card(FA skattsedel).

    Starting up a businesswhile unemployed

    e Swedish Public Employment Service(Arbetsrmedlingen) oers assistance tojobseekers with a business concept, who want

    to start up their own business. To qualiy, youhave to be unemployed and registered withthe Public Employment Service. e PublicEmployment Service can help you with avariety o services, such as an assessment oyour business concept or training in how tostart up a business.

    In some cases, the Public EmploymentService is also able to provide nancial assis tance through the labour market programmeStart up Grants. Under this programmeyou can get nancial assistance or up to six

    months while working on getting your owncompany o the ground.

    e Public Employment Service decideswhether to grant you nancial assistance. Anexternal consultant helps to assess your busi ness concept. It has to be protable and ableto provide long term nancial support.e Public Employment Service will alsoconsider your ability to run your own busi ness. You can have begun the work o startingyour business, but you may not in principle

    have received any revenue. For instance, youmay not have raised a bank loan or sent anyinvoices to customers.

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    5Starting Up a Business

    e nancial assistance consists o an activ ity grant that is equivalent to your unemploy ment benet. You may still be eligible or thegrant even i you are not entitled to unem ployment benets, but the grant would pro vide less money. is support is taxable and

    treated as income or pension calculations.To receive an activity grant, you must

    be unemployed or at risk o becoming

    unemployed

    be registered with the Swedish Public

    Employment Service.

    In cities within the regional policy supportzone, those who are employed are alsoeligible or support to start their own busi ness. is support can be combined with

    the Special Business Start up Grant pro gramme. is is aimed at people who want tostart their own business, but have a disabilitythat entails a diminished work capacity.is support is to be used or investments,etc. e Public Employment Service canprovide inormation on the amount oassistance available.

    Starting up a business as a student

    You may start a business while you are study ing. Just remember that i you are receivingnancial aid rom the Swedish NationalBoard o Student Aid (CSN), both yourstudent loan and study grant will be reducedi you earn more beore tax than a set maxi mum amount. How much you can earn persix month period depends on how manyweeks you receive student unding.

    Starting up a business when

    under the age of 26I you start a business as a sole trader or area partner in a trading partnership or limitedpartnership and have not turned 26 years oage by the beginning o the year, you pay lesssel employed social security contributions.Sel employed social security contributions.ey are national ees you pay or nationalsocial insurance as a business operator.

    It was good that we didnt know so much about how things

    are usually done. I we did, we might not have dared to

    try, says Erika Hillergren, one o the women behind

    the ecological grocers, Sjlunda grd Ekogrossisten AB.

    With our ecological candies, we succeeded in nding a

    product that was missing rom the Swedish eco-shelves.

    Our goal is to introduce new products. And well soon be

    able to take out a salary.

    Photo:Ka

    tarinaNyman

    Today, we have several dierent departments or butche-

    ring, production, processing and import. But in the middle

    o the 1990s, when we saw that the demand or Halal meatwas growing, we had a hard time getting the nancing

    needed to develop the business, says Namir Zetali,

    one o the ounders o Halal butchers, Qibbla Halal Ktt AB.

    My best tip or those seeking nancing at the bank is

    to have documentation or everything, preerably with

    gures as well. Everything rom a business plan to market

    surveys and statistics.

    Photo:MichaelMcLain

    Ater the start-your-own-business course, I began putting

    yers in letterboxes where I knew many people lived who

    needed household services and home-help service, says

    Monika Baker, nurse and owner o Hem och Hlsa Eko AB.

    Ive always put my heart and soul in my company, although

    Ive stretched mysel to the limit sometimes. Today, I workor both the municipality and private customers and have

    several part-time employees.

    Photo:ToreTobiasson

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    6 Starting Up a Business

    StartingRegardless o what you intend to work

    with, you gain a great deal by planning

    your business start and being well

    prepared. One way o getting started

    is to describe your business concept in

    a business plan.

    e business plan is a tool that helps youplan your business start. In the business planyou describe how you are going to put yourbusiness concept into eect so that you haveclear objectives or your operations. inkthrough your business concept careullybeore starting up. Describe

    what product or service you will be selling

    who will be buying the product or service

    the market

    your advantages and disadvantages

    compared with competitors.

    e business plan must be easy to under stand. Although it has to be actual, it mustalso attract interest. Keep in mind that sup pliers and customers may want to see yourbusiness plan.

    A business plan may vary in detaildepending on the nature o the business. Ithas to be a living document that keeps pacewith the development o your business and

    is updated regularly.Your business plan should include three

    budgets a start up budget, a prot budgetand a cash ow budget.

    You need the business plan or yourselin particular. Only when you yoursel havea good grasp o what you want to do in yourbusiness and how it is going to be done canyou be more convincing in getting otherpeople to listen and take an interest.

    Financing your start

    You need money to start up a business. Formany businesses, bank loans are the mostimportant orm o nance. To approve loans,lenders preer businesses to be making goodsales and turning over a prot. New business es are unable to do this. In this situation, the

    bank will usually want you to provide privatesecurity or name a guarantor or the loan.

    How much you can borrow depends onthe estimated risk involved in your businessconcept. is risk actor also determines howmuch collateral you must provide.

    Remember to include interest and loanrepayments in your budget to give you a goodoverall view o the costs and expenses in yourbusiness.

    I you only need a small amount o money,

    banks oer an overdraf acility. en youcan use the credit on your account to nanceyour purchases or a period o time. ismay be more expensive than a bank loan, butcould work well as a short term loan.

    You can also nance your business by renting, leasing or buying items on instalment in stead o paying or everything at once. It maybe more expensive than borrowing or usingyour own unds, but you do not need to haveaccess to as much cash when you begin.

    Find out whether youneed a permit or not

    When you start a business, it is important tond out whether the business needs to havea permit rom, register with, or make someother notication to any public authority.is may involve special requirements on

    you as the business operator

    the premises

    the business itsel.

    Licensing and supervisory authorities maybe local, regional or national. Local and

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    7Starting Up a Business

    regional authorities include municipalities,county administrative boards and policeauthorities. e Swedish Data InspectionBoard (Datainspektionen) and the NationalFood Administration (Livsmedelsverket) areexamples o national authorities.

    When you contact an authority, keep inmind that the processing time and the eesyou must pay can vary. ere are ofen spe cial electronic services or orms you can useto submit inormation.

    Choose the form ofbusiness enterprise

    When choosing the orm o business enter prise, it is important to consider all o thecharacteristics o the orm o the businessenterprise and reect on what suits you andyour situation the best. A summary o themost common orms o business enterprise

    is shown below.Sole trader business

    As a sole trader you run and are responsibleor the business as a private person. You arepersonally responsible or agreements beingkept and liabilities being paid, but you mustkeep the nances o the enterprise separaterom your own private nances. No startingcapital is required or sole traders. In mostcases, the business does not have to be audit ed, although taking expert nancial advice

    may nevertheless be wise. Your business willbe identied by your personal ID number.

    I you run your business as a sole traderyou can employ sta. However, you cannotemploy your husband or wie. I you bothwork in the business, you may instead sharethe prot between you. e same rules applyor cohabiting partners with mutual children.

    You may, but do not normally need to reg ister the enterprise with the Swedish Com panies Registration Oce (Bolagsverket).

    I you do so, the business name is protectedin the county in which you are registered.Besides the name protection, there may beother reasons to register the enterprise with

    the Swedish Companies Registration Oce.For instance, you may have to be registered iyour business submits tenders in public pro curement processes or i a licence or permit isrequired or certain activities.

    Trading partnership

    I you want to run your business with some body else, you can orm a trading partner ship. e trading partnership has to have atleast two owners, reerred to as partners. Youare not counted as employees, but the tradingpartnership may employ sta.

    A trading partnership must always beregistered with the Swedish CompaniesRegistration Oce. e enterprise gets itsregistration number and business namethrough the registration. e name o a trad

    ing partnership is protected in the county inwhich it is registered. e partners have toagree to operate a trading partnership beoreregistering with the Swedish CompaniesRegistration Oce. is agreement shouldbe in writing so you remember what youdecided on the division o labour, how protsor losses are to be distributed and what hap pens i a partner wants to leave the tradingpartnership, or instance. is type o agree ment is known as a partnership agreement or

    articles o partnership.No starting capital is required or a trad ing partnership. You yourselves decide howmuch you want to invest in the enterprise.e starting capital need not be registeredanywhere.

    As partners, you represent the tradingpartnership and have joint inuence. No

    Use the tool Find permits on

    verksamt.se. Search or your

    business to get suggestions

    o permits. Some o the permits

    you may apply or electronically

    through the website.

    http://verksamt.se/http://verksamt.se/
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    8 Starting Up a Business

    partner may do anything against the otherswill, unless you have specially agreed on it.You are personally and jointly responsibleor ensuring that the partnerships agree ments are kept and that its debts are paid.Consequently, you may be orced to pay the

    partnerships debts rom your own privatenances alone. You can then in turn make aclaim against the trading partnership or theother partners or their share o the debt.

    I any o the partners is a legal entity thetrading partnership must have an approvedor authorised public accountant as an audi tor. Even i the partnership is not requiredto have an auditor, it may be wise to have acompetent nancial advisor.

    Limited partnership

    e rules or a limited partnership are thesame as or a trading partnership, with a ewexceptions. e largest dierence is that alimited partnership has at least one generalpartner, who is liable or all the debts o thepartnership. e partners who only investcapital are called limited partners and areonly liable or the capital investment theymade in the company. ereore, this invest ment has to be registered with the SwedishCompanies Registration Oce.

    Limited company

    When you start a limited company, a mini mum o SEK 50,000 in share capital isrequired. e share capital may consist ounds or o property that the company hasa use or. When you own shares in a limitedcompany, you are at risk o losing the in vested capital i the limited company goesbankrupt. However, most people who start alimited company are themselves members othe Board o Directors and may be the man

    aging director o the company and therebyhave a signicantly larger responsibility ithey mismanage their assignments. Smallcompanies may choose not to have an audi tor. Read more at www.bolagsverket.se.

    You must register your limited companywith the Swedish Companies RegistrationOce. Beore registering, you should decidein writing to start the company by setting upa special document, known as the memoran dum o association. When you register with

    the Swedish Companies Registration Oce,the limited company will be given a registra

    tion number. Limited company names areprotected throughout Sweden.

    Economic association

    An economic association is ormed by aminimum o three members. e associa

    tion is created to enable members to benetnancially rom the associations operations,which may or example involve producingor trading goods or services. Every membernormally has a vote at the general meetings othe association. It is usually said that associa tions are based on democracy, commitmentand responsibility.

    Every member pays a contribution andusually an annual membership ee. e associ ation itsel decides how large the contributionshould be. Members are not personally liable

    or the associations debts and other commit ments in excess o their contribution. How ever, those who are members o the Board canbe held personally liable i they mismanagetheir assignment.

    An economic association must be regis tered with the Swedish Companies Registra tion Oce beore it can start doing business.Members o the association start the associa tion and write the associations regulations.e economic association will be given a

    registration number when it registers withthe Swedish Companies Registration Oce.Economic association names are protectedthroughout Sweden. An economic associa tion must have an auditor. e auditor osmaller economic associations does notneed to be an approved or authorised publicaccountant. It suces i he or she is compe tent or the assignment.

    Attend a Starting upa business day!

    Six authorities take a look at what you

    need to know and do to start up your

    own business. The lectures are held in

    Swedish. Register for a Starting up a

    business day at www.verksamt.se/

    starta-foretag-dagen.

    http://www.verksamt.se/%20starta-foretag-dagenhttp://www.verksamt.se/%20starta-foretag-dagenhttp://www.verksamt.se/%20starta-foretag-dagenhttp://www.verksamt.se/%20starta-foretag-dagen
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    9Starting Up a Business

    Sole trader

    Tradingpartnership

    Limitedpartnership

    Limitedcompany

    Economicassociation

    Legal entity No Yes Yes Yes Yes

    Number ofowners Only 1 person At least 2 peopleor enterprises At least 2 peopleor enterprises At least 1 personor enterprise At least 3 peopleor enterprises

    Owner liability The business operatoris personally liableor the agreementsentered into and or thedebts o the enterprise.

    The partnership canenter into agreements,but i it cannot pay itsdebts, the partners areliable.

    The partnership canenter into agreements,but i it cannot payits debts, the generalpartner is liable.

    The company can enterinto agreements and isliable or its debts.

    The association canenter into agreementsand is liable or itsdebts.

    Capitalrequirement

    No No General partner: noLimited partners: atleast SEK 1

    At least SEK 50,000. Yes, in the orm oa cash or work invest-ment.

    Representatives The sole trader The partners The general partner The board o directors The board o directors

    Registration With the Swedish TaxAgency and possiblythe Swedish CompaniesRegistration Ofce

    With the the SwedishCompanies RegistrationOfce and the SwedishTax Agency

    With the the SwedishCompanies RegistrationOfce and the SwedishTax Agency

    With the the SwedishCompanies RegistrationOfce and the SwedishTax Agency

    With the the SwedishCompanies RegistrationOfce and the SwedishTax Agency

    Name protection In the county In the county In the county Nationwide Nationwide

    Form of taxation F or FA tax(FA tax or income romboth the business andemployment)

    The partnership: F taxPartners: SA tax (spe-cial debited A tax)

    The partnership: F taxPartners: SA tax (spe-cial debited A tax)

    The company: F taxThe owners: A tax(employees)

    The association: F taxThe members: A tax(employees)

    Taxation The business operatoris taxed or the surplus(income tax + socialsecurity contributions).

    Partners are taxedor their part o thepartnerships surplus(income tax + socialsecurity contributions).

    Partners are taxedor their part o thepartnerships surplus(income tax + socialsecurity contributions).

    The company is taxedon its prot (corpora-tion tax). The ownersare taxed on salarywithdrawn and possibledividends (income tax +

    possible gains tax).

    The association is taxedon its prot (corpora-tion tax). The membersare taxed on salarytaken out and possibledividends (income tax +

    possible gains tax).

    Annual reportand auditor

    Only annual accounts I the partnership hasother enterprises as co-owners, it must preparean annual report andappoint an auditorand submit the annualreport to the SwedishCompanies RegistrationOfce.

    I the partnership hasother enterprises as co-owners, it must preparean annual report andappoint an auditorand submit the annualreport to the SwedishCompanies RegistrationOfce.

    An annual report mustbe prepared. Smallcompanies may choosenot to have an auditor.

    An annual report mustbe prepared andan auditor must beappointed.

    Allocation ofprot and loss

    Normally only tothe business owner.Exceptions are spousesand cohabitants withmutual children.

    As per agreement isuch an agreementexists. Equal distribu-tion otherwise.

    As per agreement isuch an agreementexists. I no agreementexists and the partnerscannot agree on the al-

    location, the issue mustbe decided in court.

    Prot can be allocatedto the shareholders inthe orm o a dividend.

    Prot can be dividedbetween the membersin the orm o a bonus.

    Income as thebasis of sicknessbenets

    Surplus The surplus or thepartners individually.

    The surplus or thepartners individually.

    Salary withdrawn Salary withdrawn

    Choice of qualify-ing period

    14, 30, 60 or 90 days 14, 30, 60 or 90 days 14, 30, 60 or 90 days No No

    Sick pay or sick-ness benets

    Sickness benets romthe Swedish SocialInsurance Agency

    Sickness benets romthe Swedish SocialInsurance Agency

    Sickness benets romthe Swedish SocialInsurance Agency

    Sick pay romthe company

    Sick pay romthe company

    Choose the form of business enterprise

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    10 Starting Up a Business

    Protect the business name

    When you start up a business, it is importantto choose a business name. e most com mon and simplest way o protecting the nameo the enterprise is to register it with theSwedish Companies Registration Oce. is

    protection means that you are granted exclu sive rights to the name, including the right toprevent others rom using a similar businessname or trademark in the same industry. Forlimited companies, partnerships and eco nomic associations, registration is necessaryor you to be able to conduct business.

    Examples of business names

    Imaginary words, such as Cajin Aktiebolag.

    Imaginary words + industry words, such as

    Cajin Mode Aktiebolag.

    Place name + industry word, such as

    Ronneby IT Aktiebolag.

    Examples of business names

    that are not approved

    A business name that can be conused with

    another business name or trademark.

    A business name that contains somebody elses

    surname. However, you may use a rst name

    dierent rom your own.

    Only inormation about what the enterprise

    works with, such as Bilverkstad AB or Bageriet

    Handelsbolag.

    Check your business name

    When you have a suggestion or a businessname, you can check i it is available with theSwedish Companies Registration Oceselectronic service the Swedish Trade andIndustry Register (Nringslivsregistret).Even i you do not nd a similar name, it isnot certain that the name can be registeredsince the Swedish Companies RegistrationOce also takes other actors into account.

    Register your business enterprise

    I you have an electronic identication,you can quickly and easily take care oyour matters related to your business enter prise through Mina sidor (My Pages) onverksamt.se. is e service is at present only

    available in Swedish. You can currently: register and protect the business name atthe Swedish Companies Registration Ofce

    apply or an F-/FA-tax certicate with

    the Swedish Tax Agency

    report to the Swedish Tax Agency that

    you should be registered as an employer

    report to the Swedish Tax Agency that

    you should be registered or VAT

    register changes to or strike o your

    business.

    How to register your business enterprise

    All orms o business enterprise except orsole traders have to be registered with theSwedish Companies Registration Oce be

    ore starting to operate. As a sole trader, youcan choose just to register or tax with theSwedish Tax Agency. I you want to protectyour business name as a sole trader, you alsoneed to register with the Swedish CompaniesRegistration Oce. You then get a certicateo registration rom the Swedish CompaniesRegistration Oce.

    For limited companies and economic

    associations, name protection applies

    nationwide. For sole traders, trading

    partnerships and limited partnerships,

    the protection applies within the county.

    You can easily obtain electronic identi-

    cation rom a bank or Telia; read more at

    www.e-legitimation.se.

    Do not order printed materials, signs

    and so on until the business name hasbeen registered.

    http://www.e-legitimation.se/http://www.e-legitimation.se/
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    11Starting Up a Business

    Regardless o the orm o business enterprise,you make a report to the Swedish Tax Agencywhere you provide inormation to

    apply or F tax or FA tax

    apply or VAT registration i VAT must be

    reported in your business

    register as an employer i you are going toemploy sta

    provide details or the calculation o your

    preliminary tax.

    Once these registrations are done, you get anF or FA tax certicate, a certicate that youare registered or VAT and inormation onhow much preliminary tax you must pay.

    To make sure that you will receive yourcerticates on time beore starting your busi ness you should send in your inormation

    well in advance.Having an F tax certicate means that

    you are responsible or paying taxes andsocial security contributions or your busi ness. I your new enterprise is a sole traderbusiness and you will also have income romemployment, you must instead apply or anFA tax certicate. I you have both an F taxcerticate and an A tax certicate (FA tax),you must notiy the client in writing whenyou use the F tax certicate in an assign

    ment. I you do not do so, the A tax certi cate applies. You can submit written notica tion in a tender document, invoice or similar.

    All partners earning an income rom atrading partnership or limited partnershipmust complete a preliminary VAT and PAYEreturn (sel assessment). Based on this sel taxassessment, the Swedish Tax Agency decideson the partners preliminary A tax (specialA tax).

    Getting started with marketingMarketing is important to you as an entre preneur. It is something you must activelywork on the entire time, both beore startingup and once the business is running. Youneed to nd dierent ways o telling custom ers that you exist so they can choose yourproduct or service.

    One o the keys to success is identiy ing customers needs or problems, and thenoering a solution. Once you have done this,

    the next step is to provide inormation aboutwhat you oer. You can do a lot o your mar

    keting with relatively limited resources and

    your own work.

    Finding premises

    Many people start their business at home,while others need commercial premises.Begin by thinking about your requirementsor the premises. Is a central location impor tant or is it more important to have a loadingdock and a large car park? Do you need anoce, warehouse or sta rooms?

    When you have ound premises you

    would like to rent, be sure to read the leasecareully. You need to know what the rentincludes and the period o notice. e prem ises must also meet requirements imposed bythe authorities. What requirements are set,depend on your business.

    Contact the landlord i you want to makechanges to the premises. Find out whetherthe landlord is willing to bear the costs orenovation and i you need building permits.Also contact an insurance company and nd

    out i they have any requirements regardingthe premises beore insuring them.

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    12 Starting Up a Business

    Protecting your ideas

    I you want better protection or your busi ness products, you should rst decide i youshould apply or a patent, design protectionor trademark protection with the Patent andRegistration Oce (Patent och registre

    ringsverket).I you have made a technical invention,you can apply or patent protection. I youwant to protect the name or logotype o yourproduct, you can apply or trademark protec tion. I you have developed a product with aspecial look, you may need design protection.

    ere are many reasons to seek protec tion. You get protection or your own invest ments at the same time that you block competitors. It is also easier to attract nanciers.Patent rights can be sold or licensed.

    Insuring yourselfand your business

    Keep in mind that your private home insur ance will not cover your business. You shouldthereore think about what insurance coverage you and your business should have.

    Business insurance

    ere are several types o business insurance.

    Property insurance protects equipment, goods

    and other objects in the event o burglary, re,

    water damage and so on.

    Third-party insurance provides protection i

    anyone were to claim damages rom your busi-

    ness.

    Consequential loss insurance provides compen-

    sation or losses that can arise as a result o an

    interruption in business.

    Legal expense insurance reimburses legal andcourt costs.

    You may need partnership insurance i you run

    the enterprise together with somebody else.

    Unemployment insurance

    As an entrepreneur, i you were to becomeunemployed and seek compensation romunemployment insurance, special rules applyin addition to the general conditions. You areconsidered to be unemployed only afer your

    personal involvement in the business hasended. As long as it is not a seasonal break,

    Plan

    your start

    Make a

    business plan

    Choose form

    of business

    enterprise

    Register your

    business

    Yourbusiness

    idea

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    13Starting Up a Business

    you can stil l receive compensation in con nection with a temporary interruption, butin such a case, no activity whatsoever maybe conducted in the business. You can onlyreceive compensation in connection witha temporary interruption in the enterpriseonce per business.

    You must be a member or associate oan unemployment und in order to claimincome related benets when you becomeunemployed.

    Life and accident insurance

    You should consider obtaining lie and ac cident insurance. An insurance o this kindwill provide you with compensation i you are

    injured or disabled at work. I you have to quitworking due to the injury, you can receive adisability pension and a supplementary pen sion. Survivors protection is provided in caseo death.

    Labour market insurance is mandatory iyou employ sta and are bound to a collec

    tive agreement or a so called local collectiveagreement with a trade union organisation.

    Pension insurance

    Your surplus, or the salary you receive, willaect your uture pension. I you do not earnmuch money rom the business, it may be wiseto supplement your national pension withpension insurance.

    Find permits

    Find premises,

    protect your

    ideas

    Insure

    yourself and

    your business

    Now, yourbusiness ison the way!

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    14 Starting Up a Business

    RunningIt is important that you study the rules

    that apply to your tax payments early on.

    Moreover, you will benet rom having

    proper accounting rom the beginning.

    It saves time, money and unnecessary

    work.

    You are obliged to keep accounts o all nan cial transactions in the business. A transac tion reers to when you buy or sell somethingor raise a loan, or example.

    Book keeping is a useul tool in your busi ness. Your accounts enable you to monitoroperations and steer your business towardsits targets. e answers to many questions arein your accounts. How much money can youwithdraw or yoursel? How is the business

    doing? Can you make the investments youwere planning on? Can you aord to employsta?

    Accounting is also important when youneed to show others how your business isdoing. You may want to borrow money romthe bank or obtain credit rom a supplier. Youcan also obtain details rom your accountsor your VAT and PAYE return.

    Whether you do the book keeping yourselor hire help depends on how much you know,how interested you are and how much timeyou can devote to it. However, even i some one else does your accounts, you still need tounderstand them. Responsibility always restswith you.

    Sole traders and trading partnershipsowned by natural persons and with a turn over o less than SEK 3 million are permit ted to compile simplied annual accounts.Simplied annual accounts consist o anincome statement and a balance sheet. Moreinormation is available on the Swedish TaxAgency website.

    Do you need a cash register?

    I you sell goods and services or cash pay ment or payment by credit card, you musthave a certied cash register. Some business es are exempt rom this rule. More inorma tion about cash registers is available on theSwedish Tax Agency website.

    Making tax deductions

    You may make deductions in your incometax statement or what you need to be able tomaintain the business. is may, or exam

    ple, be a matter o having a company car oran oce at home or costs you had beore thebusiness began operating.

    Paying tax on the earningsof the business

    e prot o the business is taxed in a varietyo ways depending on the orm o businessenterprise. e prot is the dierence betweenincome and expenses. Income consists mainly

    o the unds received by the business when

    The bankThe owners/

    you yourself

    Swedish TaxAgency

    Otherauthorities

    Why keepaccounts?

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    15Starting Up a Business

    it sells goods and services. Expenses are theexpenditures necessary to run the business.Some expenses may not be ully deductedat the time o purchase, but must instead bedepreciated over several years.

    Sole traders, trading partnerships andlimited partnerships

    are not taxed on theirprots. e prot instead provides the basisor the taxation o the trader or the partners.More inormation on how taxation works isavailable in the section Receiving remunera tion or salary.

    In a limited company or an economic asso-ciation, the actual company or association istaxed on the prot through corporation tax.You must pay preliminary tax on the protor surplus, see the section Receiving remu neration or salary. You pay the preliminary

    tax through deposits into your tax accountat the Swedish Tax Agency and they must berecorded no later than the due date, usuallythe 12th o every month. A couple o times ayear you should check that you are payingthe correct preliminary tax. You shouldneither pay too much nor too little. I yourpreliminary tax needs to be adjusted, you canle a preliminary VAT and PAYE return withthe Swedish Tax Agency at any time.

    Receiving remuneration or salaryI you conduct business as a sole trader, trad-ing partnership or limited partnership, youmay not draw salary rom your business. Iyou deposit or withdraw money rom thebusiness, the prot is not aected. Conse quently, it also does not aect how much taxyou must pay.

    As a sole trader, you make a standarddeduction rom the prot in order to calcu late the surplus rom business operations.

    Income tax and social security contribu tions are calculated based on this surplus.e Swedish Social Insurance Agency(Frskringskassan) also uses this surplus tocalculate the income on which your sicknessbenets are based.

    In a trading partnership or limited partner-ship, the partners (co owners) share the protor loss. Based on each partners individualshare o the results, a standard deduction ismade to calculate the surplus. is surplus

    is then used when calculating each partners

    income tax and social security contributions.e Swedish Social Insurance Agency alsouses the partners surplus to calculate theincome on which their sickness benets arebased.

    You paynational income tax on income

    over a certain amount. Keep in mind thatnational income tax is calculated on the totalincome rom your employment and romyour business activities.

    In a limited company or an economic asso-ciation, as an owner or member, you are alsoviewed as an employee i you are active in thecompany or association. e remunerationyou withdraw rom the company is therebyconsidered to be salary. is salary and youremployers contributions are deductible ex penses or the company or association.

    e act that you, as an owner or member,are viewed as an employee means that youmust register the company or association asan employer with the Swedish Tax Agency.e company or association is your employerand must thereore pay employers contribu tions and preliminary income tax or you andother employees.

    Paying dividends andreceiving bonuses

    A limited company can pay all or part o itsprots to its shareholders. is payment isnot regarded as a salary to the shareholder,but is taxed as income rom capital.

    Remember that dividends do not orm abasis or calculation o your uture pension orthe income on which your sickness benetsare based. Special rules apply or what areknown as close companies. A close companyis a limited company or an economic associa tion where our or less partners own shares

    that correspond to more than 50 per cent othe votes.

    I an economic association makes aprot, the association can pay money backto its members as a bonus. is bonus is notregarded as a salary. Consult the Swedish TaxAgency or more inormation on taxation osuch bonuses.

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    16 Starting Up a Business

    How VAT works

    As consumers, we all pay value added tax(VAT) as a part o the price when we buygoods or services. As a business operator,you pay VAT to the state. When you makepurchases or your business, the VAT does not

    constitute an expense in most cases, since youare entitled to make deductions or the VATwith a ew exceptions.

    Most enterprises that sell goods or ser vices in Sweden must charge 25 per cent inVAT on the price beore VAT. Some indus tries have a lower VAT rate, 12 per cent or 6per cent, and some industries are completelyexempt rom VAT.

    e VAT you charge on your sales iscalled output VAT. e VAT you pay on yourpurchases is called input VAT. I you have

    more output VAT than input VAT, you mustpay the dierence to the state. I the dier ence is negative, in other words you havemore input VAT than output VAT, you areentitled to a reund.

    You have to declare the VAT paid andreceived by the enterprise. Depending on theturnover o your enterprise, you should do soevery three months or every month in a taxstatement or just once a year in your incometax statement.

    You may report VAT once a year i yourbusiness operations as a sole trader, your lim

    ited company or your economic associationproduce a turnover o no more than SEK 1mill ion a year. e same applies i your trad ing partnership or limited partnership has aturnover that does not exceed SEK 200,000.Trading partnerships and limited partner ships must always report VAT in a VAT andPAYE return.

    Closing the accounts andling an income tax return

    Once the nancial year is over, you have tosum up how the year went, i.e. close yourannual accounts. Simply put, this meansthat you sum up the income and expensesin an income statement as well as assets andliabilities in a balance sheet. e rules on theclosing o the accounts dier depending onthe orm o business enterprise you have andthe size o your turnover.

    You then complete your income taxreturn using the inormation in your annual

    accounts.Sole traders report their prot or loss ina special supplement to their income taxreturn.

    Trading partnerships must le an incometax return. Each partner reports his or hershare o the trading partnerships or lim ited partnerships prot or loss on a specialsupplement to their income tax return.

    Limited companies and economic associa-tions must le an income tax return andreport the companys prot and the taxes

    the company must pay itsel. Shareholders ormembers o the economic association le in ormation on their salary and any dividendsor bonuses in their income tax return.

    en submit the return with the Swed ish Tax Agency, which calculates your taxliability or the year and compares it withthe preliminary tax you have paid duringthe year. I you have paid too little tax overthe year, you have to pay more; but you willreceive a reund i you have paid too much.

    You can easily le the return on the SwedishTax Agency website.

    I you report VAT in the VAT and PAYE

    return, you must do so even i you had no

    output or input VAT or a certain period.

    Reporting VAT

    Sales SEK 1 million

    Income tax return

    or

    VAT and PAYE return

    once a year

    every three months/every month

    Sales SEK 1 million

    VAT and PAYE return every three months/every month

    Partnership/Limited partnership

    Always in aVAT and PAYE return

    (sales SEK 200,000

    every three months/every month

    once a year)

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    17Starting Up a Business

    Submitting your income taxreturn, your VAT and PAYE returnand your payments on time

    You will have to pay a penalty i you le yourreturn late. I you pay the enterprises tax,VAT or employees taxes and social security

    contributions too late, you must also pay theinterest expense and are at risk o the debt be ing transerred to the Swedish EnorcementAuthority (Kronoogden) or collection. iscosts extra and the enterprise is issued with arecord o non payment. Moreover, your F taxcard can be revoked.

    I you have diculties in paying yourtaxes or social security contributions, youshould contact the Swedish Tax Agency assoon as possible. e Swedish Tax Agencyhas a special creditor unction that can help

    business operators with liquidity problems.You can also be issued with a record o

    non payment i you do not take care o pay ments other than taxes and social securitycontributions, such as payments to suppliers.With a record o non payment, it may be di cult to get a loan, buy something on instal ment, get a credit card, etc. I you conductbusiness as a sole trader, your private nancesare also aected and it may be dicult, orexample, to rent a at or arrange a telephone

    subscription.e credit rating agencies decide whetheror not you are issued with a record o non payment. ey do so by making an assess ment o a large amount o inormation romvarious sources, including the SwedishEnorcement Authority. is data is used toprovide inormation to people or enterpriseswhen you want to borrow money, make pur chases on instalment or the like. ese peopleor enterprises then decide whether or not youcan borrow money or make such purchases.

    Submitting an annual report

    In some cases, business operators mustprepare an annual report and submit it tothe Swedish Companies Registration Oce.is applies to

    larger sole trader businesses

    trading partnerships and limited partnerships

    with legal entities as partners and larger trading

    partnerships and limited partnerships

    all limited companies

    larger economic associations.

    Employing sta

    I you hire somebody, you become an em ployer. is is true even i it is you yourselyou hire (i you have a limited company or aneconomic association). Becoming an employ er has several implications:

    You must register as an employer with

    the Swedish Tax Agency.

    You must withhold taxes and report these taxes

    or employees.

    You must pay employers social security

    contributions on the employees wages.

    You report salaries, taxes and employerscontributions every month in a VAT andPAYE return. Afer the end o the year, youle statements o earnings and tax withhold ings or your employees.

    e Swedish Public Employment Serviceoers a ree service when you have to recruitsta. In some cases, you can receive nancialsupport when you are hiring.

    I you are registered as an employer,you must le a VAT and PAYE return.

    This should be done each month even i

    you have not paid any salary.

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    18 Starting Up a Business

    When an employee alls il l, you must pay sickpay up to and including the ourteenth sickday. e rst sick day is always a waiting day.e employee receives no remuneration at allor this time. en you pay sick pay or days2 14. On day 8, the employee must submit

    a medical certicate. I the employee is stillill afer day 14, you must le a noticationo illness with the Swedish Social InsuranceAgency, which can pay sickness benets.

    e rules regarding sick pay apply as othe rst day o employment i the employment agreement applies until urther noticeor is limited in time to one month or longer.For shorter periods o employment, theSwedish Social Insurance Agency can paysickness benets.

    Contracting anotherbusiness operator

    I you purchase a service rom a sole trader,such as a crafsman to urnish your premises,you have to check whether that person has anF or FA tax card. I the person you engageonly has an A tax card, you must withholdtaxes and, in some cases, pay employers con tributions on the pay or services rendered.

    I the person you engage has written on aninvoice, tender or the like, that he or she hasan F tax card this inormation applies. I younonetheless want to check that the person has

    an F tax card, you can contact the SwedishTax Agency.

    Important dates

    12th of every month

    Pay preliminary tax (F or SA tax).

    Report & pay VAT (or business operators with

    sales over SEK 40 million, VAT must

    be reported and paid no later than the 26th

    o the month).

    Report & pay tax and employers contributions

    or employees.

    31 January

    Last day to le income statements o earnings

    and tax withholdings or employees.

    12 February

    An extra tax payment must be recorded

    on the tax account to avoid an interest

    expense i a decit o nal tax exceeds

    SEK 20,000.

    12 March

    Decit as per the nal tax notice must be

    recorded on the tax account.

    2 May

    Last day to le the income tax return.

    3 May

    An extra tax payment must be recorded on

    the tax account to avoid an interest expense

    i a decit o nal tax is less than SEK 20,000.

    31 July

    Last day to le annual report

    (nancial year = calendar year).

    1 December

    Preliminary personal tax return should be

    led or a new calculation o the preliminary

    tax or the coming income year.

    15 December

    Final tax statement.

    In the restaurant and hairdresser indu-

    stries, a special ledger called the person-

    nel ledger must be kept. Everyone working

    in the premises o the enterprise must be

    recorded there. More inormation on this

    is available on the Swedish Tax Agency

    website.

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    19Starting Up a Business

    International trading

    Does your business idea extend beyond theborders o Sweden? en it is important thatyou nd out what rules apply in Sweden aswell as in the country in which you intend toconduct business.

    You do not need a general permit to begininternational trade, but you may need a per mit to import or export certain goods, suchas weapons or endangered plants or animals.Certain other goods, such as clothing romcertain countries, require an import licence.In Sweden, these licences are issued by theNational Board o Trade (Kommerskolle gium).

    e rules or international trade varydepending on what type o goods or serviceyou trade in, i you trade with companies or

    private persons, and i they are in countrieswithin or outside the EU.

    Trading goods within the EU

    Goods are subject to ree movement within

    the EU. is means that you do not need toreport goods to Customs i you buy themrom or sell them to another EU country.Instead, you le this inormation with theSwedish Tax Agency in your VAT and PAYEreturn or your income tax return. In somecases, you must also provide statistics toStatistics Sweden (SCB).

    When you sell goods to a VAT registeredcompany in another EU country, you shouldnot charge VAT on the invoice i the ollow ing two conditions are met:

    The goods you sell will be physically transported

    rom Sweden to another EU country.

    The buyer must be registered or VAT in an EU

    country other than Sweden and you must have

    inormation on the companys VAT number in

    the other country.

    I either o these conditions is not met, you

    must add Swedish VAT.It is important that you check with the

    Swedish Tax Agency that the buyers VATnumber is valid. On the invoice, you mustinclude both your enterprises and the buyersVAT numbers. You can nd inormation onwhat an invoice must include on the Swed ish Tax Agency website. In addition to yourregular VAT and PAYE return or income taxreturn, you must also report your VAT reeEU sales to the Swedish Tax Agency in a peri

    odical report (EC sales list).I, instead, you buy goods from anotherEU country and or transport to Sweden, thesituation is the opposite. You must provideyour VAT number to the seller in the otherEU country, who should not invoice anyVAT. You can nd your VAT number onyour VAT registration certicate. In the VATand PAYE return or income tax return, youinclude output VAT calculated on the valueo the purchase converted into SEK. You areentitled to make deductions according to the

    same rules as or other VAT on purchases.

    Remember that you must pay customs

    duty and VAT i you purchase goods rom

    a country outside the EU.

    A VAT number is a number given to all who

    conduct activities subject to VAT and have

    been registered with the Swedish Tax

    Agency. VAT stands or value added tax.

    Read more about the EU member states

    in the Gateway to the European Union:

    http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries

    http://europa.eu/abc/european_countrieshttp://europa.eu/abc/european_countries
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    20 Starting Up a Business

    Trading goods outside the EU

    Goods sent to a customer outside the EUare known as exports. Beore you dispatchyour goods, you or your agent must submitan electronic export declaration to Swed ish Customs, over the Internet or instance.

    Since the goods leave the EU, you do not needto add VAT on the invoice. When you reporta sale as an export, it is thereore importantthat you can provide evidence o the export.You have to be able to document in youraccounts that the item has lef the EU VATarea. Such documentation may be reightdocuments, an export conrmation romSwedish Customs or import documentsrom the country o destination.

    Goods brought in rom a seller outside theEU are known as imports. When the goodsarrive, they are placed in temporary storage

    and the shipper noties you that they havearrived. Beore you can collect the goods, youor your agent must le an import declarationand pay customs duty and VAT to SwedishCustoms. You must do so regardless o howyou have ordered the goods, in other words,

    even i you have bought them through dis tance selling, such as over the Internet.e customs duty is usually a percentage

    o the value o the goods, including reightand insurance to the EU border, and it var ies or dierent types o goods. Because thecustoms duty is a cost that you pay in addi tion to the purchase price, it is important thatyou nd out how high it is beore you importany goods so that you are aware o the actualcost o your goods. Only then can you workout the right sales price i you intend to sell

    them on. Inormation regarding customsduties is available on the Swedish Customswebsite. You can also call Swedish Customsto get help.

    You also pay the VAT to Swedish Customsand report it as input VAT in the VAT andPAYE return or income tax return. Moreinormation on how to calculate VAT onimports is available on the Swedish Customswebsite.

    Contact the Swedish Trade Council(Exportrdet) i you need inormation and

    help regarding the rules in the country

    to which you intend to export,

    www.swedishtrade.se .

    Record all

    business trans-

    actions in the

    accounts

    Taxes and

    contributions

    Remunerations

    or salary?

    Market your

    goods/services

    Now thebusiness is

    getting started

    http://www.swedishtrade.se/http://www.swedishtrade.se/
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    21Starting Up a Business

    Trading with EU areas outside

    the EU VAT area

    Certain areas that belong to some o the EUMember States are not part o the EU VATarea, such as the land Islands, the CanaryIslands and the British Channel Islands.

    Consequently, you must le a customs dec laration with Swedish Customs i you tradewith these areas. When importing, you payVAT, but no customs duty.

    Trading in services

    e sale o services to buyers in anothercountry may sometimes be exempt romSwedish VAT, depending on who the buyer isand what type o service you sell.

    When you buy services rom anothercountry, you must in some cases report the

    value o the purchase and output VAT in yourVAT and PAYE return or income tax return.You can nd out what applies to your busi ness in particular on the Swedish Tax Agencywebsite.

    You must also be able to report sales oservices to VAT registered companies inother EU countries in a periodical report tothe Swedish Tax Agency.

    If you fall ill or have children

    As a business operator, you are covered byhealth and parental insurance. e benetyou receive will be based on the income romwhich your sickness benet is calculated. eSwedish Social Insurance Agency calculates

    this income in various ways, depending onwhat orm o business enterprise you have.

    Limited company or economic association

    I you have a limited company or are amember o an economic association, you areregarded as an employee. e Social Insur ance Agency then calculates the income orsickness benets based on your salary. I youdo not draw any salary, you cannot receive anycompensation i you all ill. For parental leave,you can only receive the minimum level com

    pensation. Note that dividends rom a limitedcompany or bonuses rom an economic as sociation are not included in this income.

    Sole trader, trading partnership

    or limited partnership

    I you are a sole trader or have a trading part nership or a limited partnership, the incomeon which your sickness benet is based willbe calculated according to your share o theestimated surplus rom the business. How

    ever, your income may not be calculated asbeing higher than the amount an employeewith similar duties would receive as a salary.

    Operating

    activities in

    the business

    Closing

    the accounts and

    ling VAT and

    PAYE returns

    Prepare an

    annual report

    Time to developyour business?

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    22 Starting Up a Business

    Businesses under construction

    I you are in process o starting up your busi ness as a sole trader, trading partnership orlimited partnership, the income on whichyour sickness benet is based can be calcu lated at a higher amount than your share o

    the surplus. For a time, thereore, the level oyour sickness benet can be based on a cti tious income.

    e Social Insurance Agency always makesindividual assessments o whether businessescan be considered to be in a starting up phase.Dierent types o businesses have dierentrequirements, thus the starting up phases mayvary in length. Essentially, individuals mustnot end up in a poorer insurance situationinitially than i the business had been ullyexpanded and producing a normal surplus.

    Waiting days

    No sickness benets will be paid or the wait ing days. I you are a sole trader or a partnerin a trading partnership or limited partner ship, you may choose the number o waitingdays or health insurance.

    You can choose a waiting period o 14, 30,60 or 90 days. Your national health insur ance contribution will be lower i you choosea longer waiting period. Even i you do not

    select a waiting period, you will sti ll have tocomplete a compulsory waiting period oseven days day i you all ill.

    e number o waiting days you selectaects neither temporary parental benetnor the standard parental benet.

    Contact the Social Insurance Agencyi you would like to change the number o

    waiting days. Afer the age o 55, you cannotchange back to a shorter waiting period.

    Sickness benets from

    the Social Insurance Agency

    I you are ill and cannot work in a sole trader

    business, a trading partnership or a limitedpartnership, you must report sick to theSocial Insurance Agency on the rst day oyour illness. e Social Insurance Agencycan then pay you sickness benets.

    I you are ill or more than seven days, youmust also submit a medical certicate to theSocial Insurance Agency.

    Sick pay from the business

    When you are employed in a limited compa ny or an economic association, the company

    or association must pay you sick pay i youall ill. e same rules apply to you as to allother employees.

    e rst 14 calendar days that you are,partially or entirely, unable to work due toillness is called the sick pay period. Since therst day o illness is a waiting day, you cannotreceive any sick pay or that day. I you are il lor more than seven days, you must have amedical certicate.

    Afer 14 days, when the sick pay period is

    over, the Social Insurance Agency can dis burse sickness benets i you are still ill. ecompany or association must thereore makea report and submit a medical certicate tothe Social Insurance Agency.

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    23Starting Up a Business

    DevelopingAter a ew years, it may be time to

    urther develop the enterprise. You may

    want to nd new markets, get help to

    nance your growth or simply change

    the orm o business enterprise.

    ere may be many reasons to continue with

    the business in a dierent orm. One commonreason is that you want to bring in partners tothe business.

    Reaching out to new markets

    When you have a protable and maximallyutilised domestic market, it may be time toseek new markets. Assuming you are pre pared to invest long term, exports could beprotable.

    Financing growth

    Bank loans are the most common type o ex ternal nancing. is is mainly suitable whenit concerns investments in tangible assetsthat can be sold on a second hand market.

    Venture capital is an investment that youor somebody else makes in your companywith their own unds to be able to obtain areturn on the investment in the uture. Ven ture capital is suitable or particularly riskyenterprises with good prot opportunities.

    Venture capital also presupposes that the

    investor is actively involved in the business,such as through representation on the Boardo Directors. e investment is usually lim ited in time.

    Managing a growing business

    A growing business requires a manager whois interested in becoming a manager on alarger scale. To succeed, it may be time tohand over control o a ew parts o the busi ness to others. Support may also be needed in

    the orm o networks and skil ls development,or instance.

    I you need tips and advice, you can

    contact the Swedish Trade Council,

    www.swedishtrade.se. I you want to

    reach out to the European market,

    you can nd a great deal o help rom

    the Enterprise Europe Network,

    www.enterpriseeurope.se.

    http://www.swedishtrade.se/http://www.enterpriseeurope.se/http://www.enterpriseeurope.se/http://www.swedishtrade.se/
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    24 Starting Up a Business

    Closing downAt some time in the uture, you will want

    to close down, sell or perhaps turn the

    enterprise over to your children.

    How you close down the business depends onwhat orm o business enterprise you have.Above all, you must think through the tax

    implications. It is also important that youconclude your accounts in the right way. Iyou begin to plan the shut down in time, youcan take control over your shif in ownership.is is true regardless o what orm o busi ness enterprise you have.

    Selling the business

    A shif o ownership is most successul i youhave run the business in a manner attractiveto an external buyer. It is important that theorganisation does not rely entirely on youand that you are early aware o the problemsthat can arise. You must take into account

    legal, nancial, business, organizational,psychosocial, emotional and tax aspects.

    Generational ownership changes

    A generation change in ownership entailsspecial challenges both or the person leavingand the one entering. I you remain involvedin the business in some capacity, it is impor tant that you can constructively interactwith your children in their new roles as

    owners and/or managers. Your behaviouraects their possibilities o succeeding inthe business.

    Bankruptcy

    No one wants to end their business by goingbankrupt, but i your business cannot pay itsdebts and will not be able to pay them or along period o time, bankruptcy can not beavoided.

    During the bankruptcy process, the assets

    o the enterprise is sold and the proceeds aredistributed to the creditors in accordancewith a certain system, to the extent possibleafer payment o bankruptcy costs.

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    25Starting Up a Business

    More help available here

    You have a great deal to think about when planning to start up a business.

    Here is a list o some o the authorities, organisations and services you can

    contact and use to get inormation, advice and opinions.

    A number o authorities and organisations arrange various courses which youmay benet rom. Starting up a business days are arranged throughout Sweden,or example. e lectures are held in Swedish.

    Entrepreneur organisations oer training, and sometimes municipal adulteducation centres or study associations may have what you are looking or.

    Growing numbers o public libraries oer special service to business operators.is service can include books, periodicals, access to various databases andindividual guidance rom librarians.

    Information services and electronic services

    Verksamt.seis a new website or those who run or are about to start a businesswhere the Swedish Companies Registration Oce, the Swedish Tax Agency andthe Swedish Agency or Economic and Regional Growth have gathered inormation,tools and electronic services that are o use to business operators. I you have questionsabout starting or running a business you can use the telephone service.www.verksamt.se

    020-35 10 10

    The Swedish Trade and Industry Register and European Business Registerare services where you can nd inormation on enterprises. You can reach these

    electronic services rom the Swedish Companies Registration Oces website.www.bolagsverket.se

    Authorities

    The Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsfrmedlingen) can help youwith sta recruitment. You can publish job advertisements and search or sta indatabases by the website. You can also phone customer service or contact the localpublic employment oce when you want to discuss recruitment. To take advantage othe service which the Swedish Public Employment Service can oer those who wantto start their own business, you have to visit the local public employment oce and

    register as a jobseeker.www.arbetsformedlingen.se

    Customer Service: 0771-416 416

    The Swedish Companies Registration Oce (Bolagsverket)is, in most cases,where you should begin the process o registering a new business. Electronicservices, orms and inormation material are available rom the Swedish CompaniesRegistration Oce website. You can also nd out whether a business you are looking orexists by calling the Swedish Companies Registration Oce or by using the e servicethe Swedish Trade and Industry Register.www.bolagsverket.se

    060-18 40 00

    http://www.verksamt.se/http://www.bolagsverket.se/http://www.arbetsformedlingen.se/http://www.bolagsverket.se/http://www.bolagsverket.se/http://www.arbetsformedlingen.se/http://www.bolagsverket.se/http://www.verksamt.se/
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    27Starting Up a Business

    Advice and networks

    ALMI Fretagspartner has oces in every county and can help you i you planon starting a business or have recently done so. Assistance is available withinbusiness development and nance when you decide to develop your businessconcept.www.almi.se

    Enterprise Europe Network provides inormation and assistance on mattersconcerning the EU and the European market. You can get answers toquestions, attend seminars or get help with business contacts.www.enterpriseeurope.se

    Insamlingsstiftelsen IFS Rdgivningscentrum, IFS, provides special assistanceto those not born in Sweden who intend to start a business. You can get advice,such as help preparing a business plan, in various languages ree o charge. IFSalso holds inormation meetings. ere are several advice centres throughoutSweden.www.ifs.a.se

    020-52 90 10

    Jobs and Society NyfretagarCentrumhas some 100 locations in Sweden. Here,you can get ree advice and help in assessing your business idea. Nyretagar Centrum is backed by a broad, local network o people and companies that canoer expert advice beore you start up your business.www.nyforetagarcentrum.se

    Coompanion Kooperativ utveckling is located in every county and providestailor made advice rom concept to successul enterprise to those who wantto jointly translate their ideas into reality. is may range rom assessingbusiness concepts, selecting the orm o business enterprise and addressing

    organisational and management issues to advice on what small enterprisescan gain by working with others.www.coompanion.se

    Resource Centres for Women (Resurscentrum fr kvinnor) help women startand run businesses. Local and regional resource centres seek to stimulate womensentrepreneurship. Regional resource centres can, or instance, help with training,networking and mentorship. Resource Centres or Women are located in all oSwedens counties and several municipalities.www.nrckvinnor.org

    Other contacts

    that may be useul include your bank or other advisors, such as accountants,auditors or lawyers. People in your surroundings who have experience o runninga business or knowledge o the industry in which you intend to start business areother valuable contacts.

    Use the Find Advisors service at verksamt.se. Here, you can

    easily nd useul contacts or starting your business.

    http://www.almi.se/http://www.enterpriseeurope.se/http://www.ifs.a.se/http://www.nyforetagarcentrum.se/http://www.coompanion.se/http://www.nrckvinnor.org/http://verksamt.se/http://verksamt.se/http://www.nrckvinnor.org/http://www.coompanion.se/http://www.nyforetagarcentrum.se/http://www.ifs.a.se/http://www.enterpriseeurope.se/http://www.almi.se/
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    Read more at:

    Information and services from several authorities brought togetherto make it easier for those who run or are about to start a business.

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