AbstractThe Czech Republic began to grow rapidly after the separation of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republics into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic and adoption into the European Union. Today it occupies 33rd place in the section that presents the Ease of Doing Business ranking among 189 economies according to the World Bank Group. Regarding the three factors: start-up capital, legal framework and future opportunities, the Czech Republic is a suitable place for novice entrepreneurs. Surely, there are some disadvantages in the Czech economy, for example, high taxes and management of building permits that the Czech government works to prevent and minimize. Furthermore there are many advantages that the Czech government wants to maintain and prevent. The goal of this article is to find the strengths and weaknesses in business development in the Czech Republic. This may be of interest to entrepreneurs who want to start and run their own business in Central Europe. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Thesis: Entrepreneurs can start and run their own business in the Czech Republic thanks to the low start-up capital, stable legal framework and future opportunities. Starting a business in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic is a safe and peaceful country in Central Europe and offers many possibilities for entrepreneurs to start their business. The country's convenient location offers the possibility of collaborating with countries such as Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Poland. Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and the center of tourism. Millions of tourists from different countries visit Prague every year for its value for money. The national currency is the Czech crown which also offers opportunities because this exchange rate does not have sharp jumps and drops. The Czech Republic ranked 33rd in the section presenting the Ease of Doing Business 2015 ranking among 189 economies according to the World Bank Group. According to exclusive data from the international analysis agency Bisnode, published in the Prague Telegraph newspaper (Kashapov, 2015), there are 16,767 Czech companies owned by Russian citizens. The economic situation in the Czech Republic is progressive and positive, because according to the World Bank the annual GDP growth for 2014 is 2%. The Czech government offers some advantages to small and medium-sized enterprises because they are the driving force of entrepreneurship, growth, innovation and competitiveness. The minimum share capital for a limited liability company is one Czech crown. Entrepreneurs can start and run their own business in the Czech Republic thanks to the low start-up capital, stable legal framework and future opportunities. There are some negative aspects of doing business in the Czech Republic. First of all, you have to learn the Czech language or pay translators, because many documents are printed in Czech. There is a problem in communicating with people from the Foreign Police or the Ministry of the Interior because some of them do not speak English. Also, there is a problem with obtaining a business visa because it takes a long time to consider a visa at the embassy. After overcoming these difficulties at the beginning of starting a business in the Czech Republic, there are two significant factors that can interfere with the business, such as higher taxes and problems with building permits. According to the World Bank Group, the Czech Republic ranks 123rd in the tax payment section among 189 countries. In the Democratic Republic of Congo the value added tax (VAT) is 21%. This is a high tax, even if thethe situation is even worse in some European Union countries, such as VAT in Hungary which is 28%. At the end of the reporting year (before April 1 following the year in question), a company pays income tax of 19%. Furthermore, the income tax was 45% in 1993, but is decreased every three years. Individual business in the Czech Republic pays income tax, which amounts to 15%. If the entrepreneur's annual turnover is less than 400,000 CZK, income tax is not paid. Furthermore, the entrepreneur is required to pay social security contributions. The property transfer tax amounts to 4%, which is paid by the seller. According to data from Doing Business, the Czech Republic is in 126th place in the field of building permits. Required to undergo a Procedure 21 to build some item in the CR. A procedure is an interaction of company employees and managers with external parties. It takes approximately 247 days to issue documents to start construction of the object. In the Germany example, there are only nine procedures and approximately 98 days. However, the Czech government is working on developing its economy, which is why the Czech Republic ranked first in cross-border trade. According to data from Doing Business, the Czech Republic has the lowest export and import costs and times compared to 189 other countries. Nowadays, nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances are exported to Germany, while Germans supply automotive parts and accessories. The main trading partner is Germany, which represents over 30% of total exports and imports. Economy of the Czech Republic: Business Climate Overview (2004) believes that there are two most attractive features of the Czech Republic: “close proximity and well-developed transport links with EU markets, in particular with Germany; and an abundance of skilled technical workers.” More than ten years have passed and the Czech Republic still maintains its position and eliminates the defects of its economy. The country's size of foreign trade per capita is larger than in Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Italy. One of the reasons why the Czech Republic is a suitable place to start a business because it does not require significant initial investments. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2015), in the Czech Republic there are “around 1.1 million active businesses, the majority of which are small and medium-sized entrepreneurs with fewer than 250 employees (99 .8% of all enterprises nationwide) in 2013), which employs almost 1.8 million people (60.0% of the Czech Republic's workforce employed in enterprises, regardless of size).” Small and medium-sized financial enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs report data “Distribution of companies in the Czech Republic 2015” which shows that there are 1 115 053 number of companies. Microbusinesses, which have between one and nine employees, employ 92.5%. Small businesses (10 – 49 employees) and medium businesses (50 – 249 employees) absorb only 7.3%. Large companies with more than 250 employees represent only 0.2% of all companies. According to the OECD (2015), there is a reduction in risk capital which “peaked in 2008 and then declined dramatically up to and including 2013 by a factor of more than ten”. This is a bad thing because reduced investment means there is less money to invest in developing or failing companies. The Czech government minimizes the start-up capital for starting a business. Today in the Czech Republic, if an entrepreneur wants to register as a sole proprietorship, he only needs one Czech crown as capital. Theremost common variant of business in Prague is a newsstand in the center, which can generate income of 500 – 800 dollars per month, with the first capital of 5000 dollars. Cafes and restaurants are in great demand in the city center because there are many tourists from different countries. Beauty salons and sports gyms also bring decent income, but this requires higher costs. The second reason is the regulatory structure of the Czech government that controls entrepreneurship within the state. The Czech Republic differs from other countries in terms of trust and stability of the system. Czechoslovakia was one of the most developed economies, before the Second World War War. According to the Economist (1994), in 1937 “per capita income was about the same as in France, and much higher than in Italy or Austria”. The Czechoslovak government has made the right decisions to improve the country's economy. According to DeFillippi's (1995) business analysis, the major implication of small business development was “the 1990 “law on small privatization” which authorized the auctioning of 100,000 state-owned small service enterprises to Czechoslovakian citizens ”. Foreigners were not allowed to participate; there is therefore a significant growth in private property in the country. After the separation of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republics into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic and adoption into the European Union, the Czech Republic began to grow rapidly. Nowadays, the Czech government offers some advantages to small and medium-sized businesses. According to the Czech business web portal, created by the Czech Trade Agency, there is a program based on support for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Enterprise and Innovation Operational Program is one of the Czech government's aid programs for SMEs. The aim of the programme, managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, is to promote innovation in manufacturing and services, the use of energy and ICT in businesses. According to the OECD (2015) there is other government aid in the Czech Republic). The Revit program focuses on supporting regions with low economic activity and higher unemployment. SMEs can obtain subsidized loans and financial contributions. The Inostart program is geared towards supporting small business start-ups, which face difficulties in raising funds to finance their operations due to higher risk, financial history and low security. The program provides access to loan guarantees of up to 60% of the remaining loan amount for the innovations of start-up entrepreneurs. The program also allows you to use consulting services to improve your company's strategy and development and develop a business plan. The Guarantee program uses the assets deriving from the termination of previous contracts and from reimbursed credits. The guarantee fund “is administered and managed by the Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank which has been under the full control of the Czech Republic since 2012”. The CMZRB collaborates “on a contractual basis with private partner banks and provides SMEs with partial guarantees”. (OECD, 2015). The third reason concerns the future prospects for businesses in the Czech Republic. The key indicators of CR are a qualified workforce, reliable infrastructure, cost competitiveness and a high level of education. According to the article The Good, the Bad and the Ugly for Conducting Business in the Czech Republic, Delaney interviews Michael Grant, an international professional in international marketing, communications and business relationship development. Grant says the Czech Republic is like “a jumping-off point to the larger markets of the European Union, to the “wilder” parts of Eastern Europe, or to both.” The CR proposes.
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