Small business in Norway; recommendations on how to open or buy a business and what taxes will have to be paid

Business in Norway attracts Russians, because the government of this country is actively supported by the state and support funds. You can buy a ready-made business or register a new organization if the Russian decided to enter the foreign market.

Let's consider how to open your business from scratch in Norway or buy a ready-made project, successfully invest money and not miscalculate. Let's define the peculiarities of doing business, its development and immigration of the Russian-speaking population to Norway.

The specifics of doing business in Norway

Norwegians are calm and restless people. They are laconic and practical. The residents of the northern country also conduct business: without fuss and unnecessary risks. The main feature of their business culture is transparency and honesty.

Every entrepreneur in Norway is a leader. They will never cheat and prefer healthy competition. They pay taxes regularly and care not only about their business, but also about the welfare of the country.

Unlike other European countries, there are strict rules of etiquette here. If you do not adhere to them, then you can easily lose partners and associates, even as a successful businessman. The main points to be observed:

• Punctuality.
• Purposefulness.
• Honesty.

If you are late for work, you can immediately lose your job in Norway. For negligence in his duties, the Norwegian leader will make it so that a person cannot find a decent job after being fired.

These people are stern and calculating. The main thing is the matter, and other aspects of life can be adjusted to the workflow.

They pay attention to how a person behaves in unusual situations and are distrustful of foreigners. If a businessman from another country proves himself to be a reliable person by his action or work, then the Norwegian can be relied on in any situation.

Another equally important feature is negotiation. They love to be insured and are ready to hold several additional meetings and calculations in order to know that the result will be one hundred percent.

Government and support funds are active in helping small businesses in Norway. Remember, the economy of this country is on the rise, and the standard of living is one of the highest in the world.

Choosing the organizational and legal form of the company

Enkeltmannsforetak is a private enterprise, something like an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneurship) with us. A businessman creates a company and vouches for all its obligations. You need to be vigilant to familiarize yourself with local laws and consult with a lawyer, as there are many nuances that should not be ignored. For example, if an enterprise ceases to exist, regardless of the reasons, and it will have debts, then they will not be liquidated. The owner is obliged to pay them out of his own funds. The positive aspects of starting a private enterprise include facilitated organization conditions. In addition, you must indicate your last name in the title and register a legal address. If the owner is not a resident of Norway, then you need to find a resident director.

Aksjeselskap is a joint stock company. The next most common form of organization. Members of this society are not liable for company warranties. It lies on the status fund, which is 100 thousand kroons. Shareholders' income is formed depending on the amount of funds invested in the company. Establishing such a society in Norway is not entirely easy, however, as is the conduct of such a business. Here you need to submit annual reports, necessarily certified by an auditor, and in addition, meetings, minutes, etc. Also, there are some requirements for the Board of Directors, among which, for example, that at least half of the members of the Board must live in the country or in the European Union.

Due to the large number of formalities and considerable terms for preparing all the necessary papers, the registration of a joint stock company is more expensive than a private company. But some businessmen prefer to go through all these procedures, as they believe that the tax scheme for this type of enterprise is more acceptable.

Ansvarlig selskap and Selskap med delt ansvar are limited liability companies (cumulative). They are less common and have their pros and cons.

To register a company in Norway, you must submit a whole package of documents. The main ones are:

• the company's charter,
• information about the office or agent,
• information about the management, shareholders, secretary and accountant.
• later an extract from the Norwegian Companies Register is submitted.

The registration process takes two to three weeks. All papers are submitted in Norwegian only. Setting up an offshore company is quite labor intensive. It is worth recalling that electronic registration takes three to four days, that is, it is much easier.

What problems can there be during registration?

According to Norwegian law, the founder of a business must be at least eighteen years old, obtain a residence permit and an identification number. And also the presence of a Norwegian legal address - for receiving tax news. You can have a representative who will take on the obligation to pay taxes.

Risks of starting a business

When starting a business, the risk cannot be completely eliminated, but it can be mitigated by choosing the right organizational form for the company.

The following main types of risks are distinguished:

Looking beyond the horizon or business in Norwegian

How do they work?

There are very high prices for food in Norway, but most importantly - for services. Everything related to human labor in this country is an order of magnitude more expensive than in neighboring Denmark, for example. Why so, you ask? Yes, everything is simple - a person and his work are valued in this country. And that's it! Trade unions are working properly, the working day ends at 16:00, and for some, even at 15:00. It is not accepted to overwork, it is considered normal to spend time with the family, and preferably with the family and in the mountains.

How are they doing with microbusiness?

Micro business in Norway is well developed. There are areas that are currently closely occupied by the citizens of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Such, for example, as cleaning services or, in other words, cleaning. Another area that is attractive for microbusiness in Norway is construction companies that carry out minor repairs. Both in the first and in the second case - these can be family contracts, consisting of 2-3 people.

What am I doing. Moreover, professions related to service, service sector, near-medical specialties such as chiropractor, dentist, and so on, are always in price and are highly paid. For this reason, when opening your own small salon, massage room, private kindergarten or shop of oriental spices, you can safely count on support from the state.

How does the state help microbusiness?

Support starts from the moment you determine the relevance of your business idea.

Let me explain. There are government centers, like our MFC, where specially trained people are ready to give you full advice and just listen to your idea. Everything - from taxation in a particular industry, the possibility of obtaining subsidies to registration and the ability to hire employees, and so on. Moreover, the state took into account the fact that Norway is a multinational country and not all of its residents (for now, because you still have to learn the language, if you choose your own business) speak Norwegian or English. In such centers, you will definitely find a person who speaks, for example, in Russian or Arabic, and these will most likely be native speakers.

What promotion methods do they use?

Norway is a small country. He doesn't care about foreign policy and the arms race. It is this circumstance that allows us to focus on internal well-being, which is why the Kingdom is rightfully ranked first in terms of living standards in the list of countries in the world. The local government devotes a lot of time to the development of small business. Any citizen can start his own business with the support of the state and provide himself and his family with dignity.

As for foreigners, it is important to take into account some legislative aspects when opening a business. In this article we will provide information on how to organize your business in this country of fjords, where to start and what pitfalls you can expect.

The specifics of doing business in Norway

The first thing that catches your eye when examining the local work environment is the calmness and slowness of the actions of entrepreneurs. People here are laconic and have a clear idea of ​​the sequence of their actions. Norwegians are reserved in everything: in communication, in food and in running their business.

The main feature is honesty and transparency of office work. In this country, corruption in all its manifestations is absent or minimized.

People's leadership qualities are another distinctive feature. In whatever direction a person moves, he tries to succeed in it, to take leading positions. This generates healthy competition, and, therefore, increases the quality and volume of work performed.

Norwegian business culture

These are strict business etiquette requirements. Punctuality is of great importance. Being late for work is considered disrespectful to your colleagues and severe punishment is provided for such a violation, up to and including dismissal.

Norwegians are very calculating. At any given time, they are busy with work, make plans in advance for the day, week, month and follow them with amazing accuracy.

When conducting business, businessmen pay special attention to the implementation of agreements. The latter are drafted so that the party that violated a certain clause of the agreement remains at a disadvantage.

Entrepreneurs value professional teamwork. When each person completes the tasks assigned to him, he finishes everything on time and efficiently, thereby moving his team forward.

During the negotiations, the owners of the firms carefully study the potential partner. They can invite him to their home for a cup of tea to check how a person behaves in an informal setting.

The inhabitants of this northern country have taught themselves to be competent not only in the field of business, but in all their activities. Therefore, their economy is flourishing, and the standard of living in the state is considered one of the best in the world.

It's no secret that Sweden is a tech start-up paradise. Home of the Nobel Prize, Volvo and Ikea can offer you top-notch infrastructure, simple laws and adequate taxes if you want to start an innovative business.

The corporate income tax rate is only 22%, while income taxes are relatively high, making Sweden doubly attractive for starting a new business. The government, on the one hand, doesn't suck money out of your company much, but on the other has the financial resources that guarantee extended social security packages and provide a much needed safety cushion for risky and innovative business ideas.

Many unicorn companies find themselves in cold Sweden. Five Swedish startups have achieved a $ 1 billion valuation over the years: Skype, Spotify, King, Mojang, and Klarna. In this country, there are 20 startups per 20,000 workers, compared with 5 in the same USA. Sweden is so obsessed with startups and innovation that even the church, usually not the most progressive organization, has invested $ 5 million in the sector.

I have interviewed many directors of fast growing Swedish companies. I was amazed at the various features of this idyllic ecosystem, but one of them stood out in particular. All of these startups were different variations of the same idea: make content valuable again.

Spotify is perhaps the most significant example. Since its inception in 2021, the company has revitalized a dying music industry with what was later called "a sustainable business model for artists." Despite good intentions, the company received its own portion of criticism from people who believed that the payouts were not high enough.

The company constantly repeats that their product massively forces people to give up piracy. In the age of the Internet, as they call it, Spotify represents the best possible world for musicians. Spotify is now valued at $ 20 billion and recently announced an upcoming IPO.

On a relatively small scale, many other companies are doing the same. Acast, for example, is a very successful podcast platform leading the voice technology industry. Soundtrack Your Brand is the b2b version of Spotify (yes, it's illegal to play Spotify music in stores). And Epidemic Sound produces music for online artists. And these are just companies related to the audio industry.

Next, there's a legion of game publishers here. Giants like King, Mojang, Paradox and Mag Interactive have brought hits like Minecraft, Candy Crush Saga and Ruzzle to the world. When Steam announced the first Steam Awards in 2021, Sweden went to 11 out of 100 awards. Awesome statistics considering the size of the country and the number of game development studios.

And finally, news. Sector looking for a sustainable business model for journalism. There are at least nine notable startups in Stockholm that are trying to make the news industry easier to monetize.

A couple of weeks ago, I corresponded with Magnus Hultman, founder of Strossle, which falls into this category. After his next statement that the company's mission was to make journalism paid again, I could not help but ask why this trait is so common in Swedish startups.