Forum - Easier to set up in Rwanda than the UK ?

Easier to set up in Rwanda than the UK ?

Thu, 26/08/2010 - 18:07 — 4little1s

It Is easier to start a business in Rwanda that it is in the UK

Apparently in Europe, men are twice as likely as women to actually start up a new business and steps are now in place to try and make the balance more equal.

The typical role of the women has changed dramatically over the last decade as more women have gone out to work and also started up businesses.

Even so, there are still low levels of the ‘female entrepreneur’ in the EU. Below shows the percentage of female entrepreneurs’ who have set up their own businesses in various counties

• France 29%
• Germany 29%
• Czech Republic 9.6%
• Italy 25.5%
• Hungary 15.2%

In the US, in 1988, the Women’s Business Ownership Act was established. This act concentrated on expanding the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to include equal access to business credit for women, fully cover women owned business in the census, establishing the national women’s business council and piloting a demonstration project of women’s focused enterprise training.

The national women’s in business council for example serves as an independent source for advise to the President, Congress and the US small business administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners.

The Councils missions is to promote bold initiatives to support women’s business enterprises at all stages of development (public and private) from start up to established.

With these initiatives in place, female entrepreneurship in the US has grown from 26% to 57% in the space of a decade. These are staggering improvements.

The US has shown that with the right policies in place, real solid change can happen.
What is interesting and relevant to the current situation in Europe is that when the women’s business ownership act came forward with the proposals, changes needed to be made to the existing legislation including the small business act. The small business act for Europe is currently under review.

Of course, starting a business should be made easier, regardless of gender. Each year the Word bank publishes its annual economic rankings of 188 countries. These rank each country on a number of issues, including ‘ease of starting a new business’.

The EU isn’t doing as well as you might think.

Rankings:

Greece 140
Sweden 43
Denmark 28
Netherlands 70
Belgium 31
France 22
UK 16
Rwanda 11

The report advises the easiest country to start a company is New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Georgia. It’s easier to start a business in Rwanda than it is in the UK…..

Given the maize of rules and regulations to start a new business up and the current economic climate, shouldn’t we consider making starting up a business easier!