Small business ideas in Switzerland

Small business ideas in Switzerland

Want to start a business in Switzerland? If Yes, this article is only for you. Here, we discussed about the most profitable business ideas in Switzerland that anyone can start with low investment.

Switzerland is officially known as the Swiss Confederation. It’s situated in western-central Europe and is a landlocked country surrounded by France, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Italy. Its capital is Bern and the largest cities are Zurich and Geneva. It has a population of about 8.4 million people. We have discussed some small business ideas in Switzerland that may help young investors to make a plan.

Switzerland is not part of the European Union but is part of the Schengen area. The Schengen area is an area of 26 European countries that have abolished passports and all forms of border control for its citizens to travel between the countries. Some of the countries in this Schengen area are France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, and many more.

Switzerland is also a good place to start a small business. Some potential businesses that you can start easily. The following business sectors have good demand and investment opportunities in Switzerland.

List of top small business ideas in Switzerland are as follows:

Freelancing

You can start any type of freelancing business. As an example, you can do article writing. There are hundreds of thousands of websites out there in the cyber world. Although the bigger companies that maintain their websites may have their in-house team, there are still companies that employ freelancers to do their work for them. A good source of freelance article writing can be helpful for you.

Besides article writing, if you are in IT expert, you can be a freelance IT consultant. Some of the jobs that you can do are web design, mobile software development, app developer and many more.

Small sales business

Setting up a small sales business should be relatively easy. Some of the businesses that you may consider are sales of mobile phones, sales of mobile phone accessories, sales of pets and its related products, and many more.

Interior Design business

Although you can’t really say the interior design business is a small business but you can start small probably operating from your home. If your business expands you can then move to a proper business premise.

In order to succeed in this business, you would need to have the right contacts such as contractors, suppliers of furniture and fittings as well as soft furnishings such as curtains.

Online business

A lot of people are now shopping online for practically anything. It’s so convenient and easy to do it. As a business owner, you can sell anything that you want provided that it’s legal. If you are experienced in online business, you can actually also set up a company that provides training for anyone wanting to start an online business. An online gambling site is illegal in Switzerland.

Personal shopper

A personal shopper is an individual who offers advice and suggestions mainly on clothes. There are personal shoppers who also offer advice on furniture and other things. These personal shoppers are usually employed by a department store but there are some of them that do this business on a freelance basis or offer their services online.

Home cleaning service

As working people get busier every time, cleaning their homes can be quite a burden. You can start a home cleaning business in Switzerland. However, you would probably need to employ some low-cost workers to assist you in this venture or you could also do it on your own with help of some friends.

Buying and Selling used items

There is a saying that goes ‘One man’s junk is another man’s treasure’. This is so true for this business. Of course, you would need to source for the products on your own but that shouldn’t be a problem as people always throw out their unwanted items. It would also be advantageous for them if someone bought it from them albeit at a cheap price. You would definitely have to clean and maybe spruce the item up a little before selling it for a profit. You can always find that people are always looking for a bargain.

Business consultant

If you have the relevant experience doing business, you can start a business consultancy in Switzerland. You can offer advice on the steps to set up and proper ways to run and manage a business. If you’re well versed with the local laws it will greatly benefit you and your customers as you can offer a better service compared with your competitors.

Once you’ve decided on what type of small business you want to start, you will need to register a company. For small businesses, it is better that you incorporate either a partnership or a limited liability company. Some details are as follows –

Limited liability company – For this type of company structure, there must be a minimum of 2 shareholders. It’s more suited for a smaller corporation as it requires a minimum paid-up capital of only 20,000 CHF.

Partnerships – There are basically 3 types of partnerships that can be incorporated in Switzerland. They are the sole proprietorship, the general partnership, and the limited partnership.

  1. Sole proprietorship - As the name implies, a sole proprietorship is owned by a single person who has total control over his/her business. However, for this type of company, the annual turnover of the company must be 100,000 CHF. The disadvantage of this business structure is that the owner is fully liable if the business fails.
  2. General partnership - The general partnership is formed when two or more partners come together to start a business. All the partners will be liable for the debts of the company.
  3. Limited partnership – For this type of partnership, there is one major shareholder and partner who will assume all rights and responsibilities of running the company. There will also be a silent partner. The major partner will have unlimited liability in the company while the silent partner will have limited liability.

For more info:

Switzerland Foreign Company Registration

How to register a company in Switzerland

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