Latvians and Lithuanians start their businesses to earn more money while Estonians want to become their own bosses

A survey by SEB bank indicates that in Latvia 39% of new entrepreneurs have decided to start their business to increase their income, and in Lithuania 37% of new entrepreneurs were motivated by this reason. Meanwhile in Estonia the main reason why people start their own company is to become their own bosses and employers - 29% of respondents mentioned this reason.

Opportunity to become your own boss motivated 28% of new entrepreneurs in Latvia and 33% in Lithuania. Third most frequently mentioned reason is the wish to turn a hobby into a business - in Estonia 25% of new entrepreneurs have started their company to do it, and 14% in Latvia and Lithuania. Loss of previous employment and desire to work a flexible schedule were mentioned less frequently as reasons for starting a company.

Arnis Škapars, board member of SEB Latvia: “There can be many reasons for starting your own business. However, there are a couple of things that are common for people who take this leap: courage to start something new and determination to reach your targets. Experience of economically developed countries indicates – the more people engage in entrepreneurship, the higher are standards of living. Nevertheless, in case of entrepreneurship, substance is more important than the form. We would like to encourage Latvian startups to set higher ambitions, think about exports from day one and make full use of the modern technologies and innovations.”

During 2017, 10 094 new companies were established in Latvia. It is slightly less than in 2016 when 10 770 new companies were established. In Lithuania 11 378 new companies were founded last year. As before, Estonians are the most active in terms of creating new companies, and in 2017 21 947 new companies were registered in Estonia.

SEB Baltic Startup Survey 2018 was carried out in December 2017 and January 2018 by questioning more than 1500 companies from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, who were founded not more than three years ago.