Starting a business in Estonia: a review of Settle in Estonia’s entrepreneurship module
In my previous post I talked about my experience attending the work module of Settle in Estonia’s welcoming program (which is free for newcomers as soon as you get your residence permit). After taking a class in entrepreneurship last semester, I wanted to know more about the specifics of starting a business in Estonia, so I signed up for Settle in Estonia’s entrepreneurship module as well. Just like I did for the work module, I’ll give a brief overview of what I learned from the course and what some key resources are if you’re thinking about starting your own business here.
Course structure
Just like with the work module, the course lasted from 10:00–17:15 and we were sent a comprehensive handbook a day before it started. The handbook provides both a review of what was discussed during the course and goes in-depth about topics that weren’t really brought up, such as e-residency.
Instead of introducing ourselves one by one at the beginning of the day, we were separated into those who already had some entrepreneurial experience or a business idea and those who were only interested in or new to the topic. We then discussed amongst our groups for a few minutes in breakout rooms in Zoom. This can be a good opportunity if you’re looking to speak to other business owners and learn from their experience being in Estonia.
Also similar to the work module, we had the chance to tell the lecturer what we were expecting to take away from the course as well, to make sure everyone is learning what they need to.
In a way the modules complement each other, because we began with a review of Estonia’s tax system (this time from the business’s side) and talked about the Estonian economy and work culture. You can see an overview of key innovative industries in Estonia and their major players at the Invest in Estonia website.
For anyone looking to hire employees in Estonia, it is important to know both the regulated minimum salary (currently you can’t offer less than 584 euros a month for full-time work) and average monthly salary for your field of activity so you can be sure you’re offering a competitive salary to your employees. Data on the average salary per sector can be found from Statistics Estonia.
What resources are available in Estonia for entrepreneurs?
If you have a business idea, there are a few competitions you might be interested in entering:
- Ajujaht — one of the main targets of this competition is “university students aiming to create a startup”. It gives you a chance to be exposed to potential investors in your company and participate in training sessions to improve your idea. Some success stories from Ajujaht you may be familiar with are GoWorkaBit and Bolt/Taxify.
- Prototron — this competition is focused more on physical product and software design with the goal of creating and funding a fully functional prototype at the end.
You can also look into using crowdfunding platforms such as Funderbeam, Hooandja, and Fundwise.
Once you’re ready, you can register your business using Estonia’s Company Registration Portal. More detail on the exact processes of starting a company are also available on the Invest in Estonia website (you can also look into Estonian e-residency).
On TalTech’s campus there is also, of course, the innovation hub Mektory which runs various competitions and workshops.
Like the work module, I would say that Settle in Estonia’s entrepreneurship course was beneficial as I wasn’t aware of a lot of the resources available for startups before attending (if you’re a complete newcomer to Estonia I would recommend taking it in conjunction with the work module so you can have a fuller understanding of work culture and regulations).
While I am still not sure that being an entrepreneur is for me, it definitely made me feel more like it could be an attainable goal in the future and especially made me want to pay more attention to various support offered at TalTech for entrepreneurs!
