Cost of starting and maintaining a company. If you are planning to start a micro-business with a small number of employees or run your business on your own, countries with high start-up and maintenance costs (Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein) are unlikely to be the best choice for you. In addition to the cost of starting a company, it is also important to consider the costs of maintaining it: the cost of accounting services, the obligation to undergo an audit, the need for local employees and the need for a physical office in the country of incorporation.
Company control. Before starting a business in Europe and choosing a country to open a company, it is worth paying attention to the corporate legislation of the country you have chosen – in some European countries (Switzerland, Bulgaria) a company with foreign ownership has an obligation to have a local director who is a resident of the country. For some types of business this may be an insignificant and easy to fulfil requirement (you have a partner, a resident of the country in which you fully trust), but for other types of business it can be a significant problem and it is better to try to solve it at the earliest stage, choosing a European country to open a business in which there is no such obligation.
Confidentiality of information about the company’s beneficiaries. If inaccessibility of data on company beneficiaries is critical for your business, Cyprus and Switzerland will be the preferred choice for opening a company in Europe. It should be borne in mind that in some European countries information on all company members is freely available (Estonia), while in others it can be ordered for a small fee from the Commercial Register or from a private company that has such information.