Several countries offer attractive environments for starting a business in 2025, with friendly regulations, supportive infrastructure, and strong economies.
Individuals looking to start a business seek a streamlined registration process, access to a global market, a skilled workforce, favourable tax rates, and powerful startup support.
Being in the right country for your business can not only make it easier and cheaper to get started, but it can also foster long-term success and business growth potential.
Ease of doing business and market opportunities are key factors for investors and entrepreneurs when choosing to operate in a new country.
While strong, stable economic and political conditions are essential when choosing where to start your business, various countries offer additional advantages that make them especially appealing places to start a business.
Here are countries that are particularly friendly to new small businesses:
Canada
Canada offers a low 15% tax rate, with incentive programs that can further lower the corporate tax burden.
It also ranks number one due to its highly skilled workforce, easy online business registration process, and pro-immigration policies.
Denmark
With a corporate income tax rate (CIT) of 22% and a GDP per capita of $68,000, Denmark is considered a safe haven for small businesses due to advanced social services and education systems, strong venture capital, and exemption on income earned through international branches, eliminating the risk of double taxation.
Estonia
Since the 1990s, Estonia has been successfully promoting itself as the most digitally advanced country in the world.
For business owners, this translates into having an opportunity to work with a world-class e-residency program that allows investors to "start, run, and grow an EU company" entirely online.
Estonia also boasts technological advancements, including a digitised, streamlined bureaucratic system, which makes it easy to deal with its government.
Furthermore, it has a flat 22% corporate tax on distributed profits, meaning that the companies are taxed on the portion of their profits that they distribute to shareholders as dividends.
Lithuania
Lithuania provides one of the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe, alongside quick and easy business registration, advanced digital infrastructure, and a strong financial sector.
With several government-proposed initiatives, the country has positioned itself as a prime destination for new businesses and now has emerged as the leading hub for financial technology.
It also offers the lowest corporate taxes of 16%, free economic zones, and advanced digital infrastructure.
New Zealand
New Zealand consistently ranks high in global well-being when taking into account income levels, social services, environmental quality, and life satisfaction, which contribute to a happy, motivated workforce.
New Zealand has a stable economy, a transparent legal system, and low levels of corruption, and its easy online registration system makes starting a company simple.
Although it's geographically remote, the country has good access to markets in Southeast Asia and long, dependable economic ties with the United States, the United Kingdom, and European countries.
Other countries with reputations for becoming prime locations for new businesses include Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States.
