Map: https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/cost-of-starting-a-business/
When comparing how much it would cost to start a business in different countries around the world you may be surprised how big the gap is between the cheapest and most expensive country. When calculating a country’s cost to start a business possible factors can include, currency conversion, economic conditions, government fees, administrative requirements, and living standards. The makers of this map, a group associated with the World Bank, chose to convert all the currency into U.S. dollars which will make it easier to compare between countries and accurately determine why some countries’ costs are exponentially higher or lower than others. The startup cost by itself can not accurately tell a person which country is best to begin their business endeavors in, but it can be an important factor in choosing the right location. Combining this statistic with others like quality of living, average income, taxation, transportation accessibility, and others, can be beneficial when deciding what country would be the best fit for an individual.
This map is part of a project called the Doing Business 2020 project. The project itself was first launched by the World Bank Group in 2002 and its goal was to look into various businesses and provide clear measures of business regulations. Since the project’s inception, it has been providing insights regarding economics. These range from data as small as individual companies, to economic statistics covering entire countries and continents.
By assessing the map starting with the lowest startup expenses, Slovenia is an outlier in the sense that its startup costs are completely free. With the exact factors that go into this data being up for interpretation, diving deeper into the country’s economic history and significance helps determine if it is a beneficial location for starting a business. Slovenia, a country located in central Europe, has acted as a center for skilled labor for the past few decades, drawing in massive amounts of global investment. Slovenia’s strategic location, in the middle of Europe, and the presence of its many knowledge-based sectors help make the development and expansion of a business here a much easier process. Additionally, Slovenia’s business-friendly laws, investment incentives, reduced corporate income tax rates, and investment tax benefits further enhance its appeal as a favorable business destination. With all of this in mind, it seems that Slovenia would make an excellent country to begin an entrepreneurial endeavor.
Looking at the opposite end of the spectrum, countries like Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and San Marino have the highest startup costs. However, to move away from Central Europe and look at different economies I have chosen to shift focus to the Middle East, specifically the countries surrounding Saudi Arabia. With most of these countries being in the one to two thousand range, and one of the countries (UAE) having the most expensive startup cost at 7,433 U.S. dollars, it makes this region seem like a very difficult place to start a business. Something to note about this region, however, is that when compared to the monthly income in these countries the startup cost is not as large as it seems. For example, even though it costs 7,433 U.S. dollars to start a business in UAE, which is the most expensive in the world, it is actually not the least affordable because it is equivalent to only a little more than two months of the average income. This highlights an important idea in the map, which is that high startup costs can be misleading. High costs do not necessarily mean it is more difficult to begin business endeavors in a country because factors like average income, taxation, and economic laws still have to be taken into consideration.
In the Strange Maps blog, where I was able to find this map and very interesting interpretations of its data, the average income of a country is mentioned a lot in comparison to its cost to start a business and I found this to be a very sensible way of assessing a country’s economic background. Average income is a major factor in the calculation of economic difficulty to start a business and is also effectively represented in the North American portion of the map. The United States, with a startup cost of $725, is near the global average. However, one of the reasons the United States is nicknamed “the land of opportunity” and seen as such a good place to start a business is because of the ratio of startup cost to average income. The average income in a month for an American is $4,458, making the startup cost only 16 percent of average income. This is a lower percentage when compared to most countries. With Mexico already having a staggeringly higher cost to set up a business compared to the United States, the price gap between the two countries is further widened when compared to its residents’ typical salary. With the average monthly income of a Mexican citizen being around 620 U.S. dollars when this map was created, it would generally take almost 2 and a half months to make enough money to afford the initial startup costs.
When using this map solely to determine which countries would be best for an individual to start a business, the only critique I have is that the data being shown is limited to just the startup costs which is only one of the many factors that go into choosing an ideal location for starting a business. If political or social factors, such as average income, were included along with the startup costs, this map would be a more holistic tool for evaluating where to start a business. Another thing that needs to be considered when evaluating a map is the source of the information. In this case, all the information is being provided by the World Bank so this tells us the data is coming from a reliable source and that the data isn’t biased from country to country because data input isn’t coming from one singular source.
Overall, the map does a fantastic job using simple visuals, like the different colors representing costs and zoom-ins on certain regions, to make it easy to compare the startup costs of different countries. These are things that other forms of data representation like graphs or tables have a harder time conveying; making a map the ideal tool for representing this kind of information.
Bibliography:
“How Much Does It Cost to Start a Business? There’s a World Map for That.” Big Think, 6 July 2021, https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/cost-of-starting-a-business/.
Slovenia | History, Geography, & People | Britannica. 13 Oct. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/place/Slovenia.
Top 10 Challenges of Doing Business in Slovenia. https://www.tmf-group.com/en/news-insights/business-culture/top-challenges-slovenia/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023.
The Cost of Starting a Business in Every Country – BusinessFinancing.Co.Uk. 23 June 2021, https://businessfinancing.co.uk/cost-of-starting-a-business-in-every-country/.
“Doing Business Legacy.” World Bank, https://www.worldbank.org/en/businessready/doing-business-legacy. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023.
One of the blog’s key insights is its exploration of how start-up costs relate to average income in different countries. This perspective offers a more nuanced understanding of what these costs actually mean in practical terms. For example, the blog points out that while the startup cost in the UAE is the highest globally, it is relatively affordable when considered against the average income in the country. This kind of analysis is important for anyone considering international business, as it provides a more accurate picture of economic conditions beyond mere figures. The blog also thoughtfully criticizes the map’s limitations, noting that it only considers startup costs, excluding other critical factors like political stability, market size, and cultural aspects that are vital in choosing a business location. Lastly, from Slovenia’s unique position as having no start-up costs to the high costs in Central European countries and the Middle East illustrates the diversity of economic landscapes. This regional analysis enriches our understanding of how geopolitical and economic contexts shape business environments.