OREANDA-NEWS. May 14, 2013. Starting with entrepreneurship in Estonia is thought to be easier than in Latvia and Lithuania, and there are more company founders in Estonia; although Lithuania has the most entrepreneurship enthusiasts, as a survey conducted in the three Baltic States by SEB shows.

Forty-five per cent of respondents in Estonia consider starting an enterprise to be easy, while in Latvia and Lithuania the percentages are 29 and 30, respectively.

“The ease of starting a business determines the number of micro-enterprises and also the broader vitality of the economy. In Estonia, a huge leap has been made in starting businesses because in creating a favourable business environment we are a step ahead of our southern neighbours. If according to the survey, Lithuania has the most respondents who would like to start a business, then Estonia has the most respondents who already have. Annually, about 5000 more businesses are founded in Estonia than in Lithuania, which has a bigger population,” said Mart Maasik, director of Business Development Division of SEB.

Maasik added that in Estonia, 70 per cent of businesses are founded with one’s own resources; but in Latvia and Lithuania it is even more so, at 76 and 77 per cent respectively, followed by the support of family and friends. The differences lay in the utilisation of state aid - if in Estonia, 11 per cent of respondents had received state aid or European Union support, then in Latvia it was six and in Lithuania zero per cent, respectively.

People who have already started a business consider the main obstacles to be finding a market for their product or service and recruiting qualified workers. Finding a market is the biggest problem in Estonia, but the biggest problem for southern neighbours is late payments from their clients.

“People who have not yet started a business see the finding of start-up capital as the main obstacle and are afraid to fail. The picture before taking action and the actual life as an entrepreneur are very different,” said Maasik.

SEB conducted a comparative survey in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, in which more than 4200 people from three countries were involved.