New entries into the commercial register in Q1 2013: Thurgau on the rise – Zurich remains stable
The number of new companies entered into the Swiss commercial register has remained stable for Q1 2013. When compared to the same quarter one year prior the numbers indicate an increase of 0.4% to a total of 10,105 entries. The clear sinner in terms of gains is the canton of Thurgau with an increase of 26%. The canton of Zurich, an important market barometer, lost 0.4%. These are the results of the latest analysis carried out by the entrepreneurship experts at STARTUPS.CH.
The number of new entries in the Swiss commercial register in Q1 2013 saw a solid gain of 0.4%, especially when considering the continuing uncertainty in the neighboring European states and the weakening of the Euro. In total there were 10,105 entries into the commercial register (Q1 2012: 10,060). As a result of seasonal fluctuations, compared with the previous quarter the number of entries sank by 2.9%.
The canton of Thurgau has seen gains. Not only does the canton have ample amounts of relatively cheap development-zoned land, “the authorities also guarantee businesses that create new jobs will receive favorable operational conditions”, explains Michele Blasucci, CEO of STARTUPS.CH. This is evident when one looks at the number new entries: In Q1 2013 the number rose an astonishing 26.2% to 308 entries when compared to Q1 2012. Lucerne, meanwhile saw a fall of 10%, but this can be attributed to the unusually high numbers that were seen the previous year. Since the beginning of 2012, Lucerne has become the most tax efficient location for business in all of Switzerland and the influx of new businesses in 2012 reflected this new position.
In absolute term Zug still beats Lucerne
Zug continues to enjoy more commercial register entries in absolute terms than Lucerne does. In Q1 2013 there were 496 entries ( a minus of 7.5%), in Lucerne it was 389. This still reflects the fact that the ratio is 4:3 in Zug’s favor. In the more populous and financially stronger canton of Zurich, the uncontested best absolute performance was seen (16.9% of the national total). There were a total of 1,704 commercial register entries in Zurich in Q1 2013 (a minus of 0.4% over the previous year).
Though Graubünden may be the number one for tourism, it is last when it comes to entrepreneurship. This is reflected in the number of new entries (Q1 2013: -4.5% to 210 entries). In Ticino, due to the uncertain political situation in neighboring Italy, the Monti Effect has lost its sway. The former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti pushed many Italian into business due to his tougher tax stance. In Q1 2013, Ticino accordingly showed modest growth with 2.4% totaling 773 new entries.
489 new entries through STARTUPS.CH in Q1 2013
In the first quarter of 2013 STARTUP.CH launched 498 new companies. Based on the data collected by STARTUPS.CH it can be seen that the most new entries will continue to be in the legal form of a sole proprietorship or a limited liability company (33.8% and 36.2% respectively). Public limited companies represented 20.8%. “Sole proprietorship are advantageous to young entrepreneurs, because they can use this form as a tool to integrate social security into their business structure”, explains Blasucci.
He further estimates that 30 to 40% of young entrepreneurs give up on theri musiness after a maximum of 5 years in operation. “This by no means tells us that all these companies went into bankruptcies, rather, the company is put into ‘stasis’, bu remains entered into the commercial register. Additionally: in the German speaking are of Switzerland the “survival rate” is higher than in the French and Italian speaking parts. Notably men also go bankrupt more often than women in these cases. Women are more careful, including when it comes to calculations, says Blasucci.
The Current year will most likely see a restrained development. “The problems that our neighbors have encountered will cause us to experience less people wanting to take the risk of starting their own business in the coming months.”, he explains.
The chart below shows the absolute change in the number of commercial register entries in the left column and the relative change in comparison to the same time in the previous year in the right column for each canton with the national total listed at the bottom.
