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Financing a Business in Slovakia

Financing your business is an important step and finding possible ways of obtaining your finance can help you move forward. Your accountant is a hub of information and advice when it comes to matters of money and should be your first port of call when obtaining finance solutions for your new venture.

Here are some ways of obtaining possible finance:

• Bank Finance Your bank may be able to assist with finance. Before approaching them you must have a well written and well researched business plan. This can help your bank to see why you need finance, how much money is required, how it will develop your business and potential growth in the future.
• The Stock Market depending on the type of business you plan to set up, you may be able to float your shares on the stock market for ways of raising money in the future. AIM, the junior partner of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), has established itself as the preferred route for younger companies wanting to go public.
• Public Aid There is a wide range of programmes, funds and loans available through public sector financial instruments and private sector financial instruments. The EU finances the structural fund (European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund) through the EU budget. This is then divided for each EU country who can use it to help support small and medium sized businesses in a number of ways, such as loans and grants. The central pillar for the development of small to medium sized businesses is the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic which, through the National Agency for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprise (NADSME), endeavours to strengthen the competitiveness of the sector within the framework of the EU single market. Useful links are:
  http://www.economy.gov.sk
  http://www.nadsme.sk
• Tax Incentives and Relief The Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry can help with research into possible tax relief and incentives.
  www.scci.sk
• European Aid grants are direct financial contributions from the EU budget or from the European Development fund. It is worth checking out your possible grants, funds and programmes by following the link and looking under a particular section i.e. Agriculture, Energy or Audiovisual and Media.
  http://ec.europa.eu/grants/index_en.htm

It can be overwhelming when trying to find ways of obtaining finance. It is worth remembering that there are over 450 funding sources for reimbursable grants, aid schemes, individual fellow and traineeships, loans and guarantees in the EU. These can be awarded from such organisations like the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Investment Bank and others. Helpful links are:

http://www.eubusiness.com/funding/eu-funding/european-funds/
and http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding-guide/finding-sources_en.html

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