 Setting up Companies
Starting Companies
AMIgaia focuses on the enterprising capacity of local economic interests, because this capacity is essential for generating employment and economic growth.
In the context of an "enterprising" economy, the initiative to create a company means important decisions must be made and risks must be assessed. Choosing the legal form and performance model inherent in this is a determining factor in the success of the future enterprise.
1. Legal Forms
The choice of a certain legal form must be made so as to take full advantage of the factors that are best adapted to the expectations for developing the future business.
When choosing the most appropriate legal form for the company, the entrepreneur must consider the following aspects:
- The assets he/she intends to ascribe to the company;
- The responsibility for company debts: personal assets or company assets;
- And also if he/she wishes to perform his/her activity individually or with other partners.
2. Type - Characterisation
Sole Trader
Private Company Limited by Shares
Single Person Limited Company
Share Society
Partnership
Public Limited Company
Limited Liability Partnership
3. Procedure for Setting up a Company
Once the legal status has been determined and all the possible options for the type of business to be developed have been investigated, it must be taken into account that the procedures for setting up a company differ according to the chosen status.
To deal with this, there are a series of entities that provide a set of integrated, easy and quick services that facilitate the procedure for setting up a company.
The Centros de Formalidades de Empresas are service companies that provide information run by IAPMEI (Support Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises), which can support the entrepreneur at the level of the framework of the activity to be exercised, formalising the company and the applicable permits. They consist of the physical establishment, in a single site of delegations or branches of the public administration services that intervene most directly in this kind of process.
The Empresa na Hora is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance and of Public Administration, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry for the Economy and Innovation, Social Security and the UCMA – Coordination Unit for Administrative Modernisation. If the entrepreneur chooses to form a single person limited company, a private limited company or a public limited company, this enables him/her to create the company in less than an hour. This kind of service is available at several points of assistance at the Centros de Formalidades de Empresas or at Commercial Registry Offices.
The Empresa On-Line is a joint initiative of the UMIC – Agency for the Knowledge Society, the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Employment and Welfare and the UCMA – Coordination Unit for Administrative Modernisation. This allows a company to be set up via the Internet. To access this kind of service, the entrepreneur must log on in advance by means of a digital certificate, thus guaranteeing complete security, privacy and information ownership.
Licensing and sites
The licensing process for business activity covers a series of procedures and necessary steps for making the decision about setting up an establishment (physical support space) and/or exercising a certain activity.
Since the exercise of business is dependent upon licensing, it continues to be an important obstacle in attracting investment and developing business activity in a framework of greater efficiency and competitiveness.
In this specific area, AMIgaia will work in collaboration with the Gaiurb services to promote the creation of a Process Acceleration Centre, which will accompany the investor/entrepreneur through all the stages and institutions involved in the industrial licensing process.
This process must also be complemented by a plan of action that promotes industrial relocation/reorganisation, through the creation of a system of municipal support incentives for relocating activities within urban perimeters (or in their expansion zone) in suitable areas for business sites.
In general terms, to find out whether the activity in which the company is involved is subject to a specific licensing regime, the investor/entrepreneur can consult the CFE site on www.cfe.iapmei.pt/cfe_licenciamento_00.php and, in the specific case of industrial activity, the site of the northern region department of the economy on www.dre-norte.min-economia.pt .
Programmes and Financing
Incentives for Business Activity
In the present context of investment and employment incentives, there are a series of programmes that are part of a wide range of support systems for business activity, including the following areas of intervention:
This kind of support is given according to specific assessment and liability criteria according to the kind of project. In order to benefit from this kind of incentive, the business idea must be duly justified and presented in a Business Plan.
As an entity that promotes local investment, AMIgaia will provide an integrated support service for the investor, aimed at facilitating access to information on the main Programmes and Incentives available. This will be done through the institutional information that partner entities provide and promote in conjunction with the City Council, within the scope of institutional cooperation.
Other Financing Instruments
In addition to the existing support programmes in the present context of incentives for business activity and employment, other forms of company financing are available, which can contribute towards their development and growth, and are clearly reflected in business management.
Risk Capital is one of the main sources of financing for young firms, "start-ups" and risky investments with high profit potential.
This is a financial instrument that takes the form of a temporary share in a company’s share capital, done through the acquisition of shares, quotas or bonds convertible into shares or through supplementary payments of capital by a Capital Risk Company (CRC) and/or with the use of a capital risk fund (www.apcri.pt ).
Capital Risk Companies target businesses with large growth potential and proven success on the market. For a Capital Risk Company to invest in a firm, the latter must have a well-developed and solidly grounded Business Plan, show that the investment has great potential and a competent management team.
Risk Capital also has the advantage of creating a new partnership for the firm, that is, besides providing the necessary capital, Capital Risk Companies also contribute with management counselling.
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