10 countries for entrepreneurs to start, run and scale their businesses

September 8, 2020 Jessica Drucker

Affiliate disclaimer: all pages and posts on this website, including this one, may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click a link and make a purchase, I make a small referral fee at absolutely, positively no extra charge to you.

There is nothing like the freedom you find by building your business from wherever YOU want to, in a way that YOU want to, in a country that wants YOU to be there building whether you are a small business or a future multi-gabillion dollar startup.

Let me be honest with you about something: working on a beach with your laptop is not really that great. The sun reflection keeps you from seeing your screen, you get sand in your keyboard, it’s actually really hot and you can only really work until you have to go to the bathroom - because where do you leave your stuff?

Especially in a post-pandemic world, we all know you can work from anywhere. Some countries are adapting faster than others, but some have been clued in for a good number of years. In my book How To Move Abroad And Why It’s The Best Thing You’ll Do, I cover several of these countries, and what visas they have available to attract entrepreneurs with businesses of all shapes and sizes.

The book was completed just before Barbados created their incredible Barbados Welcome Stamp year-long visa for all of us working remote, and Bermuda then followed suit. And while I said that the cliche of actually working on the beach isn’t as glamorous as it may seem, working on an island with a relaxed atmosphere, fresh fruits, and crystal blue water everywhere you look is exactly what the doctor ordered during the pandemic.

There has also NEVER been a better time than now to start an online business - we are all buying, watching, and wasting an incredible amount of time online! Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek changed the game almost a decade ago bringing to the mainstream the idea of working remotely, but today, even governments are on board.

In addition to Barbados and Bermuda, here are eight more countries that make it possible to get longer terms visas to work abroad on your own business.

Thailand

Let’s start with Thailand since there is nowhere I have ever found on earth that combines such a a low cost of living with a high quality of life. The food is amazing, massages are just a part of the culture, the weather is good and while the language and culture is very different, the Thai people are very accustomed to foreigners and you have many opportunities to really feel at home. The Thai government also got realistic recently that we foreigners were simply coming over for 90 days and then heading over to Cambodia, or Laos, or Malaysia for a ‘visa run’ and then coming back with 90 more days on a tourist visa.

Instead, the country launched its SMART Visa in February 2018, targeted at high-expertise foreigners and entrepreneurs who want to live there. Benefits include: a maximum four-year permission to stay (you still have to check in once a year at immigration, not every 90 days), your spouse can work and your kids can go to school.

Estonia

Yes. Estonia! Estonia has one of the liveliest start-up scenes in Europe, and the Estonian government created their Startup Visa program to attract entrepreneurs who would have otherwise launched elsewhere. Estonia moved most everything online many years ago, meaning you can already get anything done online. The workforce is very technically savvy, educated, and you are in Europe, don’t forget. Beautiful buildings, cobblestone streets, all the things that make the continent dreamy, but at the same time, cost of living is less expensive, English is very widely spoken and you are really part of a start-up “scene” with motivated, hard-working entrepreneurs to surround yourself with.

Check out this podcast with Ott Vatter, the Managing Director at e-Residency, an initiative started by the Republic of Estonia in 2014 to encourage more people to start businesses in Europe.

Germany

Germany offers a few different options, and although not specifically for Startups, you have the opportunity to start a business as a freelancer.

The German freelance visa is an option if you are a “self-employed academic, artistic, literary, teaching, educational or other self-employed professional.” There is a more ‘legendary’ Artist visa, which is a subcategory of the freelance visa, is only available for certain passport nations, and is only valid for those who live in Berlin. But whether you get the more general freelance visa or the more specific Artist visa you have permission to live and work in Germany - one of the most powerful economies in the world. The business you can drum up, the contacts you can make and the very comfortable lifestyle you can have is unparalleled around the world.

Spain

One of the most exciting visas, in my opinion, for a longer-term stay in Europe is the Spanish Non-Lucrative Visa. Non-lucrative might sound like you’re not meant to be making any money, but the Spanish government wants you to make money (roughly $2500 monthly) in another country, and then spend it in theirs. It’s actually quite genius. You add to the economy without taking the jobs or business of locals to do so.

According to this excellent overview on The Frugal Vagabond blog, the Spanish Non-Lucrative Residence Visa, allows you the following:

To live for one year in Spain and then renew your visa twice for two periods of two years. This gives you a total of five years, after which time you can apply for permanent residence.
To obtain medical care through your own (private) insurance. Don’t be put off by the idea of private insurance. It is MUCH less expensive than you might be thinking if you are from the US.
To secure a long-term rental property and sign up for utilities.
To send your children to public school. This is such a benefit, as your family can really fully integrate even though you are still running your business abroad - or even working remotely for a US company and filing and paying taxes to the IRS with no issues.

The Spanish Non-Lucrative Visa, however, does not allow you to work for a Spanish company, access the public health care system, or qualify for any kind of public health benefits (which you wouldn’t really want anyway unless you were to become a permanent resident).

More in Europe

You can also try your luck with the Portugal Self-Employment Visa and the Czech Republic Self-Employment Visa. These visas allow you to do freelance work or run a small business, in most cases with the stipulation that you can show you have interest from local clients in your industry. You can apply for these visas from abroad or once you are already in the country. As long as you already have a small client-based company with proven income, you can start networking enough to get three letters of interest from potential clients and then apply for the visa.

Chile

Chile is an OG when it comes to attracting startup talent! By far one of the most comfortable places to set up shop in South America, the Chilean government has long been attracting entrepreneurs to Chile via the Start-Up Chile accelerator program, which guarantees a sizable sum of equity-free cash (up to $78,000) to accepted start-ups, plus one year of mentoring in exchange for spending at least six months of that calendar year in Chile.

I have personally known several startups that came out of their year-long Startup Chile incubator, and while not all are still in operation today, all the entrepreneurs themselves have gone on to some really successful new businesses and startups.

Australia

Okay, if you are not yet an entrepreneur, and you want to try your hand at working abroad at small businesses, I can’t recommend the working holiday visa in Australia enough! Essentially, if you are under 30 years old, you can apply to live and work in Australia for one year at any type of workplace - coffee shops, bars, restaurants, really anywhere. This is so rare. When it comes to work visas (different to these entrepreneurship type visas) you usually either have to be a specialist, sponsored by a company, or have a skill that locals do not possess.

Being able to low-key work in a coffee shop in Melbourne, a restaurant in Perth and a bar in Brisbane is such a fun way to spend a year of your life. Plus, the contacts you meet and experience you gain will absolutely support your entrepreneur journey in the future.