Reinventar » startup http://reinventar.com Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:25:10 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Cost of a startup in Portugal http://reinventar.com/2009/02/04/cost-of-a-startup-in-portugal/ http://reinventar.com/2009/02/04/cost-of-a-startup-in-portugal/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:46:14 +0000 Pedro Sousa http://reinventar.com/?p=444 A few months ago, me and some friends created our first startup so that we could porsue what we like to do best – create web products that drive social interaction that make you smile. In one of my previous posts – tips for saving money – I explained some of the the challenges and changes I made into my life so that I could  manage the money I received better and prepare for the costs of building a startup.

So many people asked (well, 1 at least), how much did it cost to open a startup in Portugal?

Think orange

We used a service by the government - Empresa na Hora / On the spot firm – that enables you to constitute and open your business in 1 hour (give or take), however, you must choose your company name from a pre-registered names list and there’s a series of other limitations but the advantage is that it saves time and some bureaucracy.

Empresa na Hora/On the spot firm price: 312 Eur

Other legal fees for opening business: 19,20 Eur

Thinkorange.pt domain (1 year): 26,40 Eur

Book Worms brand: 90 Eur

Company initial capital: 5000 Eur *

* which you can reuse later at any case.

So that means you have to acknowledge that you need around 477 euros to spend in bureaucracy and administrative costs, depending whether you have a product or website that you need to acquire a brand, domain, etc.

You (and your partners) will need 5000 euros in the bank for share capital money, unless you choose a different business model, the good news is that you can reuse it in the future.

Of course every case is different, thanks to SAPO we had server and domain taken care for our Book Worms website so that was one less expense to handle.

Hope this article is of value for those planning to build a startup in the near future.

]]> http://reinventar.com/2009/02/04/cost-of-a-startup-in-portugal/feed/ 4 tips for saving money http://reinventar.com/2009/01/07/tips-for-saving-money/ http://reinventar.com/2009/01/07/tips-for-saving-money/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:04:26 +0000 Pedro Sousa http://reinventar.com/?p=427

A few months before founding Think Orange, I had to make a balance and figure out if I was spending too much money or actually saving anything.

The big question was “how many months can I go unemployed if I got fired right now?” and the answer wasn’t very good at the time so I changed things around and left my comfort zone. Looking right now, I’m very glad I did, I needed to put my financial situation under control before making plans for a startup or working abroad or whatever I would like to do in the future.

 

So here’s some tips and advices for saving money:

Don’t use credit cards for your daily day spending, you’ll feel more tempted to spend more because you don’t have the notion of cash on your hands. An alternative would be to have an account with enough money to your daily shopping needs.

As soon as you receive your pay check, take a percentage amount of money (like 10% or 20%) and put it in a savings account or invest it somewhere. Resist the temptation to mess with that money.

Liquidate your credit card debt as soon as possible. A year ago I had around 1500 euros debt in my credit card, by taking a small or bigger amount from my monthly check I was able to eliminate that debt in a few months. If you must use credit cards (for example online), don’t forget to immediately pay off what you buy, don’t let it accumulate.

Use public transportation whenever possible instead of your car, it’s much cheaper and in some cases faster. That’s alot of money saved depending on the price of gasoline and distance.

Bring your own food to work because if you cook at home and use the microwave at work you’ll spend less money eating out. But don’t forget to occasionally eat out with your friends, maintain some social activities. :)

Trade all your home light bulbs for energy efficient lights and see if you have the right electrical plan for you, some plans have cheaper electricity hours which you can use to power your most electricity expensive devices (washing machine for example).

Take a look at your internet and cable tv subscription, do you need all those channels? Does the competition offer a better or cheaper service?

Buy less gadgets. At least try to… :P

Okay, if you need to buy hardware or gadgets, at least compare prices online and do some research because you might find a better deal somewhere.

If you have to pay hosting for your site, it’s probably alot cheaper to buy a full year than monthly payments.

Know your taxes, learn where you can save money at the end of the year. There’s plenty of information online. 

Revise your spending habits, make a list of where you spend your money, see what’s unnecessary and what’s essential. You’ll probably find out you’re spending money in things you didn’t remember.

 

And that’s it. If you have some advice why don’t you share them on the comments?

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