More and more millennials are taking the risk of starting their own businesses, and they can be based anywhere around the world.
But where should they go?
According to new research from GoCompare, the top three hubs include:
Tallinn, Estonia
With its reputation for being digitally savvy, it tops the leader board with a combination of the ease of registering property, running a business on a day-to-day level, and trading across borders.
Toronto, Canada
Canada is the most appealing country overall for young entrepreneurs to start a business, Toronto ranks 2nd with the best business funding in the country and the most public Wi-Fi hotspots.
New Zealand
New Zealand ranks as the best country in the world for ease of starting and doing business, as well as ranking high for getting credit to fund your new venture.
Canada beats Estonia overall
While Tallinn in Estonia appears to be the world’s best city for millennials starting a business, Canada as a country arguably wins overall. With millennials forming the backbone of the ‘digital nomad’ generation, this data shows where the future centres of innovation and entrepreneurialism could be.
Overall, Canada is the most appealing country for young entrepreneurs to start a business, with four of its major cities, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto featuring in the top ten.
Whilst London also makes it into the top ten, New York narrowly misses out on a top spot, with Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Lagos (Nigeria) languishing in last place.
What are millennial entrepreneurs looking for?
Taxes and business legalities have always been a feature of starting a business, however, millennials are looking for more than just simplified bureaucracy. Here are some of the key factors in attracting young entrepreneurs.
Digitally-savvy cities
Digital connectivity is a non-negotiable in the 21st Century working world, where location-independent entrepreneurs are set to dominate.
Despite not featuring in the top ten, Moscow leads the way for public Wi-Fi hotspots, offering a total of 41,250.
By contrast, both London and New York offer around 12,000, Berlin just 4,601, and Tel Aviv – world-renowned for its innovation in science and technology – a paltry 351.
Helsinki offers the fastest internet connectivity, racing ahead with 17.4mbps.
Ironically, the Silicon Valley offers some of the slowest Wi-Fi, at 3.7mbps
Diversity is key
Diversity in business broadly equates to fairer representation across the whole of society. In this study, diversity was ranked according to the relative number of businesses with female and/or immigrant founders.
With 31 per cent, Silicon Valley led the way on the diversity front while London (17 per cent) lagged behind New York (25.5 per cent), Chicago (24.5 per cent) and Paris (26.5 per cent)
Cape Town and Seoul came second and third overall for diversity, with 28.5 per cent and 28 per cent respectively of their businesses founded by minorities.
Cost of living
Millennials around the world are notoriously trapped by soaring rents and ever-less attainable property ladders.
Of the top ten, the stats reveal that most have a relatively high cost of living. However, Ottawa and Vancouver are notable exceptions
Perhaps surprisingly, Singapore and even New Zealand are ranked as having a higher cost of living than London.
Further reading on millennials
