Many foreigners are thinking about starting their own company and are looking for the best business ideas in Poland. Poland, due to the stable economic situation and continuous development, is an ideal country to start this process. The advantage of having your own business is independence, because you will be your own boss and you will not have a person to assign tasks to you. However, this also involves greater responsibility. It will mainly depend on your actions whether the company succeeds. From the moment you start your business, it will become your source of income, for individual industries, it depends on your management style and skills how much you will earn. As the company grows and the number of employees increases, more tasks await you. However, before this happens, the most important thing is to choose the right kind of business. You need to analyze your skills, opportunities, interests, and the market in which you will operate. It is worth choosing activities for which there will be a high demand in a given moment and future. Sometimes companies fail because of a lack of business ideas and because you have chosen a low-income business.
Summarizing, what arguments in a nutshell should convince you to start your own business?
- You are not limited by working time, you start and end when you think it appropriate, the only restrictions are deadlines for tasks and payment terms.
- You don’t have a person controlling your work, you set tasks to yourself.
- You are building your own brand.
- You do not have to apply for a vacation and it is not restricted by anyone. You manage your time yourself.
However, there is always a certain risk:
- Own business always carries the risk of failure, choosing the wrong industry can result in a lack of income and the need to close the business.
- Lack of regular, stable income. In a less profitable month, your earnings may be lower
- A large number of bureaucratic, legal obligations. The need to track news in applicable law regarding the conduct of business.
- Self-payment of contributions.
- Food business
You can choose one of the big Polish cities, e.g. Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk, as your company’s headquarters. A large number of tourists visiting Poland every year, gives great opportunities when it comes to running a business related to food. It is important to choose a location near the center or tourist attractions. You can choose food tracks or more advanced forms such as restaurants, pubs. As a foreigner, you have a chance to choose to run a restaurant with dishes from your local country. Polish people are often interested in exotic cuisine, getting to know what is different for them. Here you have a lot of freedom in surprising with the flavors and dishes of your local regions. Remember that you will probably have to obtain special permits and licenses to start your business. There are a lot of food companies in Poland, remember that your idea must be original and bring something completely new if you want to be successful. You might also think about setting up fast food with snacks from your country. This business is popular because it usually does not require large financial outlays at the beginning of the activity. In the case of fast food, ingredients are key – they must not only be of good quality, but also always delivered on time and in the right conditions. A suitable refrigerated car is necessary for this.
2. Consulting Services
If you want to start a small business, creating a consulting company will be a good idea. Consulting companies are becoming increasingly popular in Poland and are in great demand. To set up this type of business, you should have specialized knowledge in your chosen field. Your task will be to transfer your knowledge to a client who needs specialist advice. It’s good if you have a diploma, education, confirming your skills. Consultations can be in the field of law, running a business, social media, dietetics, human resources, finance, accountancy and many other fields. What counts is experience and knowledge that is not easily accessible to everyone. Your skills must be valuable enough that someone will want to pay for them. You should choose one narrow specialization and have a good knowledge of internet mechanisms to properly promote your business. In consulting, you have a wide field of activity, you can offer your services in a stationary office, as well as through online channels. The position of a business consultant is also popular. It offers advice on activities that a company should take to improve its operations, increase profits, and expand.
3. Online shop
If you have an idea for providing original products to your clients via the online store, this is a good idea for a business. You must remember the requirements that must be met. A well-created website that allows quick shopping, advertising on social media to promote your business, an interesting idea. If the company imports products from abroad, you will also have to know import rules. In the country, however, you need to deal with the appropriate transport of products to customers, which requires cooperation with delivery companies, or creating your own network. The main thing is to choose products that will be sold in the store. The range of online stores today is so rich that you must have a really good, original idea. If you were looking for some products on the Internet and you could not find them, this can be a good way. Do some research on the demand for the products. Look to the future. By choosing products for your store, you can also focus on finding products that will become more and more popular, e.g. in connection with the development of technology, with a change in lifestyle, or with the tendencies of the society to age. And if you have some unique skills like – playing a musical instrument, yoga, fitness, then you can start creating your own products, e.g. recordings with exercises. Create, promote your own brand and sell your products.
4. Event organizer/ tourist guide
The event company deals with the organization of both corporate official parties and private events, which include weddings, birthday, first communion parties and family parties. But there are already many companies of this type, if you do not have an original idea on how to run this type of event, you can organize trips, that show around the city and its most important attractions. If as a foreigner you know English well, or maybe even additional languages, this will be a big plus. You can show tourists the most famous places if you have the appropriate predispositions for this. Choose the most interesting places, learn as much as possible about them. If you have good contact with people, you know how to tell interesting stories, it can be a job for you. Being a private tourist guide also requires promoting your services and standing out from the competition. Sometimes tourists do not want a standard city tour and there you can come up with your own interesting ideas.
5. IT services
Many companies need help in the field of IT services. Particularly smaller enterprises, most often do not have specialists from the IT industry and usually seek outside help. If you are a specialist in the field of IT equipment, programming or creating websites, you can create a company that provides services in this area. Establishing an local informatic store can also help promote business and gain recognition among the local community. Your services may also relate to repairing, cleaning, assembling or installing software. The IT industry is very wide and if you are a specialist with specific experience, you will always find customers. It is estimated that around 50,000 programmers are still lacking in the labor market. On the one hand, this proves the huge demand for IT services, and on the other – many qualified specialists decide to work outside the country. Therefore, any good specialist in this field will be valued.
6. The work as an instructor
If you have a unique skill that is needed, you can become an instructor, e.g. skiing, swimming, diving, fitness. It is worth using your origins and teaching something unique. Foreigners establish, for example, dance schools, teach their national dances. Poles are more likely to choose a person from a foreign country who comes from a different culture and has different skills. Anyone can set up a skiing or snowboarding school. However, the basis of this business is a team of qualified instructors. When deciding on such a business, it is worth realizing that this is a seasonal business from the very beginning. Usually such schools operate from mid-October / early November to the end of March. Earnings also depend on the weather. If the winter is not snowy and frosty, you can’t count on large earnings. So you have to think about whether you can afford it financially. A professional ski school should have the appropriate licenses. Due to the fact that the ski and snowboard school is a seasonal business, it is worth investing in effective advertising. A strong campaign should be started before the season. The basis is also a very good website and online advertising. You can combine activities if you have varied skills and also work as a swimming instructor in the summer.
7. Photography
To take good-quality photos, all you have to do is invest in photographic equipment, take a course and start working on your own skills. The most important, however, are skills and the right portfolio. You can work at various types of events, concerts, family events – weddings, communions, birthdays, organize photo sessions. And if you gain recognition, you can even start working as a freelancer for magazines and websites. If you are a foreigner and have a rich portfolio from exotic locations, experience of working abroad, everything properly presented on your own website can be a big advantage. Usually it takes from a year to 18 months for a business to be profitable, so when writing down your finances, it’s worth thinking about where to get funds for operating at the very beginning. You will also need a lot of motivation, determination for your work.
8. Cleaning company/laundry
The demand for cleaning will always be, both in companies and in private homes. You don’t need professional skills, but more appropriate business plan and business skills. Laundry company can also be successful, although these are simple tasks, in today’s busy world, especially in large cities, people value their time and prefer to spend it on other things than cleaning and doing everyday duties. Such companies can be very profitable. Before starting any company, it is good to do market research and carefully check the demand for given services, as well as competition in terms of prices, opinions and available offer. Once done, there is nothing else to do but analyze your own possibilities and look for a niche – if your competition specializes in cleaning offices, then maybe it would be good to focus on cleaning houses and flats, There are a lot of variants – from cleaning offices and flats to organizing warehouses, cleaning premises after renovations, caring for graves and organizing outdoor areas.
9. Wedding planner
A wedding consultant is an increasingly popular industry, which has been growing fast lately and for which there is a great demand. In the United States Almost every young couple hires a special person or company to organize and service the wedding and reception. In Poland this trend is becoming more and more popular. The wedding consultant deals with the comprehensive organization of wedding ceremony. The bride and groom order him to prepare the ceremony, set the budget, the date, and inform him how they would like the ceremony to look. The consultant employs – photographer, DJ and team – finds a room, orders flowers, cake, decorations, wedding rings. You can go to training in wedding consulting. This will definitely help you prepare yourself well for this profession. The trainings will teach negotiation, finding subcontractors, advertising, conversations with brides, basics in the hotel industry, gastronomy, decorating and styling. A good consultant must be resistant to stress – responsibility for the most important day in the life of clients can cause nervousness. There are often surprises, something goes wrong and you will have to react on a regular basis during the event. A wedding consultant must be patient and empathic.
10. Care for seniors and disabled people.
Remember that for this type of activity you will have to at least at a basic level communicate in Polish. Polish society is slowly aging, soon older people will be in majority and will need specialized services. In western countries it is one of the fastest growing sectors of services, so it may be worth investing in it also in Poland. An aging population brings many challenges. The changes are long-lasting and unnoticeable from day to day. And yet Poles are aware that caring for seniors will be extremely important in the future. Person having services for elderly people can act as a sole proprietorship. Only when the orders will arrive, you can hire more employees. His duties include cleaning the apartment, changing the bed, preparing meals, bathing assistance, checking the contents of the first aid kit, making the time of the patient more pleasant (reading newspapers, talking, etc.). Emergency help is also important.