Starting up as a Youngpreneur

No specific capital is required to set up a sole proprietorship.

Please note that in the case of a sole proprietorship, your family name must be included in the company name.

In principle, the entry of your company in the commercial register is only obligatory for sole proprietorships with a turnover of CHF 100,000 or more. However, we recommend it in any case. The extract from the commercial register can be useful to you any time and is required, for example, when opening a bank account, post office box or telephone connection and in international trade.

In principle, when a sole proprietorship is founded, pension fund money can be drawn down in advance and used as start capital. However, for many youngpreneurs this is not yet such a high amount that it would be relevant for the foundation of a company.

If you still wish to draw your pension fund assets, you must be able to provide the relevant compensation fund with credible evidence of your self-employment. To do this, you need to fill out the attached AHV form and list some evidence. This could be, for example, three offers to potential customers, three invoices already issued to customers and the business plan.

You can learn more about the pension fund withdrawal here.

To found a public limited company, you have to submit a minimum capital of CHF 100,000, of which at least CHF 50,000 must be paid up. As with a limited liability company, you cannot draw pension fund benefits when you set up a public limited company because of OASI legislation.

A public limited company requires at least one shareholder and one director. If you do not wish to have partners and co-founders in your public limited company for the time being, you can hold both positions at the same time. However, it is important to note that at least one director with signing authority must be resident in Switzerland.

When you set up your company, you must use a state-approved auditor in your public limited company. Each year, the auditors must submit a report on the management of the company to the board of directors.

Registry of commerce entry is obligatory when a public limited company is formed and takes place after public certification and approval of the articles of association. Only the names of board members are published in the commercial register, not those of shareholders.

If several shareholders are involved in your company, it is worth drawing up a shareholders' agreement to create clear relationships. The aspects regulated here are not regulated by law and are not included in the articles of association. We will be happy to help you draw up a shareholders' agreement.
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