When entrepreneurs come up with big ideas with the potential to make a splash in global markets, a key decision is where to base their operations. There’s no shortage of countries, regions and states vying to attract new, job-creating businesses.
A respected research organization is out with its 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Index ranking 137 countries on how easy or hard they make it to be an entrepreneur.
The United States tops the list of welcoming places, while Switzerland has moved up to the second spot from eighth in 2015. Canada slipped from second to third.
Australia and several western European countries round out the top 10. Israel, Chile, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Singapore and Japan all made it in the top 25.
The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute produces the annual index based on its analysis of “the entrepreneurial ecosystem” in each country, including availability of risk capital, networking, acceptance of risk, cultural support, technology, opportunity and competition.
| Rank | Country |
|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
| 2 | Switzerland |
| 3 | Canada |
| 4 | Sweden |
| 5 | Denmark |
| 6 | Iceland |
| 7 | Australia |
| 8 | United Kingdom |
| 9 | Ireland |
| 10 | Netherlands |
Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, says technology is driving change with innovators “moving beyond simple, on-demand consumer convenience apps and [taking on] the much more difficult process of disrupting highly regulated industries,” as Airbnb and Uber have done. Still, he adds, there’s work to be done by policymakers around the world to make room for the disrupters.
Want to become an entrepreneur? Scores of countries have events marking Global Entrepreneurship Week, which runs through November 20, and opportunities exist year-round to learn about business, find mentors and ultimately attract investors. Read more on ShareAmerica about exciting things happening in Chile and Kenya as well as Ukraine. And here’s the story of a New York fashion entrepreneur born in an Argentine camp for Laotian refugees.