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  • Switzerland's SME policy
  • Women, work and family – staff
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  • The Swiss marketplace
  • Taxes

Practical knowledge

• Setting up
  • The various legal forms
    • Sole Proprietorships
    • The general partnership
    • Limited liability company
    • The limited company
    • The limited partnership
  • Starting your own business
    • First step
      • The business idea
        • Changing a business idea
        • Buying an idea
        • Franchising
        • Exclusive representation
        • License
        • Multi-level marketing
        • Agents
      • A well-planned start-up
        • Market analysis
        • Legal structure
        • Startup Capital
        • Business plan
          • When?
          • Ten Steps
          • Mistakes to avoid
          • Templates and examples
          • Comprehensive Business Plan
          • Interview with a bank
        • Finding a site for your business
      • EasyGov
      • Key decisions
        • Essential questions
        • Legal structure
        • Checklist
      • Self-Employment
      • Pseudo-independence
    • Choosing a legal structure
      • Checklist
      • Marital property arrangements
      • Sole proprietorship
        • Advantages and disadvantages
        • Checklist
        • Liberal professions
      • Simple partnership
      • General partnership
        • Advantages and disadvantages
        • Checklist
        • Partner profit-sharing
      • Limited partnership
        • Checklist
      • Limited company
        • Shareholders’ agreement
        • Obligations of the board of directors
        • Corporate governance
        • Checklist
        • Articles of association
        • Shareholder profits
        • Advantages and disadvantages
      • LLC
        • Checklist and instructions
        • Legal requirements
        • Advantages and disadvantages
        • Partner profits
      • Cooperative company
      • Associations
      • Foundations
    • Insurance
      • Example of insurance costs
      • Insurance and legal structures
      • Insurance policies
    • Commercial register
      • Registering your company
      • Beware of profiteers
      • Registration costs
      • Changing a company's headquarters or address
    • UID register
    • Intellectual property
    • Specific scenarios
      • Nine main steps
      • 12 Scenarios
        • Craft industry
        • Import-export
        • Commercial company
        • EU/EFTA nationals
        • Non-Swiss nationals
        • Service provider
        • Gastronomy
        • Engineering firm
        • Natural medicine
        • IT business
        • Start-up
        • Part-time work
    • Foreign national
      • From EU/EFTA
        • Business location in Switzerland
      • As a citizen of a third state
      • A cross-boarder commuter
• Management
  • Marketing
    • The importance of marketing
    • Marketing strategy
      • Market study
      • Defining your goals and budget
        • Mistakes to avoid
        • The importance of performance indicators
      • Targeting your customers
      • Positioning oneself as a brand
        • Know your competition
        • Brand image
      • Schedule
      • Products or services
      • Pricing
        • Price strategies
        • Concrete example
      • Distribution channels
        • Stock selection
      • Good communication
    • Marketing tools
      • Traditional marketing
        • Outdoor advertising
        • Public relations
        • TV and radio
        • Promotions
        • Brochures and letters
        • Event marketing
      • Digital marketing
        • Content marketing
          • Website
          • Videos
          • Blog and infographics
        • SEO: How to improve your online visibility
        • Online advertising
        • Emails
      • Social networks
        • Influencer marketing
      • AI and automation marketing
    • Looking after your customers
  • Intellectual property
    • Trademarks, patents, designs and copyright
      • Trademarks
      • Patents
      • Designs
      • Copyright
    • Additional information
    • Freedom to operate
  • Social networks
    • The importance of being visible
      • A new style of marketing
      • Referencing
    • The importance of appropriate use depending on the type of business
    • Taking advantage of social networks
      • Developing a strategy
      • What should you publish on your website?
        • Text
        • Images and videos
        • Sound
      • Generating an audience
      • Managing your reputation on the internet
      • Mistakes which should not be made
  • E-commerce
    • Types of e-commerce
    • Creating your own website
      • Market research
      • Ready-made or customized solutions
      • Inspiring confidence
      • Business site and data protection
        • Data protection advice
      • Online payment methods
        • Payment service providers
      • Statutory obligations
      • General terms and conditions of sale
      • Information to include on a website
        • Information about the owner
        • Product information
        • Cancellation right
        • The order process
        • Order confirmation
        • Other information on the website
    • Website use
      • Processing orders
      • After-sales service
      • Customer follow-up
      • Using online advertising
        • Social networks
        • Advertising banners
      • Monitor results
  • Standards and quality guarantees/labels
    • Standardization
      • The importance of standards in the economy
      • Quality management
        • Quality management systems: advantages
        • Development of the quality management concept
        • Environmental management ISO 14001
          • The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)
        • Social responsibility
    • Certification
    • Certificates and labels
    • Audit and certification bodies
      • Management system audits
      • Auditor qualification requirements
      • Accreditation of certification bodies and other conformity assessment bodies (CABs)
      • Accreditation and certification: What is the difference?
  • IT and infrastructure
    • Office infrastructure
    • Information Technology (IT) infrastructure
      • Hardware
      • Software
        • Unified payroll procedure
      • Internet / extranet / intranet / email
    • Telecommunications
      • Check network suppliers on a regular basis
      • VoIP evaluation
    • Moving your SME
  • Public procurement
    • Definition
    • SIMAP
    • Tendering procedures
    • Responding to a call for tender
    • Public procurement abroad
  • Labeling
    • Food labeling
    • Price labeling
    • Quantity labeling
    • Energy labels
    • Swissness
• Transferring
  • Transferring a company
    • Types of company transfer
    • Takeover a company
      • An underestimated opportunity
        • Succession: takeover of a company
      • Acquisitions
      • Drawing up a business plan
    • Transferring a company
      • Planning succession
      • Family succession
      • Finding a buyer
      • Success factors
    • Valuing a company
      • Value of a company
      • Intrinsic value
      • Capitalized earnings
      • Discounted cash flow method
      • How to use the EBIT method
      • Comparison value
      • Due Diligence
      • Financing succession of a company
      • Factors contributing to success
  • End of the company
    • Causes of closure of a company
    • Company bankruptcy
      • Consequences of bankruptcy
      • Filing for bankruptcy
      • The bankruptcy process
      • Defects in the organization of the company
      • Personal bankruptcy
    • Voluntary end of the company
      • Procedures for closure
• Finances
  • Accounting and auditing
    • Compulsory accounting
      • Accounting model
      • Companies subject to audit
    • Annual financial statements
      • Auditor and types of audit
        • Doing your own bookkeeping vs. hiring someone else to do it
        • Improving your accounting knowledge
        • Incomplete accounting
        • How to organize accounting
      • Closing accounts
        • Closing accounts of a sole proprietorship
      • Distribution of earnings and carryover of loss
      • Balance Sheet
      • Profit and loss statement
      • Use of undisclosed reserves and provisions
      • Instructions for performing an evaluation
    • Fixed and variable costs
    • Financial planning
      • Budget planning
      • Investment planning
      • Liquidity planning
      • Cash flow
        • Business monitoring indicators
        • Evaluating companies using the discounted cash flow method
    • Client insolvency
      • Requesting debt enforcement
      • How to anticipate payment defaults
    • Introduction of the QR-bill
    • Electronic bookkeeping
  • Financing
    • Principles
      • Financial development
      • The cost of developing a concept
      • Equity and foreign funds
    • Debt financing
      • Bank loans
        • Solvency ratings
      • Supplier credit
      • External financing through loans
      • Raise funds through crowdfunding
        • Donation-based crowdfunding: Seeking donations online
        • Crowdsupporting: Reward-based contributions
        • Crowdlending: Borrowing without help from the banks
        • Crowd-investing: Equity-based financing
    • Equity financing
      • Business angels
      • Venture capital solutions
      • Withdrawing capital from pension funds
        • Consequences of changing to an SA
      • Who are your potential investors?
      • Raise funds through crowdfunding
        • Crowd-investing: Equity-based financing
        • Crowdlending: Borrowing without help from the banks
        • Crowdsupporting: Reward-based contributions
        • Donation-based crowdfunding: Seeking donations online
    • Mezzanine financing
      • Using mezzanine capital
    • Special forms of external financing
      • Factoring
      • Leasing
      • Raise funds through crowdfunding
        • Donation-based crowdfunding: Seeking donations online
        • Crowdsupporting: Reward-based contributions
        • Crowdlending: Borrowing without help from the banks
        • Crowd-investing: Equity-based financing
      • Cryptocurrency fundraising (ICO / ITO)
    • Self-financing
    • Financing through depreciation or provisions
    • Public aid for financing
      • Tax relief and regional policy
      • Guarantees
      • Hotel loans
      • Support for starting a self-employed activity
      • Innosuisse
      • Eurostars
      • Technology Fund
      • SECO Start-up Fund (SSF)
  • Taxes
    • Tax-exempt
      • Tax savings
      • Spouses
      • Optimizing your return
      • Penalties for concealment
      • Private or commercial building?
      • Depreciation for the self-employed
    • Taxation of share capital companies
    • VAT
      • VAT and deduction of input tax
      • Audit procedure
      • Invoicing
  • Risk management
    • Defining and managing risk
    • Legal basis and standards
    • Risk planning
      • Defining a system
      • Risk identification and analysis
      • The risk management process
      • Implementation
        • Going beyond the minimum obligations
• Foreign trade
  • Importing for SMEs
    • The SECO platform
    • Customs clearance on import
    • Tares: Customs tariffs on the internet
    • Taxes and import duties
      • Value-added tax on importation
      • Import facilitation
  • Exporting for SMEs
    • Customs tariffs worldwide
    • Proof of origin
  • Choosing a partner country
    • Information on countries for foreign trade
    • Import/Export in the European Union
      • The Cassis de Dijon principle
      • Non-tariff barriers
    • Decoupling research project
  • Establishing a subsidiary overseas
    • Advantages and disadvantages
  • Switzerland Global Enterprise
    • The services provided by S-GE
      • Swiss Business Hubs
  • Protection against import-export risks
    • The different risks associated with import-export
    • Import-export financing
    • Services of SERV
    • Foreign exchange risks
  • EU Supply Chain Directive
  • Trade Fair and Project Committee (TFPC)
• Personnel
  • Personnel management
    • Staff planning
    • Recruiting staff
      • How to find staff
      • Recruiting on the internet
      • Recruiting foreign staff
      • Content of an advertisement
      • Getting references
    • Choosing staff
    • Evaluation of work performed
    • Staff development
    • Staff training: Vocational training
      • Becoming a training provider
      • Training apprentices
        • Foreign apprentices
      • Cost/benefit
    • Staff training
    • Organization of staff
    • The employer’s obligations
      • Social insurance
        • 1st pillar: OASI/DI/APG
        • 2nd pillar: pension fund (OP)
        • The third pillar: Private pensions
        • Unemployment insurance (ALV)
          • ALV and position as an employer
        • Accident insurance OAI and NOAI
        • Health insurance offices (LAMal)
        • Loss of earnings insurance
      • The rules for temporary assignment of workers
        • Temporary assignment of workers
        • Neighboring countries
      • Remote work from a country in the EU/EFTA
      • Cross-border telecommuting
  • Employment law: legal foundations
    • Contractual aspects
      • The employment contract
      • The usefulness of collective bargaining agreements
        • Canton
        • Confederation
      • Union representation
      • Work permits
        • Free movement between Switzerland and the European Union
        • Foreign nationals
      • Employment of minors
      • Undeclared work
      • Labor disputes
      • The finer points of terminating an employment contract
      • Short-time working compensation
      • Labor inspections
        • Company regulations
    • Working hours
      • Recording working hours
      • Overtime
      • Procedures for leave and public holidays
      • Planning vacations
      • Working at night and on Sundays
      • Pregnancy, maternity and paternity
      • Inability to work and sick leave
      • Having multiple jobs
    • Employment
      • Private employment and temporary recruitment
    • Job registration requirement
    • Reference guides and additional information
  • Health and safety at work
    • Protecting health
    • Think about fitting out premises
    • Work stations and workloads
    • Harassment and bullying
    • High-risk groups
      • Dealing with alcoholics and addicts
      • Pregnant and breastfeeding women
      • Protection of young people and seniors
    • Accidents and illness
    • Protective equipment
    • First aid
    • Promoting health
    • Further information
    • Leadership Lab
• Useful addresses and links
  • Economic development
  • Assistance for companies from EU member states
  • Chambers of commerce
  • Periodicals and newspapers
  • Debt collection office
  • For women
  • SME institutions (partly in English)
  • Technology transfer
  • Technology parks
  • Prizes and awards for SMEs
  • Financial support for SMEs
  • Cooperative surety funds
  • SME Forum
  • Price watch
  • Online Services
    • EasyGov
    • Federal online services
    • Cantonal online services
• Facts and figures
  • Figures on SMEs
    • Companies and jobs
      • Historical development
    • Establishment of companies
    • Enterpreneurship
      • Women
      • Students
      • Economic position
    • Labor costs
    • Closing of companies
    • Total revenue
    • Sources of funds
      • Bank loans
      • Guarantees
      • Venture capital
    • Taxation of companies
    • Exports
    • Types of succession
  • Switzerland's economic promotion

Trends

• Cybersecurity
• Digitalization
  • Necessary resources
  • Digitalization, a multi-steps process
  • Support to the digitization of SMEs
  • Data protection
    • New Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP)
    • Data protection
• Artificial intelligence
  • Generative AI
• Big Data
• Blockchain
• The internet of Things (IoT)
• Cloud Computing
• Corporate Social Responsibility CSR
  • Role and expectations of the Confederation
  • CSR, an asset for companies
  • CSR and SMEs: a guide
  • Sustainable production
  • Ecological production
    • Production and the environment
    • Performance indicators
    • Using indicators
  • The first steps toward sustainable production
    • Impact and priorities
      • Putting a team together
    • Choosing indicators
      • Standardization of indicators
  • Measuring your company’s sustainability
    • Production factors
    • Operational processes
    • End product
  • Improving environmental performance
    • Sustainability measurements
      • Analyzing with indicators
      • Comparing data
      • How to improve
      • Scenarios for improvement
      • Achieving results
    • Taking action to improve
      • A continuous improvement

SME policy

• Simplifying administration
  • Priority themes
  • Committees and tools
• Developing e-governance
  • The Swiss strategy
  • Open Government Data
  • SECO Initiatives
• Promoting innovation
  • Priority themes
  • Innosuisse initiatives
• Access to financing
• Encouraging exports
• Export risk insurance
• Professional training
  • SEFRI initiatives
• Reconciling work and family
  • Women's Careers

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