Are you planning to create your own future by starting your business? Do you want to venture into entrepreneurship? Then you are in the right place, this article will guide you through profitable business ideas in Cyprus. You would also have access too businesses you can start in Cyprus with little or no capital. Our aim is to give you all the information you need to succeed, and writing winning business plans before starting is a good way to think through your plans.
What We Covered In This Article
How easy is it to start a business in Cyprus?
It is easy for anyone to start a business in Cyprus. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean. The average duration to start any business in Cyprus is five to ten days.
Is Cyprus a good place for business?
In 2019, Cyprus ranked number fifty-four on the list of countries with the ease of doing business. The high ranking is because the government of Cyprus has set a low tax payment for businesses. This means that businesses can generate more profits compared to other countries.
How can a foreigner start a business in Cyprus?
There are several things needed for a foreigner to start a business in Cyprus, and they are:
- A legal address in Cyprus
- Formalities for the structure of the company
- A registered business name
- Taxation and employment plans
- Necessary permits and licences
- Payment of registration fees, accounting, and nominee services.
Foreigners who want to start a business in Cyprus can follow these steps:
- Apply to reserve and register the company’s name. The registration can take between three to seven days.
- Process the Articles of Association and Memorandum, with a sworn declaration from a lawyer.
- The business owner will create a corporate account for the business.
- A director and a secretary must be available to start the company.
- The business owner should submit all documents to the Company’s House Cyprus to register the business.
- The business owner should proceed to other registration like Tax, get a TIN, pension, VAT and social security.
- Acquire the permits and licenses necessary to start the business.
- For an employment permit, the business owner must register under the Ministry of Labour, Welfare, and Social Insurance.
Read also: 30 Profitable Small business ideas in Netherlands
Business ideas to start in Cyprus without money
Here are a few businesses for people with low funds:
- Gardening: If you like plants, you can offer to tend your people’s gardens for an affordable price. Gardeners in Cyprus with less than two years of experience earn around 350 EUR per month.
- Cleaning: Cleaning is the act of tidying up a particular area, home, or office. It is better to do home cleaning since there might not be a need to buy cleaning equipment. Since we live in a busy world, many people have no time to clean their homes, so they pay for the services of a cleaner. You can search for cleaning jobs close to your location or ask friends if they know anyone who needs a cleaner. The salary range for cleaners in Cyprus is between 500 to 600 EUR monthly. If you decide to offer housekeeping services alongside cleaning, your salary can go at least 30 per cent higher.
- Tutoring: People search for tutors in subject or skill learning. Online tutors in Cyprus earn between 25 to 55 euros per hour. You can get a job online by applying for tutoring ads on reliable job websites. Some people prefer tutors they know in person, so ask around or offer to tutor your friends or their kids for an agreeable sum of money.
- Writing: Writers earn a lot of money by working freelance or for a writing agency. There are different categories of writing that one can do, such as content writing, creative writing, resume writing, article writing. As a beginner writer in Cyprus, you can earn between 15 to 40 euros per hour.
- Virtual Assistant: A virtual assistant performs services like bookkeeping, schedule management and performing a variety of administrative tasks virtually. VA is not an on-site job, so anyone interested can do it from the comfort of their homes. As a virtual assistant, you can work from your home for anyone in any part of the world. The average wage of a virtual assistant is 25 euros or even higher.
Franchise opportunities in Cyprus
- Ormado Kaffeehaus Franchise
Ormado is an international coffee business that utilises technology and a homely environment for work and rest. Ormado Kaffeehaus has a unique method of preparing their coffee drinks. They have a variety of coffee drinks on their menu; Macchiato, espresso, ormado coffee and cappuccino.
This franchise project comprises three other coffee houses in Germany, Austria and Azerbaijan. They have all existed since 2017.
For residents in Cyprus, the franchise payment for the Ormado Kaffeehaus business is between €7,500 to €25,000.
- Saber Franchise
Saber franchise is a salon that provides father and son bonding through haircuts. It has masculine interior decor with professional barbers who give modern haircuts.
The payment for the Saber franchise starts from €4,270, and the sum of the initial investment is €15,400.
- 5àsec franchise
This franchise opportunity is an all service laundry that offers washing, pressing of clothes, and alteration services. It is an international franchise in Switzerland, available to anyone in Cyprus. The 5àsec business is over fifty years old and has about two thousand outlets in thirty-one countries.
The fee of the 5àsec franchise is €17,870, while the investment sum is between €79,425 to €148,915.
- Eazi-apps franchise
This franchise is an online business that offers tech solutions to businesses. The Eazi-app builds mobile applications, food ordering businesses and commerce. It requires no coding skills to manage the business and gives anyone in Cyprus an opportunity to work from home. The minimum fee for the Eazi-app franchise is €9,995.
- Realtyplus franchise
Realtyplus is a real estate franchise business available to residents of Cyprus. The franchise focuses on managing real estate, its sales and rental services. Realtyplus is a business that is over twenty years old and has branches in over fifteen countries.
The minimum payment for this franchise is €2000.
Websites to find businesses of sale in Cyprus
This website offers the service of a worldwide range for those who want to buy or sell their businesses. It advertises over 59,000 businesses for sale in over a hundred countries.
Prime Property is a website that offers real estate business in Cyprus to interested buyers. They provide real estate business, rental management and real estate brokerage businesses.
Smergers is a market network that offers businesses for sale in Cyprus. It connects business buyers, sellers and investors from all over the world. They manage each transaction carefully, either for small businesses or big companies, and ensure these transactions are successful.
Tech business opportunities in Cyprus
Tech businesses are those that offer digital products and services to people worldwide.
The Tech sector in Cyprus is proving to be profitable, as there are currently over a hundred Tech companies in Cyprus. The following is a brief list of tech business opportunities available in Cyprus currently.
- Web Design
Website designing is a tech business in Cyprus that one can start in Cyprus. Web design won’t be going out of business soon. Website designing can also encompass other areas such as UI/UX design and frontend/ backend development. This business is for anyone living in Cyprus that is technology inclined. The cost of starting a web design company is around €5000, while the annual income for the web design business is around €70,000.
- Data Entry business
Data Entry company is another simple tech business you can start in Cyprus.
To start this business, you must have managerial skills and expert knowledge of inputting or feeding information into various computer databases and organising these for the future. You can also start the data entry business small with a few data entry employees who will join you in working on the client’s jobs.
The start-up cost of a data entry business in Cyprus is around €8,000. The cost can also be lesser because you can do the job from your resident location in Cyprus.
- Research company
Another easy to start a tech business in Cyprus is the internet research company. You can find most information on the internet. This business can be 100% remote, minimizing costs for you as the owner and your employees.
- Graphics Design Agency
The Graphics Design agency is for people who have an eye for art and design.
The cost of starting a graphic design business in Cyprus is not high because it can be a work from home business. As a business owner, you might need around €1,500 and above to start your graphic design business and earn €40,000 annually.
- IT Support business
Any company that is run and operated using information technology will need an IT support team working for them.
Many businesses do not have the finances to keep a permanent IT support team. Hence, they need an IT support agency or company to outsource their technical jobs.
If you have experience in IT and computer software, you can start your IT support business in Cyprus. You will also need other skilled persons in data recovery, backup, and installation. The average IT support earns between €30,000 to €50,000 per annum.
- Social media management agency
The social media management agency is a business you can start in Cyprus. Almost every business today uses social media for its brand awareness and advertisements. So they need to manage their various social media pages like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok and other mediums. Because these pages might take a lot of work, many companies outsource the management of their social media pages to such agencies.
- App Development business
Anyone interested in programming can start a mobile app development business in Cyprus. This business involves the coding, designing and management of applications. You will need to have a knack for business and problem-solving skills to manage this business successfully. The cost of starting an app development agency in Cyprus is €5,000.
- Web Development Services
If you are a web developer, you can operate a web development agency from your home in Cyprus. You must already possess coding knowledge and problem-solving skills to develop and manage websites to start your web development agency. The cost of starting a web development agency is €9,000.
- Technical Writing Agency
A technical writing agency is an agency that offers other businesses and companies the services of their writers to use technical information to create written content.
The technical writing business is remote.
- Tech blogging business
Another easy to start a tech business in Cyprus is the tech blogging business. The blog will be about the tech world and its opportunities. You can take advantage of the rush in tech to start a tech blog that will focus on one aspect or more of the tech business and even offer affiliate marketing on your blog website.
Benefits of doing business in Cyprus
Below is a list of some benefits of doing or starting a business in Cyprus:
- The location of Cyprus is at the crossroads of these three continents; Asia, Europe and Africa. It has helped with access to potential customers from either of those regions.
- Cyprus has an active tourism industry, so this is beneficial to anyone who starts a business in Cyprus, especially if it relates to tourism.
- Cyprus has a low crime rate compared to most countries in Europe.
- The tax rate of corporations in Cyprus is 12.5 per cent, which is the lowest among all other countries that are members of the European Union.
- Although the primary language spoken in Cyprus is Greek, most inhabitants speak English too, for those business owners who don’t understand the native language.
- Cyprus easily grants Immigration permits to International business owners and investors who meet their requirements.
- Any non-citizen can also get Cyprus citizenship if they meet the criteria.
- Cyprus has a simple standard of life. Therefore, business owners can easily live an affordable lifestyle in Cyprus.
- The government of Cyprus has recently signed a treaty with over fifty countries against the double taxation on the policy set for foreign companies.
- Cyprus allows new businesses to register and incorporate their companies within a short duration of two weeks or less.
Challenges of starting a business
The major challenge of starting a business in Cyprus is the procedures involved in registration.
- The business needs to be approved by the Registrar of Companies.
- You need to have a memorandum and articles of association, which you will submit to the Registrar.
- The business has to register for Value Added Tax under the Ministry of Finance and Social Security contributions under the Ministry of Labour. These processes can take almost a year.
- Construction Permits: The duration of getting a construction permit for a business in Cyprus can take an average of two years.
- Electricity: Getting electricity for businesses in Cyprus is another time-consuming process that can take about eight months. Go through the Electric Authority to get your building connected in Cyprus. The organisation will do a building check and calculate the installation cost before fixing the electricity.
30 profitable small business ideas in Cyprus
- Construction Company
You can start a construction company in Cyprus because it is profitable. The Cyprus government gives entrepreneurs the support to start a construction company. They do this because there is a great need for infrastructure, so the government wants people to invest and develop the private sector.
- Trade industry
The trade industry makes sure that new buildings function right. For example, electricians can contract out their services to construction companies. The trade business is fit anyone who has a particular construction-related skill. Such persons can recruit other skilled persons to work as partners or as employees.
- Construction site management
You can start a logistics business to transport building materials to construction sites or other construction management, such as ensuring that the workers are on schedule or even land surveying.
- Construction Site Cleaning business
The construction site must be safe and free of debris and litter, so there is a need for cleaning services of the site. If you decide to start a construction site cleaning business, you must get the proper cleaning equipment to help.
- Building materials supply
Building materials supply is the retailing of building materials to construction companies. You can buy these materials in bulk or wholesale from any manufacturing company in Cyprus then supply them to construction sites that need such for building. These materials can be cement, gravel, safety gear, and other construction necessities.
- Interior design
Most new buildings need interior decor for their new homes or even offices. If you have the designing skills to plan and decorate interiors, you can start a small interior design business in Cyprus. You can also advertise your business on social media using any interior decor you have done as a reference.
- Landscaping and lawn care
Landscaping is about beautifying the exterior of a building and its outdoor maintenance. It is also a lucrative business in Cyprus. You can decide to focus your business on lawn care and earn money from mowing and weaving lawns. You can offer landscaping services to the new building owners.
- Painting business
The painting business doesn’t focus on one part of a building but on the indoors and outdoors. You can strike a profitable business bargain with the property managers by offering them hire painting services at affordable costs.
- Education consulting business
Education consultancy is a profitable business to start in Cyprus because there are many good universities in Cyprus. Many students from all over the world would like to study there. If you know the universities’ admission processes and other important information, you can start your consulting business to help students.
- Property Rental
Many people in Cyprus need properties to rent for their offices. If you have high capital, you can start this very profitable business in Cyprus by buying properties and leading it out to any interested party for an enormous sum of money and gathering your capital.
- Tourism
The tourism sector in Cyprus is quite active, and many people are raking in high profits. You can choose to start your own tourism business and get paid by tourists or even at other customer service businesses related to tourism like hospitality, bed-and-breakfast, rentals, etc.
- Transportation Business
Transportation is a lucrative business to start in Cyprus. You can go into any form of transportation like water and road as long as you have the financial capability to buy all the things like cars or boats.
- Insurance Brokerage
This business is appropriate for anyone in Cyprus who has undergone training in Insurance. You can decide to start your own insurance brokerage business right in Cyprus and approach business owners or other persons you are familiar with to work with them.
- Clearing and Forwarding Business
Cyprus has connections to prosperous countries in the world by sea because the country is in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Therefore, the shipping market in Cyprus is thriving and has a lot of ports with ships that are importing and exporting goods and materials.
This shipping sector in Cyprus has a lot of potential for entrepreneurs who want to start a business. You can open a shipping logistics store if you have the capital to buy all the resources you need to start your shipping business in Cyprus.
- Souvenir sales
Cyprus has a very active tourism sector, and tourists love to buy souvenirs they can take home to remind them of their trip to Cyprus. If you are skilled, make souvenirs and sell them to tourists. You will make more sales if your souvenirs differ from those people are used to seeing and are innovative enough to attract the attention of interested tourists.
- Language Tutor
The primary language spoken by the natives in Cyprus is Greek. But with the high number of tourists that come to Cyprus, residents and business owners have contact with other foreign languages. These business owners would like to learn foreign languages to communicate better with foreigners and get more customers. If you know one of these languages, you can start a language tutor business in Cyprus and help people master any of these foreign languages.
- Auto Mechanic Workshop
Cypriots use cars and automobiles a lot. These cars need repairs and regular maintenance. If you have some experience doing mechanical repairs, you can start a business as an auto mechanic. You can buy a place for your business or start small by doing the repairs at people’s locations.
- Vacation houses
You can start this business in Cyprus with a well-furnished building for renting to tourists who come for a holiday getaway or a vacation.
- Personal wellness or online trainer
You can start a yoga business, fitness center or massage Spa in Cyprus and put your skills to good use. This business is straightforward to start if you have the financial capacity to furnish your center with the equipment necessary. It also allows working from home as an online trainer to earn at least €70,000 annually. You can invest in creating a website or getting someone to help you with a social media page like Instagram, where you can upload your videos or train your customers through live videos.
- Social media management
Social Media is a platform for marketing and advertising. Social media managers interact with a target audience, create good content and plan promotions. As a social media manager, you can earn hundreds of dollars monthly and more if you work for many clients.
- Writing services
A writer is a person who writes copies of content for businesses to use on their websites or for other purposes. Although there is a lot of competition, companies are still looking for skilled writers to work for them. You can learn more about the skills you will need to be a freelance writer by enrolling in a few affordable online writing courses available to you in Cyprus.
- Virtual assistant
It is for those who have excellent organisation skills and can oversee schedules. You might be required to take calls, set appointments and other services as an administrative assistant. With previous experience, you can earn around €35 per hour. The good thing is there is no need for capital. All you need is a laptop computer and a Wi-Fi or internet connection.
- Proofreading services
Proofreaders are people who have a good grasp of language, grammar, and structure. It is necessary to edit and proofread written content before printing or posting. This business is for people who have a good grasp of grammar and language. Proofreaders can earn around €30 for a 1,000 words article or content. There is also no need for any capital as it is free to start a proofreading service, although you might have to pay for an editing app like Grammarly.
- Sell Stock Photos
The sale of stock photos is a well-paying business you can start in Cyprus.
Many brands, businesses, websites and blogs need the right image to accompany and emphasize their written content. It is expensive to get a photographer to capture the images they need, so they buy from freelance photographers who sell stock photos online.
With the beautiful scenery in Cyprus, you can sell photos you take of this scenery online as a business for yourself. Persons who sell stock photos earn hundreds of dollars on average monthly. All you need to do is sign up on stock photography websites and submit your photos so buyers can contact you to buy anyone they want.
- Sell digital products
Digital products like online courses and books are still fast selling in the world today. You can start selling digital products from wherever you are in Cyprus. To do this, you only need a skill that you can teach. It is an online course or write about to make e-books. You need little money to produce digital products. If it is an online course, buy quality webcams and microphones to make a record of yourself. Some people make thousands of dollars selling digital products, especially e-books.
- Become a blogger
Blogging is still a means to earn money anywhere you are in the world.
A blog is any website containing written content on a particular topic updated regularly. You can start a blogging business in Cyprus if you have writing skills or support your online business. You can earn a lot of money between a few hundred dollars monthly to a million dollars. Starting a blog is free, but if you want to use the blog to earn money, you need to pay some money for web hosting, domain name, and plugins.
- Sell products online
You can sell a large variety of products online. If you have a skill in arts and crafts, you can advertise online for people interested. To sell products online, you will need an e-commerce site like Etsy, Amazon, eBay to post your products for people to see.
Some people also sell on Social Media pages like Instagram shops or Facebook marketplace.
- Online boutique store
This is the sales of clothing items and accessories using social media like Instagram and Facebook as the marketplace. You don’t have to pay money to get a physical store before starting a boutique business in Cyprus. All you have to do is buy the clothing items from wholesalers, advertise them on social media or commerce and get people to buy them.
- Online Translator
The online translator is a good business service to start in Cyprus because there are a lot of international businesses and foreign investors who wish to communicate with their Cypriot business counterparts, but language can be a barrier. If you are proficient in foreign languages, you can work as an online translator or start your agency to translate files and documents for such businesses.
- Drop-shipping online store
Drop-shipping stores do not keep or sell their products from their stock, but they buy from a wholesaler who ships it directly to the customer.
All the seller has to do is advertise images of the product on an e-commerce store or a social media page and get buyers who pay for it. The seller then sends the address information to the wholesaler. And the wholesaler sends it to the customer.
Drop-shipping is a profitable business for people in Cyprus because you don’t have to pay for the cost of shipping the products to where you stay, paying for warehouse or storage space, especially when the product is in large quantity. A popular drop-shipping site is AliExpress drop-shipping, where you can create your store at a cheap price and start your drop-shipping business.