Hungary or Czech Republic, which one do you prefer for business?

[pornhead]

If you needed to open an office and you had to choose between Hungary and Czech Republic, which one would you choose and why?

I'm not shooting content. For me the most important criteria is:

- cost of renting an office
- cost of hiring employees
- taxes
- adult friendly jurisdiction, law enforcement, politics

wikipedia.org:

Hungary:
GDP (PPP) per capita $18,566
GDP (nominal) per capita $12,926

Czech Republic:
GDP (PPP) per capita $24,093
GDP (nominal) per capita $18,557

[MaDalton]

cant say much about hungary - CZ is ok - nevertheless lots of bureaucracy in these countries. might also consider slovakia, they have a flat tax for everything and have already the euro. converting into czech currency has cost us a lot of money and hungary is even worse.

[pornhead]

Originally Posted by pornhead

I'm not shooting content.

I'll be buying content, though.

Originally Posted by MaDalton

cant say much about hungary - CZ is ok - nevertheless lots of bureaucracy in these countries. might also consider slovakia, they have a flat tax for everything and have already the euro. converting into czech currency has cost us a lot of money and hungary is even worse.

thanks for the info. I pay in USD. Btw I checked your content, amazingcontent is on my shopping list

[MaDalton]

full time employee in CZ you can get for about $1000-$1200 incl. taxes

office depends of course on size and location - but avoid Prague center, everything costs much more there. Brno is about 30% cheaper and less stressful

[MaDalton]

btw - you can't pay them in USD when you hire them - but in general it's probably better to hire freelancers anyways. my personal experience

[klinton]

Poland ?
cheaper than Czech for sure...

[Klen]

Czech republic all the time.

[Sid70]

Slovakia. If Canada fails me im considering Slovakia.

[Fido]

Originally Posted by klinton

Poland ?
cheaper than Czech for sure...

What exactly is cheaper?

[klinton]

Originally Posted by Fido

What exactly is cheaper?

i guess most of the things except beer in pubs...

starting from gasoline = cheaper 15 % in Poland....

[iv@n]

Originally Posted by Adultmix

Slovakia. If Canada fails me im considering Slovakia.

that's funny, i'm thinking about moving to Canada from Slovakia What do you like in SK?

[alsdesign]

I'm from Slovakia, but now I live mostly in Prague. I agree with MaDalton, currency is pretty crucial - in Czech republic you have additional factor to conversion, which is Czech crowns. USD is doing bad, but with Czech currency, there is additional economical & political factor.

Adult friendly jurisdiction - I think it's not as "mature" as in some other EU countries, there are gaps in laws or some mis-interpretations, especially for content companies. For that you better ask MaDalton or Paul Markham.

Still, true is there are tons of companies here Czech/Slovak republic, ranging from content provider to designers like myself. For example, one of very well known adult design companies resides in Slovakia (I know the owner - cool guy, we started in the same company back in the days).

As for salaries, well ... You get you what you pay for. In bigger cities it can easily reach EU levels. In my case, when I'm working on a big / complicated project and I need a programmer I pay him $15- 25 / hour.

[2intense]

none of them

[alsdesign]

Originally Posted by iv@n

that's funny, i'm thinking about moving to Canada from Slovakia What do you like in SK?

What do I like about Czech / Slovak Republic? Let me think...

Sexy girls! Try walking in some city center or pedestrian zone, your head will be spinning like a radar

Mountains - though it's not Canada, they are beautiful.

Geographical position - big cities are close. If you live in Bratislava (which is by now more expensive than Prague) then Budapest is like 200km, Vienna 80 km and Prague 300km.

[MaDalton]

Originally Posted by alsdesign

Geographical position - big cities are close. If you live in Bratislava (which is by now more expensive than Prague) then Budapest is like 200km, Vienna 80 km and Prague 300km.

and Brno 120 km


btw - i have honestly no clue if there are any laws for or against porn in CZ - but it has never been an issue. And we always had more problems with banks, landlords etc. cause we're foreigners, not cause we shoot porn.

[Loch]

Can we have a 3rd choice?
I was in the CZ for a few years and its HELL

I would have crawled out naked had that been the only choice

Sure, beautiful woman if you are into the completely braindead and useless kind that you are worried about taking to even a moderately upscale restaurent as she most likely will steal the silverware....or say something completely stupid

[Roby]

Czech Republick !

[alsdesign]

Sure, beautiful woman if you are into the completely braindead and useless kind that you are worried about taking to even a moderately upscale restaurent as she most likely will steal the silverware....or say something completely stupid

Sure, if you pickup a girl in a "gold-diger" kinda bar or club, that could be the result. If you say all beautiful girls here are stupid you either met the worst "samples" possible (then you have reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally bad luck) or you have no idea.

You can't expect to talk about Niche with a hooker

[alsdesign]

btw - i have honestly no clue if there are any laws for or against porn in CZ - but it has never been an issue. And we always had more problems with banks, landlords etc. cause we're foreigners, not cause we shoot porn.

I agree and expect much worse in Slovakia regarding problems with ordinary people knowing you shoot porn. Catholic church in Slovakia is much stronger compared to Czech republic.

I recall a case when one of Slovak bishops started heavy agenda against Black Sabbath concert, arguing they are pushing satanism. Well, it was like 10 years back, but the influence of religion is still too strong for my taste. It seems like people are afraid to be themselves, because they were brainwashed by the church. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Christianism, I just really don't like what church does to it and and how it enforces ordinary people to be anything but hypocrites with no sense of independence.

[MaDalton]

Originally Posted by Loch

Can we have a 3rd choice?
I was in the CZ for a few years and its HELL

I would have crawled out naked had that been the only choice

Sure, beautiful woman if you are into the completely braindead and useless kind that you are worried about taking to even a moderately upscale restaurent as she most likely will steal the silverware....or say something completely stupid

dude, you obviously dealt with the wrong people. or maybe try to blend in more than behave like a spoiled kid and let locals feel your arrogance. i have no problems here - at least not more or less than i had back in germany.

Originally Posted by alsdesign

I agree and expect much worse in Slovakia regarding problems with ordinary people knowing you shoot porn. Catholic church in Slovakia is much stronger compared to Czech republic.

I recall a case when one of Slovak bishops started heavy agenda against Black Sabbath concert, arguing they are pushing satanism. Well, it was like 10 years back, but the influence of religion is still too strong for my taste. It seems like people are afraid to be themselves, because they were brainwashed by the church. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Christianism, I just really don't like what church does to it and and how it enforces ordinary people to be anything but hypocrites with no sense of independence.

ok, if you think that is bad try Poland - lol. so many hot girls but NONE of them wants to shoot porn. the catholic church in Poland is worse than the muslims in Iran

[a2000]

1. Hungary
2. Hungary
3. Czech Republic
4 both same maybe a bit better is Czech

[SpicyM]

Originally Posted by alsdesign

What do I like about Czech / Slovak Republic? Let me think...

Sexy girls! Try walking in some city center or pedestrian zone, your head will be spinning like a radar

They are nice, its true.. but they are also stupid, conceited, proud + mostly gold miners.

Originally Posted by alsdesign

Geographical positionIf you live in Bratislava (which is by now more expensive than Prague)

LoL... I had a cup of Czech beer in Prague a year ago, I will never forget. It was an average bar in the center.. I think it costed me 100 czk. I have never drunk that expensive beer in Bratislava and I am there every day. Same for coffee and other drinks.

Prague is not cheaper, no fuckin way.

[GregE]

Interesting thread.

What about the Baltic countries, i.e Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania?

Same questions:

- cost of renting an office
- cost of hiring employees
- taxes
- adult friendly jurisdiction, law enforcement, politics
- girls willing to do porn

And what the hell, how's the beer up there?

[alsdesign]

Originally Posted by SpicyM

LoL... I had a cup of Czech beer in Prague a year ago, I will never forget. It was an average bar in the center.. I think it costed me 100 czk. I have never drunk that expensive beer in Bratislava and I am there every day. Same for coffee and other drinks.

Prague is not cheaper, no fuckin way.

Certain clubs / bars / restaurants in the Prague center are known to charge more noticing foreign tourists. Shameful, but it happens every now and then. It was even worse with taxi drivers in past, so now always ask for price before you get in (40 Czk/km is a regulated top I think).

Regarding Prague being less expensive than Bratislava, I was talking also about prices of apartments / houses / services. Bratislava is expanding rapidly as corporations are expanding towards East. Actually the wave is already leaving Slovakia's working power is "too expensive" (ridiculous) and heading to Ukraine / Romania. At least that was the situation 3-4 months ago, maybe it changed since.

[GregE]

Originally Posted by Loch

Sure, beautiful woman if you are into the completely braindead and useless kind that you are worried about taking to even a moderately upscale restaurent as she most likely will steal the silverware....or say something completely stupid

Maybe you would have had better luck if you went after regular girls instead of strippers.

[fatfoo]

Choose lowest expense and highest revenue for maximum profit.

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by Loch

Sure, beautiful woman if you are into the completely braindead and useless kind that you are worried about taking to even a moderately upscale restaurent as she most likely will steal the silverware....or say something completely stupid

you sure you werren't in LA???

[Matyko]

almost the same. if i were you, i either pick Prague, or not the capital city in hungary.
here, @ Kecskemet, Hungary I rent office for like $250/m. Emloyee costs me $800 with all taxes, etc. Our taxes are fucking very high, you need a good accountant to earn money.
Good luck! And let me know if i can help you with anything.

[Matyko]

Weed is ~legal in CZ.
Beer is top notch in CZ.
Best chicks are in HU.
If you're looking for low taxes, you'll settle in SK.

[Paul Markham]

Czech every time. I find Hungary very depressing, the people there always seem to be after a fast buck. It was like that here in Czech but it quickly changed.

Brno is way cheaper then Prague but quieter if you want a good night life. Rents are cheap if you look around, staff well priced but you need to sort out the workers from the shirkers. Getting rid of them if they're full time is a pain and expensive, so go freelance if you can.

Also Brno is a University city so getting students to work part time is possible. We built and ran our first site with students and it worked fine.

Few here care if you do Adult, especially if you run sites. Or even shoot. I was amazed at the attitude coming here from London.

Hit me up if you need any help. You might need an assistant who speaks good English and Czech to help you through the admin/tax/legal situations. Eva has done it all before. LOL

[Matyko]

Originally Posted by Paul Markham

Czech every time. I find Hungary very depressing, the people there always seem to be after a fast buck. It was like that here in Czech but it quickly changed.

I can confirm this, no one complains more than the hungarians. very fucking annoying and depressing.. i hope this will change very quickly here soon, however i see no sign of this at all..

[thesun12]

forget hungary. the business there is sux. big one.
and i can agree with Matyko:

Weed is ~legal in CZ.
Beer is top notch in CZ.
Best chicks are in HU.
If you're looking for low taxes, you'll settle in SK.

[alsdesign]

Originally Posted by Matyko

Weed is ~legal in CZ.
Beer is top notch in CZ.
Best chicks are in HU.
If you're looking for low taxes, you'll settle in SK.

I would check your facts about weed - believe me it's not 100% completely legal. I don't know more in detail, but I know a cop can still bust you for a small amount.

[Slutboat]

[thunder99]

Can't speak about Czech Republic, but I'd avoid Hungary at all costs.
If you want to do things legally, there's too much stupid paperwork and the biggest crooks of all here are accountants and solicitors.

It might be OK, if you just provide a service here, but forget making any profit in the country.

[alsdesign]

I'm surprised hearing Hungary sucks as a company base. 2 years ago I was considering to move to Budapest, instead of Prague, because I'm half Hungarian (from mother's side). Never had any problems with people there, but then it's different, cause I can speak their language and thus they don't treat me like a foreigner.

Anyway, I'm surprised about what you said about their working mentality. Does this apply to Budapest only?

[Matyko]

Originally Posted by thunder99

Can't speak about Czech Republic, but I'd avoid Hungary at all costs.
If you want to do things legally, there's too much stupid paperwork and the biggest crooks of all here are accountants and solicitors.

It might be OK, if you just provide a service here, but forget making any profit in the country.

Wow, another hungarian i was thinking i am alone here.. i mean, except for the AWE crew. :P

Originally Posted by alsdesign

I'm surprised hearing Hungary sucks as a company base. 2 years ago I was considering to move to Budapest, instead of Prague, because I'm half Hungarian (from mother's side). Never had any problems with people there, but then it's different, cause I can speak their language and thus they don't treat me like a foreigner.

Anyway, I'm surprised about what you said about their working mentality. Does this apply to Budapest only?

Hungary sucks because of crazy taxes and paperwork and if they local IRS called APEH wants to fuck you, they will. The paperwork is so complicated that its impossible to not make at least small mistakes. 10mill country w 20-30k accounting services/accountants!!!! Crazyyyy...

As a young hippy I loved Budapest, but as a parent I fucking hate it and left it 3 years ago. That was a very good decision, now I am living ~90km from capital city, in a 100k city [Kecskemet]. The people are much nicer, wages are way lower and you can find skilled and hard working manpower.

So working morals/mentality is not the problem. People here are the biggest whiners /crybabies ever and its fucking annoying and makes you depressed slowly.. This is the result of bad politics since we have democracy: nobody told ppl that the system change doesn't mean we'll have a GDP like Austria within a few years, but we have to work hard for a few decades to get only closer to it...

We haven't mentioned Romania so far, I must tell you I am surprised how good the young fellows speak english.

Bottom line: its a good idea to bring your biz to mid/east EU.

[klinton]

Originally Posted by MaDalton

ok, if you think that is bad try Poland - lol. so many hot girls but NONE of them wants to shoot porn. the catholic church in Poland is worse than the muslims in Iran

heh maybe...but I'm not catholic, my friends neither, we don't give a f... what church says (unless it's something WISE, but then i don't look who says that anyway)...the truth is (at least from my observations) that people from small cities and villages, especially on the East of Poland are quite strong catholics, but young people and people in bigger cities - no way....

and back to the topic: If i had money, i would choose Spain =)

[tom21220]

I'm from Hungary too, and yes, red tape is really a pain in the ass unless you have a really good accountant (and maybe a lawyer) of course.
Things may get better, but at the moment, I'd choose SK or CZ (or maybe Serbia if the cost of maintaining the office is priority)

[Colette16000]

Great models for shooting in Prague and Brno, they are very professional and work for reasonable rates.

x-art.com

[alsdesign]

Guys, how did the Prague meeting/party go last time? I wanted to attend, but was to tired. Considering coming next time.

[RKLover]

I've had no problems in Praha. beautiful city, good transportation, yes it's expensive in the center. I have Czech friends, go out and do normal events, don't spend all my time and money in the Casino's on Vaclave Nametski or with the girls on it's side streets.

Still, even my Czech friends say the most beautiful woman in the world are from Slovakia.

Sounds like the Tax situation and Expenses are good in Slovakia. You also have an offer of assistance and advice from someone who has already navigated the country. I would jump on that in a heartbeat.