How running a company in Poland stopped being scary

On 1 August 2007 I started my first business. I remember it to this day. I had more enthusiasm than knowledge back then, but one thing I knew for sure: I want to have my own company.

Only back then it really was a challenge. Everything was done on paper. Forms, applications, declarations — the printer worked like crazy, and I ran from window to window, making sure I hadn't accidentally forgotten some attachment. Running a company back then meant contact with offices, visits to ZUS (the Social Insurance Institution) and quite a lot of stress. You had to print every invoice and go to the accountant with the whole pile of papers, who entered them into the system by hand. Sometimes you even brought them on a CD or a flash drive — like in the prehistory of the digital world. That's simply what reality looked like.

But over time it changed. And radically. Tools appeared that allow you to automate accounting, tax declarations, employee administration and all the company paperwork.

Accounting? Today it does itself (almost)

Over the years, tools appeared that revolutionised running a business. The first time I fired up an online accounting system, I had the impression that something wasn't right here. I issued an invoice with one click. I generated a JPK and sent it to the tax office — without leaving home. The system itself reminded me about ZUS and calculated how much I had to pay. What's more, thanks to this automation I handle over 7000 invoices a month — by myself, without the need to employ a full-time accountant or create a finance department. And it costs me literally pennies.

Sounds too good to be true? And yet it's true. If someone had told me in 2007 that I'd be handling thousands of invoices a month without an accountant, I wouldn't have believed it.

For a few years I've been using platforms like Fakturownia, which do most things for me:

• invoices,

• declarations,

• ZUS,

• employee administration,

• annual PIT tax returns,.

I pay just under 30 zł a month and at the same time save dozens of hours every month, which I previously spent filling in documents by hand or consulting an accountant, and I don't have to know the VAT act by heart. Everything works, and I can focus on growing the company, not on filling in paperwork.

I'm surprised that many sole proprietorships still struggle with accountants, instead of spending 10 minutes clicking through it themselves, and doing it better and cheaper.

And registering a company?

I remember how long it took me to register my first business. Today... a dozen or so minutes is enough. You log in to CEIDG with a trusted profile, fill in a simple form and that's it. Even a limited liability company can be set up online, without leaving home, thanks to the S24 system and an electronic signature.

Once you needed a folder of documents — literally. Before I registered the business, I gathered a dozen or so certificates and forms, which took me a good few days. Just arranging an appointment at the office took longer than registering an entire company online today. Now — a web browser and a bit of willingness.

Entrepreneur 2.0

Thanks to digital tools, I'm no longer the guy with a binder and a calculator. I'm an entrepreneur who can act quickly, automatically and without stress. A trusted profile, ePUAP, an e-signature — all of this means that even contact with offices looks different today. I send an application, I get a reply, done. No queues.

And what about the officials?

Well — here too a huge change has taken place. There's an opinion that contact with offices is a journey through torment, full of indifference and bureaucracy. But my reality looks completely different.

Over all these years I had many contacts with officials — both at ZUS and at the tax offices. And in the vast majority of cases I came across competent, helpful and friendly people. Yes, it's not a joke. Many times it happened that I got something wrong, didn't fill something in, and the official, instead of "finishing me off" — simply called or wrote an email with information on what to correct. We often sorted it out on the spot, without any drama.

What surprised me most was the situation when I was selling the company. The officials got involved themselves, asked whether everything was right, suggested what was worth doing step by step so that the whole process went quickly and correctly.

These are no longer the times of the "lady at the window" who sighs at the sight of every petitioner. These are often people who want to help and really do it. Of course, it all depends on your approach, but if you're polite and prepared — there's a good chance that exactly the same will happen to you.

But the fear remained…

The most interesting thing in all this is that despite all these conveniences, many people are still afraid. Because ZUS, because the tax office, because "paperwork". I was afraid too, but needlessly. The truth is that the biggest challenge today isn't keeping the accounts or registering a business.

The hardest thing is to build something that makes sense. To find customers. To get a handle on the market. And not to burn out along the way.

Finally

If you're thinking about starting a company and you're afraid of what was scary in 2007 — you can breathe easy. Today running a business is simpler than ever. I started back when everything had to be done by hand. You can start in times when most tasks are done for us by systems.

And seriously — it doesn't hurt, it's fun.

And if you want to automate processes in your company, get in touch with me.