New small business - help!

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
Hello,

I wonder if anyone can help or point me in the right direction. I'm an expat wanting to set up a small business in Geneva selling personalised embroidered hand knitted baby jumpers and cardigans. I'm wondering how best to do this as the easiest option seems to be to set up as a sole proprietorship but I am worried because that puts me at risk of being sued - for example worst case scenario - what if a button comes lose on a cardigan and a child swallows it - whilst I don't anticipate this happening at all - is there a way I can protect myself by some sort of insurance? Or is sole proprietorship not the best option? I am not expecting to make lots of money, this is more of a hobby whilst I look for a full time job. I have a B permit. Also I rent my apartment - do I need permission from the landlord to set up my business or does that depend on whether I set up as a sole proprietorship or not? I wanted to sell online only via a website. Lastly do if my earnings between now and end of March are less than 2300chf do I need to declare it?

Thanks!

2
Sole trader is the way to go, and every business has (or should have) liability insurance, it's not expensive but as long as you don't sell in the US, you're unlikely to get sued for millions for a loose button.

3
Unless you have an EU-B permit you need to check if you are entitled to set up business as a self-employed person.

As for your apartment it depends on what your contract says. And probably how intrusive your activities are on your neighbours - deliveries, stock being left in public areas etc...

Well as you say none of us can judge if that will happen or not. And yes there are insurance options, but whether a company would be willing offer you such a policy and how much it would cost is something you need to talk to the insurance companies to find out.