COSTING FOR STARTING UP A BUSINESS IN SRI LANKA
Starting Salaries (2014): US$150 - $300 for intelligent, educated youngsters who can be trained, add 20% to 50% for staff with prior experience, $400 and above for Management Level Staff.
Office Space: Colombo Central, starting at about $500 for approx. 500 square feet, and up to about $3000 for a large space of 3000-5000 square feet. But this is considerably cheaper if you locate yourself out of the City, even to nearby beach resorts like Negombo.
Employee Sourcing: Still done in Sri Lanka mainly through Newspaper Adverts, fairly expensive as only large ads attract the best staff, try the Sunday Observer Employee Classifieds on Sundays, an ad costing about $200 should suffice. There are also websites offering employee/employer match-ups, some free, and some costing about $30-50, worth a try for internet orientated staff.
Others: High speed internet is available in major cities and beach resorts, Dialog 4G has speeds up to about 40 MBPS and has data restriction of 25 GB for only about $15 per month, and higher capacity plans are available.
Furniture, Computers and other Office Equipment is relatively cheap.
Notes: You would need to check with an immigration lawyer about what type of Visa you will require, because although I don't believe there are any major restrictions on foreigners setting up businesses in Sri Lanka, a Residence Visa will likely require you to be registered with the Board Of Investment, as other types of visas, including "on arrival" visas, can only be extended up to 03 months maximum stay, before you have to leave and re-enter.
