Best countries for startups • Hacker News Board

Re: Best countries for startups

#21

Post by run4yourlives » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 6:56 PM UTC

tom_rath wrote: post #20

davidw wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not sure what their definition of "Starting a business" Starting some sort of limited liability company that is its own legal entity, is my guess.

And that's a breeze in Canada. Starting from a position of complete ignorance, I had everything finalized in a day and only had to leave my home to get a document notarized by a lawyer around the corner. Total out-of-pocket was around $200. If you are Canadian and want to start a business, you can find everything you need on starting (and running) a corporation here: http://www.ic.gc.ca/cgi-bin/sc_mrksv/corpdir/corpF…

See, that's my issue. You started a corporation, which of course is a business, but a business in Canada is not always a corporation. A sole proprietorship is a perfectly valid legal entity, although without the limited liability aspect.

Re: Best countries for startups

#22

Post by laut » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 7:16 PM UTC

erictobia wrote: post #7

Any (non U.S.) folks with startups in the countries on this list? Is the article consistent with your experience?

I moved out of Denmark. If a Danish company sells something to consumers it has to charge 25% VAT, even if those consumers live somewhere else. Living costs are high. Corporate tax rate has been lowered, but pretty much all the other taxes are higher than USA for instance. Taking money out of the company costs you more tax. Very high personal income tax.

If you buy a USD $2500 computer you can't deduct the expense immediately. Or if you just buy a printer and that plus the computer you use the printer with is more than the limit of around $2000, you can't deduct it from your taxes immediately.

It's true that the paperwork for starting a business is pretty quick and easy. But for a LLC or Corp. type of business structure you need to put a minimum of DKK 125K (about USD $25K) in the business.

Re: Best countries for startups

#23

Post by cesther » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 7:29 PM UTC

Don't rely on the CNN piece, they have paraphrased the bugger out of the original report. [ http://www.doingbusiness.org ]

For instance there there significant differences between the US and NZ on labour issues, within the report US is rated 1, NZ - 14.

Whereas CNN says:

"As in the U.S. and Hong Kong, hiring and firing is relatively easy to do in New Zealand, with no mandated penalties, notice or severance payments for fired workers"

If yr really keen to discover more: http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz/

Re: Best countries for startups

#24

Post by CFS » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 9:25 PM UTC

tom_rath wrote: post #15

axod wrote: post #9

"It only takes 24 hours to set up a business in New Zealand, the speediest start-up time in the world." How many companies do you need to setup???

Only one, but if it takes a filing cabinet of paperwork, three bribes, a $20k processing fee and a four-month wait after personally visiting the application centre 200 miles away, you'll be unlikely to start that business. The time and resources required for incorporation are a good metric, but since the difference in the top-ten is only a matter of hours it looks trivial. In far too many nations, it's not.

That's is not true that NZ is the fastest. In Australia it is about 5 mins to get a 'business' and about 40 mins to complete tax registration.

1. You do not require ANYTHING to start a business in Australia

2. There are three main types of 'business structures' in Australia

a) Sole Trader - NO PAPERWORK IS REQUIRED but most people register a name so they can get a bank account in their business name eg Fred's Flowers

Time: 5 mins Cost: $142 About half of all businesses are sole traders.

b)Proprietary Limited company Fred's Flowers Pty Ltd (similar to a US Inc)

To create a Proprietary Limited requires at least 1 shareholder and 1 share and 1 director.

Pty Ltd are legal entities that account for about half of all business in Australia.

Time: 5 mins Cost: $400

3. Limited companies. Fred's Flowers Ltd These are large companies, often listed on the stock exchange. I own and control an unlisted public company but we will be listed in a few months.

As much as I like our Kiwi cousins, it is not the 2nd best place to start a business in the world.

The methodology is deeply flawed to the point of nonsense.