This is one of the few things that doesn't suck in Canada.

In Canada you can easily and quickly obtain a GST number online. Furthermore, if you're self-employed or a small business owner, with a revenue of $30,000 or less, you are classified as a "small supplier", and don't have register and charge/collect GST.

For someone just starting out who will not be a small supplier, I believe the small supplier designation still provides a buffer zone. You can start invoicing immediately and sort out your registration later.

I founded a UG with 2 friends. 7.500 capital, 2.500 each. From that money, we paid the notary. We drafted with chatgpt on our own and presented it to an attorney for review, ~300€. Notary ~1.200€. All in all, we are 1.5 years in, we still have ~3.000 left from that 7.500 capital. Obviously you're doing something wrong

World Bank's Easy of Doing Business description is much less dramatic: https://archive.doingbusiness.org/en/data/exploreeconomies/g...

But I know for a fact that these ratings are pure crap. I asked them to fix the entry for Belgium once, and they replied that they trust the officials providing the info even though I sent the references to the legislation.

Wild that they had to pay >€1500 to have documents notarized. This costs USD$25 here in the US and can be done online (not sure if incorporation documents count).

The last paragraph is very important to the story. His setup is essentially a shell company which add complexity. Setting up a UG is very easy, needs little capital and is especially created for one-person-companies. Additionally he is able to send invoices, just not internationally. I have a feeling setting up this corporate structure and registering it internationally would also not be done instantly in other countries.

Europe has lots of issues with companies. It's not just Germany.

And the EU knows, hopefully it will improve the situation: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/03/18/48-hours-and-1...

We outsourced it for 2.5k (extra) and it was still painful, took almost 2 months and worst of all wasted so much time and focus.

The worst was sitting at the notary, and getting read out loud by her what we were about to sign (also paying for that).

If you think about starting a company, spend some time to think through what it would mean for you to be a Delaware C Corp or an Estoinian one. It will increase your chances of success as you can focus on what matters.

To me, this post reads like Claude wrote it. It has that cadence of staccato, fragments, repetition, punchlines to counterbalance previous AI writing styles. I’m wondering if it’s because it was translated or if it is just AI generated writing.

Skill issue?

I seriously don't know what you people are doing. I've set up companies in Germany, the US, Brazil and Mexico.

The US was BY FAR, the most enjoyable experience. Won't say anything else. It was a breeze! But Germany wasn't as bad as people make it sometimes. Just don't go with a super complicated, overengineered setup and you are up and running almost instantly. Better won't mention Brazil, though.

If you have the resources, get some QUALIFIED lawyer/notary on board and it'll all be super chill and quick. And if you're just getting started, just do a sole proprietorship as you get started (and you can start working pretty much on the same day), and have the GmbH setup process run on the side.

Running the business is the hard part!

I feel your pain -- I gave up (in Austria). The best thing that happened to me was that it took so long to get incorporated that I had time to talk to people about what happens next (e.g. annual filing, need for accountants even if revenue is still zero, etc.). So I consider the sunk cost a valuable 4,000 Euro learning experience, and I won't try to repeat it:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48325340#48336339