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| And you thought the DMV was bad! |
The permits are expensive! Taxes are ridiculous! I have to offer all my employees budget-busting healthcare plans! It takes two weeks for the inspector to make an appearance! Government just gets in the way! We’ve been wrestling with the FDA for months! Heard any of these complaints lately?
If you think the US is bad, try almost every other country on Earth. In Brazil it takes 119 days to start a new business (i.e. to file the paperwork). In Colombia you can start a business but it can take years to close one (declaring bankruptcy is nearly impossible). In Zanzibar you literally have to bribe policemen just to drive your delivery truck up the road. In Nepal labor strikes paralyze the country almost monthly and electricity goes out multiple times a day. In Ethiopia you’re lucky if your employees actually show up for work (extended, unannounced vacations are common). In Sri Lanka government officials expect large handouts even for aid projects.
Erik Wallin has been exploring the international startup process in a round-the-world entrepreneurship tour. He documents the journey on his blog and recently created the “Time to Start a Business” map on the left from World Bank data (you can check out the raw data here). New Zealand leads the pack with only a single procedure that takes a single day.
Moral of the story? The US-of-A is a fantastic place to be an entrepreneur so stop griping and go create some value!