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Comment by rad_gruchalski | Hacker News Reader

> But the process should be clear for all those who take part and so much stuff in Germany is not even clear to native speakers, and I don't even mean legal contracts

Is it that much different in English speaking countries? There’s a reason why whenever a legal matter pops up people say “consult a lawyer”.

In Germany all proceedings will be held in German. But you can represent yourself everywhere without speaking German assuming that you have a sworn translator with you. That will cost you probably around €200/hour.

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Having started three companies in the UK, I have never required a lawyer nor have I advised many of the people who've asked about to get one. The process is extremely straightforward and fast, which obviously helps in making it easy to understand. Currently thinking about starting a company in Germany but the bureaucracy here feels bloated and protectionist rather than lean and facilitating. Like a massive overpriced American Ivy League university. If a company is so hard to start for people who don't know how to start a company, it's not exactly encouraging people to take a risk on a cool idea they have, is it?

Complex entry processes favour incumbents, it sucks.

You can entirely start a UG without ever seeing a lawyer and the fees are low, as long as you stick to the standard contracts available. You have to see a notary, though. A lawyer is important if you want to have complicated arrangements between the shareholders - they would essentially write your company charter.

The complicated part about having a limited liability company is that it requires double accounting and strict separation between your personal and the company property and that your books must be testified by an accountant. So you’ll need a tax accountant.

Minor note: having formed a British Ltd, I can tell you that some things are much more confusing for foreigners than you might expect. And some are outright hilariously bad. I could not negotiate a health insurance for our British employees since the insurance folks are not allowed to talk to foreigners - something something personal data something. Yes, I tried multiple companies.

The personal data rules in the UK are essentially the same as those in the EU, but with a huge exemption for "insurance purposes". So it's unlikely that there is a systematic data protection roadblock in the UK that you wouldn't encounter elsewhere in Europe. I can't think what rule you're referring to, so I suspect there was a misunderstanding, perhaps unique either to the company/broker you were dealing with, or unique to you.

I tried multiple companies, and I’m a pretty normal German resident. They all said they’re not allowed to talk about insurance matters with people not residing in the UK. So we basically ended up having a UK person relay all communication, since that is apparently fine.

> Currently thinking about starting a company in Germany

I would advise against doing it. You will regret it at every step of the way. Save yourself a million headaches (and euros) and go to Ireland or some other EU country with more respect for entrepreneurs. In Germany you'll just end up feeding the entire endless bureaucracy network that is set up to thrive on the work of other people. Among those being:

- lawyers

- notaries

- tax consultants (this is a big one)

- IHK (useless mandatory organization that takes a piece of your cake)

- Radio and TV tax (they require a tax based on the number of locations or cars that your company operates)

Well, trying to figure out a way around it, which might be to simply run the whole thing from the UK. I'm kinda stuck with Germany, alas.

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