Editor’s Note: Going Global showcases entrepreneurs taking their businesses around the world, tackling issues like business strategy, marketing and international logistics.
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The World Bank's annual "Doing Business" report ranks countries and territories for how easy it is to run a company there
The ranking looks at how many steps it takes and how much capital is required
New Zealand is said to be the easiest place to start a company
The World Bank’s most recent report that ranks economies for ease of doing business has found New Zealand to be the easiest place to start a small and medium-sized enterprise.
The rankings look at 185 economies around the world.
In measuring how easy it is to start a limited liability company, the report looks at how many steps are officially required or commonly done by entrepreneurs, as well as how many days it takes to go through those procedures.
The report also factors in the cost and the minimum capital required, with 0% of income per capita being best.
In New Zealand, it takes only one step and one day, the ideal number, to incorporate a company. Someone who wants to open a business just has to apply for registration online.
According to the report, the process costs 163.55 New Zealand dollars (US$129) and does not have a minimum capital requirement.
By contrast, the U.S. ranks 13, needing six steps in order to start a business with no minimum capital. The report based the U.S. statistics on requirements in New York City, as it used the largest business city of each country it studied.
