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I had my first LLC in grade school over a summer. I didn’t make a ton of money, but I did earn enough for my first real computer, which launched my interest in
by bouncing 2y ago
I had my first LLC in grade school over a summer. I didn’t make a ton of money, but I did earn enough for my first real computer, which launched my interest in programming.
When my wife started her current business as a consultant, she was living off her savings from teaching high school. If you think every entrepreneur has €25k of capital, you need to reevaluate what your country thinks of entrepreneurship.
- Scarblac 2y agoWhy did that need limited liability though? In Germany you'd just become an entrepreneur with a simpler company type without limited liability.
- bouncing 2y agoSo your liability is limited. That’s like asking why you need a seatbelt. You can get the simple company type (disregarded entity) and all the advantages of limited liability with an LLC.
- paleotrope 2y agoDo you want to take the risk of losing your home just to start a business?
- Scarblac 2y agoMaybe the real difference is that such things might be possible in the US, but sound laughable in Europe? What would you need to mess up to be liable for huge sums as a single consultant company?
- xenospn 2y agoThere’s tax benefits and other business-only products that require a business entity. Imagine if you’re a consultant and for whatever reason, you get sued or worse. That’s what the LLC is for.
- bouncing 2y agoIt’s unlikely you’ll lose it all, but suppose you write a clever app — maybe a cvs editor. Suppose you find out your cvs editor infringes on a patent and you’re liable. Suppose some business suffers data loss and sues. These things do happen in Europe too. Also, it’s just a matter of professionalism. A sole proprietor isn’t very professional and many medium-size businesses won’t do business with sole proprietorships.
- martijnvds 2y agoYou can probably get insurance for that.
- twixfel 2y agoThe UK is in Europe and it is easy to found an LLC. In the UK for example, there is no capital requirement at all. That's a lot les than 25k€.
- upvota 2y ago_Was_ in Europe.
- twixfel 2y agoEurope is a continent. They're not in the EU. If being in the EU is a requirement to be in Europe: that means Switzerland is not in Europe?
- dpassens 2y agoWhat continent did they move to instead?
- upvota 2y agoFair enough - I meant to say: for business reasons, a UK LLC won’t do you much good in terms of hassle free company setup inside the European Union.
- twixfel 2y agoThe discussions is not about setting up an LLC in the EU, but specifically in Germany. Subsequent to that we are comparing this with other developed countries in the world, not all of which are in the EU, which is fine, and does not undermine the comparison.
- rad_gruchalski 2y agoWhere did they move to? I heard something about them leaving the EU, but Europe?
- nolist_policy 2y agoPersonal insolvency sucks, but you won't actually loose your home here in Germany.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago> Personal insolvency sucks, but you won't actually loose your home here in Germany Germany insolvency can take a decade, make getting a flat or even keeping your bank account a challenge and rarely results in debt relief to boot [1]. [1] http://www.privatinsolvenz-hilfe.org/en/german-bankruptcy-law.html http://www.privatinsolvenz-hilfe.org/en/german-bankruptcy-la...
- nolist_policy 2y agoYou couldn't have found a shadier source pushing FUD, if you tried to.
- rad_gruchalski 2y agoWhich does not change the fact that the process takes a decade.
- yau8edq12i 2y agoAs explained in the article, if you don't have 25k€ of capital, then you open an Einzelunternehmen (sole proprietorship), not a GmbH (LLC). It's a much simpler process.
- bouncing 2y agoThere are a lot of reasons not to form a sole proprietorship. You have personal liability, for one.
- tdullien 2y agoA GmbH is not like an LLC, it's more like a Delaware C-Corp. People forget this all the time.
- ufocia 2y agoWhy Delaware?
- novaRom 2y agoDelaware is a popular state for incorporation in the United States due to its favorable corporate laws and established legal precedents. A C-Corporation (C-Corp) is a type of business structure that is a separate legal entity from its owners (shareholders). Shareholders have limited liability, and the corporation itself pays taxes on its profits. This is different from an LLC, where the owners report the profits and losses on their individual tax returns.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- pantalaimon 2y agoYou can also create an UG (haftungsbeschränkt) which is basically a GmbH with the 25k€ requirement removed. The only drawback is that this can make the operation look less trustworthy, depending on whom you are dealing with. If you are selling Hot Dogs, nobody will bat an eye if it’s a UG, but if you apply for a big software contract, people might be wary.