Only one, but if it takes a filing cabinet of paperwork, three bribes, a $20k processing fee and a four-month wait after personally visiting the application centre 200 miles away, you'll be unlikely to start that business.

The time and resources required for incorporation are a good metric, but since the difference in the top-ten is only a matter of hours it looks trivial. In far too many nations, it's not.

That's is not true that NZ is the fastest. In Australia it is about 5 mins to get a 'business' and about 40 mins to complete tax registration.

1. You do not require ANYTHING to start a business in Australia

2. There are three main types of 'business structures' in Australia

a) Sole Trader - NO PAPERWORK IS REQUIRED but most people register a name so they can get a bank account in their business name eg Fred's Flowers

Time: 5 mins Cost: $142 About half of all businesses are sole traders.

b)Proprietary Limited company Fred's Flowers Pty Ltd (similar to a US Inc)

To create a Proprietary Limited requires at least 1 shareholder and 1 share and 1 director.

Pty Ltd are legal entities that account for about half of all business in Australia.

Time: 5 mins Cost: $400

3. Limited companies. Fred's Flowers Ltd These are large companies, often listed on the stock exchange. I own and control an unlisted public company but we will be listed in a few months.

As much as I like our Kiwi cousins, it is not the 2nd best place to start a business in the world.

The methodology is deeply flawed to the point of nonsense.

When talking with a friend who wanted to start an on-the-side business I was surprised by how concerned he was with the legalities (and how little with marketing).

The value of speed is simplicity. Outside the hacker world, I think there are a lot of people that are simply too scared by even minor legal paperwork to see past it.

yeah I think thats one of the biggest obstacles people need to overcome when deciding on it