American Immigrant with Questions About NL Work Culture

Hallo! Ik heb een vraag.

I’m currently living in Germany and really enjoy it—EXCEPT—the bureaucracy and the extreme difficulty to be able to conduct business as a small business owner. It is like pulling teeth to get literally anything done, from the government to electricians to wholesale suppliers. I do speak German, so it’s not that. It’s definitely the culture. It’s getting to the point where I’m considering moving to another country to get away from the unrelenting difficulty to even pay someone to do their job. For example, to do an event, I need to have my electrical equipment (just a simple servo motor, a table lamp, and an extension cord) certified safe by an electrician. Fine. However, getting someone to certify it is apparently a tall order, even if they advertise that they provide this service.

In your experience, is owning a business in NL relatively easy? It doesn’t need to be the easiest ever, but just less constant road blocks. Also, do people like getting paid to do jobs? 😂 I feel like I’m being dramatic, but it’s actually quite maddening here.

Ik spreek al een beetje Nederlands en zou dat natuurlijk vloeiend worden als ik zou verhuizen.

Bedankt!