If you are considering setting up in business, you should first check that you are personally in a position to do so.
Self-employed people are either business people (Gewerbetreibender) or members of the liberal professions (Freie Berufe). Different rules apply to the two categories.
Germany’s law on foreigners stipulates the preconditions which must be fulfilled if a non-German is to work in self-employment.
People setting up in business have a lot of questions: Is my business idea feasible? How can I finance the new business? Where should I open the business? To help new start-ups and entrepreneurs, there are therefore various advisory services, most of them free of charge.
Advice from private-sector corporate and new-business consultants costs money. The Federal Government and the Länder therefore run special support programmes to cover some of the costs.
A microenterprise is one which provides a job only for the founder – often not only to start with, but in the long term – and provides income for him or her alone.
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