1
Self-employment
2
Review your business idea
3
Prepare a business plan
4
Financing & public support
5
Business or liberal profession
6
Legal structure
7
Taxes & Accounting
8
Company insurance
9
Social insurance
10
Networks & contacts
Financing and public support
Good financing is important when going self-employed, so as to give the business idea a solid foundation.
You have various options for raising the capital for the start-up phase. The key factor is that it suits you and your business plans. If company founders themselves do not have enough money to provide capital, they can obtain external funding.
A common question is: How much will starting a business cost me? There is no simple answer to this. Every business has its own financing needs, depending on industry, legal structure, and the individually planned business idea. With our finance plan template you yourself can identify your need for capital.
Financing
Loans from your principal bank and public support loans (LfA and KfW promotional banks)
You can apply for a loan from a bank of your choice: your “principal bank” (“Hausbank”). Check out the services and terms offered by various banks. Start-ups can also access public support loans from the LfA and KfW development banks which you can apply for via your principal bank, just like any normal bank loan. For the bank, your business plan is the most important basis for decisions about whether or not to lend you money. It is therefore vital to ensure that you already have a complete, well-prepared business plan with you the first time you visit the bank.
Another important consideration with bank loans: Contact a principal bank and apply for a suitable loan before committing to any financial risks such as signing contracts or purchasing equipment.
Loans from your principal bank
Whether or not you are given a loan depends critically on how the bank rates your creditworthiness (personal skills, economic reliability, future prospects of your start-up) and if the bank sees the nonpayment risk as reasonable. To cover the possibility that you may not be able to repay the loan and the interest charged, banks will ask you to provide collateral.
Equity financing
Equity in the form of venture capital can complement a bank loan or be used as an alternative to it, with partners contributing this venture capital to your activities. They can be private equity companies, venture capital firms or business angels. Business angels are experienced entrepreneurs who provide not only their capital, but also their expertise and networks.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding involves collecting money from a large number of people via an Internet platform to realize business ideas, products or projects.
Mehr Informationen:
IHK Ratgeber: Finanzierung & Förderung
www.ihk-muenchen.deLfA Förderbank Bayern – promotional bank
www.lfa.deKfW Förderbank – promotional bank
www.kfw.deBMWi business start-up portal – Financing
www.existenzgruender.de
Subsidies and grants
There are many forms of financial help available to entrepreneurs. The following list includes only a small selection. Certain requirements must always be met when applying for funding and grants. Make sure to get advice!
- Start-up grant from the Federal Employment Agency
Start-up entrepreneurs who receive unemployment benefit (ALG1) before going self-employed can receive a start-up grant from the Federal Employment Agency (“Gründungszuschuss der Agentur für Arbeit”).
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) for Munich and Upper Bavaria
» www.ihk-muenchen.de - Subsidies for coaching and advice
Start-up entrepreneurs can apply for (pre-)start-up coaching support for the development of business expertise. The coaching support programs contribute subsidies of 50 to 70 percent for management consulting.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) for Munich and Upper Bavaria
» www.ihk-muenchen.de
Institute for Liberal Professions (IFB)
» ifb.uni-erlangen.de - Crowdfunding financing program of the City of Munich
Commercial and freelance entrepreneurs in Munich can be financed up to EUR 3,000. Currently 75 percent of the costs for creative services involved in a crowdfunding campaign are covered, for example costs for videos, graphics, copywriting, PR, social media etc.
» www.muenchen.de/crowdfunding - MunichCrowd: Follow-up financing from the Stadtsparkasse München
Use the successul crowdfunding campaign as a convincing argument for your follow-up financing if you want to start a business as your main source of income.
» www.sskm.de/munichcrowd - Start?Zuschuss! Funding program by the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy
The program is aimed at early stage technology-oriented business start-ups in the field of digitisation. Selected startups can receive funding to cover a maximum of 50 percent of their eligible expenses (up to 36.000 euro).
» www.gruenderland.bayern - High-Tech-sector
Innovative and research-intensive start-ups in high-tech industries can apply for special subsidy and support programs and innovation vouchers for their R&D activities.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) for Munich and Upper Bavaria – Support programs for innovations
» www.ihk-muenchen.de/innovation
Chambers of Skilled Crafts (HWK) for Munich and Upper Bavaria – Support programs
» www.hwk-muenchen.de - Cultural and creative industries
The City of Munich’s Cultural and Creative Industries team provides cultural professionals and creative individuals with free advice and support on self-employment and qualifications, Networks, events and financing, finding studios, rehearsal space and exhibition space as well as assistance with applications and approvals procedures
» www.kreativmuenchen.de - Trade fair participation programs
Support programs of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and of the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry - Federal funding database
A a central source of information on funding programmes at federal, state and EU level.
» www.foerderdatenbank.de - Competitions for startups
Check Munich Startup, the official startup portal for Munich and the surrounding region for selection of competitions.