Gründung
Setting up a Business in Cologne
We are happy to advise you on questions about founding your business, it’s best when we can base it on your business plan. In doing so we can go into your founding in as much detail as possible.
A business plan describes your services, names the price, describes your prospective clients and how you want to gain them. It itemises your investments, shows how much seed capital you need and many other things. Our brochure
Tips for Creating a Successful Business (German) (PDF-Datei · 2696 KB) will help you. For budgeting, you can use our free
Founding Tool (German).
If you don’t have a business plan or a draft of a business plan feel free to use the
Information Checker for Consultations (German) or the
Business Model Canvas (German) to describe the essentials of your idea. You will be able to develop your business plan from this later if you require a comprehensive consultation or subsidies. Our free online platform
Founding Workshop NRW (German) can also help you create a business plan. There you can structure your business plan and use lots more information and tools.
If more help is required, please visit our free
Founding Compass (German). There are also
enterprise allowances (German) for tailored support provided by business consultants which you can use to cover part of the consulting costs! And if you are looking for the right business consultants for your queries: we also have
tips for searching (German).
If you are not a citizen of the EU, a residence permit allowing self-employment is required. Please contact your local immigration authority.
For further explanations see the bilingual brochure for
starting a business in Germany, courtesy of
IQ-Fachstelle Migrantenökonomie.
Still have questions? Concerning
- Legal trade names for sole proprietors (German)
- Optional entry in the commercial register (German)
- Choice of legal form (German)
- Insurance for the self-employed (German)
- Tax tips and information for the self-employed (German)
And once everything has been done: when registering your business at the business licensing office in your town you will need your ID card or passport – for certain industries you will need permits and evidence. From there, the information goes to the Revenue Office, Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the appropriate employer's liability insurance association and to other institutions without you having to lift a finger.
Please be aware that we are not the only provider on the market. Similar seminars to our “Guide to Successfully Setting up a Business” are offered by e.g. colleges of further education and private institutions. If you want, the advice on further education here can help you or you can do some research in the
databases (German) on our website.