10 Steps to finance a business start-up: planning is everything!

Without capital you can be the best Idea not put into practice, therefore, a detailed financial plan provides the basis for your Projects But it is also important to think about taxes so that there is no risk of bankruptcy!

Business plan & Co: Many formalities for founders

Business plan draw up, registration with the tax and trade office and take care of the financing – Business start is not a walk. Around 450 Ask Young entrepreneurs have to answer 20 different questionnaires.

Often enough, the same or easy varying data for the financial administration, social insurance, the professional associations, the employment agency and for a large number of authorities and institutions are specified and recorded. Too much effort, which ultimately deters many people who want to found a company.

Annoying formality for founders?

For many start-ups, the business plan is just an annoying formality on the way to financing. But that doesn't have to be the case: Because such a plan offers the opportunity to base your own business idea on strengths and weaknesses tap into it, reconsider the marketing strategy and the financing.

But the best business idea is of no use if it cannot be implemented due to lack of funding. This is exactly where many start-ups fail. But that need not be. Properly prepared for the credit discussion and knowing what is important can convince the bank employee - provided, of course, the business idea is good.

1. Cost planning

Dabei to plan Not only for yourself, you also have to convince potential investors of your business plan. You need an exact one for your business plan Turnover– and revenue planning, consisting of the components cost planning, sales planning, profitability forecast and liquidity plan.

Crucial to yours Success is the total amount incurred Costs. Any personnel costs that may arise and the imputed entrepreneur's salary – i.e. your own salary – must also be calculated. Remember that you also have your own living expenses to earn must before you continue in your entrepreneurship invest can.

2. Sales planning

The basis of your profitability plan is the turnover. They too must be predicted as accurately as possible. Carefully estimate your potential revenue! Start-ups in particular expect high sales in the beginning.

3. Profitability forecast

A profitability forecast is the comparison of calculated costs and expected income. The profitability forecast is usually prepared for a period of at least three years.

4. Liquidity planning

Precise liquidity planning can be used to calculate whether you will have sufficient funds in the coming months Money available to pay outstanding bills and continue working.

5. Funding opportunities

Office equipment, computer, fax machine, printer and simple business equipment with business cards, stationery and Business-Homepage: The list of necessary investments is long.

A part of this expenditure can certainly be raised with equity. In many cases, however, larger investments are also required. Public subsidy programs such as those of the employment agency, the federal government or the states can also be used for this purpose. In addition to start-up grants, the KfW Mittelstandsbank, for example, offers cheap loans for entrepreneurs.

6. Equity

In the best case, the founder has equity, because no regular income is to be expected in the start-up phase. For this reason, an entrepreneur should always have a monthly salary on the high edge in order to react to revenue losses.

Otherwise you risk your liquidity. In addition, equity is a criterion of creditworthiness: In negotiations with lenders, the amount of available equity plays a crucial role. Tip: A founder should be able to cover at least 15 percent - ideally 30 percent - of the total financing requirement through equity capital.

7. Debt capital

In the case of a larger financing requirement, it is usually not possible to have borrowed capital. Depending on the runtime, there are different possibilities:

• Current account credit: In the short term, you can cover your financing requirements by means of current bank overdraft over the current business account (current account). Advantage: The processing runs fast and uncomplicated. Disadvantage: Comparatively high interest rates are incurred.
• Loans: In the medium and long term, you can ensure your capital requirements through a bank loan. Before you consult your house bank, however, you should check whether public funding programs are suitable for you. In case of doubt you should have a business start-up consultant. This is not only an advisory service, but also accompanies you during bank talks.

8. Choosing the right account

Founders can also save a lot with the right checking account and the right bank. So my old account, which is only free with a certain monthly payment, was more than impractical for me as a self-employed person, because the money does not flow in regular installments but mostly at once (e.g. quarterly or project-wise).

Of course, such an account change is not a small step, because I had to do everything customers and let everyone know who wants money from me - that's usually a few more for the self-employed than for employees. But there are better, not to say free, offers. This also applies to the self-employed, who shouldn’t be unsettled by the banks’ “You can only open one business account” babble (that’s not true!), but of course the banks want to earn extra money from business customers. After much deliberation, it was done far and far faster and easier than expected. So: Check options!

9. Pay attention to the tax

An important aspect that should also be included in financial planning is the tax: What exactly should you pay attention to? In addition to more complicated types of tax, such as trade or corporation tax, there are two types of tax that affect almost all self-employed people right from the start.

Income tax: completely or not at all

The income tax is paid on the profit. Profit means: sales minus operating expenses. Operating expenses are costs that arise in connection with self-employment. Important: the respective expenditure must be professional and not private. Running costs - “completely or not at all”: The home office, which is half a guest room, may not be sold half, but not at all.

The following also applies to a business trip plus vacation: If you cannot separate private and professional costs, you have to bear the entire travel costs privately. In the case of mixed use, the proportion of professional use is recognized as a business expense by the faults of cars, telephones and PCs. Different with long-term purchases:

The costs can be deducted if it can be demonstrated that more than 10% of them are used for professional purposes. In the case of private use, however, a corresponding amount must be booked as operating income.

How does that work with sales tax or VAT?

As a consumer, you know them Value added tax as a nuisance when shopping: you have to pay sales tax on everything you buy in addition to the purchase price - and that always makes your purchase more expensive by the corresponding amount. As an entrepreneur, however, it is different: You are not only allowed to pass on the sales tax to your customers, but also keep the input tax that you paid for your goods and work equipment yourself.

From the value added tax that goes to the tax office, you can deduct the entire value added tax from the operating expenses. This amount is the input tax. It is advantageous if you can deduct the input tax as a lump sum. For everyone else, the input tax calculation is quite tedious: At the end of the year, you have to calculate the VAT paid out individually from all your expense receipts. So that this does not become too complicated, one should Accounting Separate all expenses into two columns by net amount and VAT from the start. The following applies: VAT is only included where VAT is written on it. No input tax can be deducted from receipts on which neither a VAT rate nor the VAT amount is stated. Since 2004, input tax deduction has only been permitted for invoices that meet the requirements of the Value Added Tax Act. As a rule, no input tax may be deducted from emergency receipts either. And this is exactly how it works:

• As an entrepreneur, you not only show the purchase price on your invoices, but also the sales tax., The sales tax that you receive from your customers in this way is then passed on to the tax office.
• Only if you, as a small business owner, are exempt from VAT, your customers do not have to pay VAT. However, you are not allowed to show them on your invoices or to withhold input tax.
• Reduced sales tax: There are some goods and services for which only a reduced tax rate of seven percent has to be collected and paid. This reduced tax rate applies, for example, to the granting, transfer and management of copyrighted works or to the transportation of people by rail within a municipality.
• Obligation to the tax rate: Which goods and services have to be billed at which tax rate is, by the way, precisely defined by law: The VAT reduction is not an optional service: If you enter an incorrect tax rate, even if it is by mistake, and this during a tax audit is determined, you may still have to correct invoices after years.

10. Attention bankruptcy

Financial planning also includes the possibility of bankruptcy. Because thanks to the complicated tax law, this is faster than one would like. The new regulation of the insolvency proceedings brought at least the simplification of the insolvency proceedings for consumers, a regulation for the insolvency consolidation of license agreements and a strengthening of the creditor position in the insolvency proceedings.

If you actually go bankrupt, you need an insolvency administrator. As a rule, only lawyers and authorized public and private bodies and persons are permitted to provide such legal advice in accordance with the Legal Advice Act. Other private Schulden-, insolvency or financial advisors are not authorized to do so and cannot also demand remuneration for this.

A financial advisor may only initiate insolvency proceedings if he is authorized to do so under the Legal Advice Act. That was decided by the Coburg Regional Court. In one specific case, a financial advisor had conducted preparatory negotiations for insolvency proceedings, in which the legal side, not the economic side, was in the foreground, as the priority was to initiate the relevant legal proceedings. However, the financial service provider was not authorized to do this and therefore had to repay his fee.

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