Employment agency: help with self-employment & bureaucracy

Maybe you had it in mind for a long time and weren't quite sure if and how. Or you can't find a job even after a long search and see it as the last resort - the step into self-employment.

Am I even an “entrepreneur type”?

Starting a business must not be the last “emergency exit” out of unemployment. You need to customers from her Idea convince - and for that you have to be convinced of it yourself.

First you have to start with yourself. As an entrepreneur, things are different than in a permanent position. Make yourself clear, everything that goes with it:

• Self-confidence: You have to be convinced of your own idea and stand behind it - only then can you convince others.
• Willingness to make decisions: Those who have the choice are spoiled for choice – no one tells you what to do anymore.
• Discipline: You always have to force yourself to work, no matter how uncomfortable it is.
• Willingness to take risks: You have no regular income.
• Perseverance: Don't get impatient, especially if things don't go well at first!
• Know-how: From a technical point of view, it makes sense if you already have professional experience or training in this area. Economically and legally, by knowing, among other things: How do I prepare a business plan, who are my customers, how do I advertise, how do I get subsidies or loans, what are the tax and insurance regulations?
• Social environment: You need people who believe in you and will cheer you up even when you have setbacks – or you need a pretty high level of self-confidence. And: As a one-man company, you are pretty much on your own. Office communities can help,
• Meetings with fellow entrepreneurs, professional associations or trade fairs – which are of course also good for business.
• Ability to learn: You need the willingness to continue your education in order to stay up to date, be it in a professional and technical area or with new legal texts.

Also at the Foundation you should pay attention to a few things. First of all: How do you want to found a company? Big or small? Start-up or takeover? Franchising or spin off? As a commercial or in a free Job? The legal form is also important: sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation? What is the difference between GbR and GmbH or OHG and AG? And finally: how much Money Must I invest and do I finance the idea? Detailed answers to these Ask gives you, for example, issue 9 of the professional series, Education, Future on the subject of starting a business: Here you will find numerous Checklists, which you can use to find out if you are good enough to be an entrepreneur, if you are a freelancer or if franchising is right for you. In addition, information is given on all the important areas of starting a business and on other funding and investment opportunities. Further information can also be found directly at the BA and on its website.

Funding opportunities for start-ups

The books on the subject (advertising)

As a business founder, you need money, which you can get not only through bank loans, but also from the state - in various ways. For example from the employment office. The two most important and well-known options: the bridging allowance and the start-up subsidy, better known as Ich-AG. Of course, there are a few catches: You only get both if you receive unemployment benefit I or are entitled to receive it. On the other hand, those who receive unemployment benefit II can receive an entry benefit – this regulation is still relatively new and unknown. If you want to read again what cash benefits you are entitled to, you should look in the chapter "Job gone, what now?". With the bridging allowance, you can become self-employed immediately after a job without having been unemployed in the meantime. And in all cases, there is actually only money if you were not self-employed before the application, either full-time or part-time. That's the law. But there are said to be cases in which the competent authority is definitely a Eye squeezed… Here, too, it is important to have a good relationship with your mediator, consultant or case manager. So remember: always nice and be friendly and show commitment. That alone does not guarantee that the employment office will be accommodating, but it paves the way.

You have to choose between a bridging allowance or a start-up grant decide. Both have advantages and disadvantages. So calculate exactly what is cheaper for you.

If you receive unemployment benefits

Important if you get Alg I: You can only apply for either a bridging allowance or a business start-up subsidy. You have to decide for yourself which is cheaper. If you receive a relatively high unemployment benefit and expect a high profit, the bridging benefit definitely makes more sense. Another advantage: Here you do not have to pay into the state pension insurance. And the fact that your business idea should be checked again by an expert is not a disadvantage either: At least then you know that the plan is viable and you have a reasonable one Concept. If all of this is too bureaucratic for you, you'll probably like Ich-AG better: get the money quickly, no one watches you and if you make a profit of more than _ 25.000 in the first year, you won't get any funding in the second year more. The downside: the state pension scheme, into which you have to pay, eats up part of the subsidy right away.

In both cases, if your idea was a flop, you can simply continue to apply for unemployment benefit I - as long as you are still entitled to it. The entitlement to this expires four years after the date of application. The bridging allowance offers another option: After 24 months, you can submit a new application with a new business idea.

If you receive unemployment benefit II, there has been a new subsidy since January 01.01.2005st, XNUMX. You will then no longer receive an Ich-AG or a start-up subsidy. Your case manager, who knows your individual situation well, may instead, at his or her discretion, grant what is known as an entry grant in the form of a flexible unemployment benefit II subsidy. Incidentally, you can also get this for the initial period of a new job that is subject to social security contributions. Since this idea is still relatively new (originally you should also be able to set up an Ich-AG, for example), not all the details are clearly regulated by law - things may change in the future.

What else you need to consider

Discounts for your success (advertising)!

Then there are many more questions: Is the business idea viable, how draw up You a market analysis and a concept and how does it compare Taxes and insurance from? With such details they are Employees The BA is often overwhelmed, but they can still provide you with a lot of additional information, from relevant literature recommendations to links to websites and addresses of business start-up offices. The KURS database also offers numerous further education and training measures that are funded under certain conditions (read more in the chapter "Vocational Training, Further Training and training"). In Munich, for example, the employment office and the non-profit organization were founded Society for start-up advice in 1996 Office for business start-ups (BfE). Here everyone - and not just someone who is entitled to benefits from the employment office - has the opportunity to acquire the necessary know-how free of charge in seminars and consultations. And even after the foundation, the entrepreneurs can attend lectures by experts and build up important networks via the BfE (http://www.bfe.muen­chen.de).

A warning: business start-up consultants are not motivational speakers. A great business idea alone is not enough. The consultants will make that clear to you when they check whether your concept is marketable. There's no shortage of frustration. It doesn't have to stop you, but at the Munich BfE a good half of the seminar participants bury the idea of ​​their own Company first again when they know what to expect. But the Success speaks for the BfE: More than 80% of all those cared for here Companys still exist. Good Consulting and a significant amount of Information so do Sinn. Find out which information and advice options your employment office offers.

Other funding opportunities

Self-employment does not always have to mean founding a new company: around 80.000 small and medium-sized companies are taken over in Germany every year. Others are looking for successors. http://www.nexxt.org

In addition to the business start-up grant and the bridging allowance, there is other help from the BA that you can also get if you are not entitled to the grants: Advice and information, for example, to find out with the help of your own profile whether you think you are capable of self-employment at all.

There are many other funds: Federal and state subsidies or the European Social Fund. The help ranges from cheap loans and non-repayable grants to coaches who look after the entrepreneur during and after the start-up. The funds are often made available for specific purposes or professional groups, e.g Women, craftsmen, medium-sized companies, etc. There are also numerous initiatives and networks that start-ups can use free of charge or for little money. So-called "Business-Angels” participate with private Capital and know-how. If you are very convinced of your idea, you can also submit it to a business plan competition. And anyone who wants to hire employees can apply to the employment office for funds for the professional integration of employees - for a change, you don't have to have been unemployed, but your employee. You can get more information about all the options from the BA, among others.

What do I need to know before starting a business?

• What do I want to do and why?
• Am I an “entrepreneur type”?
• Is my social environment behind me?
• Am I really convinced of my idea?
• Is the concept marketable?
• Do I have the appropriate skills and prior knowledge?
• Do I need advice and if so where can I find it?
• How do I want to found a company (start-up, takeover, etc.)?
• Which legal form is the right one?
• How can I finance the idea?
• Are there any funding opportunities?

Where can I find more information?

You can now do research faster and easier on the employment agency's site; the most important links are on the left-hand side of the screen: In the job and applicant exchange section, you can access the virtual job market – particularly interesting: job and training seekers. You search for vacancies by entering the job title and the type of request (position, training, job or internship) and, if necessary, narrowing it down using a postal code area. You can only access your applicant profile after registration (more on this in the section on the virtual job market). You will also find a lot of information, for example on cash benefits, further training, starting a business or working abroad (under Employees) and on training/choosing a career and degree. You can reach your local employment agency as well as the databases BERUFEnet (many job descriptions) and KURS (database for training and further education). You will find an overview with Service from A to Z, including direct information on mediation, statistics (if you are interested in data!) or BA publications (with order service!), which, however, are not always completely up-to-date. Here you can, if you want to read about all the innovations yourself, including new laws on the labor market (the Hartz laws, which are responsible for changes in the Social Code) and Social Code III; find more legislation.

Content is always in the middle of the page - if not, just keep clicking the links on the page until you have the content you want. Sometimes you can also find further information by clicking on the link and file list (in the frame at the top right). Current information, eg unemployment benefit II, is on the right edge of the screen. You will also find important links at the top, including HOME (back to the start page), PRESS (information for journalists); CONTACT (contact person), ABOUT US (Structure of the Federal Agency) or HELP (lexicon, overview page and help function).

It's nice that you can't miss a search function right on the first page, which is also retained when you then click through the website. Warning: You can use this search function to find information, but not jobs. Positive is because you can enter words in all possible variations, such as I ag, ICH-AG, Ich-AG, etc. The search result that you then get is less positive: The search robot not only has the BA website, but also all departments and now brings hundreds of results about ICH-AGs in Flensburg, Munich and many other places in the republic - and somewhere in between the information you are looking for, namely: How do I actually found an ICH-AG?

Important abbreviations

• AA employment office or employment agency
• BA Previously the abbreviation for the Federal Employment Agency, which is now called the Federal Agency
• BIZ Berufsinformationszentrum - the area for self-information and computers, to be found in every employment office
• Alg unemployment benefit (or Alg I to distinguish from Alg II)
• Alg II Unemployment benefit II, which from January 1.1.2005, XNUMX combines social assistance and unemployment assistance
• Alhi unemployment benefit
• ABM job creation measures
• PSA Personal Service Agencies
• SGB ​​Social Code. The Roman numeral indicates the volume number.
• IHK Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Top books on the subject

Read text as PDF

Acquire this text as a PDF (only for own use without passing it on according to Terms and conditions): Please send us one after purchase eMail with the desired title supportberufebilder.de, we will then send the PDF to you immediately. You can also purchase text series.

4,99€Buy

Advice on success, goal achievement or marketing

Do you have questions about careers, Recruiting, personal development or increasing reach? Our AI consultant will help you for 5 euros a month – free for book buyers. We offer special ones for other topics IT services

5,00€ / per month   Book

Book eCourse on Demand

Up to 30 lessons with 4 learning tasks each + final lesson as a PDF download. Please send us one after purchase eMail with the desired title supportberufebilder.de. Alternatively, we would be happy to put your course together for you or offer you a personal, regular one eMail-Course - all further information!

29,99€Buy

Skate eBook as desired

If our store does not offer you your desired topic: We will be happy to put together a book according to your wishes and deliver it in a format of yours Choice. Please sign us after purchase supportberufebilder.de

79,99€Buy