Company foundation in NRW

A business idea is at the beginning of all start-ups. Whether you are self-employed as a hairdresser, a part-time consultant or want to sell homemade items over the Internet. Of course, it can also be that the desire for self-employment is in the foreground and therefore a business idea is sought. In any case, this first step should be given great importance.

For further information we recommend:

• More about #GründenNRW
• More on business idea – start-up platform
• [More on business idea – Startercenter NRW](https://www.startercenter.nrw/en/prepare/business idea)

The location of your business should be well chosen. For example, the question arises whether you want to run your business from home or rent your own office space for it. NRW.Global Business advises founders on finding a location in North Rhine-Westphalia.

[More on location – start-up platform](https://gruenderplattform.de/businessplan/location analysis)

Creating a business plan is helpful when starting a business. The question is how you want to achieve your goal. A well-developed business plan helps you to organize your own goals and thoughts and thus increases the chances of success. You wouldn't want to build a house without making a plan first, would you?

For further information we recommend:

• More on business plan – Startercenter NRW
• More on business plan – start-up platform
• Roadmap to self-employment – BMWK

A good idea and a well-developed business plan alone are not always enough. A sufficient start-up capital is often necessary in order to be able to take action in the first place. In this respect, the question of corporate financing must also be clarified. On the pages of the Startercenter NRW you will find comprehensive information on corporate financing and public funding.

You will also find information about the funding opportunities at Förderlotsen NRW, a joint offer of the North Rhine-Westphalian state government and NRW.BANK. Here you will find a simple and clear introduction to the extensive funding opportunities in North Rhine-Westphalia. For this purpose, the Federal Funding Database provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the funding programmes of the Federal Government and the Länder.

In addition, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection offers an e-training on start-up and growth financing on its website. The learning program can help to avoid typical financing mistakes and provides preparation for financing your project.

• Startercenter NRW – MWIKE
• Förderlotse – NRW.BANK
• funding database – BMWK
• Start-up financing – BMWK
• [Growth finance – BMWK](https://gruenderplattform.de/financing-and-foerderung/growth finance)

Anyone who starts a business must first decide on a legal form. The choice of legal form affects membership and liability law as well as tax considerations. For the entry into self-employment, individual companies are often founded.

However, various other legal forms are available. In this respect, it is advisable to seek advice from your tax advisor in advance as to which legal form would be most suitable in your case.

• More about legal forms - Gründerplattform

The majority of the activities fall under the commercial activity and must therefore be registered with the local trade or regulatory office. A trade is any economic activity carried out on its own account, on its own responsibility and on a permanent basis with the intention of making a profit, with the exception of professional or agricultural activity. Under Paragraph 18(1) of the Income Tax Act, freelance activities include scientific, artistic, literary, teaching or educational activities carried out independently.

Freelancers do not have to register their trade with the regulatory office, but contact their tax office directly to indicate their freelancing activity there. The assessment of which profession is classified as a freelance activity is not always easy. Therefore, in case of doubt, you should obtain information from your tax office in advance.

Freelancers usually enjoy some advantages over traders:

• You can do without complex commercial accounting. A (comparatively) simple surplus income statement is sufficient.
• You do not become a compulsory member of a chamber of commerce and industry (or other professional or industry associations) so that the associated contributions for you are no longer payable.
• You do not have to pay business tax even if you make more than 24,500 euros per year.

However, for some liberal professions, e.g. pharmacists, lawyers, architects, membership of a professional chamber is mandatory. In the case of health insurance, there are also special cases with the liberal professions. Artists or publicists have to take out health insurance through the artists' social insurance fund.

• [More on the topic of commercial and freelance work - start-up platform](https://gruenderplattform.de/business ideas/becoming a freelancer#difference)
• Existenzgruendung und frei Berufe

False self-employment is a dependent employment relationship concluded between self-employed entrepreneurs and a client. This bogus self-employment circumvents requirements subject to social security contributions, which in turn can lead to criminal consequences.

The issue of bogus self-employment could be particularly relevant for freelancers and for sole proprietors with only one or a few clients. The Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund checks whether there is bogus self-employment by means of a so-called status assessment procedure.

• [More on the topic of bogus self-employment - start-up platform](https://gruenderplattform.de/company-gruenden/ bogus self-employment)

In the accounting, all business transactions of a company are recorded on the basis of supporting documents. On the basis of this evidence, company founders can quickly and easily view their income and expenses and at the same time comply with the information obligation for various authorities such as the tax office.

• [More about simple accounting - start-up platform](https://gruenderplattform.de/company management/simple accounting)
• [More about double bookkeeping - founder platform](https://gruenderplattform.de/company-gruenden/double bookkeeping)

VAT, business tax, corporate income tax – start-ups cannot escape the topic of taxes! It is therefore advisable to think about this issue before registering a business and seek advice from a person with expertise (e.g. a tax advisor). In particular, smaller companies may in some cases make use of the small business scheme. If one chooses to use this scheme, for example, VAT and input tax are eliminated.

• More about taxes - start-up platform
• [More about small business regulation - start-up platform](https://gruenderplattform.de/company-based/small business-to-be)

The issue of insurance must also be sufficiently taken into account when setting up a business. Preparedness allows you to minimise operational risks (e.g. machinery damage, fire) and/or personal risks (e.g. illness, accident). There is a variety of insurance to choose from. Which of these is actually necessary, of course, also depends on the respective service.

For example, a transport company should think about transport insurance to protect the transported goods from loss or damage. However, the self-employed should also pay great attention to their personal security in order to be sufficiently protected in the event of an accident or illness.

• [More about insurance - Start-up platform](https://gruenderplattform.de/company-gruenden/compulsory insurance)