The fachkundige Stelle (approved expert body) checks whether your business can support you, and the Agentur für Arbeit decides at its discretion. VENTUREPLAN walks you through exactly the chapters and numbers that matter.
Starts with the “Gründungszuschuss & Einstiegsgeld” template
The Gründungszuschuss (start-up grant, § 93 SGB III) supports people who receive Arbeitslosengeld I (unemployment benefit) and go self-employed full-time. For the first six months you keep getting your previous unemployment benefit, plus €300 a month for social insurance. After that you can apply for €300 a month for another nine months. There is no legal entitlement: the Agentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency) decides at its discretion, and it requires a statement from a fachkundige Stelle (approved expert body) on the viability of your business. That statement is based almost entirely on your business plan.
Tell your caseworker about your plans before you start your business. You have to apply before you start, while you still have at least 150 days of entitlement left. Every month you wait costs you days of entitlement.
Describe your idea, market, offer and sales, and run the numbers: capital requirements, revenue, costs, profitability and cash flow for at least three years, including your private living costs.
A fachkundige Stelle (e.g. IHK (Chamber of Commerce), Handwerkskammer (Chamber of Crafts), tax advisor, start-up consultant or bank) reviews your plan and confirms its viability in a Tragfähigkeitsbescheinigung (viability statement). Allow a few weeks for this and possibly some cost.
Submit the application with your business plan, the viability statement and proof of suitability to the Agentur für Arbeit. Only start your business once you've agreed on it with your caseworker.
For the further nine months of €300 you need a separate application and have to show that you're working full-time and intensively on your business. Keep a record of revenue, customer contacts and activities.
Chapter by chapter: what the reviewer wants to see in each part.
01
One page that answers everything: What do you offer, to whom, how do you make money, and when does the business support itself? Many reviewers read only this page first.
02
Training, work experience and industry knowledge that fit your business. This is where you show why you in particular can pull it off. Name gaps (e.g. business knowledge) openly and say how you'll close them.
03
Specific services or products with prices. Not “consulting for companies”, but “payroll accounting for trade businesses with 5–20 employees, from €18 per payslip”.
04
Who are your customers, how many are there in your area, and who serves them today? Name real competitors and explain why customers will switch to you.
05
How will your first ten customers find you? Channels, budget and a realistic timeline. Existing contacts or letters of intent are worth their weight in gold here.
06
Where will you work, with what equipment, in which legal form, and which permits or insurance do you need?
07
Start-up costs, investments and a reserve for the ramp-up phase, and how you'll finance it: your own funds, the Gründungszuschuss, possibly a KfW loan.
08
Revenue, costs and profit for three years. Every revenue figure needs a derivation: customers × price × frequency.
09
Month by month in the first year: Is there enough money in the account? This shows whether the grant can bridge the ramp-up phase.
10
The deciding point: your profit has to cover your rent, living expenses, health and long-term care insurance and pension provision. If this part is missing, the plan is considered not viable.
This is how the people deciding on your application think.
A plan that shows a profit but doesn't cover your rent, health insurance and pension isn't viable. Plan your private withdrawals explicitly.
“€80,000 revenue in year two” convinces no one. Work it out from customers, prices and utilization, and justify every assumption.
Three employees in the text, no personnel costs in the financial plan: breaks like that stand out immediately. Keep both parts in sync.
If you've already started your business or have fewer than 150 days of entitlement left, you can no longer get the Gründungszuschuss. Plan backwards from your start date.
Interchangeable phrases (“high quality”, “large market”) look copied from a template. Specific numbers, names and examples make the plan credible.
The chapter structure follows what fachkundige Stellen review, from the founder profile to private withdrawals. An AI interview helps you fill the chapters with your own business.
You enter revenue, costs, investments and private withdrawals. Profitability and cash flow plan, capital requirements and charts are generated automatically and stay consistent with every change.
An AI advisor reads your plan like a reviewer: it finds contradictions between text and numbers, missing derivations and gaps before the fachkundige Stelle does.
Invite your start-up consultant or tax advisor straight into the plan. Comments and changes happen in one place instead of Word files sent back and forth by email.
Founders often combine these routes or weigh them against each other.
Grant from the Jobcenter for people on Grundsicherungsgeld (basic income support, formerly Bürgergeld) who go self-employed, for up to 24 months.
Read the guideKfW's ERP-Gründerkredit – StartGeld: up to €200,000 through your Hausbank, with KfW taking on 80% of the risk. The bank requires a bankable business plan.
Read the guideStipends and grants from the German states for founders, for example the Gründungsstipendium.NRW with up to €1,200 a month. Usually with an idea paper and a jury pitch.
Read the guideFor the first six months you get your Arbeitslosengeld I at its previous amount plus €300 a month for social insurance. After that you can apply for €300 a month for another nine months. So the total depends on your ALG I rate.
No. The Gründungszuschuss is a discretionary benefit. The Agentur für Arbeit can turn you down, for example if it thinks you can easily be placed in a job. A coherent business plan and a positive Tragfähigkeitsbescheinigung are your strongest arguments.
Fachkundige Stellen include, for example, Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IHK), Chambers of Crafts (Handwerkskammer), professional chambers, trade associations, banks, tax advisors and start-up consultants. Whether the review costs anything, and how much, varies from one body to the next.
There's no fixed page count. 15 to 30 pages of text plus the financial section is typical. What matters is that every question about viability is answered and the numbers are derived in a way others can follow.
A planning period of three years is usual, with monthly cash flow planning for the first year. That way the fachkundige Stelle can see how the business develops after the funding ends.
In principle, yes. The grant covers your living costs during the ramp-up phase, a loan finances investments. Both then go into your capital requirements and financing plan.
No. The statement always comes from a fachkundige Stelle. VENTUREPLAN helps you create a complete plan and have it checked against similar criteria beforehand, so you go into the review well prepared.
You can create, edit and preview your business plan for free, no credit card required. To download it as PDF or Word, you upgrade the plan to Pro once, including AI credits. No subscription.
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026. VENTUREPLAN is an independent service and is not affiliated with any of the funding bodies mentioned. All information without guarantee; the current guidelines and the decision of the responsible body are what count.
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