Starting a business or your own company? The idea, business plan, legal form, financing, trademark protection, insurance, notary appointments, contracts, etc. are some of the buzzwords on the way to founding a company. For many founders, founding their own company is a book with seven seals. That is why you will find below 10 important steps in setting up a company.
If you want to get started right away with founding your company, you will find all the forms relevant to the individual founding steps in the free founding assistant.
Starting a business in 2022 first 10 steps
1. Planning
Before you officially found a company, there is a planning phase. According to the KfW start-up monitor, the average preparation time from the idea to the start of the company is 7 months. Half of all founders complete the preparation in 3 months if they want to found their company. The period of intensive preparation for founding, which includes the optimization of the idea, the business plan, and dealing with the authorities, lasts 2.5 months on average. More than 50% of founders take less than 1 month to found a company.
Our tip: Give yourself enough time and pay close attention to a valid business model. This is followed by the detailed elaboration of the business plan, which is the foundation of a successful company foundation. Make sure you have a realistic financial plan. He shows you how much capital is required and whether your planned company is worthwhile.
2. main or sideline?
The step into self-employment is a big risk for many founders. That is why many people setting up their own businesses first try out part-time self-employment. However, whether you set up a company as a sideline or start full-time directly is irrelevant to the basic requirements for founding a company. However, you still have to consider a few things if you are self-employed on a part-time basis.
3. Check and protect trademark rights
Many founders enter new territory when it comes to legal issues when they set up a company. These are of great importance when setting up a company and should not be neglected. After all, the company should be able to be found at a suitable Internet address. The company name should be clear and unique.
Brand protection for the products and services secures the position in the competition. However, you must not forget that these issues are not one-way streets. If you are founding a company, you must ensure that you do not infringe any existing intellectual property rights. We have compiled further details in the chapter on industrial property rights.
Speaking of protection: Have you thought about protection?
When you set up a company, it is also important to avoid risks – private and commercial – for self-employment. There is insurance for many risks that you cannot influence so that the financial impact does not mean an early end to self-employment.
As far as personal risks are concerned, you can decide during the first three months after founding whether you want to take out statutory or private health insurance. As a rule, it makes sense to first compare the costs and services of private health insurance in order to then compare the best tariff with statutory health insurance. Let us create a free and non-binding PKV comparison for you.
In the case of operational risks, the primary concern is to determine the need for insurance. Because: Depending on the industry, different types of insurance can make sense – do the free needs analysis.
4. Secure the company financing
Self-employment initially means investments and costs. And the savings are often not enough. Many founders quickly think of a bank loan. But corporate finance can be diverse.
The starting point is the financial plan that you created in the business plan. This shows what capital requirements you have for founding your company. Subsidies, equity, loans or grants can then be used to finance the company: raise sufficient capital when you set up your company.
5. what permits are required?
Do you like cutting hair and want to open a hair salon? But it’s not that simple. So this craft profession falls under the master craftsman’s duty. Opening a restaurant before you have contacted the building authority is also not recommended. Permits, permits or certain qualifications may be required when starting a business. Find out well in advance before you run into problems when starting your own business: an overview of the necessary permits.
6. Legal form, account, and contracts
If you want to set up a company, the legal forms available to choose from are associated with different requirements, which can noticeably lengthen the founding process. While sole proprietorships or partnerships such as GbR can be set up quickly, corporations such as GmbH or UG take longer. The reasons for this are the appointments with the notary and the necessary entry in the commercial register. We have compiled important factors for you to compare the company forms.
Establishing a business also involves opening a business account. Corporations are only registered with the commercial register by the notary when the share capital has been paid into the business account. A separate business account is not absolutely necessary for freelancers and sole proprietorships, but it is definitely advisable – this is the only way to separate private and professional finances.
The topic of the necessary contracts is also closely linked to the aspect of the legal form. However, you should not only think of the articles of association or the managing director contracts. Employment contracts for possible employees or general terms and conditions as well as templates for customer contracts should also be ready at the start.
7. Clarify the location issue
If you are not founding your company in your own four walls, but are renting an office, a shop, a workshop or a restaurant, then it is important to consider the question of a suitable location. There are numerous important factors that you should consider when choosing a location so that customers can find their way to you – as the saying goes: all roads lead to Rome.
8. Register with which office?
Nothing works without offices when you start a company. Numerous registrations are mandatory and fines are threatened if they are missed.
And without a tax number from the tax office, founders cannot yet write invoices. The point is, that it’s progressing step by step. And so you are quickly on the home stretch when you start your company. We have put together which office to contact when on the Register a company page. Of particular note are the business registration and, for partnerships and corporations that are subject to registration, the entry in the commercial register and the entry in the transparency register.
9. The perfect public appearance
The preparations for founding a company also include designing the best possible external appearance.
These include, for example, the company logo or the creation of the website. Just like a correctly created invoice or legal aspects such as the imprint and the data protection declaration.
The first impression counts – this applies to your company in customer contact as well as on the first date. Do your best and convince with a successful public image.
10. Acquire customers
After the planning and the numerous formalities, you have successfully found your company. But now it is a matter of generating sales and successfully managing the market entry. Many people would perhaps like to buy from you – but very few people know what you offer. And even if you are completely convinced of your products or your service – you still have to do a lot of convincing potential customers. For this purpose, we have compiled the various ways of customer acquisition for you.
There are many ways to advertise your offer. There is no question that you are advertising. However, you should – also for budget reasons – design and implement a coherent marketing concept.