Dienstleistungsportal Bayern

Description

Prerequisites

In order to receive the benefits, the following requirements must be met:

• You are receiving unemployment benefit II (Hartz IV).
• You want to become self-employed or are already self-employed, which means that
  • You work in your own name and on your own account and
  • You bear the economic risk of your activity (entrepreneurial risk).
• Self-employment must be your main occupation, which means
  • you work at least 15 hours per week on a self-employed basis and
  • You are able to support yourself entirely or to a significant extent with the income you generate within a reasonable period of time.
• You must be personally suitable to successfully pursue a self-employed activity. To do this, you must prove that you have the knowledge and skills you need for self-employment, for example, through
  • Evidence of your professional and entrepreneurial qualifications,
  • professional experience or
  • participation in measures that prepare you for starting your own business.
• Your self-employment activity must be economically viable, which means that
  • Your business model must be elaborated and thought out in such a way that your business start-up can be successful in the long run
  • The viability of your self-employed activity must be proven by an expert opinion. Expert bodies can be chambers, professional associations or start-up initiatives. Your job center will provide you with the name of the competent expert office in your region. You will usually have to submit detailed documents to them (see "Required documents" above).
• The material goods you wish to purchase must be appropriate and necessary for your work.
• Other sources of funding are out of the question, e.g. special federal and state programs, local business development or micro-loans
• The funding must comply with EU state aid law (de minimis regulation).

Procedure

You must apply for funding before you can receive financial support for purchases or take advantage of the consulting services.

• To do this, first make an appointment with your responsible job center.
• Your integration specialist will discuss with you whether self-employment can be a realistic strategy for you to integrate into the labor market and end your need for assistance, and which type of support is suitable for you.
• Loans and grants for the purchase of material goods:
  • Your integration specialist will hand you the application form. It is important that you submit the application for the subsidy before you purchase the material goods.
  • The job center will check your application and the attached documents.
  • The Jobcenter assesses your personal suitability for the specific self-employment activity and the economic viability of your business. This includes a forecast of whether you will be able to earn your living through self-employment within a reasonable period of time.
  • You will receive written notification from the responsible job center as to whether your application will be approved.
  • After positive feedback, you can make the purchases.
  • You must then submit evidence to prove what you have spent the funds on, for example, purchase contracts, receipts or bank statements.
• Counseling and skills training:
  • Your Job Center contracts counseling and training with outside educational providers. You can find out more from your job center.
    

Deadlines

Prior application required / deadlines are set by the respective job center (for example, deadlines for submitting documents)

Processing time

If you have submitted your documents in full, the review and decision and the issuance of the notice usually takes about 4 weeks.

Required documents

• Required Documents

  In order to receive funding, you must submit the relevant documents. Your integration specialist will inform you which of the following documents are necessary for the funding you are applying for:

  • Expert opinion confirming that your self-employed activity is economically viable.
  • De-minimis declaration (EU state aid law)
  • Capital requirement/financing plan
  • Business plan in text form
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Tax registration/trade registration/registration with the chamber of handicrafts
  • Certificate of participation in a business start-up seminar
  • Quotations of the investments necessary for the business
  • If applicable, contract documents such as articles of association or rental agreement
  • At least 2 rejections from banks to which you have submitted loan applications
  • Other individual documents that the job centre may request

Fees

• None

Legal bases

• § 16c Sozialgesetzbuch Zweites Buch (SGB II)

Links to more information

• Informationen für Bezieher von Arbeitslosengeld II zum Thema Existenzgründungen auf der Internetseite der Bundesagentur für Arbeit
• Anlage zu den Fachlichen Weisungen der Bundesagentur für Arbeit zu Leistungen zur Eingliederung von Selbständigen
• Informationen zu Leistungen zur Eingliederung in Arbeit auf der Internetseite des Bundesarbeitsministeriums