Hi @sam.B ,
The most important federal government support programmes for people starting out in business (but we would have to need to check whether you are eligible for those):
My micro-loan [Mein Mikrokredit] >>
http://www.mein-mikrokredit.de/
Micro-mezzanine fund for Germany [Mikromezzaninfonds Deutschland] >>
http://www.foerderdatenbank.de/Foerder-DB/Navigation/Foerderrecherche/inhaltsverzeichnis.html?get=928b5d41498d8460f8e44527db39661d;views;document&doc=12046
ERP start-up loan – StartMoney [ERP-Gründerkredit – StartGeld] >>
http://www.foerderdatenbank.de/Foerder-DB/Navigation/Foerderrecherche/suche.html?get=d236fc4fab4ce37210bbcfb9896808f7;views;document&doc=9855
ERP start-up loan – Universal [ERP-Gründerkredit – Universell] >>
http://www.foerderdatenbank.de/Foerder-DB/Navigation/Foerderrecherche/suche.html?get=d236fc4fab4ce37210bbcfb9896808f7;views;document&doc=11341
ERP capital for start-ups [ERP-Kapital für Gründung] >>
http://www.foerderdatenbank.de/Foerder-DB/Navigation/Foerderrecherche/suche.html?get=d236fc4fab4ce37210bbcfb9896808f7;views;document&doc=8863
Which documents will you need?
-Business and investment plan
-Sales and profitability forecast for two years
-List of assets and debts
-Tabular CV
-Investment plan
-Overview of your collateral, including, for instance, real estate, vehicles, machines. Your ----bank will decide on the value of the collateral provided by you.
-Monthly liquidity plan for one year.
Most of the loans will still need to go through your bank.
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- Refugees in the process of applying for residency or with a suspension of deportation ("Duldung")
If you are currently in the process of applying for asylum and have a temporary residence permit in line with § 55 of the Asylum Procedure Act (AsylVfG), or if your asylum application was refused and you have a suspension of deportation in line with § 60a of the German Residence Act (AufenthG) then you are not permitted to become self-employed. You can, under certain conditions, pursue paid employment; however you are strictly forbidden from becoming self-employed.
- Recognised refugees with one of the following residence permits:
You are recognised as a refugee in Germany and hold one of the following residence permits:
§ 18a German Residence Act (AufenthG)
§ 22 clause 1 German Residence Act
§ 23 para. 1 German Residence Act
§ 23a German Residence Act
§ 24 German Residence Act
§ 25 para. 3 German Residence Act
§ 25 para. 4, clause 1 German Residence Act
§ 25 para. 4, clause 2 German Residence Act
§ 25 para. 4a German Residence Act
§ 25 para. 4b German Residence Act
§ 25 para. 5 German Residence Act
§ 25a para. 1 German Residence Act
§ 25a para. 2, clause 1 German Residence Act
or § 25 para. 2, clause 2 German Residence Act.
http://www.wir-gruenden-in-deutschland.de/en/recognised-refugees-without-a-permit-from-the-local-immigration-authority-auslaenderbehoerde/basic-infos/ More info here
- Recognised refugees with one of the following residence permits
You are recognised as a refugee in Germany and hold one of the following residence permits:
§ 22 clause 2 German Residence Act (AufenthG)
§22 clause 3 German Residence Act
§ 23 para. 2 German Residence Act
§ 25 para. 1 German Residence Act
§ 25 para. 2 German Residence Act
§ 26 para.3 German Residence Act
or § 26 para. 4 German Residence Act.
http://www.wir-gruenden-in-deutschland.de/en/
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I'm also attaching a file (both in English and German) that includes most of the informations you might need. It's a collection in which you can also find different "start-up grants" you could be able to apply to. I'm not sure about whether you could be eligible because it all depends on your legal status and whether or not you have "Arbeitlosigkeit 2", but let's research further and and then report here. There is also a lot of info of what you might need to prepare and account for and what kind of legal form of existence your business might have.
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Find more info here about :
" Am I allowed to work as self-employed right away?"
https://www.wefugees.de/k/questions/1697
"How to open a company in Germany?"
https://www.wefugees.de/k/questions/1743
Find all your questions related to work in this collection of transcripts from out offline event about job research held in Berlin
https://www.wefugees.de/k/questions/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=%23wefugeesevent&days=&category=&commit=Search&submitted=
Find a complete video of our last event in Munich here
(1)
https://www.facebook.com/wefugees.de/videos/1251329258223216/
(2)
https://www.facebook.com/wefugees.de/videos/1251329258223216/
(3)
https://www.facebook.com/wefugees.de/videos/1251372274885581/
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This does not close the post or our researches. Please give me feedback on what you actually needed and on what you might need some clarification / further help and I'll be more than please in trying to look for more!
In the meanwhile I wish you a good week =)
Best,
Paolo