# First steps – Ohne Startkapital

> Starting on the side, registering, the first thousand in revenue.

- [Start a Side Business While Employed: The Ground Rules](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/first-steps/side-business-while-employed/): You can usually start a side business while employed if it does not compete with your employer, uses none of their time or equipment, and your contract does not validly require permission. Read the moonlighting, non-compete and intellectual property clauses first. Register and declare the income once you pass your country's threshold; it is taxed on top of your salary.
- [Register a Business in Germany: Cost and Steps for 2026](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/first-steps/register-business-germany-cost/): Registering a trade (Gewerbeanmeldung) in Germany usually costs a small fee set by your municipality. Berlin charges €26 in person, €15 online and €31 for a company with one director. Freelancers in liberal professions do not register a trade at all. Higher costs come later, and only for some: licences, chamber fees or notary costs for a GmbH.
- [Self-Employed in Germany: Costs in Your First Year](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/first-steps/self-employed-germany-costs/): The biggest fixed cost of being self-employed in Germany is health and long-term care insurance: at least about €278 to €286 a month in 2026 for childless people in the public system. Chamber fees and trade tax are often zero. The expensive surprise is year two, when back taxes and advance payments arrive together.

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