# Ohne Startkapital

> Bootstrapping without the hype: low-capital business models, costs in the first twelve months, grants, equity deals and starting on the side.

- [How to Start a Business With No Money (Honestly)](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/business-models/start-business-with-no-money/): To start a business with no money, sell a service you can already deliver with tools you own, and ask for payment or a deposit before you spend anything. Writing, design, tutoring, cleaning, assembly and consulting fit this pattern. Inventory, rented premises and paid advertising are the parts that need capital, so leave them out at first.
- [Bootstrapping a Business: Growing Without Investors](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/business-models/bootstrapping-a-business/): Bootstrapping a business means building it without outside equity: you fund it from savings, side income and, above all, revenue from early customers. You keep full ownership and control but usually grow more slowly. It suits services, niche software with paying customers and prepaid models, and rarely works for hardware or research-heavy products.
- [Asking Clients for a Deposit: How Much and How](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/business-models/ask-clients-for-deposit/): Ask for a deposit in your quote, before any work starts, and tie it to a reason such as materials or booked time. Size it to cover your costs until the first milestone, and link the rest to visible progress. Invoice the deposit separately, account for VAT when the money arrives, and deduct it on the final invoice.
- [How to Sell Digital Products: Tax, Refunds, Platforms](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/business-models/sell-digital-products/): To sell digital products, pick something you create once and deliver automatically, such as templates, courses or software, and sell it through a merchant of record or your own shop. The hard part is tax and consumer law: EU consumers pay VAT where they live, US states set their own sales tax rules, and refund rights lapse only with explicit consent.
- [Dropshipping Startup Costs: The Budget Nobody Shows](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/business-models/dropshipping-startup-costs/): Dropshipping saves you buying stock, but it still has startup costs: a store plan, a domain, sample orders, legal pages and, above all, advertising, because a new store gets almost no traffic without it. The ad budget for testing several products is usually the biggest line. Import duties, refunds and product safety duties also land on you as the seller.
- [Start-up Grant Germany: Gründungszuschuss Explained](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/funding/germany-start-up-grant/): Germany's start-up grant, the Gründungszuschuss, is paid by the Federal Employment Agency to people on unemployment benefit (ALG I) who start a full-time business with at least 150 days of benefit left. For six months you get your previous benefit plus €300, then €300 a month for up to nine more. It is discretionary, so approval is never guaranteed.
- [KfW Startup Loan (StartGeld 067): A Guide for Founders](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/funding/kfw-startup-loan/): The KfW startup loan, officially ERP-Gründerkredit StartGeld (programme 067), lends up to €200,000 to new businesses in Germany and firms under five years old, with up to €80,000 for working capital. Part-time founders qualify too. You apply through a bank before the project starts. KfW covers 80 percent of the bank's risk, but you owe the full amount.
- [Jobcenter Self-Employment Grant: Einstiegsgeld in 2026](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/funding/jobcenter-self-employment-grant/): Einstiegsgeld is a jobcenter grant for people on Grundsicherungsgeld, formerly Bürgergeld, who start a main business of at least 15 hours a week. It runs for up to 24 months on top of your benefit. The base amount is at most half the standard rate, rising to 100 percent with supplements. Nobody has a legal right to it.
- [Sweat Equity in a Startup: Shares for Work, Done Right](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/funding/sweat-equity-startup/): Sweat equity in a startup means someone receives shares in return for work rather than money, typically a technical co-founder who builds the product. It works most cleanly when founders take their shares at the very start at a nominal price, with vesting. People who join later and get cheap shares may face income tax on the difference to market value.
- [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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