Business plan for the Gründungszuschuss,
what the Agentur really checks.
The Agentur für Arbeit and the qualified body do not read your business plan as a startup pitch but as a viability assessment. Which chapters a viable business plan covers, what is critical in the financial plan, what leads to rejection, and how the Fachkundige Stellungnahme fits in: from the application perspective, not the pitch perspective.
Three assessment dimensions the application must pass
According to § 93 SGB III and the BA directive Gründungszuschuss 2023, the startup grant is a discretionary benefit. The Agentur decides along three dimensions.
Viability
Is the business model economically viable? Realistic revenue plan, complete cost structure, plausible liquidity over 24 to 36 months, sufficient private drawings.
Personal suitability
Do you bring the professional and commercial suitability? Industry experience, relevant qualification, commercial fundamentals, verifiable through CV and certificates.
Plausibility
Do idea, person and market fit together? Is the business idea concrete enough, is the target market plausibly defined, are the assumptions justified?
Seven chapters a viable business plan covers
Order and depth can vary, the substantive completeness is what the Agentur and qualified bodies regularly expect in practice. Whoever skips a chapter risks follow-up questions.
Executive Summary
One page that brings the project to its core: what, for whom, with what, with which result.
Business idea and offering
Concrete description of the service or product, USP, business model, pricing structure.
Market and target group
Who buys this, how big is the market, with what evidence (studies, industry data, competitors).
Marketing and sales
How do your first customers find you, through which channels, at what cost, at what frequency.
People and legal form
Solo or team, legal form with justification, employee planning where applicable.
Financial plan
Revenue plan, cost plan, liquidity plan, profitability forecast over 24 to 36 months, investment needs, private drawings.
Annexes
CV, qualification proof, where applicable Gewerbeanmeldung, Fachkundige Stellungnahme (submitted separately).
Three spots where financial plans fail most often
Fantasy revenue from month 1
Whoever is already at full capacity in month 1 looks unrealistic. Credible is slowly growing revenue: a few pilot customers in early months, gradual build-up, plausible ramp-up curve.
Incomplete costs
Health and care insurance, pension insurance, tax advisor, insurance, software licences, marketing budget, private living costs. Whoever forgets one will have liquidity problems in year one.
Liquidity annually, not monthly
The Agentur and the qualified body want to see a month-by-month liquidity overview across 24 to 36 months. When does money come in, when does it go out, where are the bottlenecks.
Five patterns that lead to rejection
Vague business idea
'I advise companies on all topics' or 'I offer creative services'. Without clear target group, clear offering, clear benefit, the plan looks arbitrary.
Fantasy financial plan
Revenue that reaches 80 percent of full capacity in the first quarter without market evidence. Or: costs that are half the industry standard.
No market reference
No market research, no competitor analysis, no target group definition. The plan stands in a vacuum.
Contradictions with the Fachkundige Stellungnahme
If business plan, financial plan and FKS contain different numbers or statements, this looks sloppy. The Agentur asks back.
Suitability gap not explained
If your CV shows no clear bridge to the planned activity, personal suitability is missing. Career changes need to be justified particularly cleanly.
The mandatory document alongside the business plan
The Fachkundige Stellungnahme (expert viability statement) is a written assessment of your business plan by a qualified body. It checks whether your project is economically viable. Without the Fachkundige Stellungnahme no Gründungszuschuss. SK Strategies arranges the FKS via a qualified partner from the network (currently incl. viso360), typically within 2 to 4 working days with complete documents.
More on the Fachkundige Stellungnahme →Business plan creation for the Gründungszuschuss
We create your business plan AI-assisted and advisor-reviewed, matched to the requirements of the Agentur für Arbeit. Including financial plan over 24 to 36 months, preparation of the Fachkundige Stellungnahme, personal review.
450 EUR to 750 EUR net, depending on scope and complexity. Coaching for business plan creation: 142,80 EUR gross per hour.
FAQ on the business plan for the startup grant
More on the startup grant
Eligibility, process, payout and preparation tips: all on the startup-grant overview.
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