Founder Tools and Consulting from a Single Source

For you as a founder, AVGS coaching costs 0 euros. All costs are covered by the German Employment Agency or Jobcenter via an Activation and Placement Voucher (AVGS) under § 45 SGB III. We deliver the entire coaching program through our AZAV-certified partner provider Starthilfe Bildungswerk GmbH.

All of our online tools at app.businessstart.eu/guest-start are usable without registration and at no cost: AI business plan generator, 5-year financial plan, legal form finder, startup cost calculator, pricing calculator and social security calculator. You can export the results as PDF.

AI is excellent as a structuring aid, text generator and research accelerator. For the final, bankable version, however, you need a human who validates the numbers, checks the market assumptions and tailors the document to the specific banking partner. Banks easily spot raw AI output — we combine both.

Rule of thumb: repeatable, clearly defined tasks (research, draft texts, data reconciliation, reports) are reliably handled by AI today. Tasks involving customer accountability, team leadership, on-site presence or creative strategy require humans. Our decision matrix at /ki-agent-vs-mitarbeiter helps you classify your specific case.

You do not have to be formally unemployed, but you have to be registered as a job seeker — this is also possible while still employed under notice. Requirement: the Employment Agency or Jobcenter issues you the AVGS voucher. We check with you upfront in the free initial consultation whether you qualify and how to apply.

Our standard turnaround is 10 to 20 working days from briefing and delivery of all key data. For well-structured projects with quick feedback, 5 to 7 working days is realistic. Express delivery is available on request when a specific bank appointment is approaching.

Yes. Our financial plans include profit-and-loss statement, liquidity planning, investment plan and capital requirements with a 5-year projection at the level of detail that banks expect. They are actively accepted by more than 15 house banks, Volksbanken, Sparkassen and KfW within our mandates. Overall, we have arranged more than 55 million euros in financing volume using these plans.

We work with transparent fixed-price packages instead of hourly rates. You can find the exact terms in our pricing overview further up on this page. With AVGS and BAFA funding, consulting components can be subsidised up to 100% and 80% respectively — we will check the options together in the initial consultation.

We cannot make a blanket money-back guarantee for rejected bank financing — that depends on too many external factors. What we do guarantee: a complete, bankable plan according to our quality standards. In cases of justified revisions we keep working until the document is ready for submission.

Since 2019 we have created 200+ business plans and supported more than 55 million euros in cumulative financing volume. For clearly viable projects with complete documentation, our rate of positive bank decisions is significantly above average. We discuss concrete numbers transparently for your specific case in the initial consultation.