Self-employed in Germany

Let's face it: for many of us, self-employment is the only way to step into the job market. In my case it has been a mixture of wanting to stay at home with our newborn and the fact that my German, while good, it may not be so perfect for a business environment that requires quick response in the native language. That level of proficiency takes time, and it was not on my plans to wait that long to be able to make a living!


 I've found that becoming self-employed is relatively simple but, that many of the steps get messed because of many reasons and what it should have taken you barely 3 weeks, it ends up being a never ending nightmare. There is many articles and resources online but I always get the same trouble, there is always something that wasn't mentioned or the guidance has any missing steps, etc. That is the reason why I've decided to make this post. I hope that all of you find it helpful and please let me know if I am missing something or if it was any different in your specific case so we can help the one each other here. All of my examples are based on a EU citizen (in my case Spanish) so I could not tell if there is any extra steps for citizens from other countries, which is the reason why your comments and experiences are so welcome!

*DON'T WORRY, I'LL ADD ALL DETAILS ON EACH STEP ASAP!

Step 0: Make sure  to brainstorm what you would like to do, it is very easy to get lost if you didn't take car of your homework when it comes to the work you would actually like to do.

Step 1: Gewerbeanmeldung
Step 2: Finanzamt (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung), Handwerkskammer, Berufsgenossenschaft, Industrie und Handelskammer, Statistisches Landesamt and Handelsregister. Those will contact you (or the ones required in your case, but it is always nice to pre-view what documents should you work with, so you can find your way through unexpected vocabulary, etc)
Step 3: Ausländeramt (could also be at the Bürgerbüro)
Step 4: Arbeitsagentur/ Jobcenter
Step 5: Gesundheitsamt
Step 6: Sozialversicherungen 

Leben in Deutschland, Practice the test online (Testdurchführung)

There's many ways to prepare yourself for the test, as i will share with you lots of cool and useful resources, this online "Fragenkatalog zur Testvorbereitung" it always comes in handy.

Here is the link:

Testdurchführung

Just chose the Bundesland (Region) you live in (or you may be interested to prepare for) and then click on 
"Zum Fragenkatalog".


Notes: To continue to the next exercise you only need to press on "nächste Aufsgabe" and if you want to check on any specific exercise then you'll notice a box where you can select the desired one, it says: 

"Gehe zu Aufgabe Nr."

From here, you're good to go!

Remember that you can also find a post with information about the typical Integrationskurs A2/B1 Prüfung. I always thought there is tons out there but no real source with what is really helpful included. Here you can find it