Start-up Service (Gründerservice)

The Business Start-up Service (Gründerservice) of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber offers nationwide personal consulting and service. It is the first contact point for business founders regarding business start-up, succession and franchising. The Business Start-up Service provides perspective entrepreneurs with a wide range of services and products. In more than 90 information centres located in the provincial Chambers and regional contact points business founders get legal and economic consultations and business start-up coachings.

Events and guidelines

Furthermore, the local chambers organize events as Business start-up days ("Gründertage“), workshops, lectures and many more. Guidelines for business founders, business successors and franchisees inform about necessary authority-contacts, financing and marketing aspects and give a summary about legal forms and social insurance- and tax–topics. In addition to the guidelines the Business Start-up Service offers information sheets concerning special business founding topics.

Online services and tools

Comprehensive business start-up information and service is also online available. Futhermore, the internet platform www.gruenderservice.at provides an entrepreneur-check, information about subsidies, bulletins, checklists, podcasts and information in foreign languages. A businessplan software called "Plan4You Easy“ for business founders and young entrepreneurs was developed to generate a businessplan.

Another useful online tool is the so called minimum turnover calculator. This tool helps to calculate the required business volume to cover private costs, fixed costs and estimated operating costs. Online-marketplaces like the Business succcessor marketplace and the franchise marketplace give an overview on the successor market and the franchise scene.

Competitions and initiatives

Within the initiative "ideas to business“ the nationwide i2b businessplan competition for innovative product- and service-ideas takes place. During the whole year people receive information, coachings and trainings and get motivated to start their own enterprises.  Despite of the competition, everyone can upload his/her businessplan in order to get an evaluation from two experts.