Start-up grant, a guide for new entrepreneurs
The start-up grant is support from the employment authorities for the early stage of entrepreneurship. Its purpose is to secure your livelihood while the business is not yet earning enough.
What the start-up grant is
The start-up grant is state support for the early stage of entrepreneurship. It is not a business loan and not an investment subsidy. It is personal income support for the period while the activity is still getting going.
How to apply
- Write a business plan. What you sell, to whom, at what price, and how the activity becomes profitable.
- Do the calculations. An estimate of income and costs for the first year.
- Apply before you start. This is the decisive point, the application goes in before the activity begins.
- Wait for the decision. The duration and the amount are confirmed there.
The most common mistakes
The activity has already started. By far the most frequent reason for refusal.
The plan is thin. The conditions for profitability have to be demonstrated, not just described.
Treating the grant as a salary. The start-up grant is taxable income and it affects your taxation.
The start-up grant and light entrepreneurship
If you are considering starting up, it is worth knowing that you can test demand as a light entrepreneur without a business ID before committing to anything.
Combining the grant with light entrepreneurship is worth asking the authority about directly, before you begin, because the decision is made case by case and the timing of the start matters.
The information on this page is general background. The conditions, amounts and duration are always confirmed in the authority’s own decision.
If you are weighing the grant against starting without a company of your own, invoicing for new entrepreneurs sets out what the service covers.
Frequently asked
- Can I receive the start-up grant as a light entrepreneur?
- The grant is intended for launching full-time business activity, and the application is assessed on whether the activity is full-time and has the conditions for profitability. Light entrepreneurship can form part of that picture, but the authority decides case by case. Ask about your own situation before you start.
- How long is the grant paid?
- It is time-limited and can be extended on application. The duration and the amount are confirmed in your decision, so check those from the decision itself rather than from general guides.
- Do I have to set up the company before applying?
- Apply before you begin operating. This is the most common mistake: once the activity has already started, the grant is as a rule no longer granted.
Tell us what you invoice, and we will work out which plan fits.
A free conversation, at our office or online. We go through whether light entrepreneurship makes sense in your situation, which plan works out cheapest for what you invoice, and whether you want the accident and liability cover. The conversation commits you to nothing.