Start Your Business for Free with AVGS Coaching in Essen

That depends on your benefit. If you receive ALG I, the Employment Agency in Essen is responsible (Berliner Platz 10, 45127 Essen; phone 0800 4555500). If you receive basic income support (ALG II), your local Jobcenter Essen is responsible. In both cases your caseworker decides on the AVGS. In-person visits are only possible by appointment; we prepare you flexibly online for the conversation.

You can find an official list of AZAV-certified providers in the KURSNET of the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit). We, UW Unternehmensweg GmbH, are an AZAV-certified provider (provider certificate Z-000392-2, area 1) based in Leverkusen that offers AVGS programs nationwide. Our programs are delivered entirely online, flexibly and without travel. We offer two programs: “Businessweg” (Z-000482-2) for start-up coaching and “JobWeg” (Z-001366-3) for applicant & job coaching.

The approval time depends on your caseworker and the current workload of the Employment Agency in Essen. It typically takes 2–4 weeks from application to approval. For well-prepared applications with a clear rationale and a viable concept, the approval rate is considerably higher. We prepare you for the conversation with your caseworker, online and at flexible times that suit you. In Essen, you book the appointment with the Employment Agency via 0800 4555500 or online, and with the Jobcenter via the service center at 0201 88-56999.

Essen has a founder scene that revolves around start-ups and structural change. By its own account, the economic development agency EWG counts 171 start-ups in the city and supports founders with advice on business models and funding as well as with the UPSCALER program. The ZukunftsZentrumZollverein (Triple Z) offers offices, workshop spaces, and monthly start-up advice. At the University of Duisburg-Essen, the GUIDE start-up center helps students and researchers. In 2025, IT.NRW counted 7,459 business registrations in Essen, significantly more than the year before; the statistics do not say where the jump comes from.

No. Since January 1, 2012, the Jobcenter Essen has been run solely by the City of Essen as an approved municipal provider (zugelassener kommunaler Träger). The Employment Agency is part of the Federal Employment Agency. The Employment Agency is responsible for unemployment benefit I and the start-up grant, the Jobcenter for basic income support and the entry allowance. Online applications to the Jobcenter are made via the City of Essen’s service portal with BundID. The first point of contact for new customers is the new customer area at Berliner Platz 10.

Essen has two tax offices, both at Altendorfer Straße 129. Essen-Süd is responsible for areas including Rüttenscheid, Bredeney, Holsterhausen, Frohnhausen, Margarethenhöhe, Werden, Kettwig, Kupferdreh, and Heisingen. Essen-NordOst covers areas including Altenessen, Borbeck, Katernberg, Kray, Steele, Stoppenberg, and the city center. The division is set out in the NRW regulation on tax office jurisdiction (Finanzamtszuständigkeitsverordnung NRW). You can reach both by phone via the service number 0211 1655 1655.

The easiest way is to register your business online, via the City of Essen’s business registration service or via the Wirtschafts-Service-Portal.NRW. For this, you need a BundID or a business account (Unternehmenskonto). On site, it is only possible by appointment at the business registration office at Porscheplatz 1, which is closed on Wednesdays. Registration costs €26 for sole proprietorships and €33 for a GmbH or UG. You then send the questionnaire for tax registration to the tax office via ELSTER within four weeks. The city does not forward it automatically. Freelancers register only with the tax office.

The IHK for Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, and Oberhausen prepares the expert opinion for start-ups in trade, industry, and commercial services if your business location is in its district. You upload the documents there. For the skilled crafts, the Handwerkskammer Düsseldorf is responsible. The law names chambers, professional associations, and credit institutions as qualified bodies; the list is not exhaustive. The STARTERCENTER at 0201 1892-143 will tell you whether a fee applies.

In Essen, free advice is offered, for example, by the STARTERCENTER NRW at the IHK (hotline 0201 1892-143) and, at Zollverein, by the Triple Z, on the first Tuesday of every month for prospective founders from city district VI. There you clarify your idea, legal form, financing, and funding options; the EWG’s Start-up-Support also helps with this. Start-up coaching with an AVGS complements this start-up advice once your voucher is approved: in up to 120 teaching units, we work with you on your business plan, financial plan, and the documents for the expert opinion, with no personal contribution after written approval.

Primarily ALG I recipients whose caseworker sees a need for counseling get an AVGS. People receiving basic income support (ALG II) can also receive an AVGS in certain cases. Issuing the AVGS is at the caseworker’s discretion; there is no legal entitlement to start-up coaching. Important: you must apply for the AVGS BEFORE the counseling begins, otherwise later funding is not possible.

With an AVGS voucher: 100% funded after written approval, so you pay nothing at all. The costs are billed entirely through your activation voucher. If you do not receive an AVGS, there are alternative routes: BAFA-funded consulting with a reduced personal contribution, or self-pay consulting. In the free initial consultation we clarify which route fits your situation.

AVGS coaching comprises up to 120 teaching units (UE), spread over 2–6 months. The exact number is stated in your AVGS voucher. We align the schedule flexibly with your availability, for example 2–3 sessions per week of 90 minutes, online via Zoom or Teams. Content: business plan, financial plan, marketing, and preparing the start-up grant application.

The AVGS is a COUNSELING voucher for coaching (for example start-up coaching). The start-up grant is direct FINANCIAL support for your living costs during the start-up phase (6 months of ALG I plus €300 per month). The two can be combined: AVGS coaching can be exactly the way to prepare your start-up grant application professionally. The Employment Agency decides at its discretion whether to approve the grant. The table above shows how often the Employment Agency Essen funded it in 2025.