Start-Up Coaching for Starting Your Business

Why Should You Do Start-Up Coaching?

Our coaching for founders offers aspiring entrepreneurs professional and, above all, individual support in realizing their business idea: in person in Cologne or online throughout Germany.

The program covers all the necessary topics: creating a business plan, applying for funding, financing advice for the start-up loan, defining business goals, and strategies for winning customers and recruiting employees.

Our coaching is modular: we either work through all the modules step by step (whenever the next step requires it) or only individual topics where you want support. The costs adapt individually as well. We do not work through prefabricated materials; instead, we tailor the consulting to your starting position and goals.

What Does Start-Up Coaching Cost?

Depending on scope, start-up coaching at Unternehmenswerk costs €3,000 to €8,000 (as of September 2026): business plan creation alone costs €3,000 to €5,000 (on average €3,500), and the complete support up to your first customers costs up to €8,000. Before you start, you receive a written offer with modules, number of hours, and a fixed price, with no minimum term and no automatic renewal. With BAFA funding, you pay 20% to 50% of the eligible consulting costs yourself (calculation basis €3,500 per consulting engagement), and with an AVGS voucher approved in writing, €0; the respective body decides on both at its discretion.

As a self-paying client

The direct route is the fastest: no application, no waiting time, no risk of rejection. You decide which modules you need, and we usually start within a week. This is the usual route for founders who start out of employment or are already self-employed.

With a BAFA grant

Through the program for the promotion of entrepreneurial know-how (Förderung unternehmerischen Know-hows), the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control subsidizes consulting costs. The funding rate is 50% to 80% depending on company location, and the calculation basis is a uniform €3,500 per consulting engagement. Small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed people are eligible to apply, but not people who have not yet founded a business. The application must be submitted before the consulting begins; the consulting may only start once the information letter from the lead office (Leitstelle) and BAFA has been received; even the consulting contract counts as the start. BAFA decides on approval after the proof of use.

We are listed in the BAFA register of consultants; Pavel Deuble’s consultant ID is 191790. So you commission us directly and do not need to look for another consultant. How the process works in detail, which documents you need, and when the grant is paid out can be found on our page on BAFA-funded business consulting.

If you are unemployed or at risk of unemployment

Then a third route is an option: coaching financed through the Activation and Placement Voucher (Aktivierungs- und Vermittlungsgutschein, AVGS) at our sister company, UW Unternehmensweg GmbH. We explain whether you are eligible, which requirements apply, and how the application works on a separate page: AVGS coaching.

Price examples: self-pay, BAFA 50%, BAFA 80%

Example values, as of September 2026; business plan normally €3,000 to €5,000. BAFA subsidizes consulting after the business has been founded; the grant applies to consulting costs of up to €3,500 per consulting engagement, and for companies that are not entitled to deduct input VAT, gross costs have counted since November 2025. BAFA decides on approval after the proof of use. With an AVGS voucher approved in writing, your personal contribution is €0; the program is then delivered by UW Unternehmensweg GmbH. Billing is based on an hourly rate with a fixed price in the offer.

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