What does digitisation actually mean in everyday life? Let’s look at an example. Sahra and Ana both want to become self-employed, as sole traders. What do they have to do for that? What hurdles await them? And how hard is the path?

🇩🇪 Germany
Sahra first has to do a lot of research. Because depending on her line of work, completely different rules apply to her:

· Trade or not?
· Artist or not?
· Does she need to register with the Chamber of Commerce or Chamber of Crafts?
· Does a trade association need to be informed?

In any case, Sarah has to fill out the registration form via ELSTER, register as unemployed and then as self-employed, wait for her new tax number, apply for a VAT number, apply for a start-up grant, and possibly contact her health insurer or pension provider.

Many of these steps are now possible digitally. The problem: they happen on different portals. Different forms. Different responsibilities. Different processing times. For founders, that often means multiple trips to authorities or different online portals. And, unfortunately, a lot of waiting time.

🇪🇸 Spain

For Ana in Spain, starting up runs through the state’s CIRCE process. A central digital workflow informs several authorities at the same time. These include, among others:

· the tax authority,
· social security,
· registering the economic activity.

Many details only need to be given once, and the data is then passed on between the authorities. There are fewer rules and less waiting time — but also no start-up grant. In exchange, Ana pays significantly reduced social security contributions in her first year. Above all, though, she has more time to focus on what actually matters: her business.

This image was created with AI.

Sources:
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (Germany), ELSTER, Agencia Tributaria (Spain), CIRCE system (Centro de Información y Red de Creación de Empresas).

You can find this post on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/janwegener_digitalisierung-verwaltung-deutschland-activity-7488481087829098497-BnjN?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAF-yDsQBgbICDl3wlRGoCQSZHiHxHemNJR8