The document that decides your grant — or your visa.
A Tragfähigkeitsbescheinigung confirms that your planned business is economically viable. The Agentur für Arbeit, the Jobcenter and immigration authorities all rely on it — and they reject more of them than founders expect. We prepare the file in English; a recognised fachkundige Stelle issues the certificate.
What a Tragfähigkeitsbescheinigung actually is.
Also called a fachkundige Stellungnahme, it is an independent expert opinion confirming that your planned self-employment can realistically sustain you. It is not a formality and not a template: an accredited body reviews your business plan, your financial planning, your market analysis and your own qualifications, and then states — in its own name and under its own liability — whether the venture carries.
Founders routinely underestimate it. The common assumption is that a short plan and a revenue estimate will do. In practice the Agentur für Arbeit and the Jobcenter look considerably harder than that, and unrealistic forecasts, missing market analysis or a template plan with no individual strategy lead to delay or outright rejection — often at the point where the application deadline has already passed.
For founders who don't speak German the difficulty compounds: the file, the assessment and the correspondence all run in German, to deadlines set by an authority that will not chase you. That translation and coordination layer is what we add.
The start-up grant for founders coming out of unemployment. The certificate is the evidence that your business is economically viable — without it the application is not decided in your favour.
The equivalent support for founders receiving Bürgergeld. Same requirement, same document, assessed by the Jobcenter.
Immigration authorities assessing a self-employment permit (§21 AufenthG) frequently ask for an independent viability assessment alongside the business plan. This is the document they mean.
Some banks and funding bodies request an independent third-party opinion on viability before they will lend or award.
We prepare it. An accredited partner issues it.
A Tragfähigkeitsbescheinigung may only be issued by a recognised fachkundige Stelle. We are not one, and we don't pretend to be — anyone who does is selling you a document the authority may not accept.
- Review your business plan and financial model against what the assessor checks
- Rebuild the numbers where the derivation doesn't hold
- Prepare and translate the complete file — in English with you, in German for the authority
- Coordinate the submission and chase it through
- Explain the outcome and next steps in English
- Assesses your venture as a recognised fachkundige Stelle
- Issues the Tragfähigkeitsbescheinigung in their own name
- Signs the fachkundige Stellungnahme the authority accepts
The certificate is issued by a recognised fachkundige Stelle in their own name and under their own professional liability. West Consultings prepares and coordinates the file and is not the issuing body. No provider can guarantee a positive assessment.
The questions behind the decision
- Is the plan realistic, and are the revenue assumptions traceable?
- Has the market actually been analysed — or asserted?
- Is liquidity sufficient to carry the first months?
- Is the founder professionally qualified for this business?
- Can the self-employment sustain a living long-term?
What we see go wrong
- Unrealistic revenue forecasts with no derivation behind them
- Missing or superficial market analysis
- Template business plans with no individual strategy
- No profitability forecast (Rentabilitätsvorschau)
- Unclear positioning — who exactly buys this, and why
No business plan yet? That's the larger piece of work — see Business Strategy. We price it before starting.
Four steps to a signed certificate.
Send us what you have.
Even if that's nothing but the idea. We'll tell you honestly what's missing, quote the preparation at a fixed price, and give you a realistic timeline.
If you have a deadline from the Agentur für Arbeit or the Ausländerbehörde, put it in the form — it decides whether this is feasible at all.
Asked before every assessment.
No — and nobody should claim to unless they hold the accreditation. A Tragfähigkeitsbescheinigung must be issued by a recognised fachkundige Stelle. We prepare and coordinate the file; our certified partner assesses it and issues the certificate in their own name. That separation is a legal requirement, not a formality.
The certificate itself is €178.50 including VAT, charged by the issuing partner. Our preparation and coordination is quoted separately depending on how complete your documents already are — from €390. If you don't yet have a business plan, that's a separate piece of work and we'll price it before starting.
Once the file is complete, the assessment itself takes a few working days. The realistic bottleneck is the preparation: if your plan and figures need rebuilding, allow one to two weeks. Start earlier than you think you need to — Gründungszuschuss applications are time-bound.
An honest assessor will not certify a plan that isn't viable, and no reputable provider guarantees a positive outcome. What we can do is find the weaknesses before submission — that is most of the value. If the plan genuinely doesn't carry, we say so early, while you can still change the plan rather than lose the application.
Yes, and it's often more relevant. Immigration authorities assessing a self-employment residence permit regularly want an independent viability opinion. The whole process runs in German — the file, the assessment, the correspondence. We run it with you in English.