OREANDA-NEWS. August 1, 2012. When people use their ideas to start their own business it is recommended to seek advice early. Thus along with KfW start-up coaching and the Infocentre, KfW has offered online advice under www.gruendungswerkstatt-deutschland.de (German only) together with 36 regional partners since 2009. Since then 20,000 founders have registered. Alone in the first half of 2012 about 3,500 founders sought help on preparing business plans, tips for a successful launch or personal advice through the site. The founders are assisted by tutors from regional chambers of industry and commerce, chambers of trade and start-up promoters. According to an evaluation by KfW, 80 per cent of the founders would immediately recommend the portal to others. In total, the pages of the online portal were visited 1.2 million times per month, which highlights the great interest.

"The better prepared a founder enters into self-employment, the higher the chances of success. Getting advice - including and especially before going to the bank - can determine whether an idea functions or fizzles out," said Dr Axel Nawrath, member of KfW's Executive Board. Three fourths of the 83 bank advisors surveyed for the evaluation consider the business plans from the start-up workshop valuable for their financing advice.