The path towards self-employment

How can I work self-employed in Austria?

Attention – to be self-employed in Austria, you should already be able to speak German very well. There are many bureaucratic aspects that you need to carefully consider when it comes to self-employment (including taxes, insurance, business licenses, corporate legal forms, etc.), so it’s a good idea to use the time as an asylum seeker to find out about it.

Consultation:

• The first contact point for people who want to work independently in Austria is the Startup Center of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (=Gründerzentrum der Wirtschaftskammer Österreich). Here you will not only advise, but you can also register directly for seminars and workshops around the topic of self-employment. Just go there!
• The Vienna Business Agency has its own contact point for Migrant Enterprises, offers multilingual services, free advice, workshops and much more. Just make an appointment!
• The Immipreneurs initiative helps immigrants and refugees to build their own business through funding and advice.

Programs:

• The project MEnt (Migrant Entrepreneurs Team-up with Mentors) is an incubation program that helps potential founders with migration or fleeing history to start their business. The program teaches you basic business skills and gives you many opportunities to grow your professional network.

If you have any other tips to help refugees with their self-employment, we are looking forward to an e-mail to team@iamrefugee.at.