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Opening a company from scratch vs buying a readymade company in Germany: 10623 Berlin, 28209 Bremen, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, 22085 Hamburg, 80801 Munich, 50823 Cologne. We also serve in the areas of Dortmund and Stuttgart

Readymade vs Founding from Scratch

This page is to help you understand what the differences between a readymade and a company from scratch are.

What is a readymade company?

A shelf company is setup that it is ready to be taken over. It is fully registered and has a local tax number. At least, this is the way works.

Why is a shelf company so advantageous?

The advantage is in the time saved. Once the sales contract has been signed with the notary, you can engage in business, more precisely, write invoices with customers inside Germany or outside the EU – the company already has its tax number.

What is the disadvantage with a readymade company?

A disadvantage? Well, the opening costs and a minor fee for their services are requested. This explains why a readymade is more expensive than a company founded from scratch. Weigh these higher costs against the significant time advantage to get your business running and decide for yourself.

Tell me, are there really no risks in buying a shelf company? The thing is that it's already existing and many transactions may have been done with this company. I'm reluctant to cover debts for someone else!

Generally, you fears are correct. However, you may rest assured with us. Our readymades are clean! We even guarantee the "virginity" of our companies with the sales price. When we subject ourselves to immediate execution, we talk legalese and mean the following. You will have to sue us in court but just request from the notary to have a deed that you can use to instantly enforce the contractual penalty.

This sounds so overwhelming, then why do people still found by scratch?

Well, we guess it regards the fees. Having taken over the efforts and costs of opening a company from the very beginning, we want to have this service also remunerated. If our fees are outside of your budget, then maybe take out the services from our associate lawyer, Alexander von Engelhardt. You can still have your virtual office with us.