Sole Trader in General
Business activities can be carried out without a company. This business form is referred to as sole trading. A sole trader carries on business activities through his/her own work input. If there is more than one business partner, the form of business is then called a general partnership [General Partnership and Limited Partnership].
A start-up notification for the business must be submitted to the Trade Register if any of the following conditions are fulfilled:
The business is regulated as licensed trade or
Business is carried out at business premises or in an office (fixed place of business) or
The entrepreneur has employed a person, who is not his/her spouse, a minor or a child under his/her guardianship or his/her grandchild
A person engaged in agriculture and forestry or in fishing is not subject to registration even if some of the above-mentioned conditions would be filled.
A sole trader may, if he/she so wishes, register himself/herself by submitting a start-up notification to the Trade Register even when he/she is not under a legal obligation to do so. It might be beneficial to register, i.e. a registered business name is protected. It also becomes possible to use one’s business name as a security of a loan (so called business mortgage, [Debt Financing in General]).