How did you accept your first payments?
I currently face a dilemma. I want to test my idea and see if people are ready to pay for it (very simple SaaS), though I would like to avoid the hassle and expanses of incorporating if it turns out nobody wants to pay for that service. I'm interested in any approach, but since I'm based in Europe any advice that takes this into account would be extra interesting for me!
Thanks
I'm using paddle.com. It's easy to create an account and to integrate in your site, costs are rather small and they are managing all the European VAT madness for you. But, officially, you have to incorporate, even if it's only a test. You'll need at least a "Gewerbeanmeldung". I'd talk to your local "IHK".
Thanks a lot @Stefan22, exactly what I was looking for. Too bad there is no way to test it without incorporating. I thought maybe there is a law that allows you to sell something within a predefined limit of generated income without incorporating. Like selling on the fleemarket once in a while.
IIRC GumRoad (a similar service as Paddle) does not have this restraint.
I'm by no means a lawyer, so I can only tell you how I see the situation in Germany. Whenever you intend to do your business permanently and want to make a profit, you've got a "Gewerbe". In your flea market example, your business is not permanently, but only "once in a while". As you are testing, your intention is to make your business a permanent venture.
But I'd get some sound advice from experts. In Berlin, there's the "Starter Center Berlin" that should help you with your legal questions.
Thanks! Will definitely check them out
Not sure about the European logistics (I'm in the US) but you can easily generate invoices in Stripe as well as with PayPal to send to early customers .
Thank you for your feedback!