So-called "Kleingewerbetreibende" (small traders) are commercially active self-employed persons who do not have to be entered in the commercial register and have not done so voluntarily. There is an obligation to register in the commercial register for those whose company does not require a commercially organized business operation due to its type or scope (for more details, see the page “ Commercial Register “).

Self-employed small businesses must also be registered with the municipal or local authority (Trade Register Notification). The notification must be made using the forms available there. The trade office will check whether a licence is required to carry out the trade in accordance with trade law regulations.

Anyone who fails to submit a trade licence application or fails to do so correctly, completely or on time is committing an administrative offence. Fines or administrative enforcement measures may be imposed.

Unlike the commercial register, the trade registers of the trade offices are not public registers. It is therefore not possible to inspect them yourself. A request for information is only possible by making an enquiry (usually in writing and subject to a fee).

On the regulations for the residence permit of non-EU citizens to take up self-employment in the Federal Republic of Germany, please see page “Beginning an employed business as non-European citizen”

A number of regulations require unregistered traders to state their surname with at least one first name written out in full and their address for service (i.e. the business address and not just a PO box) on business letters.

The legal basis for such mandatory information can be found in various special regulations. These are mostly pre-contractual information obligations. 14 Abs. 4 Nr. 1 UStG; § 5 Abs. 1 TMG; § 312a Abs. 2 i.V.m. Art 246 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 EGBGB (for consumer contracts); § 2 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 DLInfoV (for service providers) and others.

However, for reasons of transparency and integrity, the trader should also be named, as otherwise, in the absence of public registers for these designations, it is not easy to assign the business name to the trader.

For example, a small trader who only appears under the name ‘ABC Immobilien’ and later relocates his registered office could hardly be found by creditors under this name due to the lack of registration under this name in a public register and, in particular, the name of the trader could not be determined.

They do not designate the trader himself, but, for example, the business premises. For example, shops, restaurants, bars, kiosks, chemists’ shops etc. are customarily provided with their own names (German examples: "Käthes Wollstübchen", "Sonnenapotheke"). They may not be confusing (e.g. “German Shoe Shop” for a small shoe business). Business designations which are individual and as creative as possible additionally characterise the enterprise alongside the trader’s real name. For example, they can be used on the telephone or in advertising, but are not allowed to be used as corporate names.

A petty trader is liable towards his creditors with his entire business and private assets. The risk can be kept in tolerable limits by conclusion of matching insurances.