The Parentpreneur Journey: Balancing Family and Business

Alicja Moeltner got pregnant a few weeks after she and her partners founded their cooperative: no stable income yet, investors still to convince, and a partner whose own career was taking off. The panel on 15 May 2025 starts from stories like that. Julia Bandov, Kenan Aggül and Alicja Moeltner talk about running a business with small children in Germany and where the system leaves self-employed parents on their own.

What the panel covers

• Parental allowance (Elterngeld): Alicja applied once as a freelancer and once as an employed managing director. The freelancer application, which refers back to tax returns from earlier years, was a hassle. The employed one was easy. Her advice: plan ahead and save, because a bad year can pull the allowance down.
• Maternity protection (Mutterschutz): in her account it covers employed women only. Freelancers without specific insurance get little or nothing around the birth. All three hope the coalition's plan for a maternity allowance for freelancers comes through.
• Health insurance and tax: public insurance covers children automatically, private insurance charges for each child. All three would pay for an adviser, since small mistakes are easy to make.
• Setup at home: talk about gender roles before the baby arrives, and build a support system of partner, family, friends and understanding clients. Alicja says to stay open with clients about it.
• Is Germany family-friendly? Julia says it is a good place for it. Kenan disagrees: the support is more visible than real, especially in companies.

Is there a right time?

Kenan says be prepared, with resources and support. Julia says just do it, because the best things in life cannot be planned. They also advise starting small on the side.

The panelists describe the rules as of 2025, and they may have changed since.

Who it's for

Freelancers and founders who have children or are planning them.