Support for self-employment - masgf.brandenburg.de · ration with the State Agency for Structure...

EUROPÄISCHE UNIONEuropäischer Sozialfonds

Support for self-employmentHelping new businesses in the Federal State of Brandenburg

European Social Fund – Investing In Your Future

This publication is supported by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Women and the Family with funding from the European Social Fund and the Federal State of Brandenburg.

Federal State of BrandenburgMinistry of Labour, Social Affairs, Women and the Family

Public RelationsHeinrich-Mann-Allee 10314473 Potsdamwww.masf.brandenburg.de

www.esf.brandenburg.de

Editors: PID Arbeiten für Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit GbR Regine Hebestreit, Bernd GeisenLayout: BELLOT Agentur für Kommunikation und Gestaltung GmbHPhotos: Juliane Schünke, Fotolia.de, ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg GmbH Printing: Druckerei Arnold

Circulation: 500 copies

November 2011

Supp

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Europäischer Sozialfonds im Land Brandenburg

Support for self-employmentHelping new businesses in the Federal State of Brandenburg

5S u p p o r t F o r S e l F - e m p l o y m e n t

Contents

Foreword 6

Supporting new businesses – Creating jobs 8

Regional business mentoring service – urban district of Cottbus 14

Regional business mentoring service – rural district of Dahme-Spreewald 18

Regional business mentoring service – rural district of Elbe-Elster 24

Regional business mentoring service – rural district of Oberhavel 28

Regional business mentoring service – rural district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz 34

Regional business mentoring service – state capital Potsdam 38

Regional business mentoring service – rural district of Potsdam-Mittelmark 46

Regional business mentoring service – rural district of Prignitz 50

Regional business mentoring service – rural district of Spree-Neiße 54

Business mentoring service for migrants 58

Start-up support service at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) 62

Start-up support service at the University of Potsdamand the Konrad Wolf Academy for Film and Television (HFF) in Potsdam-Babelsberg 66

Start-up support service at Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences 70

“Innovation Require Courage” (“Innovationen brauchen Mut” – IbM) 74

“Young companies” start-up workshop 80

“Enterprise” start-up workshop 84

Business succession advice centres 88

Directory 92


This has motivated us to continue on this course, pushing onwards towards new challenges. Our employment market

policies are effective with unemployment falling considerably and economic power increasing. And yet too many people

are still out of work. Establishing new businesses therefore remains an important means of creating work, encourag-

ing women and men, young people, students and other (highly) qualified people to take this step, and of giving them

prospects for a future here in Brandenburg.

It was with this aim in mind that, in 2010, the comprehensive, tailored network of support was given a still more effec-

tive structure via the provisions of a “directive on new businesses”. This has created greater overall transparency for

the support work and avoided the duplicating of activities. Its provisions include specific advice and training on starting

a new business and coaching on business succession. And in summer 2011 we extended the “Innovative Start-ups”

grant programme – launched two years previously for new entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas – until 2013,

thus opening more new doors for innovative ideas in future-orientated sectors.

With this wide range of support measures, Brandenburg is well on the way to creating more new jobs and effectively

countering market turbulence. And thanks to the teams from the business mentoring services, with their professional

knowledge and practical experience, a firm base has been established which gives direction, support and encourage-

ment to those wanting to start up their own businesses. Ten years on, the “pilots” still have much ahead of them when

it comes to further expanding the “market of opportunities” and helping new entrepreneurs to steer their ships safely

into harbour. In the future many more Brandenburgers with new businesses will have the opportunity to discover the

truth of the German proverb: “Your own bread nourishes the best.” A discovery that will be good for them and good

for Brandenburg!

Günter Baaske

Minister of Labour, Social Affairs, Women and the Family

Federal State of Brandenburg

Dear readers

A ship with a pilot on board can be sure of reaching the harbour safely. A

pilot is a navigator, steering skilfully and assuredly around hazardous rocks.

Business mentoring services (“pilot services” in German) provide security on

the often perilous journey to successful self-employment. In Brandenburg

business mentoring services have been operating successfully for the last

ten years providing advice to almost 14,000 prospective entrepreneurs and

enabling some 9,700 of them, among them almost 3,900 women, to set up

their own businesses.

The foundation of these competence centres in 2001 was the logical conti-

nuation of a targeted policy for job creation with campaigns aimed at pro-

moting new businesses. Since the 1990s, the Federal State of Branden-

burg has been using ESF and State funding to support unemployed people

wanting to start their own businesses. This has given many people the opportunity to re-establish themselves in the

working world after a period of unemployment. It has also opened up prospects for creating new jobs that could con-

tribute to economic recovery in the wake of profound structural changes for the State as a whole with a campaign that

has improved the climate for new businesses and restored Brandenburg’s appeal as a business location.

The goal was clear and there were funding schemes and guidelines in place. So it was a matter of motivating people

and inspiring them to embark on the “adventure of self-employment”. The vast majority were in their fields, well-qualified

and full of ideas, although they had no experience of being self-employed. This is where the “pilots” from the regional

business mentoring services stepped in to help with training and advice. They specialise in the close interlinking of a

range of EU subsidies and customised support tailored to the needs of the target group. With this expertise they sup-

port those who come to them with a sound business plan, while encouraging others on their journey towards that point

– and beyond. They help to manage and cushion the risks involved making their support available not only before and

during the first phase, but also through the often difficult phase that followed. This has helped to ensure that business

ideas grow into sustainable enterprises. The business mentoring services established in all rural and urban districts

have long since become a key component in the state-wide “Brandenburg new businesses network”. The service pro-

vided is regularly evaluated for its impact and success, and has been expanded and reorganised for greater efficiency.

A specialised, state-wide business mentoring service for migrants and start-up support services at all universities

accompany the 18 regional business mentoring services. Over and above these, there are “start-up workshops” for

young people up to the age of 27 who have already completed a vocational training course, together with the “Innova-

tion Require Courage” project for innovative new businesses, and centres offering advice on business succession. This

structure makes a real difference to the climate for new businesses: with a self-employment rate of 12.3 per cent, and

almost 33 per cent of businesses run by women, we are above the German average.

Foreword

6 S u p p o r t F o r S e l F - e m p l o y m e n t


ing to bring an end to their joblessness through self-

employment.

1998–2000: regional campaigns aimed at pro-

moting new businesses

Support for new, previously unemployed entrepreneurs

was adapted accordingly, with the focus now on train-

ing. The goal was to enable prospective entrepreneurs

to develop a viable business idea and a sound and con-

vincing business plan. In order to make this provision

available comprehensively across the whole of Branden-

burg, regional stakeholders, already experienced in the

training of new entrepreneurs, were brought on board.

In particular, these included the chambers of commerce

and industry, local business development organisations,

educational institutions and centres for technology and

new businesses.

The MASGF developed this approach further in collabo-

ration with the State Agency for Structure and Employ-

ment in Brandenburg GmbH (LASA) and the consult-

ants BBJ Service. With funding from the MASGF and

the ESF, it was then implemented in selected regions

between 1998 and 2000 as part of the pilot project

“Regional Start-up Offensive”. These regions included

the rural districts of Elbe-Elster, Oberspreewald-Lausitz,

Oberhavel, Spree-Neiße and Potsdam-Mittelmark, as

well as the urban districts of Brandenburg an der Havel

and Cottbus.

The core aim of the pilot project was to demonstrate

how regional stakeholders could put in place an effec-

tive and adaptable range of coaching, advice and train-

ing provisions for new, previously unemployed entre-

preneurs, and to show what potential exists locally for

involving further regional stakeholders such as financial

institutions, the Employment Agencies and universities.

The subsequent evaluation of the project confirmed its

value. Among other things, useful findings were made in

relation to quality assurance and enhancement of advice

and coaching. The individual regions had also began to

gain initial experience in fostering a positive climate for

new businesses, and in doing so had created effective

publicity with the involvement of the regional media. The

evaluators recommended providing support centres

for new entrepreneurs in every rural and urban district,

and establishing regional new business networks there

made up of local stakeholders.

2001: the first business mentoring services are

founded

In 2001, on the basis of the experience gained from the

“Regionale Gründungsoffensiven” pilot project, the MAS-

GF and the Federal State of Brandenburg’s Ministry of

Economics developed a joint support programme aimed

at providing advice and training to new entrepreneurs in

the phases both before and after the launching of a new

business.1 Organisations such as the chambers of com-

merce and industry, chambers of skilled crafts, centres for

technology and new businesses, and business develop-

ment organisations in each of the 14 rural districts and four

urban districts were then free to bid every two years as ser-

vice providers for the regional business mentoring service.

Between the launch of the support programme in 2001

and the end of 2009, more than 11,400 prospective en-

trepreneurs were provided with advice.2 8,437 of these

(among them 3,363 women) went on to start their own

business, representing a start-up rate of 74 per cent.

2009: current support provision

Since 2001, the MASF has continued to expand the

support provided, and developed additional provisions

for particular target groups and new business ventures

alongside the business mentoring services in the rural

and urban districts. The current “Directive of the Ministry

1 See the directive “Joint Support for New Businesses by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Women and the Family and the Ministry of Economics”, of 11 December 2001.2 Figures from the regional business mentoring services, business mentoring services for migrants, and universities.

The Federal State of Brandenburg has a long tradition of

supporting self-employment. For ten years now, region-

al business mentoring services have existed in every ru-

ral and urban district. They were founded at the initiative

of the then Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and

the Family (MASGF), and are financed with funding from

the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Federal State

of Brandenburg.

With a comprehensive, tailored programme of training

and advice, these business mentoring services have

since become a central point of contact for new entre-

preneurs seeking to bring an end to their unemployment

by becoming self-employed. The many links within the

regional business promotion network have helped to

foster a positive climate for new businesses in their re-

gion, with new entrepreneurs supported by the business

mentoring services benefitting from these links. The re-

gional business mentoring services have since been

augmented with additional schemes with which the pre-

sent-day Ministry for Labour, Social Affairs, Women and

the Family (MASF) hopes to accommodate the particu-

lar needs of people with a migrant background, young

entrepreneurs and innovative business ventures.

1991–1997: how it all began…

The MASGF began giving support to unemployed indi-

viduals in the 1990s. At that time, shortly after the fall of

the Berlin Wall, self-employment was the only avenue

available to most of them for re-establishing themselves

in the working world. With the closure of the People’s

Enterprises (VEB) and Agricultural Production Co-op-

eratives (LPG), unemployment in Brandenburg had in-

creased rapidly. Only new businesses would create new

jobs, but not enough investors could be found to meet

the need. This made it all the more important to motivate

local people to consider self-employment. Many former

job holders had training and experience that made them

highly skilled in their field. In this respect, they already

had a foundation for sustainable business ideas. But un-

like Saxony, for example, Brandenburg had no tradition

of entrepreneurship on which to draw. At the same time,

reunification had provided many people with their first

opportunity to start a business of their own, something

which had been far less possible in the GDR. Structures

and support provisions thus needed to be created to

make the necessary business training and initial assis-

tance available.

At that time, the MASGF saw self-employment as a

promising means for bringing an end to the unemploy-

ment of many and also for creating additional jobs. A

specially developed programme of support envisaged

a range of training and consultancy provisions, as well

as a subsidy aimed at investments and operating funds.

Towards the end of the 1990s, the landscape shifted

with the redistribution of responsibilities the Branden-

burg local government: financial support for investments

and operating funds was now to be administered by the

Federal State of Brandenburg’s Ministry of Economics,

within the framework of its development programmes.

The MASGF, meanwhile, remained responsible for pro-

viding business training and advice to individuals seek-

Supporting new businesses – creating jobs

8 S u p p o r t F o r S e l F - e m p l o y m e n t

1 1S u p p o r t F o r S e l F - e m p l o y m e n t

staff of the start-up support services advise prospec-

tive entrepreneurs with concrete business ideas, and

support their progress into business. Individuals inter-

ested in starting their own business are offered coach-

ing and training tailored to meet their individual needs.

Most start-up support services focus primarily on group

ventures and complex business ideas, as there is a sig-

nificantly greater need for advice in this area than in that

of micro-businesses. New business ventures of this kind

are of particular significance to regional economic devel-

opment in Brandenburg.

The start-up support services contribute significantly

to the new business networks at their respective uni-

versities. They maintain links with stakeholders outside

the universities, with external research institutions and

companies, and collaborate with expert new business

advisers.

Support provided:

A variety of provisions at the universities, comparable in

part to those provided by the business mentoring ser-

vices

Contact:

On-site agencies at the universities

(see addresses from p. 92 onwards)

“InnovatIon requIre CouraGe” ProJeCt

For:

Prospective entrepreneurs and new entrepreneurs (in

their first three years of business) with innovative busi-

ness ideas. In particular, these include technology-inten-

sive sectors, the cultural and creative industries, innova-

tive knowledge-based services and ventures involving

innovative technological products or processes with in-

terdisciplinary links to the cultural and creative industries

and/or sectors such as social welfare, further education,

tourism or crafts. New business ventures are deemed

innovative if, for example, new products are created,

new processes employed, or new sales channels or

marketing tools are used for existing products or pro-

cesses. Innovative business ideas possess particularly

great potential for development and job creation.

Concept:

Support begins with an analysis of the new business

idea. The prospective entrepreneurs receive individually

tailored coaching, and are mentored by external experts.

In addition, support is provided by the IbM agencies.

The ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg GmbH, for example,

makes its own sector competence teams available and

provides access to network partners such as Business

Angels Berlin-Brandenburg. The provision of supervi-

sors for individual ventures is an additional guarantee for

the quality and goal orientation of the coaching process.

The pool of IbM advisers consists of recognised con-

sulting and coaching experts with extensive practical

experience and personal networks. A key feature of the

pool is its transparency and commitment to co-opera-

tion, with a regular exchange of experiences between

the members. IbM’s approach focuses on the develop-

ment of professional business plans and sound busi-

ness models, on market positioning, and on laying the

foundations for consistency, reliability and quality in cus-

tomer and business partner relationships. Further areas

of focus are a forward-looking human resources policy

and a realistic business strategy, and last but not least

the acquisition of business skills. This is aimed in par-

“thanks to the support provided to the

business mentoring services by the MaSF,

reliable and competent contact people

have now been available to new entrepre-

neurs in all rural districts for more than 10

years. the continuity of this support has

enabled the business mentoring services

to become a firm fixture on the new busi-

ness landscape in Brandenburg.”

Henning Kloth,

responsible for new businesses and business

mentoring services at the LASA Brandenburg

GmbH from 1991 to 2007

of Labour, Social Affairs, Women and the Family (MASF)

on the Support of Training and Coaching Measures

for New Businesses and Business Successions in the

Federal State of Brandenburg” of 30 December 2009

specifies the following range of provisions for new en-

trepreneurs:

reGIonaL BuSIneSS MentorInG ServICeS

For:

Individuals interested in starting their own business, es-

pecially those who are currently unemployed, and busi-

ness owners in their first year of self-employment who

have received support from the regional business men-

toring services while preparing to launch their business

Concept:

The business mentors support prospective entrepre-

neurs in the planning of their business venture, during the

launch of the business and throughout its first year, work-

ing in collaboration with a pool of external consultants

and coaches. They are also active in new local business

networks.

Support provided:

1. Detailed initial meeting

2. Assessment centre evaluates the business idea and

assesses personal business competencies

3. Development of a roadmap for launching of new

business

4. Coaching and training by experienced experts in all

aspects of starting a new business

5. Help with all questions arising after the new busi-

ness has been launched

Contact:

Locally in all rural and urban districts


BuSIneSS MentorInG ServICe For MIGrantS

For:

Individuals with a migrant background interested in

starting their own business, and business owners in

their first year of self-employment who have received

support from the regional business mentoring services

while preparing to launch their business

Concept:

The business mentoring service for migrants works in

the same way as the regional business mentoring ser-

vices. It also offers advice specifically tailored to the tar-

get group which takes into consideration socio-cultural

differences and work experience as well as language

skills.

Support provided:

See regional business mentoring services

Contact:

Business mentoring service for migrants


Start-uP SuPPort ServICeS at unIverSItIeS

For:

Students, graduates (up to five years after graduation)

and academic staff (with the exception of tenured pro-

fessors) who are interested in starting their own busi-

ness

Concept:

The start-up support services based at Brandenburg

universities take into consideration the particular pro-

file of each respective university. Thus, the technically

orientated universities have a different range of provi-

sions available from the broader-focused University of

Potsdam or the Konrad Wolf Academy for Film and

Television (HFF) in Potsdam-Babelsberg, for example.

The support provided by the start-up support services

dovetails with the other support provisions in place at

the universities, such as teaching entrepreneurship. The

1 0 S u p p o r t F o r S e l F - e m p l o y m e n t


BuSIneSS SuCCeSSIon aDvICe CentreS

For:

Individuals planning to take over a business and entre-

preneurs who are preparing to transfer their business to

a successor

Concept:

The business succession advice centres act as media-

tors in the business succession process. The goal is to

balance the often differing interests of the current owner

of the business and the successor, and to contribute

to a successful transfer of the business. Particular at-

tention is paid to identifying women who are interested

in taking over a business as potential successors, and

linking them with suitable businesses.

Support provided:

1. Business check conducted to establish whether the

business is suitable for transferral

2. Support provided for current owner of the business

and successor (mediation throughout the succes-

sion process)

3. Training/coaching provided for the current owner

and successor

Contact:

Local business succession advice centres


aDDItIonaL eXPerIMentaL SCHeMeS

Since 2011, new entrepreneurs have also been able

to benefit from so-called “additional experimental

schemes”. Agencies already implementing one of the

above-detailed support schemes are eligible for ad-

ditional funding for innovative new approaches which

improve or further develop the mentoring, coaching

and training services provided in the Federal State of

Brandenburg. These schemes may relate to target

groups which have so far received no support, such as

mature entrepreneurs, people with disabilities, people in

long-term unemployment, or freelancers. Or they may

focus on particular types of new businesses, such as

team ventures, people restarting after bankruptcy, or the

networking of individual entrepreneurs. Current projects

focus on social entrepreneurship and on new business-

es started by migrants at universities.

Further information

LASA Brandenburg GmbH

www.lasa-brandenburg.de

Innovationen brauchen Mut (IbM)

www.innovationen-brauchen-mut.de

Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Women and the Family

(MASF)

www.masf.brandenburg.de

ticular at meeting the requirements for start-up financ-

ing for the future business and laying the foundations

for healthy growth.

Support provided:

1. Analysis of the new business idea and identification

of necessary support measures (pre-coaching)

2. Individually tailored coaching and advice from ex-

ternal experts

3. Supervision

4. Group coaching sessions for individual target groups

Contact:

ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg GmbH and the Institut

für Berufsforschung und Unternehmensplanung Me-

dien e. V. (IBF)


Start-uP WorKSHoPS For YounG PeoPLe

For:

Young people up to the age of 27 (and in exceptional

circumstances up to the age of 30) who have completed

a vocational training course and are unemployed or at

risk of becoming unemployed.

Concept:

Start-up workshops can be likened to incubators. They

provide space for working, training and communication,

and all the equipment necessary for preparing to start a

business. The prospective entrepreneurs are mentored

in groups and/or individually throughout the entire start-

up process. As a rule, socio-pedagogical considerations

are also addressed. They may also be given help in pur-

suing alternative work prospects. Suitable instruments

(microcredits) are facilitated for the provision of start-up

financing. External partners and mentors are particularly

helpful in procuring first orders. The start-up workshops

are extremely well-networked, and collaborate with local

businesses, institutions and initiatives, as well as with

former clients.

Support provided:

1. Assessment centre aimed at evaluating the business

idea and the personal qualities of the prospective

entrepreneur

2. Conceptual phase, development of a business

concept, training (tax, law, sales training, market-

ing etc.), generally in a group with other prospective

entrepreneurs or in the form of individual training or

coaching

3. Final presentation of results

Contact:

Local start-up workshops



S u p p o r t F o r S e l F - e m p l o y m e n t

Help with customer acquisition

The Cottbus business mentors pay particular attention

to the marketing strategy of new entrepreneurs be-

fore the actual launch of their business. But as Andrea

Behrends points out some clients still abandon the sug-

gestions of their mentors once their business begins, or

that customer acquisition simply falls by the wayside in

the day-to-day running of the business. When this hap-

pens, the business mentoring service refers its clients

to the national coaching programme “Gründercoaching

Deutschland” and to specialists from the large network

of local advisers.

In the experience of the Cottbus mentors, though, dif-

ficulty finding customers or holding one’s own against

competitors is in no way connected to inadequate tech-

nical competency. That is always good, says Andrea

Behrends, and it has to be, or the new entrepreneurs in

question would never have been selected for the busi-

ness mentoring service after their initial meeting or the

assessment centre: “Anyone who wants to stand up to

their competitors in the market must excel in their own

field.”

IHK-Bildungszentrum Cottbus GmbH

Andrea Behrends

Goethestraße 1 a

03046 Cottbus

Phone: 0355 3652705

Internet: www.ihk-bildungszentrum-cottbus.de

co

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Bu

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Help and advice on all aspects of business manage-

ment is what the regional business mentoring service

in Cottbus sees as its principal task and also its core

competence. And this is no surprise, because although

the agency that provides the service – the IHK training

centre – is a subsidiary of the local chamber of com-

merce and industry, the IHK training centre itself is a

medium-sized enterprise that has been through all the

usual ups and downs of a business. Its staff know how

the market works and they have adapted consistently to

its demands with the advice and training that they offer.

Good preconditions

“The preconditions for new businesses in Cottbus are

good, or at least better than in some rural areas,” says

Andrea Behrends, project manager at the IHK training

centre. “As long as a location has large enough target

markets – and Cottbus does – the situation is good. We

also benefit from the advantages that a town of this size

has to offer, by which I mean the infrastructure, the in-

stitutions, the companies based here. They are ideal for

new businesses, especially service sector ones.” And

it is those that are most popular with the prospective

entrepreneurs who come to the Cottbus business men-

toring service for help. Construction work, landscape

design, facility management and increasingly also spa-

and health-related services top the list. And along with

retail and online businesses, freelance occupations are

also on the increase: lecturers, architects, construction

engineers and artists who have recognised their entre-

preneurial shortcomings and want to correct them.

Despite its relative size, though, Cottbus is not always

large enough, claims Andrea Behrends: “In a place like

this with a population of less than 100,000, competition

in the service sector is inevitably harsh. New entrepre-

neurs run the risk of never even getting the opportunity

to try out their business idea. Price takes precedence

over quality, and unless they have enough staying pow-

er to set themselves apart from their competitors and

tap into new target markets, they often find themselves

in difficulties.”

Regional business mentoring service – urban district of Cottbus


M

1 4


What would you have had liked to have more

time for?

The ordering and delivery times for the equipment and

shop fittings were very tight. And there wasn’t much time

for talking to suppliers or arranging contracts either. I had

to fit my salesroom out professionally in accordance with

the regulations, of course. In the end, all the equipment

arrived the day before I was due to open. There’s that say-

ing that the workmen should be going out the back as the

guests are coming in at the front, and that’s pretty much

the way it was.

What support did you go to the business men-

toring service for?

I knew what I wanted when I went to the business men-

toring service, because I already had a business idea.

I needed support with the formalities to do with my in-

complete training. And I had to get to grips with things

that I’d never had anything to do with before. I had to

make a cash budget for my business plan, for example.

The business mentoring service was a really big help to

me with all these tasks.

and have you been able to create any new jobs

or apprentice positions since you started the

business?

We’re planning to offer apprentice positions once we’ve

got through the first five years of business and achieved

a stable basis. And we’re looking for suitable staff at the

moment.

What advice would you give to other new entre-

preneurs?

They should be clear about the fact that the concept of

free time no longer exists. So if you’re starting your own

business you definitely need the support of your friends

and family.

It’s also important to look for help from organisations

that are familiar with the formalities of starting a new

business, both in terms of business management and of

dealing with banks. It’s best to approach several banks,

not just one, and to use a guarantor bank and enquire

about start-up loans. The business mentoring service is

very helpful with that. The staff will tell you which insti-

tutions you can go to for support, and where you can

apply.

Sandra Dietz

„Sehen + Verstehen – Ihr Blickpunkt Sandra Dietz“

Cottbus

www.sehenverstehen.com

Foundation: 2009

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst Cottbus

Service provider: IHK-Bildungszentrum Cottbus

co

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Bu

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Ms. Dietz, you are an optician and your busi-

ness partner sells hearing aids. However, you

don’t have a joint business, do you?

No, we operate as two independent businesses under

one roof. The hearing aids are my partner’s area, and I

came on board with the ophthalmic optics nine months

later, in June 2009. First, of course, I had to do a lot

of newspaper and radio advertising, but it paid off: this

year we’re celebrating our third anniversary and we have

over 900 customers. Our youngest customer is two and

a half years old, and our oldest is 92.

and why did you decide to become self-em-

ployed in the first place?

Customer service really matters to me. When customers

come to us, they get what they need and not whatever I

might want to sell them. If I worked for a larger company

I’d be under pressure to achieve certain sales targets by

selling more expensive lenses and frames. In that kind of

company the sales figures matter more than individual

customer needs. And that’s why I decided to become

self-employed when I lost my previous job.

as a self-employed optician you need to be

qualified. Was this the case when you started

your business?

No, I was made redundant by my previous employer

part-way through my training. I still had another year to

go. But I was able to get special authorisation to start

my business even though I wasn’t fully qualified.

I didn’t have enough capital either, but luckily I was

able to get a start-up loan from the KfW banking group

through my own bank. It all had to happen very quickly,

it would have been nice to have had more preparation

time.

“If you’re starting your own business you definitely need the support of your friends and family.”


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Good networking

One explanation for this success is undoubtedly the fact

that the district as a whole is committed to supporting

new businesses. This shows itself not least in the nu-

merous business and advice networks supported by

the business development organisation, and to which

the business mentoring service refers its fledgling en-

trepreneurs. Here, they are given further help and learn

how to find their way around the market and operate as

business owners. In Marion Fender’s view, this practical

support is essential because “We can talk all we like be-

forehand, and use countless case studies and role plays

to give our clients a better understanding of entrepre-

neurship, but when they launch their own businesses

and reality kicks in, it can be pretty tough. The new en-

trepreneurs really need support at that point too.”

Furthermore, the Dahme-Spreewald business mentors

offer their clients the opportunity, among other things,

to take part in large conventions held four times a year

which deal in depth with common business manage-

ment problems such as taxation law, human resources

management and statutory regulations. Alongside this

more theoretical tuition, the mentors also provide very

practical help, for example by finding favourably priced

business premises for new entrepreneurs to rent.

Small loans for new business ventures

The district also offers financial support to new entrepre-

neurs with its own small loans scheme. Marion Fender

explains: “Banks are often reluctant to provide small

loans of 2,000 or 3,000 euros because the handling

costs are off-putting. So in October 2007 we introduced

our own scheme offering loans of up to 10,000 euros.

This was approved by the district council and we are

responsible for the implementation. As I said, we adapt

to new market challenges so that we are always able to

respond quickly to new challenges.”

regionale Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft

Dahme-Spreewald mbH

Marion Fender

Freiheitstraße 120

15745 Wildau

Phone: 03375 523830

Internet: www.wfg-lds.de

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The rural district of Dahme-Spreewald is described on

the web as one of the Federal State of Brandenburg’s

prime business locations, with beautiful, richly wooded

and watered countryside making it a perfect place for

living and leisure. The regional business development

organisation anticipates that the already considerable

demand for services is likely to increase further as a re-

sult of the construction of Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

But the challenges this will pose to the Dahme-Spree-

wald business mentoring service are not exceptional,

and much the same as those faced by all the other busi-

ness mentoring services, says Marion Fender of the Re-

gional Economic Promotion, Dahme-Spreewald GmbH,

the agency that provides the business mentoring ser-

vice. “We do what we can, just as the others do. The

directive calls on us to support people over the age of

27, who are unemployed or at risk of becoming unem-

ployed, with practical help and advice for their new busi-

ness venture. So we deal with questions such as: What

can I expect from self-employment? What is my unique

selling point? How do my personal qualities equip me as

an entrepreneur? What basic business skills do I have?”

Since 2001, some 4,000 prospective entrepreneurs

have been given initial advice by the Dahme-Spreewald

business mentoring service. More than 900 new busi-

nesses are the result of the assessment centres and

mentoring services. And according to a survey con-

ducted last year, 756 of these are still in the market. This

represents a rate of 84 per cent, with an average of 0.5

additional jobs being generated by each new business.

Regional business mentoring service – rural district of Dahme-Spreewald


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But despite the help it wasn’t an easy start.

No, it was very difficult to get contracts. If I rang a zoo,

for example, they would say, “Yes, we’re planning a new

elephant compound and your rocks would fit in well.

Why don’t you send us your references?” But I didn’t

have any references because I was only just starting out.

So I couldn’t get any contracts. And without the con-

tracts, of course, I couldn’t provide any references. The

breakthrough finally came when I found customers who

were willing to look at work samples and didn’t insist on

seeing references.

Another challenge was withstanding the cost pressure

from the competition. Some competitors have been

in the market for 20 years and have made a name for

themselves accordingly. But they have their products

made abroad so they can offer much lower prices.

But you have managed to hold your own al-

though your prices are a little higher.

Yes, but in order to keep up we did everything we could

to make our prices as low as possible. Our manage-

ment is very lean, we avoid excessive bureaucracy, and

we try to keep auxiliary costs low. For the first few years

we did the paperwork along the way, or my wife did it

after work. For the first six years she still had a job of her

own, and yet she managed to do all the background

work for the business too. That made an enormous dif-

ference. It’s really important to have the support of your

family, full stop. All in all, the hard work paid off: in the

last few years our turnover has gone up steadily, and we

now have a number of regular customers.

Where are you now?

When I started the business in 2003, we were working

in a dilapidated old workshop 30 kilometres from where

we lived, which made things difficult. Two years ago we

bought our own site in the place where we live. We in-

vested a lot of money in it, fitted the workshop out to suit

our needs, and created good working conditions for our

six employees. That seems like good progress to me.

rené Schneider

Kunstgestein & Zierelemente

Märkische Heide

www.kunstgestein.de

Foundation: 2003

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst Dahme-Spreewald

Service provider: Regionale Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft

Dahme-Spreewald mbH

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Mr. Schneider, you manufacture artificial rocks.

Who do you make them for?

We manufacture true-to-life rocks, stone slabs and other

decorative items made of glass fibre reinforced concrete

for hotels and spas, amusement parks and zoos. That’s

our main business. We also produce a variety of special

components which are unique in their dimensions, col-

our and shape and custom-made to the specifications

of the customer. We also manufacture kitchen worktops

and other interior-design-related items for kitchen show-

rooms.

that’s quite a jump. Where did you get the idea?

Before I became self-employed, I worked for a com-

pany processing glass fibre reinforced concrete several

years and was responsible for the production. We made

things like the outer shell of Europe’s tallest pyramid, or

the façade of a knight’s castle for an amusement park in

East Germany. We had a lot of quite large contracts. But

then my boss died tragically in an aeroplane crash, so all

his employees lost their jobs overnight. I decided to buy

up all the company equipment and rented a workshop

where I started producing.

How did the Dahme-Spreewald business men-

toring service support you when you were start-

ing your business?

Self-employment was completely uncharted territory

for me, so from that point of view I benefited a lot from

both the assessment centre and the individual advice.

Up till then I’d been on the other side of the fence, so

to speak, as an employee. As a business owner I was

going to have to take on far more responsibility. Now it

was up to me to make sure that the order books were

full, and I had to learn to judge the market as realistically

as possible, and not to overestimate myself. The busi-

ness mentoring service gave me a lot of support in the

transition from employee to business owner.

“The business mentoring service gave me a lot of support in the transition from employee to business owner.”


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of our coach in those cases too. The good thing is that

even now if we have a problem we can ring the mentor-

ing service anytime. And we’re also still in close contact

with our coach.

So you quite quickly came up against the first

obstacles to growth?

Because of our high patient numbers, we have eight

employees, which is quite a lot for a physiotherapy prac-

tice in a rural area. But unfortunately it was – and still

is – difficult to find skilled staff who reflect our business

philosophy. It’s also an organisational challenge: every

additional employee creates extra work, for example,

because there are more prescriptions to be processed.

Holiday and shift plans have to be precisely co-ordinat-

ed. And a larger number of employees also means a

greater need for communication within the team, so we

now hold regular staff meetings. We have to watch out

in all of this that we don’t end up sidelining our own

needs, but try instead to create space for ourselves.

It means that we’re now doing less work with patients

and more organisational work, and investing a lot more

time than we used to in ensuring that the practice runs

smoothly.

the two of you started a business as a team.

Has that proved to be a good decision?

Yes, definitely. It would have been much more difficult on

our own, even just from the point of view of our working

hours. We’re open from 7 am to 8.30 pm You couldn’t

cover that by yourself. And it also means that each of us

can go on holiday for three weeks if we want, without

having to worry that decisions can’t be made in our ab-

sence. And every now and then we get together in the

evening and talk over this and that. It’s just a lot of fun

to do or develop things together, because each person

has different ideas to contribute.

Have you got any advice for other new entre-

preneurs?

You definitely have to stay true to your ideas and follow

your own gut instinct when it comes to implementing

them. You have to be passionate about your thing, but

still open to criticism from outside and willing to make

changes. Then you can really achieve something.

2 3

“You have to stay true to your ideas.”


Ms. Patzer, you and your colleague nadine

Fastnacht opened a physiotherapy practice in

2008 and received support from the business

mentoring service.

Yes, we specialise in sports physiotherapy and paediat-

ric physiotherapy. They’re special fields of work that not

all physiotherapy practices offer. But of course we offer

the usual range of physiotherapy services too.

We invested a lot of time and energy in the initial prepa-

rations for starting our business. At that stage, skilled

advisers are incredibly important, so the support we got

from the Dahme-Spreewald business mentoring service

was just what we needed. Although it’s your own will

more than anything else that determines whether or not

you succeed, you don’t always know what bureaucratic

obstacles you might have to overcome. The mentoring

service didn’t do the work for us, but it helped us to

avoid overlooking anything important, and prevented

us from getting into a situation that we wouldn’t have

wanted, simply out of ignorance.

The business developed so well that we soon had to

deal with new questions such as larger premises and

additional staff. We were able to rely on the experience

Doreen Patzer

nadine Fastnacht

PhysioTeam Eichwalde

Patzer & Fastnacht GbR

Eichwalde

www.physioteam-eichwalde.de

Foundation: 2008

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst Landkreis Dahme-Spreewald

Service provider: Regionale Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Dahme-Spreewald mbH

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The results are something to be proud of. Since the

mentoring service was launched in 2001, the Elbe-Elster

business mentors have conducted around 300 initial

meetings with prospective entrepreneurs each year. Of

these, 100 were invited to attend an assessment centre,

and 50 finally qualified to receive help with preparations

for starting their own business. To date, that makes a

total of 500 new businesses in the district that the men-

toring service has helped to get off the ground. Some of

the first clients are even at the point of celebrating their

tenth anniversary this year.

There are people of all ages among the new entrepre-

neurs, says Regina Veik, but the majority are aged be-

tween 35 and 50. And depending on whether the pro-

spective entrepreneurs are men or women, the most

popular business ideas come from the areas of crafts-

manship and construction services, or retail, nursing

and healthcare.

Highly skilled new business owners

New entrepreneurs of both sexes need initial help with

topics such as sales planning, profitability prediction, li-

quidity protection and pricing. And once the new busi-

ness has been launched, they also need support in

dealing with challenges such as customer acquisition,

marketing and accounting. “It’s mostly a question of

commercial and managerial know-how”, remarks Regina

Veik. “As far as technical skills are concerned, everyone

who has applied to us for help is very good. And that’s the

be-all and end-all for a new business.”


elbe-elster mbH

Regina Veik

Ludwig-Jahn-Straße 2

04916 Herzberg

Phone: 03535 462670

Internet: www.wfg-elbe-elster.de

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The rural district of Elbe-Elster owes its name not just

to one river but to three: the Elbe, the Black Elster and

the Small Elster. And thanks to a good mix of small and

larger businesses and a wide variety of industrial sec-

tors – suppliers to the automotive industry, wood and

metal processing, tourism and the food industry – the

business mentoring service in the rural district consid-

ers its economic opportunities to be just as varied as

the geography. “Our district is committed to supporting

new businesses”, stresses Regina Veik from the busi-

ness mentoring service in the rural district of Elbe-Elster.

“By that I mean in particular that the business develop-

ment organisation takes every prospective entrepreneur

seriously and considers whether their business idea has

the potential to be workable, sound and sustainable.

This also means giving our opinion openly and hon-

estly, pointing out possible negative outcomes and, if in

doubt, doing our best to prevent new businesses being

launched regardless of the consequences.”

Promoting new businesses from the top

Even Eberhard Stroisch, the district’s Head of Devel-

opment, does not consider himself above the task of

motivating people in the district to consider self-employ-

ment, or of pointing out business opportunities. He goes

on “acquisition tours” himself, spreading the word about

the support provided by the business mentoring ser-

vice. When talking to prospective business owners, he

see illustrating the opportunites and prospects of their

business ideas in the context of the regional economy

as a key task. And he bases his arguments on analysis

and policy recommendations such as the district devel-

opment concept and the Elbe-Elster region’s strategic

marketing concept.

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How has your business developed in the course

of the five years?

My family is well known locally, so the first customers

arrived on the day I opened for business, and my cus-

tomer base has been growing ever since. The reason

is that there are fewer and fewer tanneries. Tanning is

a dying craft in Germany, so those of us who are still

practising the trade are getting more and more work.

Also, an increasing amount of people are growing tired

of mowing the lawn at the weekend, and are getting

themselves a sheep or two which they eventually have

butchered. And the food scandals have also played a

part. People in rural areas are going back to eating ani-

mals they have raised themselves, because then you

know what you’ve got on your plate. They then bring

the skins to me.

So the business grew steadily from the start really. Even-

tually there came a point where I realised that I couldn’t

manage on my own anymore, so I now employ two

members of staff. My brother works for me fulltime, and

I also have another employee who works weekly on an

hourly basis.

and how do potential customers find out about

what you offer?

The most important thing is my website. That’s how

most customers find their way to me. I made an effort

from the start to ensure that the site was clearly pre-

sented and gave simple information about tanning. Be-

cause lots of people these days don’t really know what

it is. I also advertised on a local radio station in order

to make my business known in southern Brandenburg.

Lots of my potential customers commute to work and

listen to that station in the car. My experience is that if

you advertise sensibly, it does bring in new customers.

What would be your advice to other new entre-

preneurs?

My advice is, “Take the plunge! Talk to the experts from

the new business advice centres or the business men-

toring service. They’ll look at your idea and tell you whe-

ther it’s profitable. And if it makes sense, try it out. It’s

always good to talk to people who know a bit more than

you do.”

Manfred oettrich

Gerberei Manfred Oettrich

Doberlug-Kirchhain

www.gerberei-oettrich.de

Foundation: 2006

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst Landkreis Elbe-Elster

Service provider: Regionale Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Elbe-Elster mbH

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Mr. oettrich, you run a tannery. What drew you

to such an unusual occupation?

Tanning is an ancient craft that has been practised here in

Kirchhain for some 400 years. My father, grandfather and

great-grandfather were all tanners here. So when I came

to choose an occupation it was a moot question really.

Having said that, when I finished training I didn’t start

work as a tanner immediately; I spent six years working

for a company that made car trailers. I lost my job during

the steel crisis, and I put the redundancy payment into

the family tannery and became self-employed in 2006.

What does your work as a tanner involve?

I have a small business and work for private customers.

For the most part I cure fur hides, be they sheep, wild

boar, fox or rabbit.

The customers bring me the animal skins, which I treat

with special substances, and then they come back to

collect the tanned hides. Some of my customers are

hunters who have shot their first wild boar and want to

display the skin as a trophy. Or shepherds who have a

farm shop where they sell sheep’s milk, cheese, meat

and wool; to get as much value from the animal as pos-

sible, they sell the skin too.

When you started your business five years ago,

you received support from the elbe-elster re-

gional business development organisation’s

business mentoring service. What did you find

especially helpful?

The assessment centre was particularly helpful in brin-

ging my business knowledge back up to date. Although

I’d taken part in a retraining course in industrial busi-

ness management after reunification in 1993-1995,

and worked in that area too, I hadn’t kept up with the

regulations on social insurance matters such as health

insurance and pensions. The support provided by the

mentoring service was very good altogether, because

when you’re starting your own business you’re very

much preoccupied with organising your work, buying

materials and so on. But accounting, taxes and insu-

rance are important too, and that’s where the mentoring

service can help you to avoid making mistakes. Having

the support of a coach was especially helpful because I

could check straight away whether the ideas I had were

on the right track.

“It’s always good to talk to people who know a bit more than you do.”


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ployment for support by the business mentoring service.”

a good location for new businesses

The business ideas that the mentoring clients set out to

realise are largely service sector ones, aimed both at busi-

nesses (courier services and design or other services in

the technical engineering and IT fields, for example) and

at private customers and households (help with shop-

ping, care for elderly people and facility management, for

example). There is also an increase in the number of new

businesses offering spa- and health-related services, for

which there is a growing market. Oberhavel is one of the

regions on the periphery of Berlin with a growth in popula-

tion that is likely to continue into the future. Communities

connected to the local rail network, in particular, are home

to a large number of people who work in Berlin and often

have a relatively high income. This is a result not least of

the good infrastructure, and of course the proximity to

Berlin.

In Waltraut Krienke’s view, then, the preconditions for new

businesses in the rural district of Oberhavel are excellent,

especially when one also considers that an increasing

amount of businesses are being set up in the south of

the district. The towns of Hennigsdorf, Oranienburg and

Velten have developed into recognised growth centres

with a good record as successful business locations.This

setting also offers perfect conditions for new entrepre-

neurs to find their market niche.

Wirtschafts-, Innovations- und tourismusförderung oberhavel GmbH (WInto)

Waltraut Krienke

Neuendorfstraße 18 a

16761 Hennigsdorf

Phone: 03302 559201

Internet: www.winto-gmbh.de

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Some 3,500 initial meetings since 2001. Plus 550 men-

toring clients and 455 new businesses. At the time of the

business mentoring service’s last survey, approximately

85 per cent of these were still in the market. By their own

assessment, 15 to 20 per cent of them are doing well or

very well, while another 60 to 65 per cent rate their situa-

tion as satisfactory.

“Keeping businesses in the market was an important

quality criterion for our work from the start”, says Waltraut

Krienke, project manager at the Economic, Innovation

and Tourism Promotion, Oberhavel GmbH, the agency

which provides the business mentoring service in the ru-

ral district of Oberhavel. “The sustainability of businesses,

rather than just the start-up rate was important. And this

year the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Women and the

Family even adopted sustainability as a quality standard

for all business mentoring services.”

How the mentors in Oberhavel equip their new entrepre-

neurs for sustainable business management is no great

secret though. According to Waltraut Krienke, they do

not work any differently to the other business mentoring

services, although they do have one special programme

feature: “We invite all our network partners to attend the

final session of the assessments we run. Then they can

ask the new entrepreneurs questions during the final

presentation and offer tips on new business ventures. So

new entrepreneurs who are in need of outside capital, for

example, might get to know their future bank adviser and

can get advice in advance on the things they should pay

particular attention to when they’re applying for a loan.”

Developing support provisions for people in

long-term unemployment

The Oberhavel business mentoring service has also pio-

neered the development of support provisions for peo-

ple in long-term unemployment.3 This came as a result

of the realisation that many people receiving long-term

unemployment benefits could not make use of the sup-

port provided by the mentoring service because they did

not meet the requirements. As Waltraut Krienke explains,

“What then developed from this, four years ago, were our

ideas workshop and our pre-start-up seminar – a new

project designed to prepare people in long-term unem-

Regional business mentoring service – rural district of Oberhavel


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3 The project was developed within the framework of the “Regionalbudget”,

which is supported by the MASF with funding from the ESF.


In the course of your business career you have

made use of support from external advisers on

many occasions. What conclusions have you

drawn?

I’ve always taken the line that although outside advice

is important, at the end of the day I bear all the respon-

sibility as the owner of the business. And I’m sure that

this has been a factor in our success. It means I have

to make sure that I have enough knowledge to chal-

lenge the recommendations of the advisers if necessary.

It’s happened to me in the past that I’ve received really

bad advice. And that’s something that a business owner

needs to be able to recognise. It’s a fallacy to imagine

you can delegate the whole question of business ex-

pertise to advisers. As an entrepreneur and the owner

of a new business, you have to concern yourself with

everything that is relevant to running that business. It’s

important to make use of advice from others, but the

decisions you have to make afterwards are ones that

nobody else can make for you. So you have to have

some sound basic knowledge. Unfortunately, though, all

this has a downside too.

and what is that?

In my experience, as a new business owner you need

the audacity of ignorance. You have to jump in at the

deep end. But if you stand there on the diving board

and think everything through in detail, with all the pos-

sible consequences, the chances are you’ll never jump.

There are certain things I know I’d never do the same

way now because I have a different perspective on the

risks involved. So a certain degree of ignorance is defi-

nitely necessary at the beginning. But there have to be

certain limits: you must never put your home or family

at risk.

What other advice would you give to new entre-

preneurs?

What I really recommend is to look beyond your own

horizon and try to view the market from the perspective

of the customer. I often have new entrepreneurs com-

ing to me and saying, “Listen, I’ve opened this shop,

it really looks good, come and have a look at it. I just

can’t understand why business is so slow.” And then

I walk around the shop with them and say, “Who did

you actually make this shop for? For yourself or for your

customers?” A lot of people simply don’t realise that the

product has to please the customer first and foremost,

not necessarily the business owner.

It’s also very important to acknowledge the social re-

sponsibility that you have as a business owner. Reports

in the media talk a lot about the social commitment of

large companies, but people often overlook the fact that

family businesses and medium-sized enterprises in par-

ticular take on a great deal of social responsibility. As a

business owner, this is something you should concern

yourself with right from the start. It comes with the terri-

tory when you’re running a business.

thomas Schwarz, Dirk Isert,

Heinz ritter, Bernd-rainer vogt

Dreieck Gebäudedienste GmbH

Neuruppin

www.dreieck.com

Foundation: 1994

Advised by: LASA Brandenburg GmbH

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Dirk Isert and Thomas Schwarz

Mr. Schwarz, you have been self-employed for

17 years, have a staff of over 1,000 and provide

training to 20 apprentices. When you and your

colleague first started your business, you had

both been unemployed for over a year. Did you

ever imagine that you would be so successful?

We hoped, of course, that we would succeed at realising

our vision and eventually be able to provide facility man-

agement services. But we started very small indeed, of-

fering traditional cleaning services, until my business part-

ner Heinz Ritter got his master craftsman’s diploma from

the chamber of skilled crafts, which you needed if you

wanted to start a commercial cleaning business. Then we

were able to expand our range of services. Now we truly

have realised our vision, and offer comprehensive facil-

ity management. This includes, for example, landscape

gardening, janitor services, snow-clearing services in win-

ter and technical services such as lift maintenance or the

servicing of heating systems. But we also provide secu-

rity services, office services and catering. Our custom-

ers include businesses and public authorities, primarily in

the East German federal states but also in North-Rhine-

Westphalia and Hessia.

and you’ve received quite a lot of recognition as

an entrepreneur.

Yes, in March 2001 we were included in the Top 100

Innovative Small and Medium Enterprises in Germany,

and awarded first prize as 2001 New Business of the

Year in Germany. Then not long afterwards, in 2005, we

received the Grand Prize for Small and Medium Enter-

prises. That’s something we’re very proud of, of course.

In the 1990s, the business mentoring servic-

es hadn’t yet been founded. However, you did

receive support from the LaSa Brandenburg

GmbH.

That’s right. I received support from the LASA as a previ-

ously unemployed new business owner. It was 10,000

DM as a subsidy towards living expenses, which pro-

vided some security for my family. Without that money

I don’t think I would have become self-employed. We

used the 3,000 DM of funding available for start-up ad-

vice to pay for advice from a tax consultant.

“As a new business owner you need the audacity of ignorance.”


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What obstacles did you have to overcome when

you were starting your business?

I had a lot of problems with the banks. To start with I

wanted to buy a piece of land and build a workshop

on it. It would have meant an investment of 2.5 million

euros. The adviser at the first bank told me I should rent

a workshop and buy the equipment instead. And so I

went to another bank. They liked my idea and pursued

it. We negotiated with them for nearly nine months, and

by the end of the year all I needed was one final sig-

nature from the bank. But I didn’t get it, probably be-

cause of the financial crisis. Then in January 2009 I was

told that the bank wouldn’t be able to back my project.

By that point I had already spent a lot of money on the

ground survey that the bank had asked for, so it was a

really heavy blow.

What happened next?

I was lucky enough to be offered the use of a 500

square metre warehouse by a former customer. I put

all my savings into it, fitted it out and started producing

with a spray booth I’d bought. So many orders came

in that I was able to employ more people. We ran two

shifts in the first booth because it was the only way to

get everything done. After about a year our landlord of-

fered me a fairly modern building on the same site. I was

able to install much larger surface-coating equipment

there, which would help us to stay competitive. But it

was going to cost a six-figure sum. So I went back to

the first bank, whose adviser had previously told me I

should rent a workshop instead of buying one. He had

at least made it clear from the start that they weren’t

going to back my venture, and hadn’t strung me along.

Now I was able to show them that we were generating

an excellent turnover, even in the small workshop, and

just over a week later the loan was approved.

Your business has grown very quickly. How did

you cope with the sudden increase in workload

in relation to human resources and company or-

ganisation?

We really were hiring new people every other month.

After six months there were eight of us already, and I

now have 18 people here. We’re still looking for more

staff and will probably settle at 22. The work I do now

is very similar to what I used to do as an employee. My

responsibilities as a managing director are new, but I’m

a confident person and I enjoy new challenges, so that’s

not a problem.

torsten March

mbc March Beschichtungscenter GmbH

Hennigsdorf

www.mbc-infoweb.de

Foundation: 2009

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst Oberhavel

Service provider: Wirtschafts-, Innovations- und Tourismus-

förderung Oberhavel GmbH (WInTO)

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Mr. March, you started an industrial painting

business. What is it that you paint, and who for?

Industrial painting includes not only painting but also

powder coating and repainting, as well as the pre-treat-

ment process, for example, the chemical degreasing

and industrial blasting. We work for rail vehicle manu-

facturers and also for metal engineering companies that

produce fencing systems or vehicles and need a pow-

der coating or surface on their metal components. We

also provide services for private customers – if some-

body wants to have their bicycle frame repainted, for

example.

Where did you get your business idea?

My background is in the industrial paint industry and I

had a senior position in a company for eight years. Then

I lost my job in 2008 and became self-employed im-

mediately after that. I let the customers know, because

I’d built up good relationships with them over the years.

And the fact that I got positive feedback from all of

them gave me a lot of encouragement, of course. The

Employment Agency referred me on to the Economic,

Innovation and Tourism Promotion, Oberhavel GmbH,

– WInTO – for help with the preparations for starting

my business. My business idea was rated eligible for

support at the assessment centre, so I was allocated a

coach. And then we got down to work.

What kind of support did you get from the

coach?

It was an incredible piece of luck for me to be offered

that coach. I can’t praise the WInTO highly enough for

their support. The coach helped me in all sorts of ways.

He came with me to the bank, because that was new

territory for me. Then he helped me to install a computer

programme so that I could manage my business data

and produce my price quotations. And I couldn’t have

written the business plan without his help either. Even

now we’re still in touch. I’m convinced that the main rea-

son my business has developed so successfully is that I

got the know-how I needed from my coach.

“I’m convinced that the main reason my business has developed so successfully is that I got the know-how I needed from my coach.”


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Support from regional network for business

mentoring service and new entrepreneurs

The regional network, predominantly made up of com-

panies, authorities and advice centres, provides excel-

lent support for the business mentoring service and

hence the new entrepreneurs. Covering many areas,

this substantial network is of great benefit to founders

setting up businesses in many different sectors. The

largest number of start-ups has been recorded in the

service industry, including computer services, office ser-

vices, health and spa services, senior citizen care and

household-related services. Small trade is dominated

by construction service providers, painters, interior

decorators, cleaners, bespoke tailors, alteration tailors,

bicycle and car mechanics, hairdressers, beauticians

and photographers. Irrespective of the sector, Gerlinde

Michaelis has found that, during the pre-start-up stage,

the highest demand for advice tends to be in connec-

tion with the preparation of business plans, the acquisi-

tion and updating of commercial and economic exper-

tise, familiarisation with marketing skills and addressing

the question of commercial and personal security. The

qualifications involved are not exclusively gained via the

business mentoring service but also with the help of net-

work partners, in particular the chamber of industry and

commerce and the chamber of crafts.

For Gerlinde Michaelis, it is very important that all new

entrepreneurs help keep the network concept growing.

“The start-up network is being expanded with the aim of

offering new companies more support beyond the start-

up phase. This should encourage young entrepreneurs

to communicate with each other and to hook up with

other networks. In concentrating entirely on their daily

operations, many founders lose sight of their compa-

nies’ strategic development. To prevent this from hap-

pening, they need the assistance of the business men-

toring service as well as the network partners.”

3 5

The district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz, for decades

known as a brown coal mining area, has now devel-

oped into a diverse industrial and economic region. In

Westlausitz, for example, the chemical industry, electri-

cal engineering, metal processing, renewable energy

and services predominate. Tourism also plays an impor-

tant role, not only in Spreewald but also in the new lake

district that is currently being created by the flooding of

abandoned pit mines. “Overall, the district offers com-

panies favourable conditions and development potential

as well as a climate conducive to the establishment of

new businesses. The region’s 32 large industrial and

commercial estates comprising of around 360 compa-

nies which employ 7,000 people are evidence of this”,

says Gerlinde Michaelis, head of the business mentoring

service offered by the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district.

Since 2007, this service has been provided by WEQUA

GmbH.

The business mentoring service has made an essential

contribution to the region’s brisk economic activity: be-

tween March 2007 and June 2011, a total of 550 po-

tential new entrepreneurs visited the service’s premises.

Having participated in the assessment programme and

undergone intensive one-on-one coaching, 251 found-

ers, most of them aged between 30 and 50, set up their

own business. 40 percent of them are women. Even

more remarkable is the fact that 80 percent of the busi-

nesses are still going strong.

Close ties with the economy

According to Gerlinde Michaelis, this is mainly due to

close ties with the economy: “Over the years, WEQUA’s

activities have brought us in contact with numerous

companies in the region. We put our budding entre-

preneurs in touch with these companies as early as the

pre-start-up phase. Not only do they find out how the

companies were originally set up, they also establish im-

portant business contacts at an early stage and get an

opportunity to exchange experiences.” However, aside

from close ties with companies, Gerlinde Michaelis is

convinced that the success of the business mentoring

service is also due to close cooperation with the cham-

ber of industry and commerce, the Employment Agen-

cy, the Job Centre, the district authorities and further

cooperation partners.

Regional business mentoring service provided by the district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz


Wequa Wirtschaftsentwicklungs- und qualifizierungsgesellschaft mbH

Gerlinde Michaelis

Am Werk 8

01979 Lauchhammer

Phone: 03574 46762243

Internet: www.wequa.de

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now looking after more children, I have been in a posi-

tion to take on further staff. At present, I employ 15 nurs-

ery teachers and seven technical staff plus two trainees.

You‘re now the director and the managing di-

rector of the day care centre. How does that

feel?

I was already working long hours before the change. But

managing my own business means even longer hours.

A lot of new tasks have been added to my work load:

talks with the authorities and staff, recruitment of new

staff, quarterly classification and reporting of the chil-

dren’s progress, bookkeeping, etc. A schedule has to

be prepared in order to get all these things done. These

days the responsibility for my staff and the children is

much greater. I have to think long and hard before taking

my decisions. My working hours have also changed. As

a self-employed person, one works a lot harder, there is

no denying that. I often work later in the evenings and

even at the weekends. Nevertheless, I would do it all

again, even with the ups and downs.

What have you learned from managing your own

business?

One must have the necessary technical expertise. As a

boss, I cannot simply bury myself in the office. I always

take an active role in the different care groups and work

alongside my staff – that way I don‘t lose touch. Work-

ing in the education sector, it is particularly important to

be aware of all of the legal provisions and administrative

requirements. Filling in application forms takes up a lot

of my time, which can be quite tiresome. It is important

to keep the door open so the staff can see why I some-

times have to sit at my desk for two or three days in a

row. This helps us to get through difficult times. It is also

important to have good friends and a supportive family

to give encouragement when times get difficult.

3 7

Ms. Fischer-neumann, you have taken over a

day care centre from a public agency.

What gave you the idea?

I have been working in this day care centre since 1999,

first as a nursery teacher and, since 2002, as director. In

2008, the opportunity to take over the day care centre

arose and I went for it. Today, we look after 167 children.

I also run a project for older children, providing care by

the hour. All in all, the centre is doing very well.

When preparing to take over the day care cen-

tre, you consulted the business mentoring ser-

vice. How would you rate the support you re-

ceived?

I received excellent support. A whole week of training

was devoted to bookkeeping, financial planning and

presentation techniques. Thanks to my experience as

director of the day care centre, I already had a certain

amount of the knowledge I needed to prepare my busi-

ness plan, but the business mentoring service offered

me another perspective on the matter. After the busi-

ness was established, I was put in touch with a business

mentor who helped me with the entrepreneurial aspects

and offered me encouragement when the going was

tough. I‘m still in contact with the business mentoring

service, I can give them a call if any questions arise.

on taking over the day care centre, you also

took over the staff. From colleague to boss –

how did that work out?

It went very well, we‘re all happy. I had talked to every-

body before the change to ensure that the whole team

was behind me. The team has actually expanded. When

I took over, we had 11 nursery teachers. Since we are

“There were lots of ups and downs but I would do it again.”


annett Fischer-neumann

Kita Kleeblatt

Schwarzheide

www.kitakleeblatt.schwarzheide.de

Übernahme: März 2008

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst Oberspreewald-Lausitz

Service provider: WEQUA – Wirtschaftsentwicklungs- und Qualifizierungsgesellschaft mbH

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The town of Potsdam also offers a further advisory ser-

vice, the ‘Start-up Forum Potsdam’, an active, wide-

spread network consisting of more than 20 players in

the start-up field capable of providing highly specialised

advice. The business mentoring service also plays a role

in its capacity as host and co-organiser of the Gründer-

forum’s quarterly start-up meeting.

Coaching – the male and female perspective

Since March 2007, Ralf Krüger and his colleagues have

hosted 700 initial consulting sessions. Of the 274 po-

tential entrepreneurs that took part in assessment pro-

grammes at 29 different centres, 195 actually went on

to set up their own business. Coaching is one of the

essential tools that the business mentoring service uses

to help its clients to prepare their individual start-up

concepts and strategies. The mentors at the Potsdam

business mentoring service have all had their own ex-

perience in this matter. Ralf Krüger comments: “For a

start, there has been a continuous rise in the number of

new businesses being set up by women. Since March

2007, the percentage of women among the start-ups

we have been involved with has risen to well over the

50 per cent mark. Women are more open to the idea of

being coached, and the rising numbers of women tak-

ing an interest in our coaching service are a reflection of

that. In comparison to some of the men, they appreciate

coaching a lot more. In general, men seem to be a lot

less open to suggestion. I suspect that the other busi-

ness mentoring services have had similar experiences.”

technologie- und Gewerbezentren Potsdam GmbH

Ralf Krüger

David-Gilly-Straße 1

14469 Potsdam

Phone: 0331 20018999

Internet: www.lotsendienst-potsdam.de

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Thanks to its economic strength, consistent population

growth and a per capita income that is among the high-

est in eastern Germany, Potsdam is in an exceptional

position. And these are not the only outstanding aspects

about Potsdam. The new entrepreneurs accompa-

nied by Ralf Krüger and his colleagues at the Potsdam

business mentoring service are distinctly different from

those in other areas. Many of the people seeking advice

and assistance have a university degree. According to

Ralf Krüger, project manager at the Potsdam business

mentoring service, the general educational background

tends to be somewhat more academic. There are hardly

any small traders, perhaps only one or two start-ups per

year. Instead, a very high percentage of the new busi-

nesses is established by professionals. The Technology

and Commerce Centre Potsdam GmbH, which took

over the Potsdam business mentoring service in 2007,

states that 60 percent of new businesses are set up

by professionals, including different kinds of engineers,

alternative practitioners, doctors, physiotherapists,

coaches and consultants with a variety of target groups.

However, Ralf Krüger insists that the Potsdam busi-

ness mentoring service does not compete with Startup

Navigator, its counterpart provided by the universities

in Brandenburg: “Graduates are entitled to consult the

university-run Startup Navigator service up till five years

after the start of their business. This means that the new

entrepreneurs coming to us have passed this deadline

and have already gained some experience in the busi-

ness world, which is definitely of advantage to a new

start-up.“

Combining theory and practice

Nevertheless, the combination of work experience and

university qualification is not always enough to guaran-

tee a successful start-up. During the preparation of their

business plans, participants are encouraged to bring

their theoretical ideas into line with the practical aspects

of their intended business. According to Ralf Krüger, the

business mentoring service aims to help clients devel-

op a coherent proposal, establish a suitable customer

structure and come up with a sensible marketing plan.

In many cases, once a business has been established,

distribution becomes the key factor. It can be a sobering

experience when the expected success fails to material-

ise. This is the point when the initial approach needs to

be re-examined and revised.

Regional business mentoring service provided by the state capital of Potsdam


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cerned. When we started out, we had virtually no com-

mercial experience. The business mentoring service has

been very helpful in terms of giving us a good grounding

in fundamental commercial skills. We decided to out-

source the bookkeeping to someone who knows more

about it than we do. We did the same for technical sup-

port and press relations. Nevertheless, we keep an eye

on the whole thing to make sure nothing falls by the

wayside.

Has there been any initial success?

Since establishing our business in October 2010, we

have been expanding our range continuously, and we

are now at the point where we are breaking even, so,

our monthly costs are covered. To me that is quite an

achievement. As yet, we do not make a living from the

shop but we are confident that the business will con-

tinue to grow. The development our business has taken

is very encouraging, particularly since we had significant

financing problems at the beginning. The small savings

we had were not enough. The banks weren’t of any help

as they rarely finance online shops. As yet, they can’t

assess the market properly. That forced us to borrow

money privately – which was the largest obstacle we

had to overcome.

What advice would you give to other new start-

ups?

An external mentor should examine the business idea

and help to assess its feasibility. Also, one should never

lose faith. We could have given up when the banks re-

fused to finance us. But we continued to believe in our

idea and can now proudly look back on what we have

achieved.

alexandra Klatt

Sebastian Bockrandt

Kizuco Bockrandt & Klatt GbR

Potsdam

www.kizuco.de

Foundation: 2010

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst –

Landeshauptstadt Potsdam

Service provider: Technologie- und Gewerbezentren

Potsdam GmbH

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Ms. Klatt, you and your colleague Sebastian

Bockrandt run an online design store. What

products do you offer?

Our online shop sells designer goods made by young

designer labels in Berlin and Brandenburg. In doing so,

we provide a platform for young designers who have not

yet made a name for themselves. We offer a wide range

of goods including everything from postcards to tables.

Ceramic goods sell all year round, while other products

tend to be more seasonal. Lamp sales, for example, are

highest in autumn and winter. We are also in the process

of preparing a fashion line which will be available in the

near future.

Where did the idea come from?

While Sebastian and I were studying design at the Pots-

dam University of Applied Sciences, we noticed that the

design market is very much centred in Berlin. Designer

goods created in Brandenburg and the surrounding re-

gion are often overlooked. Our aim is to change that.

Among other things, we have established a network

of Brandenburg-based crafts enterprises, all of which

are capable of realising design concepts. Putting these

craftspeople in touch with the young designers has

proved to be quite successful. Some of the designers

whose products we sell in our shop now prefer to work

with local craftspeople.

You set up your business with a partner. How do

you divide your responsibilities?

My partner is a product designer and I am a commu-

nications designer, so together we cover most of the

important areas. This works very well, even where en-

trepreneurial and commercial responsibilities are con-

“Never lose faith.”


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Does this mean that customer acquisition is your

main problem?

As regards ecological construction, this did pose a

problem at the start. In the early stages, we had one

single client who came to us solely for advice. We sub-

sequently prepared the preliminary design for an eco-

logical building which was to be constructed at a car-

penters. At the beginning, all of our larger-scale projects

demanded conventional architectural services and the

clients were mainly acquired through networking. Con-

tacts dating from before our self-employment came in

handy at this point. Networking is crucial in terms of

acquiring new clients. Nowadays, we also design eco-

logical buildings. Parallel to our daily operations, we are

actively working towards raising our clients’ awareness

of ecological construction issues. This is a market seg-

ment that is set to grow.

Have you had any initial success?

We have been recording a steady increase in turnover

since we set up the business. In the first year, we were

only able to survive thanks to the start-up allowance paid

by the Employment Agency. Since then, things have

been on the up and up and our projects are becoming

more interesting. At the beginning we were redevelop-

ing warehouses. Now, we build upmarket one-family

or multi-family houses in Berlin-Dahlem – which is a lot

more stimulating. Every small step is an achievement

and we are celebrating a new one at the moment: the

move to our own office. Before that, we were working

from home. Since 2010, we have also been employing

a temporary freelancer, and now we have so much work

on the horizon that the plan is to team up with an archi-

tectural firm who we are on friendly terms with.

You set up your business without taking out a

loan. How did you manage that?

We expanded our business step-by-step and managed

to avoid getting into serious debt. We made do with

what we had and grew slowly from there. That’s some-

thing I would recommend to other new entrepreneurs.

Also, you shouldn’t undersell yourself. That’s something

our business mentor emphasized again and again. At

the beginning, we tried offering our clients a free service,

for example giving a free estimate, in order to be award-

ed the project. But the clients ended up contracting us

only for the free service and didn’t take it any further.

These days, when a client approaches us, we calculate

the costs of the redevelopment or construction but then

charge for the calculation, offering to offset the charge

against our fee if a subsequent contract is concluded.

Claus Wittram-regenhardt

tobias Gammelin

GRÜNHAUSARCHITEKTEN

Büro für gesundes und ökologisches Bauen

Potsdam

www.gruenhaus-architekten.de

Foundation: 2009

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst –

Landeshauptstadt Potsdam

Service provider: Technologie- und Gründerzentren Potsdam GmbH

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Mr. Wittram-regenhardt, you and your business

partner have set up an ecological architecture

company. What do you do exactly?

We design ecological and healthy buildings, for fami-

lies and institutional and commercial clients. Essentially,

we utilise natural materials, such as wood, adobe and

mineral paints and avoid using any toxic substances in

our buildings. This promotes a healthy indoor climate,

which is not only important for people with allergies;

it raises the quality of life for everyone living or work-

ing in the building. By avoiding electrosmog we create

healthy sleeping environments. Ecological construction

also means using sustainable materials. For external in-

sulation purposes, for example, we recommend using

mineral materials, renewable materials or recycable ma-

terials which do not create any disposal problems if the

building needs to be demolished in the future. However,

very few clients think that far ahead.

How did the Potsdam business mentoring ser-

vice assist you with your start-up preparation?

I completed the programme at the assessment centre

and was assigned a business mentor. This was a great

help to us in terms of choosing our location. During this

time, we also thought long and hard about the aim of

our enterprise and our personal business perspectives:

What is it we want to achieve? What services shall we

offer? How shall we distinguish ourselves from other

architectural firms? What type of marketing strategy

shall we adopt?

You decided to locate your firm in Potsdam. Did

you carry out any local market research?

Yes, we looked into whether anyone else was already

offering the same services. In the process, we re-

searched all construction activities on the go in Pots-

dam. As it turned out, it was not so easy to break into

the ecological construction segment. There is as yet lit-

tle awareness of ecological building concepts and the

problems associated with harmful substances among

clients. Although everybody talks about environmental

protection, good intentions tend to be swiftly forgotten

once people have to reach into their pockets.

“We expanded step-by-step and avoided getting into serious debt”


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How did the business mentoring service help

you?

I particularly benefited from the four-day assessment

centre programme which helped me determine whether

or not my business idea was feasible and whether I was

suited to setting up my own business. I was made aware

of subjects that I wouldn’t have thought of myself, such

as tax, insurance, marketing and organisation. The fea-

sibility of my turnover expectations was also assessed.

What challenges did you overcome while prepar-

ing to launch your own business?

The financing was the biggest challenge. I was lucky to

have enough savings to buy the necessary instruments

and to pay for the training. Once the business was up

and running, I invested all of my income in the ‘Musikgar-

ten’, buying further instruments, music books and CDs.

Customer acquisition turned out to be more difficult than

expected. The business mentoring service had helped

me do the research and I knew there was a market for

my business. The challenge was how to develop adver-

tising capable of reaching my target group. Now, I run

regular advertisements in all of the media that specifically

address parents, I put ads up in day care centres and

hand out business cards. I am also considering distribut-

ing postcards around paediatrician practices and phar-

macies.

What have you achieved so far?

My greatest achievement is the fact that I now generate

my monthly target turnover. All of my courses are fully

booked. There are more customers contacting me than I

have places for. I also had an enquiry from the local music

school asking me to run courses on their premises. At the

moment, I can’t fit this into my schedule but working with

a music school would be a great thing to do in the future

once my two children are a bit older.

How do you cope with self-employment and the

associated financial insecurity?

That is something I had to get used to. I have been running

my own business since December 2009. Before that I had

always been employed, so self-employment was totally new

terrain for me. I started thinking things through in advance.

For example, lessons which I have to cancel due to sick-

ness, I make up for in the holidays. That is in my contract.

All in all, with organising everything myself – from website

administration to tax, contracts and bookkeeping - I do have

the impression that I have become more confident.

What advice would you give to other new start-

ups?

Don’t get discouraged by initial setbacks. Always view

criticism in a positive light, see it rather as food for thought

to help you improve your business idea. I would also say,

don’t set up a business unless you are entirely convinced

about it and love the concept. The main thing is to have

faith and remain confident. That’s essential.

4 5

Ms. Butterbach, you run a ‘Musikgarten’ in Pots-

dam. What services do you offer?

‘Musikgarten’ is an early childhood music education pro-

gramme for children up to the age of five. Originally from

the USA, the concept took root in Germany in the 1990s.

The programme aims to help children develop a love of

music from a very early age and to promote family bond-

ing.

Adults also get hands-on experience with music. I re-

ceived a licence from the Institute for Elementary Music

Education after attending a number of seminars and

qualifying as a ‘Musikgarten’ teacher. I have also com-

mitted myself to attending regular advanced training ses-

sions. This means that I am entitled to use the ‘Musikgar-

ten’ name and logo and to offer my own programme. In

practical terms, I use simple percussion instruments in

my courses, such as claves, shakers, bells or drums. I

also introduce new instruments to the children, such as

the recorder, djembe, keyboard or guitar.

You have a degree in psychology. How did you

come to set up a ‘Musikgarten’?

When I moved from Munich to Potsdam in 2007, I was

not sure what I would do here. Unfortunately the local

market for psychologists is rather limited. I had been

searching for employment for a year when someone told

me about the ‘Musikgarten’ concept. After attending one

of their courses in Berlin, the programme appealed to me

and I discovered that there were some overlaps with psy-

chology.

“The most important thing is to have faith in your idea, remain optimistic and confident.“


eva Butterbach

Musikgarten

Potsdam

www.musikgarten-potsdam.de

Foundation: 2009

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst – Landeshauptstadt Potsdam

Service provider: Technologie und Gewerbezentren Potsdam GmbH

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Start-ups in rural areas require special advice

To ensure that things do indeed work out, the mentors

acquaint their clients at an early enough stage with the

unique conditions new businesses should expect to

encounter in rural areas. “Long distances, for example,

mean that more time is needed and there are higher

transport costs; this has to be considered in the plan-

ning”, explains Wessels. As groups of potential custom-

ers in the catchment areas may be small and have limit-

ed buying power, how one approaches target groups

needs to be carefully considered. The coaches assigned

to new entrepreneurs are also expected to take rural

conditions into account. Wessels continues: “It is im-

portant to connect with our potential entrepreneurs on

both an emotional and intellectual level. We have to get

the message through that though every start-up repre-

sents a challenge entailing certain risks, it also offers a

wealth of opportunities. Asking budding entrepreneurs

to merely write down their business concepts is by no

means enough. The family must be taken into account

during the coaching process to jointly assess how the

business will affect them. Not all mentors are capable of

handling these matters.”

Diverse start-up concepts

What is my target group? How do I reach it? What is

a realistic turnover? How do I ensure a steady flow of

orders? The answers to these as well as other ques-

tions are all covered in the context of the regular start-up

consultations, regardless of whether a new business is

to be located in or close to a town or in a rural area. New

entrepreneurs also face legal challenges: What goods

or services may a company offer, which are prohibited?

Among the start-up concepts, the service sector fea-

tures strongly, followed by the professions, handicrafts

and retailing. “Business ideas span a wide range, from

business consultancy in or around towns, telecommu-

nications and information technology in both towns and

country, to mobile pedicure and special spa services in

rural areas,” states Klaus Wessels.

technologie- und Gründerzentrum „Fläming“ GmbH

Klaus Wessels

Brücker Landstraße 22 b

14806 Bad Belzig

Phone: 033841 65152

Internet: www.tgz-belzig.depo

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Covering more than 2,500 square kilometres, the district

of Potsdam-Mittelmark is the third largest in Germany.

Unevenly populated, this rural district offers a wide range

of new business opportunities: tourism-related business

concepts work well in the more rural areas while techno-

logical concepts can tap into the large supply of quali-

fied scientific staff in and around Berlin and Potsdam.

Today, the district of Potsdam-Mittelmark has excellent

road and rail transport connections. According to start-

up mentor Klaus Wessels, however, the gap between

the economic standard in the heart of the district and

that around Berlin or Potsdam is quite considerable.

The same is true for the predominant attitude towards

life. “Let me put it this way”, Wessels explains, “some

start-up concepts would never find a market in the rural

areas! Nevertheless, these areas have a certain potential

that the city can’t offer. Sometimes, new entrepreneurs

in the rural areas don’t give enough thought to how dif-

ferent the framework conditions are, hoping that things

will somehow just work out.”

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So your customers’ wishes matter to you?

Yes, they do. My customers have more or less made

LandLust Körzin what it is today. Although I believe that

you shouldn’t lose sight of your own objectives, you

should always keep the needs of the customer in mind.

We now have customers who return regularly because

our menu changes weekly and they like the personal

touch. We are on friendly terms with our customers and

keep in touch with each other.

as your business grew, was it difficult to find and

retain suitable staff?

That was by no means an easy process. I started off do-

ing most things myself, working both in the kitchen and

the service area. Now I can hold my own in all areas and

nobody can challenge me in any situation. I believe the

friendly working environment really makes a difference

to my staff. I want my staff to be fit and healthy. They

are paid well and I offer good working conditions. That

aspect is very important to me and it also helps create a

good working atmosphere.

What motivates you?

Many people just work to earn money, but that doesn’t

necessarily make them happy. You should love what

you do and not forget that work should be fun and give

you a sense of fulfilment. It is also crucial that your fam-

ily supports the business. If you’re working a 60-hour

week, you are going to miss out on a lot and there is

no way around that. You should also avoid falling into a

rut. These are fast-moving times, and you have to move

with them and remain open to change.

ulrike Laun

LandLust Körzin

Körzin

www.landlust-koerzin.de

Foundation: 2006

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst Potsdam-Mittelmark

Service provider: Technologie- und Gründerzentrum „Fläming“ GmbH

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Ms. Laun, you run an establishment called

LandLust Körzin. Can you tell me a bit about it?

Well, it’s a restaurant offering a regional menu and a

shop that sells regional products ranging from toys to

foodstuffs such as cheese, sausages, ham, jams, bread

and wine. I established LandLust after I had a work ac-

cident and couldn’t continue in my original job. My em-

ployer wasn’t able to offer an alternative either. At the

time, it was rather hard since I’am an active kind of per-

son and like to work. I started off producing all kinds of

stuff from pumpkins and that gave me the idea to open

a shop in Körzin offering regional products.

What support did you receive for your start-up?

I had the business idea but didn’t know how to put it into

action. The business mentoring service came to my at-

tention at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and

I then applied for a place on their assessment centre

programme. That proved to be really helpful in terms of

rethinking my business idea and coming up with a de-

tailed plan. The plan was clear in my head but I couldn’t

have got it down on paper without the help of my men-

tor, especially the liquidity and profitability aspects of it.

So everything went smoothly for you?

Not quite, I had a lot of red tape to contend with: I had to

deal with the public construction authority in connection

with my building applications; with the office for pub-

lic order, the tax office, etc. I gave myself a push every

day and that helped me get through. I really wanted to

achieve my aim and had to toughen up and be ready to

fight for it, again and again.

How has LandLust developed since its estab-

lishment?

Very well, actually! We now employ four full-time staff.

The business has changed though: Originally, LandLust

was exclusively a retail business, then, I added a small

restaurant, which has since become a lot bigger. As with

the shop, the food is mostly sourced regionally and is

almost entirely organic. The customers really appreci-

ate that.

“Our customers made LandLust Körzin what it is.”


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Close ties with rWK Prignitz

The Prignitz business mentoring service also maintains

close ties with the players involved in the RWK Prignitz,

which includes the municipalities of Perleberg, Witten-

berge and Karstädt. New entrepreneurs can take ad-

vantage of the momentum generated by developing

companies. They can also learn from these companies’

experience or fit their own plans in with the overall re-

gional plan. The business mentoring service keeps them

up-to-date regarding the regional plan which predomi-

nantly focuses on tourism. “As much as 70 percent of

the district‘s land is used for agricultural purposes”,

explains Sandra Balkow. “At the same time, with less

than 40 people per square kilometre, the population is

rather small. This opens up a variety of opportunities

in the tourism field.” Although services, at 40 percent,

are at the top of the start-up hit list, there is a lot of

common ground between the services and tourism sec-

tors. With the assistance of the business mentoring ser-

vice, numerous B&Bs, restaurants and snack bars have

been set up, mostly along the cycle routes. A number

of tradespersons (30 percent) and non-qualified peo-

ple (15 percent) also benefit from tourism: with a lot of

modernisation being carried out, predominantly by new

arrivals from Berlin and the old federal states – bricklay-

ers, tilers, paviours and mosaicists have a great deal of

work.

a favourable location for new start-ups

Which jobs require a diploma and which don’t? How

can management analysis help me? How does time

management work? The answers to these and many

other questions are part of the typical stock-in-trade of

the Prignitz business mentoring service. Sandra Balkow

has no doubt that the service will soon be assisting fur-

ther commercial and professional newcomers to the

area. “The location is favourable – we are situated mid-

way between Hamburg and Berlin. The intercity train

also stops here. I am sure the population figures are go-

ing to rise – just today I had the first midwife asking for

advice on settling in the region.”

technologie- und Gewerbezentrum (tGW)

Prignitz GmbH

Sandra Balkow

Laborstraße 1

19322 Wittenberge

Phone: 03877 984275

Internet: www.tgw-prignitz.de

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“The main feature of the district of Prignitz is its size”,

emphasises start-up mentor Sandra Balkow who works

as project manager at the business mentoring service

run by Technologie- und Gewerbezentrum (TGW) Prig-

nitz GmbH. At over 2,000 square kilometres, this dis-

trict located in the far north-west of Brandenburg is one

of the largest in the Federal State. Its border coincides

with those of the federal states of Sachsen-Anhalt,

Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern along

two-thirds of its length. The district is also home to the

Prignitz regional growth centre (RWK Prignitz), which is

the heart of the district’s economic power offering busi-

nesses the ideal location for successful development.

There are numerous start-up opportunities for new en-

trepreneurs and a highly committed Prignitz business

mentoring service to assist them.

Crossing borders

According to Sandra Balkow, it is important for found-

ers of new businesses to see the bigger picture. Many

don’t think beyond their immediate vicinity and allow

their vision to be restricted by borders such as the Elbe

river which separates Sachsen-Anhalt from large parts

of Prignitz. “We encourage our budding entrepreneurs

to think beyond borders and to exploit the proximity of

the other federal states. Potential customers also live

on the other side of the state border. We help our cli-

ents identify this potential.” The close ties TGW Prignitz

GmbH maintains with scientific institutions and univer-

sities represent a further valuable commodity. Via the

Prignitz regional transfer office located in the Technolo-

gie- und Gewerbezentrum, contacts with the Branden-

burg universities and universities of applied sciences,

e.g. FH Brandenburg, are particularly close. There is a

focus on initiating knowledge-based start-ups and the

subsequent support of young enterprises.

Regional business mentoring service provided by the district of Prignitz


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potential customers and present my services to them. Of

course, I also maintain a website so customers can find

me online. Three to four times a year, I organise events. All

of this is essential in order to keep business turning over.

Just opening the shop door and putting three little flower

pots out would not get me anywhere.

What assistance did the business mentoring

service provide?

Without the business mentoring service, I probably

wouldn’t have set up my own business. And if I had

done so, it wouldn’t have been as successful as it is

now. The three-day assessment centre programme,

during which my business idea was put to the acid test,

was particularly helpful. I also found out a lot of practical

information, for example which applications had to be

filed. Once you have completed the three-day seminar,

you have a clear idea about whether you fulfil the re-

quirements for setting up a business or not. Some po-

tential entrepreneurs were advised against going ahead

with their concept. Recently, just two years on, the busi-

ness mentoring service nominated me entrepreneur of

the year. I was, of course, very proud of this achieve-

ment and asked the head of the mentoring service and

my personal coach to accompany me to the awards

ceremony at the state chancellery where minister presi-

dent Matthias Platzeck presented me with the award.

are there any aspects regarding your business

on which you still need advice?

Yes, tax and time management. I am a single mother. To-

gether with my coach, I prepared a schedule that allows

my children and I to spend time together. My shop is

open from 7.30 am to 12 pm. Lessons at my children‘s

school end at noon but the children stay on until 2 pm

for lunch, to do their homework and attend extracur-

ricular activities. At 2 pm, I collect them and we decide

the programme for the rest of the day. The time between

12 and 2 pm I spend discussing orders with my hotel

and restaurant customers, meeting business partners

and making phone calls. At 5 pm, I close the shop and

spend time with my children. At 8 pm, when they are

in bed, I do my bookkeeping. The shop is closed on

Mondays and I devote that day to my children. Though

everything runs to a tight schedule, the atmosphere is

a lot more harmonious than it was when I was working

at home.

You are still in contact with the mentoring ser-

vice. Is there a particular reason for this?

My business has grown so much that there are not

enough hours in the day to deal with it. These days, I

supply eight restaurants and I am considering employ-

ing somebody on a part-time basis. This is an area the

business mentoring service can help me with. I am also

considering attending a seminar that focuses on the

testing and development of staff management skills.

While I would like my employees to have a pleasant

working environment, the work still needs to be done.

That is something that requires good staff management

skills.

What recommendations do you have for other

new entrepreneurs?

Running your business should be something that you

enjoy rather than something that merely brings in mon-

ey. Unless your business motivation is fuelled by passion

and love, you will not be able to cope with the 18-hour

days that you sometimes have to work. I would also

strongly advise against rushing in without first obtaining

professional advice.

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“Everything runs to a tight schedule, but the atmosphere is much more harmonious than when I was working at home.”


Ms. ulrich, you manage your own flower shop.

What is it that makes it special?

My business is based on three pillars: the first pillar con-

sists of the sale of seasonal and unusual flowers. The

second pillar comprises wedding and event floristry. The

third pillar is based on the sale of accessories. I inten-

tionally located my business here in Lenzen. It is true

that the region is lacking in terms of infrastructure but,

on the positive side, I have more or less no competition.

And I advertise beyond the region’s borders. This con-

cept has worked out very well for me.

Does this mean that some of your customers

are located outside the region in Lower Saxony

and Mecklenburg?

That’s right, Lenzen is located in the western part of

Brandenburg, on the Elbe river. The border with Lower-

Saxony is three kilometres from here and the border

with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern five kilometres. A loca-

tion like that is just right for cross-border advertising.

Customers don’t even mind having to travel to my shop

to collect their orders. They enjoy the atmosphere in the

shop. At present, I have artichokes and lavender from

France and sunflowers from Germany. I always offer

those plants for sale which are currently in bloom.

Did you carry out any market research to see

whether there were enough customers around?

Yes, initially I set up the business as a sideline, selling flow-

ers from my terrace at home. Over a period of a year-and-

a-half working in this way, I found that there were enough

customers to set up a business. Word of mouth advertis-

ing worked well for me. It reached a stage where my ter-

race became so jam-packed that I could no longer serve

my customers properly. That’s when I moved to a small

shop. Aside from cross-border advertising, I also contact

Constanze ulrich

Petite Fleur

Lenzen

www.petitefleur-constanzeulrich.de

Foundation: 2008

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst Prignitz

Service provider: Technologie- und Gewerbe-

zentrum (TGW) Prignitz GmbH

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quality of consultancy services takes top priority

According to Bernd Kruczek, for each start-up, the quality

of the consultancy services is a crucial factor: “This is a

key issue which cannot be emphasised enough. We are a

member of the VDG, the Association of German Start-Up

Initiatives (Verband Deutscher Gründungsinitiativen e. V.).

Having been involved in the preparation of the association’s

consultancy standards, we expect our external coaches

to adhere to them. We also advise our mentors to obtain

a respective certificate.” Operating in line with these con-

sultancy standards, the Spree-Neiße business mentoring

service has, from the outset, placed quality before quantity.

“This means that our staff put a lot of effort into ascertain-

ing whether new entrepreneurs and their business ideas

really have the potential to succeed. High-quality consult-

ing also means that mentors may actually advise against

a particular project.” The figures bear this out: Of the ap-

proximately 270 businesses launched with the help of the

Spree-Neiße business mentoring service, 80 percent are

still trading, among them unusual start-ups such as a ro-

deo ranch, a soup bar and a rock climbing centre. In its

advertising, the latter proudly refers to the fact that it was

founded with the assistance of the Spree-Neiße business

mentoring service and subsequently won an award in a

start-up competition.

Centrum für Innovation und technologie GmbH

Bernd Kruczek

Inselstraße 30/31

03149 Forst (Lausitz)

Phone: 03562 6924117

Internet: www.cit-wfg.de

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A brief summary of the district: the number of SMEs

in the paper, food, plastics/chemicals and metal indus-

tries is growing. Located just outside Berlin’s commuter

belt with the Spreewald nature reserve on its doorstep,

the district has a history of surface mining and lignite-

fired power plants. There are plenty of promising start-

up opportunities in the district, a fact that is confirmed

by Bernd Kruczek, project manager at the Spree-Neiße

business mentoring service provided by the Centre for

Innovation and Technology GmbH: “Just think of the

Spreewald health and spa region and the range of tour-

istic opportunities it has to offer. There is no doubt that

the demand is there. A wealth of opportunities awaits

new founders in the tourism, health and spa sectors.

One must remember, of course, that the success or

failure of a new business ultimately depends on the in-

dividual entrepreneur.” In this respect, the advice and

assistance offered by the Spree-Neiße business men-

toring service can prove invaluable. Since 2000, its staff

has given advice to approximately 340 potential entre-

preneurs between the ages of 45 and 65. Questions re-

garding commercial and marketing issues, both before

and after the start-up, tend to predominate. Currently

the trend among start-ups is towards people-oriented

services, in particular those in the health sector. This in-

cludes physiotherapists and speech therapists as well

as other alternative practitioners. Commercial services

are less prevalent in the region and businesses in the

processing trade are few and far between.

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You launched your business in the spring. How

has it been going so far?

It is hard to believe how much demand there is for my

animals considering I haven‘t done any advertising. Re-

cently, a woman running an online shop in the UK asked

me to work with her. I am thrilled to be getting so much

positive feedback from my customers. That really keeps

me motivated. Having said that, managing my custom-

ers is quite a challenge. The number of e-mails I receive

which all have to be answered is phenomenal. Some

collectors also start discussing private matters and that

is an area where I have to find a cut-off point, I work 12

hours a day as it is.

Which particular aspect has played a crucial

role in the success of your business?

The most important thing for me was to have a dream,

a vision that inspired me to keep going. In 2006, when

I started making bears, I had a dream of one day mak-

ing a living from my hobby, even if it was a completely

unrealistic one. Without this vision I couldn’t have seen

the whole thing through. I would advise everyone to

familiarise themselves with the Internet, it represents a

huge global market. For my business, the Internet is ab-

solutely essential.

Simone Marthaler

SimaBears

Kolkwitz

www.simabears.de

Foundation: 2011

Advised by: Regionaler Lotsendienst Landkreis

Spree-Neiße

Service provider: Centrum für Innovation und

Technologie GmbH

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Ms. Marthaler, you make designer stuffed ani-

mals. What exactly are they?

My animals are not cuddly toys for children but collec-

tor’s items made from upmarket materials such as mo-

hair and high-quality plush fabrics. Bears feature most

strongly among my range. I produce them at home and

sell them on the Internet, either via my website or via

dedicated online market places. Many of my customers

are collectors in the old Federal States, but I also deal

with buyers from all over the world, for example Australia

and the UK.

Did you have any entrepreneurial experience

before setting up your business?

No, self-employment was completely new territory for

me. I am a single mother with four children, the young-

est of which is only five. Returning to full-time employ-

ment was not really an option for me. My friends were

constantly encouraging me to turn my hobby into a

business. After receiving a lot of positive feedback on a

designer bear forum, I finally took the plunge and started

making stuffed animals on a professional basis.

You consulted the Spree-neiße business men-

toring service before setting up your business.

What assistance did you receive?

All in all the support was excellent. For example, it was

helpful for me to see how the other participants per-

ceived my business concept. My group consisted most-

ly of men, all of whom had very solid business ideas

in mind. When they heard about my artistic business

concept, it was obvious that they didn’t really take it

seriously. That put some doubt in my head. The men-

tor then suggested that I should bring some of my de-

signer animals along to the next session. When I did so,

the group, which had indeed been assuming that I had

been talking about conventional cuddly toys, became

really enthusiastic. They then viewed my business con-

cept in a totally different light and started taking it seri-

ously. It was my product that convinced them.

“I had a dream, a vision that inspired me to keep going.”


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needs-based consulting

This is all the more remarkable considering that most of

the founders have set up small businesses, such as re-

tail shops, restaurants or basic services, in crisis-prone

sectors. Crafts that do not require registration are also

prevalent among the start-ups, especially in the con-

struction sector. The fact that so many businesses are

still surviving is not least due to the needs-based advice

being offered by the mentoring service. Julia Lexow-

Kapp explains: “Our clients primarily need information

about German regulations, procedures and administra-

tive structures. We provide potential entrepreneurs with

all the necessary information and addresses. One other

important issue is that of qualifications. Many potential

business founders come up against a brick wall because

their foreign qualifications are not recognised in Germa-

ny and they don’t know what they need to do in order

to receive this recognition. Intercultural skills also play

a crucial role. A Vietnamese person setting up a retail

shop, for example, needs to know what form of address

his German customers are likely to expect.” The con-

sultancy approach adopted by the business mentoring

service for migrants is the same as at the other business

mentoring services in the Federal State of Brandenburg.

After the initial consultancy session, potential founders

take part in the assessment centre programme. Those

that make it through the assessment stage are then as-

signed a personal coach. Follow-up support during the

first six months of business is of vital importance and

the advantages of networking with other start-ups and

entrepreneurs cannot be overemphasized.” She contin-

ues: “With this in mind, we support the establishment of

ethnic business associations which promote network-

ing between start-ups and entrepreneurs in their own

mother tongue. It has come to our attention that our tar-

get group is particularly active on social media platforms

and we therefore intend to set up a Facebook group

with the aim of spreading information about our services

further. The business mentoring service for migrants

has been a great success and the number of clients,

predominantly aged between 30 and 50, is increasing

steadily. And, what’s more, the number of female busi-

ness founders is also on the rise.”

iq consult gGmbH

Julia Lexow-Kapp

Schiffbauergasse 7

14467 Potsdam

Phone: 0331 6207944

Internet: www.iq-consult.com

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Whether Polish, Georgian, Russian or Vietnamese, the

role played by new entrepreneurs from countries outside

of Germany is an important one for the Federal State of

Brandenburg. In 2010, founders with a foreign passport

made up as much as 11 percent of all business regis-

trations. That many of them are successful in the long

run is not least due to the business mentoring service

for migrants. In the past, founders with a foreign back-

ground frequently had to close their businesses due to

insufficient knowledge of the entrepreneurial framework

conditions in Germany. With the aim of placing migrants’

business ventures on a more stable footing, a business

mentoring service for migrants, with its head office in

Potsdam, was therefore established on 1 March 2004.

Migrants all over the Federal State of Brandenburg are

entitled to make use of this service.

Working with migrant networks

Julia Lexow-Kapp, head of the migrant mentoring ser-

vice explains why, before 2004, German-language advi-

sory services as provided by the Chambers of Industry

and Commerce or the Chambers of Crafts proved to

be inadequate and thus had to be supplemented with

a special service for founders with an immigration back-

ground: “It was difficult to reach this target group via

the regular advisory services or the German-language

media. Once we had set up our mentoring service, our

first step was to contact migrant networks and business

associations with an immigration background. We also

took on mentors with a foreign background and enrolled

the help of successful entrepreneurs of immigrant origin.

These acted as multipliers and news of the services be-

ing offered by our business mentors began to spread.”

The response has been very positive. Since 2004, ap-

proximately 1,000 initial consultation sessions have re-

sulted in 250 successful business start-ups. And, what’s

more, half of these enterprises are still going strong.

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How did you find your first customer?

Through personal contacts. My first customer was an

acquaintance who needed carpet laid throughout his

entire house. This customer recommended me to other

people he knew. That’s how it all started. I took on jobs

all over Germany, from Cologne to Hinterzarten – I was

constantly on the road. That took up a lot of my time,

but at the beginning you have to be prepared to put in

the extra hours.

the business mentoring service helped you set

up your business, what kind of support did you

receive?

It was all new for me. I had little idea of the business as-

pects of setting up an enterprise. The mentor assigned

to me gave me a lot of important information, which was

very helpful. I learned about taking legal provisions, tax

and bookkeeping. Now, I have three permanent em-

ployees and the business is going well. Still, I have to

keep canvassing for new customers all the time. After

all, my employees expect their wages at the end of the

month and I have to pay for supplies in order to manu-

facture my products.

Which advice would you give to new business

founders?

Customer acquisition is the key factor: seek and you

shall find, as they say. Potential entrepreneurs with a

foreign background should prepare their product or ser-

vice portfolio in their mother language and have it pro-

fessionally translated. Also, one should send out 50 to

100 sales letters a day to potential customers and follow

them up, maybe offering a personal meeting to present

the company and its services. I recommend getting out

there once a week and personally approaching potential

customers. That’s really important.

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“I recommend getting out there once a week and personally approaching potential customers. That’s really important.”


Mr. Skalt, you are a certified floorer offering floor

covering services and products. What do these

consist of?

We design floors with parquet or prefinished parquet and

use sand and level out sub-surfaces in preparation for

flooring. We also manufacture car mats, stairwell cover-

ing, bath mats and bedside carpets. Last year, I bought an

embroidery machine with a new line of business in mind.

Now we can embroider hats, shirts, cloths or horse blan-

kets. Our range of products is quite diverse and we have

a wide spectrum of customers, from private individuals to

car dealers and property management companies.

How did you get through the initial phase?

It was a very exhausting time. I was on unemployment

benefit and it was very difficult to explain to the authori-

ties why I wanted to start my own business and needed

government assistance. At the beginning I wasn’t earn-

ing much and still had to buy equipment for the busi-

ness. I didn’t have any business premises to receive

my customers. My tools were being stored in the cellar.

At the time, I didn’t even have a linking machine. There

were many things I didn’t have, and that includes cus-

tomers.

Michael Skalt

SKALTTEX e. K.

Frankfurt (Oder)

www.skalttex.de

Foundation: 2005

Advised by: Lotsendienst für Migrantinnen und Migranten

Service provider: iq consult gGmbH

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Start-up fever among Polish students is spreading

KOWA has also found that Polish students are a lot more

motivated than their German counterparts when it comes

to setting up a business. “In Poland, people are more likely

to try things out, they don’t spend so much time mulling

things over and finally dismissing them as people in Ger-

many tend to do. Polish people simply forge ahead and

see what happens. If it works, they continue, if not they

try something else.” This attitude is quite contagious, for

example when the start-up service manages to bring

German and Polish would-be entrepreneurs together for

cross-border projects which often prove to be quite suc-

cessful. Many sustainable business ideas develop as a

result of the degree programmes taught at Viadrina, es-

pecially in the fields of business and cultural studies. Ex-

amples consist of a German-Polish business consultancy

firm, an agency for scientific evaluation or services combin-

ing culture with tourism such as historic travel services in

Germany and Poland. Start-ups in the wholesale or retail

trade benefit from the proximity of the border, and as much

as 16 percent of all start-ups that have been supported by

KOWA to date are trading firms.

Self-employment as a career choice

Many students start setting up a small business in the first

semesters, aiming to turn something they are interested

in into a long-term occupation. Surprisingly, business

students who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs

sometimes give up rather quickly once they realise how

much work is involved. They often end up going for regular

employment in a middle-management position. In con-

trast, the cultural science students tend to stick at it, not

least since their chances of regular employment are slim.

Arne Meyer-Haake explains: “Many don’t understand that

they are actually involved in something that could have en-

trepreneurial potential. The vocabulary they use is entirely

different, they do not identify with terms such as ‘entrepre-

neurship’ or ‘self-employment’; instead they tend to refer

to ‘projects’. This means that we have to explain to them

what a project is, what its long-term potential is, the tasks

that are associated with it, how financing can be secured,

and that they should stick with it for the long-term. They

suddenly realise that it’s not necessary to apply anywhere

and that they can take the initiative themselves. This leads

them to discover an alternative career option – that of the

entrepreneur.” Given this background, KOWA has found

that good business mentors need to be able to under-

stand students and their life situation. Factual knowledge

aside, it is personal coaching that proves to be the decisive

factor when it comes to determining the most effective ap-

proach and establishing a successful network.

6 3

The name says it all: Approximately one quarter of the stu-

dents at the European University Viadrina have a foreign

passport, most of them are from nearby Poland or other

European countries. With teaching premises, faculties and

lectures located on both sides of the German-Polish bor-

der in Frankfurt and Słubice, the university’s location is also

something exceptional. According to Arne Meyer-Haake,

who works for KOWA, the Unit for Co-operation between

Science and the Working World (Kooperationsstelle Wis-

senschaft und Arbeitswelt (KOWA), the institution that

provides the start-up service at the Viadrina University in

Frankfurt (Oder), the fact that there is such a large num-

ber of different nationalities present at Viadrina University

poses quite a challenge for the start-up support service.

“Many of the students know very little about Germany as

a business location and even less about Brandenburg, in

contrast, say, to the neighbouring town of Słubice. While

most of them believe that tax paid by start-ups and small

companies are substantially more favourable in Słubice

than in Brandenburg, the opposite is actually the case.”

Start-up support service at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)


europa-universität viadrina Frankfurt (oder)

Kooperationsstelle Wissenschaft und Arbeitswelt e. V. (KOWA)

Arne Meyer-Haake, Dr. Ramona Alt

Postfach 1786

15207 Frankfurt (Oder)

Phone: 0335 55345902

Internet: www.kowa-ffo.de

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is registered in my name only, I still work with the same

colleagues. As freelance tour guides they also work for

other travel agencies.

are you already in the black?

Yes, but only just. My business does not have mass

commercial appeal. It attracts individuals only. I don’t

have a standardised programme and therefore can’t or-

ganise more than 20 or 30 of these personalised trips

per year. As the preparations for each trip are rather

time-consuming, this workload keeps me pretty busy.

Which successes have you chalked up so far?

I’ve had the pleasure of organising many wonderful trips

and putting together numerous intriguing family histo-

ries. The jobs have been largely successful and have

brought a lot of happiness to many people. The loss of

their homeland 65 years ago was a traumatic experi-

ence for those involved, and it is often helpful to revisit

their old home and meet the people who now live there.

The inhabitants on the Polish side are often pleased

to meet the former German owners, particularly when

there is no claim for restitution, although such claims

have no chance of success anyway. Every job, trip and

even the research are all special – a moving experience.

Which advice would you give to friends and ac-

quaintances who want to set up a business?

Take courage and jump in at the deep end regardless of

official obstacles. Staying power is the key, particularly

when you have an unusual business idea. It can take

several years to get established on the market. Finan-

cially speaking, I haven’t got beyond the start-up phase,

and in terms of my business concept, I am still experi-

menting and developing ideas.

Matthias Diefenbach

Heimatreise

Frankfurt (Oder)

www.heimatreise.de

Foundation: 2008

Advised by: Gründungsservice an der

Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Service provider: Kooperationsstelle Wissenschaft und

Arbeitswelt e. V. (KOWA)

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Mr. Diefenbach, you run a travel agency offering

specialist services.

Yes, we organise trips for people wishing to travel to

places connected with their family history. These desti-

nations are all located east of the Oder and Neiße rivers

in the former German eastern territories, today western

Poland and Kaliningrad. Our customers are mostly pri-

vate individuals from Germany or other European coun-

tries and also the USA and Australia. They want to revisit

the land of their childhood or their ancestors’ home-

lands and have a look at their old houses or schools.

Where possible we inform the current inhabitants of

the impending trip and encourage dialogue between

the former and present inhabitants. We also carry out

genealogical research, including family histories during

National Socialist times. This research involves both lo-

cal work and consulting archives in Poland. We also of-

fer themed walks in the neighbouring towns of Frankfurt

and Słubice and organise excursions to the region that

was once host to a number of summer resorts popular

with Berliners – a region that had been all but forgotten

for over 70 years. I am talking about former Ostbranden-

burg, today known as Lubusz voivodship.

What gave you the idea for the business?

While studying cultural sciences and cultural history at

the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), my

colleagues and I originally conceived and developed

the idea in the context of a student project. At the time,

we were working with an association, the subsequently

named Institute for Applied History (Institut für ange-

wandte Geschichte), on the development of new ap-

proaches to historical themes, in particular those relat-

ing to the German-Polish border region. While working

on the project, we discovered that there was a lot of de-

mand for personally supported and well-organised trips

to the old homeland. There were various legal and or-

ganisational obstacles preventing the association from

offering these trips on a commercial basis, which is why

we developed this idea into a business concept. This is

the business concept on which I have based my enter-

prise. The start-up service provided by KOWA Frankfurt

(Oder) offered invaluable assistance. If the staff hadn’t

convinced me that it was indeed a good idea to offer

these trips on a commercial basis, I wouldn’t have had

the courage myself to do it. The start-up service also put

me in touch with a business consultant with specialist

knowledge of the travel industry. Though the business

“Staying power is the key, particularly when you have an unusual business idea.”


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place at the moment, with new companies setting up and

creating clusters that attract each other. That is especially

noticeable in the media industry here in Potsdam. How-

ever, I’d like to see software, chemicals and biotechnology

developing in the same way, so that we can hold on to our

start-up founders here in this region.”

the team is what counts

Many of the founders of start-ups who come to BIEM

Startup Navigator are still studying or are about to com-

plete their degrees. Their aim is to be making their first

profit from their companies by the time they are finished

with studying. Babette Grothe also welcomes alumni

who have been earning salaries and now want to be

self-employed. “They already have professional experi-

ence, which puts them in an excellent position as far

as starting up their own companies is concerned. Ide-

ally we can bring them together with start-up founders

whose working lives haven’t yet taken off. Putting the

right team together is essential, especially for highly

specialised scientists. Start-up teams whose mem-

bers don’t have any practical experience mainly tend

to go about things in a rather naive way. Our advice

to them from the outset is to postpone their projects.”

But whether or not they have professional experience,

everyone interested in a start-up who contacts BIEM

Startup Navigator is screened. “Together with the con-

sultants, we always look at three areas – the entrepre-

neur’s personality, their start-up project, and finally the

company’s business environment.” Following on from

this, the Development Center supports the participants

in fine-tuning their business ideas. Unlike many other

consultation agencies, the Startup Navigator continues

to accompany new entrepreneurs over a period of three

to eighteen months, during which they receive constant

advice on such general topics as drawing up a busi-

ness plan as well as more specialised matters such as

planning the marketing of specific software. But even

before the start-up founders get to the stage of seri-

ously tackling their projects, the BIEM Navigators are on

hand with events for students such as managing start-

ups and innovation. The university’s own career service

also benefits from the start-up information events run by

our staff there.

quantity without losing quality

Although the range of services offered for start-up

founders in Potsdam is so extensive, BIEM nonetheless

insists on a high level of quality. As Babette Grothe says,

“We operate a system of selection for both our consult-

ants and our start-up projects. It’s like good wine; qual-

ity depends on a great many factors as well as on a

certain maturity.” Of the two hundred start-ups at the

University of Potsdam and the HFF that have applied for

assistance from the BIEM Startup Navigator since 2007,

164 have received individual advice resulting to date in

ninety start-ups.

6 7

The start-up service at the University of Potsdam and the Konrad Wolf Academy for Film and Television (HFF) in Potsdam-Babelsberg


Software development, information and communications

technology, life sciences, commerce and other services

are among the most popular sectors for start-ups with

students, graduates and staff of the University of Pots-

dam, while most start-up projects from the Konrad Wolf

Academy for Film and Television (HFF) take place in the

media and creative industries. These start-ups are sup-

ported by the BIEM Startup Navigator of the Branden-

burg Institute for Business Start-Ups and Medium-Sized

Enterprise Development (BIEM). BIEM is run jointly by

the Brandenburg colleges of higher education and the

ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg GmbH. It is backed by

the colleges’ own career services and Potsdam Transfer,

the university transfer agency, as well as BIEM’s extensive

network of regional entrepreneurs and investors. The var-

ied range of consultation services on offer at the Potsdam

campus and the close relations between companies and

higher education institutions are a great advantage, not

only for those starting up their own businesses, but also

for firms, as Babette Grothe of BIEM Startup Navigator

points out: “The region is becoming increasingly interest-

ing for innovative firms. There is a lot of movement taking

BIeM e. v. (Brandenburgisches Institut für existenzgründung und Mittelstandsförderung)

Babette Grothe

BIEM Startup Navigator für die Universität Potsdam und

die Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen (HFF) „Konrad Wolf“ Potsdam-Babelsberg

Am Neuen Palais 10

14469 Potsdam

Phone: 0331 9771720

Internet: www.startup-navigator.de

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You started off relatively small. Do you think it’s

worth making a business plan anyway?

I think so, yes. When you put your business plan down

on paper, a few things become clear, especially things

like marketing, or planning income and expenditures. So

I really do think it’s a good idea to take the trouble, even

if it’s just not to muddle up all the figures going round

your head.

In principle, your business began very success-

fully, didn’t it?

Yes, my practice got off to a really good start, so much

so that I was able to take on a full-time assistant in the

first year. She was joined at the beginning of this year

by a freelance assistant, and I’ll shortly be taking on an-

other therapist. What’s more, we’re going to be moving

to larger premises soon.

What would be your advice to other people

starting their own businesses?

I’d definitely advise anyone to take advantage of coach-

ing and to make sure that the chemistry is right between

the coach and yourself. Starting up a business is a very

personal thing, and a coach’s job is primarily to provide

support and criticism for the business idea and in the

preparation stage of the start-up, and to make sugges-

tions. That’s not always easy to accept. It’s also very

important to talk to the people you’d like to be working

with in the future. In my case, they were paediatricians

and neurologists, as well as nursing and childcare insti-

tutions. In my view, a personal conversation can do so

much more than just a letter or an e-mail.

Dr. Lydia Pelzer

Logopädiepraxis

Nauen

www.logopaedie-pelzer.de

Foundation: 2010

Advised by: Gründungsservice an der Universität

Potsdam

Service provider: Brandenburgisches Institut für

Existenzgründung und Mittelstandsförderung

(BIEM e. V.)

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Dr. Pelzer, you have a doctorate in patholinguis-

tics and set up your own speech therapy prac-

tice in 2010. What were your reasons for doing

that?

During and after my doctorate, I was working in a

speech and language therapy practice in Potsdam. I en-

joyed that a lot, but what I always really wanted was to

set up something of my own and be my own boss. After

I had my two children I thought now is the right time

to start up my own practice. So last year I opened my

own speech therapy practice, where I offer therapy for

children and adults who suffer from language disorders,

speech impediments and dysphagia such as language

development disorders, stuttering, dyslexia, language

disorders following brain damage and so on.

Before you started your practice you had sup-

port from the start-up service at the university

of Potsdam.

Yes, a friend of mine told me about the start-up service,

and I started by taking part in a selection process at

an Assessment Center. Essentially, this was about pre-

senting your own business idea and showing how much

business and entrepreneurial expertise you already pos-

sessed. In return, participants were given information on

business management and other tips on time manage-

ment, marketing and personal presentation. That helped

me a lot. The second stage was about finding a suitable

coach. There was a choice between several corporate

consultants. However, in the end I decided on a consult-

ant I had got on with really well from the outset and who

had already had experience of helping start-ups in the

medical sector as well as being involved in advertising,

marketing and communication for several years. Overall

I’d say I benefited a great deal from her coaching, es-

pecially where things like drawing up my business plan,

talking to banks and designing advertising and my own

website were concerned.

“I’d definitely advise anyone to take advantage of coaching”


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three-stage support programme

In Professor Sievers’ experience, it is the open-minded-

ness of his fellow professors which instigates many of

the technically sophisticated start-ups. They motivate

their students to develop business ideas, and intro-

duce them even at that stage to the start-up service

provided by the Brandenburg University of Applied Sci-

ences. Startup Navigator Thomas Rau, for instance,

even teaches a few business and computer science

classes himself. Ideally, students interested in starting a

business who then approach the Startup Navigator take

part in a three-stage support programme. In the first

step, staff look at whether the business idea has any

chance at all in the marketplace. “We work as a sort of

preliminary filter, and we’ll often advise start-up found-

ers who aren’t really ready yet to wait a bit.” Once that

first hurdle has been overcome, there is the Assessment

Center, which assesses the participants’ business ideas

for strengths and weaknesses. “If you’re given the go-

ahead here”, continues Professor Sievers, “we’ll arrange

a coach for you to give you individual advice. That’s the

second filter.”

“this is where I’m studying, this is where I’m

starting my business!”

New entrepreneurs can also get support from the City of

Brandenburg’s own local Technology and Start-Up Cen-

tre, which even provides premises for business founders

from the university rent-free for up to one year. “In this

respect, the support provided by the City is really good,”

says Professor Sievers. “What hurts us a bit and makes

us sad is that especially the media people usually tend

to go off to Potsdam or Berlin. It’s not that they’re try-

ing to avoid the competition, it’s rather the case that

they are attracted to where the competition is. They

give each other a boost. That’s understandable, and it’s

something we can’t provide here in Brandenburg, unfor-

tunately. That’s the problem we have.” And it’s one that

the guidance staff at the Brandenburg University of Ap-

plied Sciences are trying to solve, not least by appealing

to their start-up founders with slogans like “This is where

I’m studying, this is where I’m starting my business!”,

from the university start-up centre’s website.

BIeM e. v. (Brandenburgisches Institut für existenzgründung und Mittelstandsförderung)

Prof. Dr. Hubertus Sievers

BIEM Startup Navigator für die Fachhochschule Brandenburg

Magdeburger Straße 50

14770 Brandenburg an der Havel

Phone: 03381 355242

Internet: www.gruendung-fhb.de

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Many entrepreneurs who start up their own businesses

are recruited from the media and information technology

fields, especially business and computer science. So it

makes sense that IT software development and servic-

es, audio-visual media development, creation of picture

and film material and support for web-based business

processes are right at the top of the list of business ide-

as. Professor Hubertus Sievers, who is in charge of the

start-up services (Startup Navigators) at BIEM goes on

to explain “It’s obvious that start-ups in these areas are

much easier than in, say, the mechanical engineering

industry, because the initial investment is much lower.

That’s a criterion that we shouldn’t underestimate.”

The good news is that the number of start-ups by gradu-

ates of the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences

is steadily going up. On the other hand, start-ups by re-

search assistants are rarer, more a matter of “pot luck”,

according to Prof. Sievers. “Since 2004 we’ve advised

208 pre-graduation students whose first career choice

is to start their own businesses, as well as people who

have already graduated. 135 of them have gone on to

be their own bosses. What has become clear is that our

start-up founders don’t need any great specialist sup-

port. What they don’t have are the basics of business

management and an idea of what steps a start-up in-

volves. The advice we give naturally covers financial and

tax matters as well. Another very big topic is customer

acquisition and marketing.”

But Prof. Sievers does not see a lack of professional and

life experience as an obstacle to starting up your own

business. “The business ideas brought to us are often

things that don’t exist yet in practice. It’s not that hav-

ing limited professional experience is a problem in itself,

although of course, a bit more life experience would help

them avoid making mistakes. We are constantly see-

ing how our company founders undergo a leap in their

personal development when they start their own busi-

nesses. It happens quite quickly.”

The start-up service at the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences


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What successes have you had to date?

In the relatively short time of one or two years we’ve al-

ready managed to get ourselves a good reputation with

public sector clients such as higher education colleges.

We’ve been able to acquire these contracts without do-

ing a lot of advertising, just on the basis of our good

reputation and through recommendation. But in the

meantime we are also taking part in tenders and doing

some marketing. Because our company has grown a

bit – we have two employees now – we need to gener-

ate more business.

You also work as a coach with the start-up ser-

vice yourself now. What advice do you give your

new business founders?

We advise business start-up founders who come to the

start-up service. But we’re also accredited consultants

with the KfW Bankengruppe, which provides credit to

German companies. From this cooperation, we learn

important things for our work. For instance, it’s impor-

tant to draw up a proper business plan and set yourself

a deadline. Time and again I see start-ups just about

managing to keep their heads above the water and not

noticing, even after two or three years, that their busi-

ness ideas are still not working. That’s when you have

to be able to draw a line before it’s too late and you

get into debt. That’s the point at which some start-ups

take on too much financial risk. At any rate, you should

take full advantage of the grants available from the State

of Brandenburg as well as from the federal government

and use these aids to prepare the start-up thoroughly.

And the most important thing, of course, is advice. You

can avoid a lot of mistakes if you get thorough and good

advice and put what’s recommended into practice.

Marko Schröter

Wido Widlewski (not in the company anymore)

websimplex GbR

Lübbenau/Spreewald

www.websimplex.de

Foundation: 2004

Advised by: Gründungsservice an der Fachhochschule Brandenburg

Service provider: Brandenburgisches Institut für Existenzgründung und Mittelstandsförderung (BIEM e. V.)

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Mr Schröter, you and your colleague founded

your company, websimplex, in 2004. What do

you offer?

We provide websites with an editing system – a Web

Content Management System, or WCMS – so that our

clients can add content to their websites without having

to be able to programme themselves. They log in and

can then add or modify text, navigation items, films or

images as they wish. When we started our business,

WCMSs were a relatively new thing, but they’ve become

standard now. This also means that we’ve shifted our

focus. Most of what we do nowadays is developing ad-

ditional modules for specific tasks and integrating them

into existing WCMSs. One example is applications for

databases used in call centres.

How did you arrive at this business idea?

My founding partner, who has since left the company,

and I were students at the Brandenburg University of

Applied Sciences. By chance we had the opportunity of

creating a website for the university, which gave us the

idea of offering the same service to other companies

and institutions. My partner at the time was a computer

scientist, and I’m in business management, so we com-

plemented each other well and were able to share all

the tasks between ourselves in an optimal way. As well

as that, I had already programmed websites for tourism

firms while I was at school in the Spreewald, so I already

had a customer base of around a hundred clients and a

good reputation in the region. I brought my clients with

me into the company, which gave us a foundation that

enabled us to survive the first year.

In spite of having such an excellent basis to

start from, you still sought out support from the

start-up service provided by the Brandenburg

university of applied Sciences.

Yes. Even though I had enjoyed success with the com-

pany I ran while I was still at school, I still didn’t have the

necessary entrepreneurial professionalism. And that’s

precisely what the coach arranged for us through the

guidance service with some intensive ‘extra tuition’.

What was especially helpful were the practical tips you

don’t learn in the classroom, like which company form

to choose and how to deal with tax – for instance, what

you can do in the first year to minimise the tax burden.

“It’s important to draw up a proper business plan and set yourself a deadline”


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Since IbM started in 2006, it has supported 150 start-

up projects involving more than three hundred people

throughout the state of Brandenburg. Some eighty per

cent of these are in the marketplace or in the market-

entry phase, and more than 250 jobs have already been

created, with the trend pointing upwards due to these

companies’ above-average potential for growth.

Short-term aim: attracting start-up captital

According to Ulrich Ruh, experience shows that “the de-

velopment of entrepreneurial skills is a foremost concern

for consultation and coaching. Many start-up founders

think that the route from the idea to the product is easier

than it actually is. Hurdles to market entry are often un-

derestimated and not clearly recognised. Regardless of

how new and important the start-up idea is, every innova-

tive entrepreneur is under enormous pressure. Anybody

starting up a company has to stay innovative and the

proper groundwork has to be laid here too.” In the end

everything has to be right – the founding team, the busi-

ness concept, the business model, access to the mar-

ket and the prospects for growth. Only then will start-up

founders have a good chance of convincing lenders to

provide them with the necessary start-up captital.

Zukunftsagentur Brandenburg GmbH

Ulrich Ruh, Torsten Böttcher

Steinstraße 104–106

14480 Potsdam

Phone: 0331 6603162

Internet: www.zab-brandenburg.de

IBF Institut Berufsforschung und

unternehmensplanung Medien e. v.

Wolfgang Flieger

Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 82

14469 Potsdam

Phone: 0331 20165815

Internet: www.innovationen-brauchen-mut.de

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Continuing to support the dynamics of innovative start-

ups is something that is very important for Brandenburg,

not only demographically, but also in terms of its econo-

my and employment policy. It is essential to generate a

significant increase in start-ups from the scientific com-

munity as well as from existing companies. It is also vital

to support innovative start-ups to make Brandenburg an

attractive location for young companies. “That’s why our

target group also includes people with innovative ideas

from technologically-oriented sectors, including those in

the media and creative sector, tourism, handcraft and

social services who want to start up companies. We sup-

port start-up founders, who have chosen Brandenburg

as the location for their future businesses, from all over

Germany and abroad”, says Ulrich Ruh of Brandenburg’s

state agency for future development ZukunftsAgentur

Brandenburg (ZAB). Together with the Institute for Ca-

reer Research and Company Planning Media (IBF), the

ZAB promotes the project “Innovation Require Courage”,

which helps to realise complex and innovative projects by

complementing the services provided by local guidance

services throughout the federal state as well as the start-

up services at the state’s colleges of higher education.

advice and coaching for innovative start-ups

“With IbM we offer start-up founders individually-tailored

advice and coaching to help them successfully put their

ideas and concepts into practice. The programme of-

fers an individual and modular approach, starting with an

analysis of the start-up project before moving on to in-

dividualised, topic-centred coaching and advice process

with highly-specialised external experts. Together with

our network partners, we are able to integrate our inside

knowledge and experience as an economic development

agency into this process, which means that we are able

to make as rounded a support programme as possible

available to our start-up founders,” says Ulrich Ruh.

Most start-ups are in the information and communica-

tions technology sectors, as well as health and life sci-

ences, followed by new energies and green technologies.

In the creative sector we are increasingly seeing interdis-

ciplinary projects jointly with other sectors, often with a

technological orientation, for example, the use of new

technical solutions in audio, film and television produc-

tion.

“Innovation Require Courage” (“Innovationen brauchen Mut” – IbM)


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cost planning and controlling; it was also about innova-

tion management with new projects. It was also impor-

tant to have a coach who was at home in the medical

technology sector and life sciences as a whole, and one

who was also good with controlling and liquidity plan-

ning. That is particularly important at the beginning.

Nevertheless, getting financing for our machinery was a

huge challenge. There are clear and sensible regulations

governing the testing of certain medical products, which

can only be complied with using certain test procedures

and testing equipment, and that meant that a very big

investment was needed.

and what about acquiring customers?

We focus on close collaboration and individually-tailored

solutions for our customers. In spite of a lot of intensive

commitment and good ideas on our part, it took time

before the customers saw the potential of a small com-

pany and the order books started filling up. However,

since Christian Abicht and I both come from the implant

industry, we have a good network of contacts who have

helped us. Everyone on the ‘scene’ knows each other

and we all meet up regularly at the important confer-

ences and trade fairs.

Does accreditation now mean you are successful?

Yes, accreditation by the Central Health Protection Of-

fice of the Federal States is quite an important milestone

for a test lab. It’s a bit like certification for a company

and involves complying with laboratory regulations. You

have to implement a quality management system and

demonstrate that you can actually carry out the test pro-

cedures you’re offering in the proper way.

All in all I’d say that we’re happy with the way the com-

pany has developed. It’s gone well. We’ve been con-

stantly adding new orders over the past few years,

which has meant that we’ve been able to take on two

fulltime staff.

How should founders of start-ups set about

achieving their entrepreneurial goals?

They should set themselves goals that are achievable.

That means they shouldn’t set their goals too high. For

acquiring customers, we’ve found that it’s better to talk

to potential customers in person. Admittedly, we did

once do a mail shot and send out letters by post with

flyers to companies we knew, but the response wasn’t

particularly good. Face-to-face communication, wheth-

er it’s at a trade fair or on the phone, is far more effective.

7 7

“Getting started didn’t just involve cost planning and controlling; it was also about innovation management.”


Ms. raudszus, you and your two colleagues

founded a test laboratory for medicinal prod-

ucts. Where did the idea come from?

Originally I studied sports equipment technology, an en-

gineering subject combined with sport science. I did an

internship at a biomedical lab in Portland, Oregon, and

wrote my masters thesis there. After that it seemed obvi-

ous to carry on working in the field of medical technology

and medical products, and I started work in the R+D de-

partment of a big implant manufacturer. That was when I

met Steffen Vater. We often talked about testing materials

and the development and market potential of that sector

of the industry, so at some point the idea came up that

we could do something like that ourselves. We wanted to

put our own ideas into practice, and as a small company

to work closely with customers and the marketplace.

Then we were joined by Christian Abicht and the three of

us took the big step.

What advisory services did you use?

We got a lot of support from the “Innovation Require

Courage” run by the ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg

GmbH. Our aim was to get established in the field of

new testing methods. Getting started didn’t just involve

Katrin raudszus, Christian abicht, Steffen vater

Questmed GmbH

Kleinmachnow

www.questmed.de

Foundation: 2008

Advised by: Innovationen brauchen Mut (IbM)

Service provider: ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg GmbH

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by law to landscape and plant those areas of land. So

the demand is there. For acquiring clients I benefit from

the many contacts I made during my many years of vol-

untary work and my professional career. For example,

a big electricity supplier has commissioned me to land-

scape the waste dumps from open-pit mines. So over-

all, the demand is very good and of course I’d like to ex-

pand, while continuing to work regionally and locally. I’m

no expert on indigenous plants in Bavaria or Hessen,

but I’d be very pleased if other biologists or landscape

gardeners were to put my idea into practice there.

What support did you get when you were start-

ing up your business?

The business mentoring service of the Spree-Neisse

District recommended that I should take part in the

“Innovation Require Courage” programme and referred

me to the ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg. IbM has a

pool of hand-picked advisers who have specific expe-

rience in coaching individuals with innovative start-up

ideas. That’s important, because the risk of a start-up

failing is far greater with innovative ideas. The IbM staff

at ZAB GmbH gave me a lot of support, for instance, by

arranging a coach for me who gave me the idea of de-

veloping more start-up ideas from the existing start-up –

which makes a lot of sense and adds a great deal to my

business aims. When I get that far, I’m sure I’ll ask IbM

for help again. What really helped me was formulating

my business idea – that is, writing down what was in my

head in a logical way. We did that together. My business

plan is already more than fifty pages long.

What advice would you give to other people

starting up their own businesses?

You should stick with your business idea, but also take

advantage of the help available, which covers a lot of

things like finance, the market situation and what grants

and subsidies are available from where. When you’re

starting up your own company, you’re very busy and

don’t have time to deal with everything. The great thing

about IbM is that you have your very own coach and

don’t have to sit in a seminar with a lot of different peo-

ple who all have their own business ideas. The support I

get from my coach really is tailored to my own individual

needs.

Christina Grätz

Nagola RE GmbH

Jänschwalde

www.nagolare.de

Foundation: 2011

Advised by: Innovationen brauchen Mut (IbM)

Service provider: ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg GmbH

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Ms. Grätz, you’re a biologist and have your own

company that provides vegetation cover for

open spaces. that’s a completely new business

idea.

That’s right. I plant spaces in the open landscape out-

side agricultural and forestry land and built-up areas

with what’s known as indigenous materials. These are

now required under the new Natural Conservation Act.

The reason for this is that seeds from other regions, let’s

say Northern Germany, aren’t adapted to this locale,

and that can harm biological diversity. Let’s take the

sticky catchfly, Lychnis viscaria, for example. It grows

in both Lausitz and Mecklenburg. But the plants in

these two regions are not genetically identical. If seeds

from Mecklenburg were to be sown here, the DNA of

the plants would be mixed, which would mean that the

identity of the Lausitz sticky catchfly would be altered

and destroyed. So the aim of natural conservation is to

retain the biological and typical regional diversity of wild

plants. One way of doing that is regularly mowing dry

meadows, wetlands and heathland with a rich diversity

of species. Voluntary natural conservation groups can

no longer afford to do that. Another way is to plant lo-

cally indigenous species on derelict land and so-called

compensatory areas to enhance the diversity of species.

and with your idea you can do both?

A lot of research has already been done in this area, and

against the background of the current scientific debate,

I wondered whether it might be possible to get some fi-

nancial benefit from creating green areas myself. It used

to be the case that an area with a rich variety of species

would be mown and the clippings would be disposed

of, which you’d have to pay for. But what I’ve done here

is lease various pieces of land here in Lausitz that are lo-

cated in a clearly defined natural area. The plots have a

certain growth of wild plants which I normally mow once

a year. Then I spread out the mowing with their seeds in

their natural environment but in a different location. That

could be perhaps derelict land, a land rehabilitation area

or maybe an area of land set aside as compensation for

building development. In this way, the genetic make-up

and plant communities typical for a given area can be

retained.

So how do you earn your money from that?

When construction work is being done, whether it’s road

building, coal mining, dyke construction or whatever, ar-

eas of landscape are destroyed in the process, while

other areas are created at the same time. Local authori-

ties, the State of Brandenburg or companies are obliged

“When you’re starting up your own company you’re very busy and don’t have the time to deal with everything.”


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The next stage, for those who successfully complete

the introductory Assessment Centre Programme, is the

concept phase, where participants are able to hone

their business ideas and learn to avoid mistakes. This

concept phase is specific to the work of the start-up

workshops and is what distinguishes them from the “big

brother” approach of the business mentoring service.

Alexander Möller explains, “A maximum of eight par-

ticipants work together on a certain area, doing market

research, for example. Then they try to relate their find-

ings to their own business ideas. This allows them to

exchange and discuss ideas among themselves. In this

way they improve their communication skills. They con-

stantly have to present their findings to each other, and

enables their colleagues to reveal possible mistakes in

concepts that they themselves have missed.”

a practical approach is helpful

It goes without saying that the topics dealt with in the

workshop phase focus on typical knowledge deficits,

such as bookkeeping, accounting, price calculation,

etc. What Alexander Möller and his colleagues take

especially seriously, though, is a practical approach,

especially where customer contact is concerned. “At

the end of the day, everything depends on how you

present what you’re trying to sell. It’s that that deter-

mines whether you reach a potential customer in the

first place. Right at the start of the workshop phase a

marketing professional shows our participants how to

focus on the core of what they’re offering. And this little

blast of practical reality has an especially positive effect:

after the first three days people grasp that it’s all about

selling your product. Until that’s understood no location

analysis or analysis of the competition will do you much

good. The benefit for the customer must be clear. If you

don’t know what you want to do and who you want to

sell it to, you won’t have a chance.”

StIC Wirtschaftsfördergesellschaft

Märkisch-oderland mbH

Projekt „young companies“

Alexander Möller

Garzauer Chaussee 1 a

15344 Strausberg

Phone: 03341 335213

Internet: www.young-companies.de

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“young companies” is aimed unemployed people, or

those facing unemployment, with vocational training un-

der the age of 28, who live in the State of Brandenburg

and are interested in becoming self-employed. This is a

project run by the business development company STIC

Wirtschaftsfördergesellschaft Märkisch-Oderland, and

it provides support and assistance at eight locations

– three start-up workshops in Eberswalde, Strausberg

and Frankfurt (Oder); and five advice centres in Pren-

zlau, Schwedt on the Oder, Bernau, Fürstenwalde and

Eisenhüttenstadt.

According to Alexander Möller, Project Leader with STIC

Wirtschaftsfördergesellschaft, it makes a lot of sense to

offer a comprehensive service specifically for young peo-

ple wanting to start up their own businesses throughout

the region: “All the time we see that a young person has

different needs than a fifty-year-old when it comes to

advice. We often notice that even on the very first day

in the Assessment Center, when participants introduce

themselves briefly – a lot of young people find that very

difficult. This is probably down to their lack of life expe-

rience, so a large amount of our work involves social

education.” Since 2005, the staff at “young companies”

have provided support for in all 717 young adults want-

ing to start their own businesses. 422 of those have

actually gone on to become self-employed, and what’s

more, 78 % of the very first start-ups are still in business

today. Many recent start-ups have been in craft trades,

with their founders working as self-employed tile layers,

carpenters, painters or hairdressers; and there is also a

strong upsurge in the fitness and well-being sector.

Business management and social education

One reason for this record of success is the combination

of business management and social education support.

Each Assessment Center, for instance, has two trainers

and while one is looking at how much prospective busi-

ness founders already know about business manage-

ment and their business ideas specifically in terms of the

sector and the market, the other looks at their personali-

ties. Do candidates have the right kind of personality to

be self-employed and what is their family background?

An initial expert evaluation determines the likely success

of the business idea and what still remains to be ironed

out.

The “young companies” start-up workshop


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to talk about our experiences. We also provide support

for young people starting their own businesses.

Were there any hurdles to overcome on your

path to self-employment?

The start was difficult. It took three or four months until

the first customer to buy a tractor actually came along.

We’re talking about big sums of money here, upwards

of 8,000 euros. It’s not enough just to push a brochure

into the customer’s hand. You have to buy the tractor in

advance, and you have to demonstrate the tractor and

explain all the features. That needs capital up front. But

I found out that nobody’s going to lend you any money

if you’re a new entrepreneur with no starting capital and

no references. None of the grants and subsidies avail-

able were suitable for my project. So I had to invest

my whole savings to buy my first tractor. I bridged the

run-up phase out of my own pocket and converted the

premises bit by bit. It was only after the first six months

or so, when I could show that there was something hap-

pening with my business, and was able to put facts and

figures on the table, that I finally got my first loan to buy

more machines.

Was the lack of finance the only hurdle?

It was the reason for other obstacles. For instance, the

lack of necessary cash meant I wasn’t able to complete

my certificate in the run-up to starting the business,

which would have been helpful. I’m having to do it in

my spare time now, and that’s a really big challenge. I

don’t need the qualification to sell the machinery, but

I do need it for the workshop. So now I’ve taken on

someone who has the qualification. Once I have my cer-

tificate, I’ll be able to take on an apprentice as well.

How has your business developed since the

start-up?

I started up the business in July 2008 and I’ve sold thirty

or forty machines so far. As well as that, there’s a grow-

ing number of workshop customers. I’m really pleased

to see that the customers keep coming back and a cus-

tomer base is slowly building up.

But there are lean spells as well. That’s a seasonal thing,

to do with holidays. It’s just difficult to plan the business

in advance. Last year, for instance, I sold a certain ma-

chine and thought I’d be able to sell another one or two

of them the next year, but that hasn’t worked out. It’s a

bit like poker.

What advice would you give to other people

starting up their own businesses?

You should take good care of your customers. It’s im-

portant to be open and honest with them and explain

your products to them clearly. The customer can tell

when they’re getting good advice. That means that I

don’t just sell tractors to my customers - I call on them

every now and again to ask whether everything’s all

right, and maybe take them some promotional gifts. Or

I’ll invite them for a coffee and show them new products

or try out new machines. That’s vital – you have to keep

the customer interested.

8 3

Mr. Hofmann, you are machinery dealer for

farmers and local authorities. You also have

your own workshop. How did that come about?

I was crazy about tractors, even as a boy, especially at

my granddad’s small farm in the school holidays. Later

on, I trained as a vehicle mechanic and worked as a

manager in a workshop. At some point it occurred to me

that I could make a living from being self-employed. So I

did some research to find out which tractor manufacturer

didn’t yet have a presence in this region, and got in touch

with them. That’s how I began selling local authorities,

construction machinery and agricultural machinery. Ag-

ricultural machinery means machinery and tractors used

by farmers, whereas local authority equipment is used

by road maintenance departments for mowing verges,

street cleaning, clearing snow, things like that.

You attended the “young companies” start-up

workshop in Strausberg. How did they help you?

They gave me the basic knowledge I needed to start my

own business, things like which applications I needed to

fill in, what requirements had to be met for my start-up

and whether the location was okay, etc. I did a market

survey as well. In all, I spent three or four months in the

start-up workshop and was able to establish really good

contacts with other people starting their own business-

es as well as with the teachers and advisers. I’m still in

touch with them now, and we meet up from time to time

“The customer can tell when they’re getting good advice.”


Frank Hofmann

Land- & Kommunaltechnik

Flieth-Stegelitz

www.kubota-hofmann.de

Foundation: 2008

Advised by: Gründungswerkstatt „young companies“

Service provider: STIC Wirtschaftsfördergesellschaft Märkisch-Oderland mbH

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to get away from their families first, which often leads

to various problems of its own. Some of them have de-

clared personal insolvency or had frequent changes of

school; come from broken homes and haven’t yet found

any way into their working lives. They see being self-

employed as a chance to develop their own ideas and of

making a living from them.” They are provided with sup-

port for an average of four or five months. A few begin

getting their businesses started after just three weeks,

but others need a year before they are ready.

Microfinance for young new entrepreneurs

If the young new entrepreneurs need finance, the body

sponsoring the enterprise workshop, iq consult, offers

them its own microfinance. “We have our own fund from

which we can provide a loan of up to 5,000 euros. We

have had this fund since 2000 and make our decisions

with a committee of experts about which start-up pro-

ject should receive the money. We can also waive repay-

ment of the loans. This may be necessary due to over-

indebtedness or if the business idea fails to take off and

the individual is forced into personal insolvency or has

fallen back on Welfare benefits.” However, according to

Thorsten Jahnke, the overwhelming majority of young

entrepreneurs always pay back their loans on time.

iq consult gGmbh

Thorsten Jahnke

Schiffbauergasse 7

14467 Potsdam

Phone: 0331 6207944

Internet: www.iq-consult.com/enterprise

Weitere Standorte: Oranienburg, Neuruppin und Pritzwalk

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“A lot of people think that if they’ve got three friends who

think their idea’s great, then it’s an idea they can earn a

lot of money with. But first it’s a matter of finding out who

your customers are and how to approach them,” says

Thorsten Jahnke, who often has to bring young adults

back down to earth before they are ready to start-up

their own businesses. He is the Director of ‘enterprise’,

one the three start-up workshops in the Federal State of

Brandenburg. The clients who come to ‘enterprise’ are

aged between 18 to 27, living in north-west and south-

west Brandenburg, and in the process of starting their

own businesses. The only requirements are that they

must be unemployed or facing unemployment and that

they have completed a course of vocational training.

What‘s on offer for young adults

The sponsoring body, iq consult, began a pilot project in

1999. It was so successful that the Ministry of Labour of

the Federal State of Brandenburg increased its funding

and initiated the founding of the start-up workshops in

2005. Since the start of the pilot scheme, some 1,000

prospective entrepreneurs have been trained and ad-

vised by “enterprise” Brandenburg. Four hundred of

them have started their own businesses in almost every

sector imaginable - from mobile hairdressing to caretak-

er services, from media services to animal psychology.

Around 70 per cent of the companies founded since

early 2000 are still in business. Thorsten Jahnke thinks

that this success record is due to the special way the

start-up workshops are conceived: “We talk to young

people in the places they live. We go into youth clubs

and offer information events, with formats young people

can better relate to, like, an open day at the Chamber

of Commerce and Industry.” If there are two or three

would-be entrepreneurs, who indicate interest but find

it difficult to get to one of the workshop locations, the

enterprise staff will even travel to them and conduct

workshops and advice sessions locally, in a youth club,

for instance.

Support with social education

One difference to other ‘conventional’ advice centres is

in the content. Firstly, while the same advice and qualifi-

cations are offered in developing business plans, market

analysis, turnover planning, etc., the start-up workshops

also provide social education. “That’s because young

people haven’t yet established themselves in life to the

extent that people have who’ve been already working

for several years have. They are often young people

who have ideas and want to do something, but need

The “enterprise” start-up workshop


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Were there any other hurdles?

We looked and drove around a lot to find a suitable lo-

cation for a workshop for a long time. Then there was

all the official business, the bureaucracy, and fitting out

the workshop. We’d already obtained some quotes,

but even so, it took quite a while before everything was

ready. Of course that’s all part and parcel of the run-up

phase; if anyone had told me I’d need a year before

I could start working, I wouldn’t have believed them.

Concept, business plan, financial plan, that all takes a

lot of time. I’d never dealt with things like that before; it

was all new territory for me.

Has your business developed in the way you’d

imagined since then?

Yes. There was a quiet patch over Christmas, but since

February the workshop has been full the whole time.

There’s at least one car every day. When we opened

the workshop in the summer of 2010, we thought we’d

be working for the local car showrooms to begin with.

But the way it happened was exactly the opposite. The

private customers came to us right from the very begin-

ning. Now we have personal contacts with the staff at

the workshops of local showrooms. Reliability is a cru-

cial factor for a good working relationship. My custom-

ers know that I’ll be there straight away if they call and

that I get work done when I say I will.

How did you acquire your customers?

We printed flyers, had visiting-card-sized adverts in the

papers and even had a small article in the newspaper.

The flyers paid off best, though. The newspaper articles

had no effect at all, really. We’ve got a website as well,

but what works best is word-of-mouth recommenda-

tion: for every two customers we’ve had, we get one

new customer.

What’s your assessment of your experience so

far?

You mustn’t give up, even if things aren’t going right. If

a building block you need for getting to the next stage

is missing – stay with it. Once this building block is in

place, the following steps might happen really quickly.

We’re reaping the reward now of a year of stress. I’d

never have thought we’d need a whole year to set up

our business.

Kai Miethling

Mandy röbke

Der LackKai GbR

Oranienburg

www.derlackkai.de

Foundation: 2010

Advised by: Gründungswerkstatt „enterprise“

Service provider: iq consult gGmbH

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Mr. Miethling, what does a paint doctor do?

I repair slight paint damage and scratches on cars. It’s

also known as smart repair. My colleagues and I also

offer car preparation, that is, we clean cars and touch

up the paintwork. I’m a trained car painter and had my

business idea when I applied for a job with a paint doc-

tor in Berlin. I took a look around the company for a

couple of hours and thought, I can do this too. The more

I toyed with the idea and looked into what was involved,

the more clearly I felt that starting my own business was

what I wanted to do.

How much support did you get in preparing to

start your business?

I went from being unemployed to self-employed. To get

a grant from the Labour Agency I had to attend a semi-

nar for people starting their own businesses, and that’s

where I heard about the “enterprise” start-up workshop

and the opportunity to get advice from business con-

sultants. We fulfilled the requirements at the time; we

were under 28 and lived in the State of Brandenburg. So

my partner, Mandy Röbke, and I registered there.

The staff at “enterprise” gave us support from start to

finish and answered all our questions. They drew up the

business and financial plan with us and helped with reg-

istering at the tax office. And they made it possible for us

to get microfinance as well. All of that was a great help.

We’d never have managed on our own.

Did you have problems with finance?

Yes, it was very difficult to get finance. We only needed

six thousand euros, but the banks made it very clear

that a million would be less of a problem than the effort

for such a small amount. So then the “enterprise” staff

saw to it that we got a loan from GLS Bank under the

Microcredit Germany scheme. Once we’d submitted all

the necessary paperwork and “enterprise” had submit-

ted an assessment of our business idea’s prospects for

success the finance finally came through.

“You mustn’t give up, even if things aren’t going right.”


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80 companies each year. All of them have one thing in

common – their owners are getting old – and this means

adapting to the idea that their life’s work will have to be

handed over to a successor if it’s not to close complete-

ly. Sylvia Seelig says, “I often tell them to get it sorted

out in good time. Life could look very different tomorrow.

They always look at me quite aghast, because after all

I’m quite a bit younger - but you can see that they’re

turning it over in their minds.”

Finding the right successor

If a successor can’t be found from within the family

or the company, then an external candidate most be

found; a new entrepreneur who is willing and able to

take on an existing firm. It’s an attractive idea, as the

staff, premises, turnover and customers are already

there. This may sound like an easy job, but it’s an as-

sumption that Sylvia Seelig refutes: “It’s not that simple.

A successor is taking on a huge responsibility, especially

as far as preserving the jobs involved is concerned. So

anyone who takes over a firm not only has to be prop-

erly qualified both on the technical side and in business

terms with a thorough knowledge of the industry, but

they must also have management experience.” One

place where Sylvia Seelig looks for business successors

is the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, because

ex-service personnel have leadership experience, and

most of them have a degree or a further education quali-

fication as well.

Getting entrepreneurs and successors talking

to each other.

Sylvia Seelig’s most important job is to bring entrepre-

neurs together with suitable successors, something

which needs a lot of sensitive handling. So when the

two sides meet for the first time, Sylvia Seelig takes on

the role of the neutral moderator favouring neither one

side nor the other. The actual process of taking over

the firm starts when the two sides have reached agree-

ment, but it can take quite some time, depending on

how quickly the successor manages to establish him

or herself in the company. In this phase, Sylvia Seelig’s

job mainly involves finding advisers and coaches to pre-

pare both the successor and the elderly business owner

for their new roles. But above all she stays on the ball

and stays in touch. “I keep on asking where any sticking

points are and where help may be needed. That’s the

crucial thing.”

8 9

Business succession advice centres


The question as to who is going to step into the boss’s

shoes, carry on running the company and keep its

workforce employed has existential importance in the

East Brandenburg region. Sylvia Seelig, who is respon-

sible for at the advice centre in the East Brandenburg re-

gional Chamber of Crafts and Trades in Frankfurt (Oder)

explains, “If there are grown-up children in the family, a

decision has to be made about whether they are willing

and able to take over the helm. If not, then that raises

the question as to whether one of the employees is up

to it. If nobody’s interested in taking over the succes-

sion, the company closes and the workers are left high

and dry.“ Since 2007, Sylvia Seeling has assisted in

around a hundred cases of business succession and

advised more than five hundred successors and elderly

entrepreneurs.

Making entrepreneurs aware of the problem

In most cases, the companies helped by the business

succession advice centre are small trade firms such

as metalworking and car repair firms or stonemasons,

bricklayers or carpenters. An entrepreneur looking for

a successor to run their company might call her, but

most frequently it is Sylvia Seelig who makes the first

approach. She travels a great deal, visiting some 70 to

Bildungszentrum der

Handwerkskammer Frankfurt (oder) – region ostbrandenburg

Sylvia Seelig

Spiekerstraße 11

15230 Frankfurt (Oder)

Phone: 0335 5554245

Internet: www.hwk-ff.de

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So what was it that attracted you to taking over

the firm?

The independence is definitely what attracted me most.

That was very important to me. And I wanted to do a

few things better as an employer that I hadn’t under-

stood or that I’d seen differently when I was an em-

ployee. And I managed to do that. My staff are hap-

pier, and the customers are satisfied as well. We have a

relatively good working climate, it’s not as strained, and

I’ve brought my co-workers on board in making a lot of

decisions. There have been various projects where I’ve

asked them beforehand whether we should take the job

on at all. In other words, I’ve more or less let them share

the decision-making process. That’s mainly about the

great distances we have to travel as roofers. I make a

lot of effort to get jobs close to home and not to take

on so many orders from outside, because the staff have

families and they want to finish work on time. So far I’ve

managed to do that quite well.

When you’re taking over a company, you obvi-

ously have to think about finance. Did you ob-

tain any grants or subsidies?

I’m getting a grant for my training course, but apart from

that, I haven’t taken out any loans or applied for any

other grants or subsidies. I’m paying the purchase price

for the company in instalments from current income,

which assumes, of course, that there’s enough money

coming in. If there is, then I’d definitely recommend do-

ing it this way, because loans aren’t just a burden on

the firm, but for you personally as well. You worry too

much about how you’re going to make the monthly re-

payments. In my case, I don’t have those worries, so I

can concentrate completely on the business and give it

my full attention.

Maik Wambeck

Sommer & Herzog Dachbau GmbH

Frankfurt (Oder)

www.sommer-herzog-dachbau.de

Übernahme: 2010

Advised by: Beratungsstelle für die Unternehmens-

nachfolge

Service provider: Bildungszentrum der Handwerkskammer

Frankfurt (Oder) – Region Ostbrandenburg

Fr

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9 1

Mr. Wambeck, you took over your roofing firm

from your former boss. How did that come

about?

My boss had to give the firm up for age and health rea-

sons. Since I’d been employed here for many years, he

asked me if I’d be interested in taking over. I made some

enquiries about the advantages and disadvantages of

being self-employed in terms of my health insurance

and pension, and in the end decided to do it.

What help and support did you get from the

business succession advice centre when you

were taking over the firm?

Well, of course, I had a lot of questions about what could

do, what legal procedures could I expect and what re-

sponsibilities I would have to take on. I was concerned

about the entrepreneurial risk involved as well. What

would I do if the business didn’t go as well as I’d hoped?

What could I do to cover myself and what grants and

subsidies are available? How could I get a bit of security?

I had the typical worries anyone has when they’re starting

up a business. But I had the feeling I was being taken re-

ally good care of at the business succession advice cen-

tre, and I got a lot of advice about everything.

Did your former boss prepare you for your new

role as a successor?

Yes, he took me through everything very carefully before

hanging the company over to me. We both got advice

from the business succession advice centre at that time.

After all, my boss needed to know the best way to show

me the ropes. But then it went really well - he was re-

ally very accommodating and let me take control from

the very first day in every respect – with his support,

of course. We’re still in touch now. I go to him with any

problems or questions I have. So, in principle, I’ve got

permanent support and assistance, although I still work

very closely with the Frankfurt (Oder) Chamber of Crafts

and Trades for the East Brandenburg region.

So were there any difficulties during the transi-

tion?

There was a problem with the exemption, because I

haven’t got the necessary qualification. It was all sup-

posed to happen very quickly, but because of all the le-

gal requirements and regulations, the Chamber of Crafts

and Trades didn’t play along as quickly as we wanted.

I had to have a lot of patience and perseverance to get

hold of a temporary exemption permit. Then it worked.

I started a training course straight away, and in the first

exams qualified for an exemption permit.

“I’ve brought my co-workers on board.”


F

9 0


oberhavel

Wirtschafts-, Innovations- und tourismus-

förderung oberhavel GmbH (WInto)

Neuendorfstraße 18 a · 16761 Hennigsdorf

Waltraut Krienke

Phone: 03302 559201

E-Mail: [email protected]

Internet: www.winto-gmbh.de

oberspreewald-Lausitz

Wequa Wirtschaftsentwicklungs- und

qualifzierungsgesellschaft mbH

Am Werk 8 · 01979 Lauchhammer

Gerlinde Michaelis

Phone: 03574 46762243


Internet: www.wequa.de

oder-Spree

IHK-Projektgesellschaft mbH ostbrandenburg

Reinheimer Straße 18 b · 15517 Fürstenwalde

Ines Lehmann

Phone: 03361 3654950


Internet: www.ihk-projekt.de

ostprignitz-ruppin

technologie- und Gründerzentrum oPr GmbH

Alt Ruppiner Allee 40 · 16816 Neuruppin

Frederik Otto

Phone: 03391 446352


Internet: www.tgz-neuruppin.de

Potsdam

technologie- und Gewerbezentren Potsdam GmbH

David-Gilly-Straße 1 · 14469 Potsdam

Ralf Krüger

Phone: 0331 20018999


Internet: www.lotsendienst-potsdam.de

Potsdam-Mittelmark

technologie- und Gründerzentrum „Fläming“ GmbH

Brücker Landstraße 22 b · 14806 Bad Belzig

Klaus Wessels

Phone: 033841 65152


Internet: www.tgz-belzig.de

Prignitz

technologie- und Gewerbezentrum (tGW)

Prignitz GmbH

Laborstraße 1 · 19322 Wittenberge

Sandra Balkow

Phone: 03877 984275


Internet: www.tgw-prignitz.de/

regionaler-gruenderlotsendienst-prignitz.html

Spree-neiße

Centrum für Innovation und technologie GmbH

Inselstraße 30/31 · 03149 Forst (Lausitz)

Bernd Kruczek, Frau Breitenfeld

Phone: 03562 6924117/-8


Internet: www.cit-wfg.de/start

reGIonaL BuSIneSS MentorInG ServICeS

2010–2013

Barnim

IHK-Projektgesellschaft mbH

ostbrandenburg

Heegermühler Straße 64 · 16225 Eberswalde

Birgit Delph

Phone: 03334 253736

Funk: 0160 8940382



Brandenburg a. d. H.

technologie und Gründerzentrum Brandenburg

an der Havel GmbH

Friedrich-Franz-Straße 19 · 14770 Brandenburg a. d. H.

Monika Kretschmer

Phone: 03381 381630


Internet: www.tgz-brb.de

Cottbus

IHK-Bildungszentrum Cottbus GmbH

Goethestraße 1 a · 03046 Cottbus

Andrea Behrends, Jörg Fabiunke

Phone: 0355 3652705



Internet: www.ihk-bildungszentrum-cottbus.de

Dahme-Spreewald


Dahme-Spreewald mbH

Freiheitsstraße 120 · 15745 Wildau

Marion Fender

Phone: 03375 523830


Internet: www.wfg-lds.de

elbe-elster


elbe-elster mbH

Ludwig-Jahn-Straße 2 · 04916 Herzberg

Regina Veik

Phone: 03535 462670


Internet: www.wfg-elbe-elster.de/existenzgruendung

Frankfurt (oder)


Puschkinstraße 12 b · 15236 Frankfurt (Oder)

Kerstin Schubert

Phone: 0335 56212150

Funk: 0160 90629946



Havelland

arbeitsförderungsgesellschaft Premnitz mbH

Dunckerplatz 21 a · 14712 Rathenow

Beate Kämmerling

Phone: 03385 495050


Internet: www.lotsendienst.standort-premnitz.de

Märkisch-oderland


Märkisch-oderland mbH

Garzauer Chaussee 1 a · 15344 Strausberg

Thomas Seibt

Phone: 03341 335227


Internet: www.lotsendienst.net

Addresses



“InnovatIon requIre CouraGe”

(“InnovatIonen BrauCHen Mut” – IBM)

Institut für Berufsforschung und

unternehmensplanung Medien e. v. (IBF)

Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 82 · 14469 Potsdam

Wolfgang Flieger

Phone: 0331 2016580


Internet: www.ibf-institut.de

Zukunftsagentur Brandenburg GmbH

Steinstraße 104–106 · 14482 Potsdam

Torsten Böttcher

Phone: 0331 6603162


Ulrich Ruh

Phone: 0331 6603285


Internet: www.zukunftsagentur-brandenburg.de

www.innovationen-brauchen-mut.de

Start-uP WorKSHoPS For YounG PeoPLe

2010–2013

Cottbus

Puls e. v.

Zukunft Lausitz – Die Gründerwerkstatt

Bahnhofstraße 24 · 03046 Cottbus

Marcel Linge

Phone: 0355 28890792


Internet: www.puls-ev.de

Frankfurt (oder)


Märkisch-oderland mbH „young companies“

Garzauer Chaussee · 15344 Strausberg

Alexander Möller

Phone: 03341 335213


Internet: www.young-companies.de

Potsdam

iq consult gGmbH enterprise Brandenburg

Schiffbauergasse 27 a · 14467 Potsdam

Thorsten Jahnke

Phone: 0331 6207944



oranienburg


Stralsunder Straße 8 · 16515 Oranienburg

Thorsten Jahnke

Phone: 03301 201672



neuruppin


c/o IHK neuruppin

Junckerstraße 7 · 16816 Neuruppin

Terminvereinbarung unter: 03301 201672


teltow-Fläming

Struktur- und Wirtschaftsförderungsgesell-

schaft des Landkreises teltow-Fläming mbH

Markt 15/16 · 14913 Jüterbog

Steffi Weit

Phone: 03372 4403211


Internet: www.swfg.de

uckermark


Grabowstraße 18 · 17291 Prenzlau

Eveline Körber

Phone: 03984 7180945

Funk: 0151 12176871



BuSIneSS MentorInG ServICe

For MIGrantS

iq consult gGmbH

Schiffbauergasse 7 · 14467 Potsdam

Julia Lexow-Kapp

Funk: 0176 70355746


Julia Plotz

Funk: 0176 70355745



Die genannten Ansprechpartnerinnen betreuen

die Standorte in Hennigsdorf, Oranienburg,

Frankfurt (Oder), Cottbus und Brandenburg a. d. H.



Pritzwalk


c/o IHK Pritzwalk

Meyenburger Tor 5 · 16928 Pritzwalk

Terminvereinbarung unter: 03301 201672


Start-uP ServICeS at tHe unIverSItIeS

2010–2013

Cottbus

Btu Cottbus

unIteC Gesellschaft für Innovationsförderung

und technologietransfer

Konrad-Wachsmann-Allee 1 · 03046 Cottbus

Gerd Hiersigk

Phone: 0355 693535


Internet: www.tu-cottbus.de/biem

Hochschule Lausitz (FH)

unIteC Gesellschaft für Innovationsförderung

und technologietransfer

Konrad-Wachsmann-Allee 2 · 03046 Cottbus

Gerd Hiersigk

Phone: 0355 693535


Internet: www.tu-cottbus.de/biem

Frankfurt (oder)

europa-universität viadrina Frankfurt (oder)

Kooperationsstelle Wissenschaft und

arbeitswelt e. v. (KoWa)

Große Scharrnstraße 59 · 15230 Frankfurt (Oder)

Arne Meyer-Haake, Dr. Ramona Alt

Phone: 0335 55345902


Internet: www.kowa-ffo.de

Potsdam

universität Potsdam, Standort neues Palais

BIeM (Brandenburgisches Institut für existenz-

gründung und Mittelstandsförderung) e. v.

Am Neuen Palais 10, Haus 9, Raum 0.Z19a

14469 Potsdam

Babette Grothe

Phone: 0331 9771720


Internet: www.lotsendienst.com


universität Potsdam, Standort Babelsberg

BIeM e. v.

Am Park Babelsberg 24, Haus 5 · 14482 Potsdam

Serena Meier-Zeh

Phone: 0331 9771720



Fachhochschule Potsdam

BIeM e. v.

Pappelallee 8–9, Haus 4 · 14469 Potsdam

Leona Henß

Phone: 0331 5801064

E-Mail: lotsendienst @fh-potsdam.de

Internet: www.gruendungsservice.com

Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen (HFF)

„Konrad Wolf“

BIeM e. v.

Am Neuen Palais 10, Haus 9, Raum 0.Z19a

14469 Potsdam

Babette Grothe

0331 9771720



Brandenburg a. d. H.

GründungsZentrum

Fachhochschule Brandenburg

BIeM e. v.

Magdeburger Straße 50, Haus WWZ/Raum 37

14770 Brandenburg/Havel

Thomas Rau

Phone: 03381 355228


Internet: www.gruendung-fhb.de

Prignitz

Präsenzstelle Prignitz der Fachhochschule

Brandenburg in der Bildungsgesellschaft mbH

Pritzwalk BIeM e. v.

c/o Haus der Wirtschaft, Meyerberger Tor 5

16928 Pritzwalk

Daniela Werth

Phone: 03395 764414


Internet: www.fh-brandenburg.de/

gruendungszentrum.html

Barnim

Hochschule für nachhaltige entwicklung

eberswalde (FH) BIeM e. v.

Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 28 · 16225 Eberswalde

Robert Schmidt

Phone: 03334 6547458


Internet: www.biem-brandenburg.de/

startup-navigator.html

Dahme-Spreewald

tH Wildau BIeM e. v.

Bahnhofstraße · 15745 Wildau

Karin Hartmann

Phone: 03375 508333


Internet: www.biem-brandenburg.de/

startup-navigator.html

eXPerIMentaL ProJeCtS

BIeM e. v.

August-Bebel-Straße 89 · 14482 Potsdam

Phone: 0331 9774521

Internet: www.biem-brandenburg.de

BuSIneSS SuCCeSSIon aDvICe CentreS

HWK Cottbus

Altmarkt 17 · 03046 Cottbus

Manja Bonin

Phone: 0355 7835167


Internet: www.hwk-cottbus.de

Bildungszentrum der Handwerkskammer

Frankfurt (oder) – region ostbrandenburg

Spiekerstraße 11 · 15230 Frankfurt (Oder)

Sylvia Seelig

Phone: 0335 5554245


Internet: www.hwk-ff.de

IHK Potsdam

Breite Straße 2 a–c · 14467 Potsdam

Andreas Lehmann

Phone: 0331 2786167


Internet: www.potsdam.ihk24.de


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