Lars Nilsson
Tens of thousands of companies are threatened with closure in the next few years because their owners cannot find successors. This is a major problem for the entire German economy!
“Knowledge is lost.” “That’s dangerous,” says Hartmut Petzold, as he stacks several boxes of polishing clay and car window cleaner in his warehouse in Hagen. 68-year-old Hartmuth and his 66-year-old brother Christian have been developing and selling vehicle care products and paints since 1988.
“When you’ve been working with vehicle surfaces for so many years, when you’ve processed thousands of liters of paint, when you’ve won awards and competitions, you want to pass that on,” says Christian Petzold. “When you’re of retirement age and see that everyone else has already said goodbye, you ask yourself how much longer you want to do this.” The Petzold brothers love their job, but believe that times have gotten worse in Germany.
The life’s work should end up in good hands
Sales have declined in recent years, old customers are failing and the brothers know that it is necessary for the company to pass into other hands. They have been trying to find a successor for years – so far without success. “If something is close to your heart, you want the company to continue working and not fail,” says Christian Petzold. Their life’s work and knowledge should end up in good hands, but external or family heirs are not taken into account.
“Company succession is a major challenge for German medium-sized companies,” confirms Mark Evers, an expert at the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). “The number of entrepreneurs looking for a successor is three times as high as the number of interested parties. According to estimates by the DIHC, more than 250,000 companies will close in the next five years if a successor – external or within the family – cannot be found.
The problem is demographics
Unfavorable demographic developments in Germany have their consequences. Between the ages of 18 and 40, people decide whether to take on entrepreneurial responsibility. “However, these generations are getting smaller every year. At the same time, more and more entrepreneurs are reaching retirement age,” says Evers.
One of the reasons is the entrepreneurs themselves: 29 percent of them find it difficult to emotionally separate themselves from their company. One in five entrepreneurs waits too long to transfer the company, hoping to get more for it later.
A company built with heart
The Petzold brothers from Hagen don’t believe that, however. “Our business is built with heart above all,” says Hartmut Petzold. “Back then, we were still hungry for success. We stuck to our guns. The 20-hour working day was no problem for us. If you want too much work-life balance, of course it won’t work.”
Being an entrepreneur means being willing to make sacrifices and having absolute conviction, says Hartmut Petzold. And he points out: “The motivation has to be there from the start so that you see work as the meaning of life. That the company fulfills your life.”
The DIHK predicts that exactly such entrepreneurs will be lacking in Germany in the future. “Knowledge and values are disappearing. “If there are fewer companies, we will have less competition and less innovation,” says the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce. “At some point, prices will rise and we will have a problem with international competition.”
The transition of a company should be well prepared
It is important that companies are prepared for the future. About three to ten years before the planned handover, owners should start preparing for the next generation. Is the offer future-oriented? Are the margins satisfactory? Does production meet the latest standards? Is the company’s organization in order? Questions that the Petzold brothers from Hagen asked themselves a long time ago.
At the end of the month, another potential interested party should contact them. But they are not too optimistic.
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