Tens of thousands of companies are threatened with closure in the coming years because owners cannot find a successor. This is a problem for Germany as a whole as a business location.
“The knowledge will be lost. That's dangerous,” says Hartmut Petzold as he sorts a few boxes of cleaning clay next to the car window cleaners in his warehouse in Hagen. Since 1988, 68-year-old Hartmut and his 66-year-old brother Christian have been developing and selling vehicle care and paint products.
“When you have taken care of surfaces for so many years, when you have used thousands of liters of paint, when you have won trophies and competitions, we want to pass that on,” says Christian Petzold. “When you're now at retirement age and see that everyone else has already said goodbye, you ask yourself how long you want to do this.” The brothers, dressed in blue shirts, love their job, but times have become tougher.
Life's work should be in good hands
Sales have collapsed in recent years, old customers are going bankrupt and the brothers know that a handover is necessary. They have been trying to find a successor for years – so far in vain. “If you put your heart and soul into it, then you want the company to continue to thrive and not go nowhere,” says Christian Petzold. Your life's work and knowledge should be in good hands, but neither external nor family successors are available.
“Company succession is a challenge of great consequence for German medium-sized businesses,” confirms DIHK expert Marc Evers in this case. “The number of entrepreneurs looking for a succession solution is three times as high as the number of interested parties.” The IHK calculates: In the next five years, more than 250,000 companies will face bankruptcy if the handover does not take place. No matter whether external or from your own family.
Problem caused by demographic developments
The unfavorable demographic development in Germany is having an impact. It is especially between the ages of 18 and 40 that you decide whether you want and can take on entrepreneurial responsibility. “But these cohorts are becoming weaker from year to year. At the same time, more and more entrepreneurs are reaching retirement age,” says Evers.
One reason lies with the actors involved themselves: 29 percent of the companies that come to an IHK consultation find it difficult to emotionally let go of their company. One in five entrepreneurs wait too long before transferring in order to be able to achieve an even higher purchase price later.
Built a business with passion
But that's not what the Petzold brothers in Hagen are concerned about. “Our business is built primarily with passion,” says Hartmut Petzold. “We were still hungry back then. We stuck to our guns. Even a 20-hour day wasn't a problem for us. Of course, that won't work if there's too much work-life balance.” Being an entrepreneur also means sacrifice and absolute conviction. “The motivation has to be there right from the start, that you see this as your purpose in life. That you want to fulfill your life with the business.”
And it is precisely such entrepreneurs that Germany will lack in the future, predicts the IHK. “Knowledge and values are disappearing. If there are fewer companies, we will have less competition and be less keen to innovate,” says the IHK. “In the end, prices will rise and we will also have a problem in international competition.”
Handover should be well prepared
What is important is that companies must be fit for the future. About three to ten years before the planned handover, owners should start preparing the company for the next generation. Is the offer future-oriented? Are the margins right? Is the production up to date? Is the company organization correct? Questions that the Petzold brothers from Hagen have long asked themselves and answered.
At the end of the month, a possible interested party wanted to get back to the Petzold brothers. But they're not really confident about it.
