“Let's do it again”

There is a bad mood in Germany as a business location. And yet there are companies whose stories are encouraging. A medium-sized company and a start-up founder talk about how they are successful despite the crisis.

There is not much sign of crisis at Denios in Bad Oeynhausen. This year the company expects a sales increase of ten percent. Denios is what is called a “hidden champion” – unknown to the general public, but world market leader in a small niche.

The company specializes in the storage of hazardous materials and sells, for example, fireproof construction containers or transport boxes for damaged lithium-ion batteries. When Denios was founded almost 40 years ago, such batteries still played no role at all. The recipe for success is to constantly reinvent yourself, says founder and managing director Helmut Dennig.

The same applies to foreign business. While many German companies fear competition from China, the country is a stroke of luck for Denios. According to company boss Dennig, his company recognized early on that there was a need for environmental protection in China due to rapid industrialization: “Since we are primarily concerned with environmental protection and safety, it was clear that this was an exceptionally good market for us.”

“Basic lethargy” at some companies?

Managing Director Dennig does not skimp on criticism of politicians. This interferes far too much in companies and creates an excess of bureaucracy – from the Supply Chain Act to the General Data Protection Regulation. A criticism that can be heard from many companies.

At the same time, some German companies have a problem of their own making, says the managing director: their success has made them sluggish. “When companies reach a certain age, saturation occurs: things are going well for us, things have been going well for us, and they will probably continue to do so.” Such “basic lethargy” is not at all advisable for companies.

Rapid growth

At Trailer Dynamics they are far from lethargic. The company was only founded in 2018 and is growing quickly. Over the past year, the number of employees has doubled; 70 people now work at the company headquarters in Eschweiler near Aachen.

In a large industrial hall they work on trucks or develop software. Trailer Dynamics is working on making trucks fully electric. Several batteries are installed in the semi-trailers, i.e. the trailers of the vehicles. Some of the electric trucks are already rolling through Germany in test operations and are scheduled to come onto the market next year.

Which speaks for Germany as a location

What is it like as a start-up in Germany? Founder Michael Nimtsch has a lot of positive things to say. “Germany is a very excellent location for us from the point of view of the supply industry and the components that we need for our vehicle,” he says. The shortage of skilled workers is certainly a problem. However, when you get skilled workers in Germany, they are highly qualified.

Added to this is legal certainty. Although he enjoys doing business with China, “experience shows that the legal framework does not exist there,” says Nimtsch. This applies in particular to intellectual property, such as patent protection.

Politics can't keep up

Founder Nimtsch also knows well enough about the problems with German and European bureaucracy. Start-ups like his are developed at the “speed of light”; politics is not keeping up with their regulations at all.

At the same time, he is also annoyed by fellow entrepreneurs who, in his opinion, complain too much. “This whining is really getting on my nerves,” he blurts out. He was recently at a conference. “You stand there with entrepreneurs and 90 percent complain. That can't be right.”

The word “entrepreneur” simply means that you have to “do” something. “Let’s do it again,” he appeals to other company bosses. It could be possible to bring Germany forward again as a business location, says Nimtsch. He is quite sure of that.