For Start-ups

Personal qualification

The following characteristics help you to critically evaluate your personal requirements:
Personal suitability
  • Are you open to new ideas?
  • Are you able to offer high performance both physically and mentally?
  • Are you good at making decisions; do you cope well with setbacks?
  • What about your inter-personal skills (making contacts, powers of persuasion)?
  • Are you able to motivate employees and partners?
  • Can you take criticism?
  • Does your family support you in your start-up plans; does your family have to share any disadvantages and potential financial bottlenecks with you?
  • Remember that in the first few years after your start-up, you will have to accept not just long working hours but usually also lower income, less annual leave and less time with your family.
Successful company founders should have specific skills or personal characteristics, such as
  • Motivation
  • Own initiative
  • Creativity
  • Flexibility
  • Mobility
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Learning aptitude
  • Willingness to take risks
  • Leadership qualities

Professional requirements/industry knowledge
Now evaluate critically whether you have sufficient knowledge of the following areas:
  • Industry development, industry practices
  • Pricing, margins, industry KPIs
  • Supply sources, trade fairs
  • Competitive situation, location analysis
  • Sales channels
  • Product portfolio

Professional qualification
In practice, you might be faced with the following topics:
  • Procurement market: Operating supplies, goods and materials
  • Inventory: Incoming goods, storage
  • Goods and services (manufacturing industry): Work conditions, wages, capacity, process organisation
  • Sales/marketing: Product, pricing, sales and advertising policy
  • Financing: Liquidity planning, capital procurement
  • Personnel: Personnel planning, employee management, remuneration
  • Legal requirements: Purchasing contract, disruptions during contract performance, dunning process, unfair competition, legal forms
  • Taxes and duties
  • Accounting/bookkeeping: Costing, setting up accounts, ongoing accounts management, month-end/year-end closing, balance sheet principles
  • Insurances: Business and personal protection