We can imagine the two master painters and company owners Olaf and Wolfram as satisfied entrepreneurs. Because their businesses are doing very well. And because they have solved a weighty problem. One that had been keeping them up at night for quite some time.
Olaf Übelacker and Wolfram Beck each run a very successful painting company. Olaf is based in Munich and Wolfram in the Stuttgart area. Both manage their companies with a great deal of commitment and passion. They prioritise quality and innovation, have a loyal customer base and a sufficient number of skilled workers. So how did it come about that a few years ago, the two of them were lying awake at night? And that they weren't sitting with friends or family in the evening but brooding alone in front of papers and numbers?
During those evenings, Olaf and Wolfram each came up with a plan. And as strange as it may sound, this plan was the problem.
Olaf's company is a well-known brand in Munich. The surname Übelacker is as familiar to customers as FC Bayern or the venerable Frauenkirche. The business was founded by his grandfather, who in the 1930s went around the city with a handcart offering his painting services. Olaf's father turned the company into a solidly growing business. Olaf took over the business in the third generation, developed it further and introduced many new ideas. One of these ideas is the impressive showroom in the north of Munich, where Olaf and his team show how to successfully integrate high-quality colours and surfaces into living spaces.
– I work very hard and successfully, says Olaf.
– I realise that I have achieved a lot. There are no unfulfilled dreams left. But there is one goal: that the history of the company does not end with my name.
A wish that he shared with his late father, when he visited him in hospital just before his death. Olaf doesn't have any children of his own. His stepson works in the company and is about to complete his Master of Finance, with the intention of going his own way. So, who could be the person to succeed Olaf, when one day he will take a step back?
There was no quick solution. It took him another five years to find the answer. At first, he didn't think it was a good fit for him at all...
Around 230 kilometres further west, in the area of Stuttgart, Wolfram Beck often reflects on his craft. It was anything but a foregone conclusion that he would take over his father's business. Wolfram got the chance to start an apprenticeship as a banker, but soon realised that there was something missing from his work with numbers: creativity. He sought this out in his father's painting business. Wolfram developed a real passion for this craft. A passion for colours and surfaces. And soon he set out on a mission.
– In the past, the master painter was the most important partner of the architect; the two were in constant communication,’ says Wolfram.
When he began his training in his father's company in the 1980s, things were different. ‘The expertise and know-how of painters were no longer in demand. I thought that was wrong – and wanted to change that again.’ So, Wolfram was a painter with a mission: to improve the position of the painting trade. ‘When I look at how our team is involved in the processes today, I can say: mission accomplished.’
Two successful entrepreneurs. And yet they still have those sleepless nights. Why? And what does that have to do with this plan that they have both forged independently of each other?
The plan was this: it had to happen in their mid-50s. That much was clear to both. In their mid-50s, they wanted to find answers to the question of how their companies would continue when the time came to take a step back. Not into retirement – that is not something that Olaf and Wolfram can even imagine for the time being, they enjoy their work far too much for that. But one thing is clear to both: their role will change at a certain age. Until that moment, when they can no longer work – or no longer want to work.
– And anyone who only starts thinking about the future of the company at that point is too late, says Olaf.
They are jeopardising success. The legacy. The mission.
In their mid-50s, Olaf and Wolfram each started the process. The succession process. They observed how other entrepreneurs they knew approached the problem – and in doing so, they found out how they didn't want to do it. They talked to interested parties and investors and examined various models for handing over the company. Nothing was quite right. Which was usually not for lack of money. But because something would be lost. Something very valuable that cannot be weighed in monetary terms.
– For me, a solution in which I would give up my company and thus also my name was never an option, says Olaf.
– For me, it was clear that the solution had to guarantee that our high standards in the painting trade would not suffer in any way, says Wolfram.
Both companies have a very special individual DNA. And this DNA must be preserved at all costs. Even when the entrepreneurs retire. Wolfram sums up the challenge: ‘On the one hand, nothing should change, but on the other, everything should.’
How on earth do you resolve such a dilemma?
One day, Olaf received a visit from Norway. Two representatives from HG had registered to present their concept to him. The concept of a very special kind of group in which companies are linked together in partnership. Olaf's first thought that day? ‘Another concept. And then also that of a group.’ The approach didn't seem right to him: ‘I wasn't very optimistic in the first place. Because I was afraid that being part of a group would make me lose my independence.’
But he was surprised. By how the two visitors were interested in the way he runs his company. By their empathy. And above all, by their astounding request that Olaf should not change the way he is managing his company: Why change a company that has been successful at what it does for many years?
– HG's offer was: Keep doing your thing – and benefit from the partnerships, says Olaf.
‘I lost my scepticism about the idea of becoming part of this kind of group when I realised what it actually means. That my employees and I can exchange ideas with like-minded people. That we – when it makes sense – work together with other great companies or recommend each other. And that a potential successor in the company receives exactly the management support he needs to strengthen his management skills .’ Because, hand on heart: managing a company and at the same time equipping a suitable successor with all the skills – you can't do it alone. You need help.
Wolfram's company is now also part of HG. Today he made his way to Munich in his car to visit Olaf in his showroom. A stimulating expert discussion about colours and shapes, elaborate surfaces and individual customer requirements quickly develops between the two master painters. But they also talk about what it means not only to run a company, but also to make provisions for passing it on. Wolfram has found an impressive image for this: that of a rucksack that you always carry with you as an entrepreneur.
– I carried this rucksack alone for many years,’ Wolfram says to Olaf during a coffee break.
‘Take it off? I couldn't and wouldn't. The rucksack was always there.’ That's why he had some sleepless nights, especially during the time when the succession process had not yet been settled. Wolfram willingly carried this rucksack. But it was also clear to him: the time will come when he feels the desire to share the burden. To someone in the company who can take on some of the management load with fresh reserves of strength. And with HG as a partner, who can, for example, help to develop the company's employees. Including those who will take on management and leadership roles in the future.
Olaf listens very carefully to Wolfram's remarks. He nods and thinks back to the evenings when he pondered how he could make the company fit for the future. For a future with him in a different role. ‘It just feels really good not to be alone with this issue,’ says Olaf. And now Wolfram nods too and adds: ‘No more sleepless nights!”