Over a cup of coffee with Volkmar Wywiol

Transcription

1 WiFöG - Weekender The monthly company portrait Issue no. 23 Investor, legendary entrepreneur and patron of the arts: Over a cup of coffee with Volkmar Wywiol He is a man with an interesting biography: Volkmar Wywiol, founder of the internationally successful Stern-Wywiol Gruppe. Now aged 82, he laid the foundation for his present success 38 years ago, when he established his company as a one man show. And yet, as a young man, Volkmar Wywiol had quite different plans and ambitions, as he told as in an interview over a very good cup of hot coffee in his office by the Alster lake in Hamburg, his chosen home. For in those early days he wanted to become an artist. What ultimately prevented that, why he regards the management of a company as a special art and what he thinks of the present start-up scene: all that and a lot more you will find on the following pages. As always, we wish you entertaining reading. WiFöG: Mr Wywiol, you are going on for 83, an extremely successful businessman and reckoned to be a visionary. As a young man your ambition was to become an artist, but nothing came of that because of opposition from your father. Would your life have turned out just as interesting if your father had said, You do that, son!. Wywiol: No, no: I don t think so. It was a good thing my father took such a strict view of my plans in those days. You mustn t forget: the times were quite different then. The most urgent need was to supply the population with food; I myself knew what hunger means. The Second World War was over, and our country was just starting to rebuild. But those were years of enterprise, too. They offered young people a host of opportunities if you were reasonably intelligent, hard-working and committed. It was my father s wish that I should go through life without unnecessary hardship; that was the reason for his opposition to my adolescent dreams of art. And as far as my life is concerned I must admit that he was absolutely right. WiFöG: You were born in Brandenburg, but you started your successful career as a businessman from Hamburg. Do you still have connections with your childhood home? Wywiol: We moved around a lot during my childhood; that was partly due to the war. Yes, I was born in Brandenburg but what I remember most is my childhood years in Mainz and later in Pritzwalk, where I still have connections. Most of my relatives lived in and around Pritzwalk. After the end of the war we were lucky to be able to move officially to the West. I spent the years immediately after the war in Reinbek (Schleswig-Holstein) and Hamburg. But I really think of myself as a native of Hamburg.

2 Father and son: two generations of the Wywiol family, both businessmen through and through WiFöG: You started your own business almost exactly 38 years ago. You were then 44 years young. Viewed in retrospect, was that the right time? Wywiol: Well viewed in retrospect it was certainly not too late (smiles). At that time it was certainly the logical step to take. I had spent many years in the management of a family business, worked my way up from a trainee to the executive level, held considerable responsibility, and I enjoyed pushing ahead with new ideas. But I was earning a very good salary, too, without risking everything I owned. So it took a bit of courage, too, to take such a step at that time. WiFöG: Were there people around you who thought such a step was too much of a risk? Wywiol: No, not really. Many of my friends encouraged me. Although my wife was not very enthusiastic about it at first. But I think that is understandable, considering that we had three adolescent children. WiFöG: But she went along with you, nevertheless? Wywiol: She certainly did! I couldn t have coped with it all so well without her help. We agreed on a division of labour. My wife was responsible for running the home and seeing to the children, while I went out into the wide world. That wasn t always easy for the family. WiFöG: When you think of today s young entrepreneurs, the start-up scene, do you expect that trend to continue? Wywiol: I certainly do! The trend will continue for quite some time. And that is a good thing that those who have good ideas and want to implement business projects are moving more into the focus of attention and are being supported with risk capital. WiFöG: What do you think of the startup entrepreneurs of today? Wywiol: I think it s a wonderful challenge to develop good business ideas and use them to build up a company of your own. But I also notice that some of today s starters are too inclined to have dollar signs in their eyes. I personally think they are forgetting a key principle that I have always kept within me: namely, that with your product or your idea for a service you should try to offer the customer an additional benefit. In other words, there should be more focus on entrepreneurial activity. What I mean is: the emphasis should not be on the money the founder might make through selling the business. To me, that s not the sign of a businessman who thinks in the long term and has a sense of responsibility for his employees and society in general. WiFöG: What ultimately influenced your decision to start your own business at that time? Wywiol: Even as an employee I had always been a very active person, full of curiosity and ideas for the future. I saw myself as an enterprising company owner. I had worked for this family business for 25 years and built it up to become a specialist in lecithin. Then, one day, the third generation took over and understandably wanted to do everything differently and better. That was

3 Focus on Wittenburg: this is where the company s biggest production facility and the FlourWorld Museum are located the point where I decided to go my own way. For two years I tried to buy a small business. Then, as now, it was not easy to find something suitable. Finally, I was lucky enough to buy the little company Sternchemie in Hamburg. I didn t have the selling price of 300,000 marks, and had to pay it off over 10 years. WiFöG: Was your strategy directed from the start towards the vigorous growth that came about later? Wywiol: No, not at all. It was a matter of survival! I had become a one man show overnight, and had to arrange everything myself and seek new trading channels. I tried a lot of things and rejected them again, and yet I have always remained faithful to my old specialization on ingredients and lecithins. WiFöG: How well is your company set up at present? Wywiol: Extremely well! (Laughs warmly). The Stern-Wywiol Gruppe is currently made up of 12 specialist firms in Germany and 16 affiliates and branches of its own abroad. We produce ingredients and additives for food and animal nutrition. With over 1,350 employees we generate worldwide sales of 520 million EUR. WiFöG: What were the parameters for this success? Wywiol: That s something I m often asked. A lot of positive factors have to come together. First of all, there is the family. But for me, the three decisive attributes were courage, creativity, and the will to succeed. And then there is the gift of curiosity, the joy of constantly discovering and creating something new. Without imagination, an entrepreneur is condemned to failure. WiFöG: That really is impressive. And it brings me to another aspect: recharging your batteries. At present it s holiday time. Are you yourself and above all, were you in the past able to switch off and relax? Or are you constantly working on new ideas? Wywiol: That is a very good question! Years ago, when the children were younger, I naturally switched off as you call it when we were on holiday, and took time for the family. But I do admit that it wasn t always easy for me. My wife often had the bigger tasks to cope with. But once the children were grown up and family holidays were no longer on the programme, I started to regard holidays more as a source of ideas. I considered it a privilege to be able to discover new and surprising things again and again on my many business trips to four continents, and draw conclusions from them. That was doubtless not always easy for my wife, or for one or other of my employees, but it was always a source of discussion and ultimately innovations. WiFöG: That is how, some years ago, a flour sack you discovered by chance on the beach in Dubai came to create at least one new attraction in our local town of Wittenburg Wywiol: You have put that very nicely. I was walking on the beach in Dubai with my wife one morning when I suddenly stumbled over a rather battered flour sack from one of our customers, half buried in the sand. I dug it out and looked at it for some time. It was already very faded from the sun and salt water. Nevertheless, it was still quite recognizable. I ll take that back with me, I said to myself secretly. On returning home I asked an artist friend to pretty it up a bit, and I finally framed it and hung it up in my office. To me it was a work of art in a class of its own. WiFöG: What did your employees think of it? Wywiol: Well, some of them laughed about it, of course. Not everyone considered it a work of art, as I did (Chuckles). As the boss I regard myself as the first among equals primus inter pares but in some things I have the last word, so I was the one to decide. Customers who visited us in Hamburg asked me why I had only hung up a sack from one mill. So I then asked our Sales department to collect flour sacks from mills all over the world. An eccentric idea, certainly, but

4 At the FlourWorld Museum, the world s only replica of prehistoric Ötzi the Iceman is waiting to be visited my staff gradually came to recognize its value. The important thing about the sacks is their logos: they tell wonderful stories about flour, about what they signify, and the energy hidden in the corn. After all, 450 million tonnes of flour are processed into bread and rolls, biscuits and pasta every year. WiFöG: And now, in Wittenburg, our district Ludwigslust-Parchim has the only museum worldwide that exhibits flour sacks from all the corners of the earth Wywiol: Quite. My employees and I are very proud of our FlourWorld Museum. But there is a lot more to discover in Wittenburg, too the world s only replica of Ötzi the Iceman, for example. WiFöG: How did you manage to get Ötzi? I thought he was in Bolzano. Wywiol: Yes, that s true. Bolzano has created a wonderful museum about the Iceman, affectionately known as Ötzi, who lived there 5,300 years ago. When I heard that two grains of einkorn, an ancient cereal, had been found in the hem of his coat, I said to myself: I must get a replica of Ötzi for Wittenburg. There is no better person to tell the story of cereals. Of course, it wasn t easy to persuade the director of the museum in Bolzano, Dr Angelika Fleckinger. But I managed it, and now the only replica of Ötzi outside Italy is in Wittenburg. I saw that as a kind of masterly feat, and I wanted a lot of people to come and see Ötzi at the museum. WiFöG: Why does your museum happen to be in Wittenburg? Wywiol: There are several reasons for that. The main reason is that Wittenburg is now our biggest and strategically most important production site with over 350 employees. So it s only logical to become a bit more involved in the town. Moreover, at the time I was planning the museum, there was an ideal building for our project available in Wittenburg. The mayor was thrilled with my idea and recommended us to take over the former District Court building, 150 years old, that had been used as a school in the days of the GDR East Germany. And that s how it came about. We invested a lot of money and transformed this wonderful building into a unique museum. WiFöG: Speaking of art: you have always kept your interest in art alive, and you have now become a patron to artists. If you tried to define art in just two sentences, what would they be? Wywiol: Oh, that is a good question. I would mention three important requirements that art must meet if it wants to be regarded as such. Art must inspire and also motivate us. It touches our hearts and nourishes our imagination and innovative abilities. What is more and that is very important to me art stimulates discussion. WiFöG: What do you mean by that? Wywiol: Well: take this sculpture, for instance. (Volkmar Wywiol points to a sculpture in which a donkey and a man face each other.) The two are connected by a rope. The man holds it in his hands, the donkey has it round its neck. Both of them seem to be pulling the rope. But who is pulling whom? What do you think? That is something you can discuss and philosophize about for a long time, and state your position. Who is who in this case? Which is the donkey, and which is the man; who is the customer and who the supplier? WiFöG: That certainly is an example t hat can provoke a discussion Wywiol: You see? And that is what I like about art. The exchange of ideas and opinions on different ways of looking at things. By the way, to me a company is a work of art, too. Like a painting or a sculpture, it requires courage and creativity, imagination and hard work. And a good work of art always has a soul, just like a company. WiFöG: So you became an artist after all Wywiol: Indirectly, yes. I regard myself as an entrepreneurial artist. For example, it matters to me where my employees work, and in what kind of surroundings. The rooms, the design, the colours, the

5 Set up successfully with numerous facilities around the world. Above: the Research Centre in Ahrensburg light must all be stimulating. An employee must feel at home in a congenial atmosphere. Only then can he perform well in the long term. WiFöG: You handed over the operational management of the group of companies founded by you to your son some years ago. When you started your company, back in 1980, could you imagine that another Wywiol would follow in your footsteps? Wywiol: No, I neither thought about it nor planned it at that time. How could I? My hope at the beginning was that my company would support me and my immediate family. Nevertheless, I was very pleased when my son decided to join the business. Although we had to test, first of all at his suggestion whether we would get on together WiFöG: How did you go about that? Wywiol: My son has everything it takes to manage a company successfully; I had been sure of that for a long time. He had worked for Reemtsma as a marketing man for years and was aware of the challenges a manager has to face. Our problem was this: to install a son in the top position, in charge of experienced, battle-seasoned senior staff, was out of the question for both of us. So my son had the idea of acquiring a new little company where he could test his abilities as a shareholder and sole managing director, independently of the group. By chance, our auditor knew of a little chocolate factory that was looking for a successor. That was an ideal opportunity for Father & Son to get to know each other as business partners. Because that is quite different from being a son within the family. WiFöG: For many years you have not only supported the arts; you are very much involved in a number of social fields too in initiatives and projects. What are you most proud of? Wywiol: That s hard to say. In fact, I m proud of many of the social activities we have taken up and completed over the years. Of things we have helped to get started, too. For a long time, for example, I have supported a large school and orphanage project in Uganda. One day, the head of the project wrote to me, saying If I had a bull, I could feed my children better. I spontaneously asked my personal assistant, Would you be prepared to fly to Uganda next week and buy a bull? No sooner said than done! That s several years ago, now, and the cattle have bred magnificently. I think that s wonderful, and my staff and I are proud of it. WiFöG: In all the decades of your entrepreneurial activity you have had contact with many other important people. Is there any person you have met yourself whom you regard as a model to this day? Wywiol: Yes, there are a lot of people who have impressed me with what they have ACHIEVED; I have met many of them. But if you mean personalities from the field of politics: in my young days I admired men and visionaries like Konrad Adenauer and also Ludwig Erhard, with his policy of the social market economy. WiFöG: Mr Wywiol, you recently started to discover the social media for yourself. What do you, personally, think of them? Wywiol: It s an interesting development for me personally. And sometimes I really look forward to reading other people s Connection : who is who?

6 THIS IS THE STERN-WYWIOL GRUPPE: Torsten Wywiol is now the group s CEO. differing opinions in certain discussions. True: some people write a lot of nonsense, without much consideration of the facts. Then I think: Oh, my goodness! But I have also noticed that it eats up a lot of precious time if you try to keep up with it all actively (Laughs very heartily). But in the firm I have a lot of young people who explain it all to me. I think my final answer would be: fascinating! Yes, it s a joy to me that you can learn a bit more each day no matter how old you are. WiFöG: Thank you very much for this interview, Mr Wywiol. Established as a one man show in 1980 Today: 1,350 employees Worldwide sales: 520 million EUR Production of ingredients and additives for food and animal nutrition Stern-Wywiol Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG An der Alster Hamburg Phone: +49 / (0)40 / info@stern-wywiol-gruppe.de WiFöG Weekender is a company portrait published monthly at the weekend through the channels of the Business Development Corporation of South-West Mecklenburg. In this series we present enterprises and entrepreneurs, and it is part of our policy to take a look behind the scenes. The Weekender also appears once a month as an interview with an interesting personality. Would you like more information about the company presented, the person interviewed or the WiFöG Weekender? Or do you know of a company or a person you would very much like to see presented in one of our next issues? If so, please contact us: Wirtschaftsförderung Sudwestmecklenburg Lindenstr. 30, Ludwigslust Contact: Marc Brendemühl Phone: / brendemuehl@invest-swm.de Website: Facebook: Photos: Stern-Wywiol-Gruppe