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Goslar Region Startup Day on 12 April
Knowledge transfer and networking for prospective founders and startups
WiReGo invites prospective founders, students, academic staff, vocational students, career changers and others keen to get involved to exchange ideas actively at this year’s Goslar Region Startup Day in Goslar on 12 April. Advisers from the Goslar Region Advisory Network will provide practical information for a successful start in self-employment through short presentations and one-to-one conversations.
From 14.00 to 19.00, participants at the district administration building (Klubgartenstr. 6, Goslar) can expect a valuable mix of information, best-practice examples and important contacts. Eleven presentations and workshops will cover the basics of starting a business and share knowledge about marketing, patents and trademarks, business succession, startup financing and more. The advisers in the Goslar Region Advisory Network, including lawyers, tax advisers, marketing specialists and personnel developers, provide high-quality, focused advice for prospective founders and young companies. Startup Day will be interactive: engaging workshops and real founder stories will add further momentum to the startup process.
Participation in Startup Day is free. Anyone who wants to take their professional future into their own hands and pursue self-employment with a good idea and enthusiasm should register by 09.04.2024. Programme details and registration are available at www.wirego.de/gruendungstag or at www.gruenden-region-goslar.de .
Contact at WiReGo:
Anja Blümel, Tel.: 05321/76 703
anja.bluemel@wirego.de
Free event programme
Strengthening entrepreneurial and innovative skills
Besides specialist and business knowledge, successful startups and entrepreneurial activity also require communication skills, creativity, good time and task management, leadership, the ability to deal with stress and setbacks, networking skills and much more. Working with subject-matter experts, our event programme uses various regularly held formats to help participants develop an “entrepreneurial mindset”. For example, we introduce creativity techniques that can be used to develop problem-solving strategies and generate new ideas, and show how innovative ideas can be put into practice. Other event formats address the importance of persuasive communication for successful entrepreneurship.
The events in the series fall into six areas of competence, designed with reference to the requirements that innovation economist Joseph Schumpeter identified for successful entrepreneurs. The areas are personality, motivation, social and communication skills, problem-solving ability, self-management and startup know-how.
In addition, WiReGo plans to introduce an innovation certificate in the future. Participants will be able to earn it by attending various events through a “credit system” still to be developed by WiReGo. Events already attended can also be credited retrospectively on request. Participation in the events and the certificate itself are free.
Next event:
Workshop “Networking Effectively”
Goslar district (Klubgartenstraße 6, 38640 Goslar, Room 0102)
Networking is often less about making as many contacts as possible than about making especially valuable ones. This workshop with Mr. Florian Gommlich offers many practical examples and opportunities for self-reflection. By the end, every participant can set goals for their networking activities to improve their business, work or career opportunities.
Contact at WiReGo:
Jean-Marie Aßmann, Tel.: 05321/76 706
jean-marie.assmann@wirego.de
Networking is often less about making as many contacts as possible than about making especially valuable ones. This workshop with Mr. Florian Gommlich offers many practical examples and opportunities for self-reflection. By the end, every participant can set goals for their networking activities to improve their business, work or career opportunities.
WiReGo startup networking meetup
Visiting Goslar district’s Organic Model Region
Our startup networking meetup was held again on 6 March. This time, we visited Goslar district’s Organic Model Region at its premises in Langelsheim. Project manager Antje Radcke first gave an insight into the development of the Organic Model Region itself, before describing in more detail the support provided for the founding of the cooperatively organized organic bakery Harzbrot eG. Nils Müller, a master baker at Harzbrot eG, also spoke about his path to the cooperative and to self-employment.
While tasting selected organic products, participants learned about a current project to establish a “catering and processing business for organic products”. The Organic Model Region has already commissioned a feasibility study that identified positive prospects for implementing the project. People interested in starting a business are currently being sought to put the business model into practice. They can use the feasibility study as a basis for their own business plan and draw on the Organic Model Region’s first-rate network. Anyone exploring self-employment for the first time can also obtain important information and contacts from WiReGo.
The startup networking meetup has been running successfully since September 2021, providing an in-person networking platform for people in the region interested in startups and entrepreneurship. It is held quarterly at changing locations in Goslar district. Evenings always begin with short contributions from founders describing their experiences on the path to self-employment. Attendees then have plenty of opportunity to exchange ideas with like-minded people in a relaxed atmosphere – a good chance to find inspiration for their own next steps and make valuable contacts.
The next startup networking meetup is expected to take place in May/June. Further information will soon be announced in WiReGo’s event calendar at www.gruenden-region-goslar.de.
Contact at WiReGo:
Jean-Marie Aßmann, Tel. 05321/76 706
jean-marie.assmann@wirego.de
Founder profile: Upcycling and sustainability as a business idea
Aslihan Bayram founds a fashion label in Goslar
Upcycling – reusing items that have already been used – is something Goslar-based fashion design graduate Aslihan Bayram has embraced in an especially creative way. She transforms carefully selected second-hand clothing into fashionable one-of-a-kind pieces. With her young fashion label “Walking Pieces”, she also wants to make a difference in the fashion and business worlds.
“In the fashion world, people are still reduced to beauty ideals and standard measurements,” the founder laments. “With my label, I want to make the beauty in imperfection visible.” To achieve this, the 30-year-old remakes high-quality menswear into blazers, suits, blouses and more for confident, strong businesswomen. Every piece is unique, designed and sewn by Aslihan Bayram in her Goslar studio.
For now, her business is still a one-woman operation: she handles everything herself, from buying garments at flea markets and second-hand shops to unpicking and remaking them and selling them online. “At least that means I’m the only one responsible for the quality of my work,” the founder says with a wink. But she is certainly thinking about growth, and her mother will be the first to help her when the time comes.
Her grandmother was a seamstress, so a passion for sewing was almost passed down to her from birth. During her fashion design studies, Aslihan Bayram spent a practical semester with a haute couture designer in Istanbul. The fine art of tailoring stayed with her, and her desire to bring more sustainability to fashion grew. Her master’s thesis explored the “sharing economy”. When she was put on reduced working hours because of COVID-19, she delved deeper into the subject and developed the idea for “Walking Pieces” – exceptional, high-quality fashion that moves to a different wardrobe after a while instead of being thrown away.
She presented her first pieces on Instagram and immediately received positive feedback. With WiReGo’s support, she acquired the necessary business knowledge, wrote a business plan, found a suitable tax adviser and founded her company on 1 May 2023. “During my studies, I learned everything I needed for fashion design and marketing,” the designer says. “But I owe my ability to handle the figures to WiReGo.”
Her designs are not the only unusual aspect: a piece of leather from a shoe might become an appliqué on a blazer. Her business model is different too. Every garment is one of a kind, and only a limited number of pieces are ever available in the online shop. The release date for the next pieces is announced by newsletter and social media. “That keeps my customers curious,” Aslihan Bayram explains. “My clothing is exclusive, and that’s how my customers want to be treated too.” The founder is convinced her idea will succeed. She works with Instagram influencers for support. “You learn the most by following your own path,” she says with a laugh. It will be exciting to see where she and her garments go next.
Website: https://www.walking-pieces.com
Instagram: WALKING PIECES (@walking_pieces) • Instagram photos and videos
Clausthal-Zellerfeld startup centre
Positive results since opening
With 98 percent occupancy and exciting synergies among tenants, centre manager Samet Kibar looks back on a successful launch phase for the Clausthal-Zellerfeld startup centre. The centre on the TU Clausthal campus was officially opened on 12 October 2022. With 20 offices, six halls, a development room, a furnace room and a coworking space, the building offers plenty of space and opportunities to help startups and young companies enter the market. “The response since opening has been impressive,” says Janett Kruse, Managing Director of the Clausthal-Zellerfeld startup centre. “The concept is paying off.”
In fact, one rented room has already had to be expanded because a tenant’s business model involving heat treatments and materials testing gained momentum faster than expected. At present, only one development or workshop room is available. Slightly more than half the tenants have a direct connection to TU Clausthal. Two businesses have also settled in the university and mining town, and a third is imminent.
Alongside renting out space, Samet Kibar’s priority is bringing the centre to life with events. It has already successfully hosted startup networking meetups, WiReGo startup modules and TU Clausthal Entrepreneurship Route events. Prospective founders can also use the open, free startup advice service every Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 to 12:00 for initial helpful tips. Event rooms are available to external companies and institutions too.
“We still have sufficient capacity in the coworking space,” says Samet Kibar, inviting anyone interested to get in touch. Comfortable temporary workspace is available here on affordable terms, including for business travellers and visiting lecturers. The centre is also looking for regional companies or institutions that want to support it and are committed to promoting entrepreneurship. “The startup centre has become an important building block on the way to a startup region,” says Dr. Jörg Aßmann, Managing Director of WiReGo, which operates the centre. “We see ourselves as an important hub in the network for prospective founders and successful entrepreneurship.”
Anyone interested in the opportunities offered by the startup centre can contact Samet Kibar at any time.
Contact at WiReGo:
Samet Kibar, Tel.: 05321/76 718
samet.kibar@wirego.de
Goslar District Equity Fund
Improved terms
Whether they are startups or existing companies looking to expand, good ideas often fail for lack of money. To prevent this in Goslar district, the “Goslar Region Equity Fund” was launched back in 2015 as a funding programme unique in the field of business development. Through the equity fund, WiReGo supports projects in Goslar district with amounts of up to 30.000 Euro for terms of up to seven years as a silent partner. At the end of the agreed term, the funds must be repaid to WiReGo. Benefits for supported companies: the investment is treated like equity, improving their creditworthiness in financing discussions with banks. WiReGo also accompanies and supports the project throughout the term.
At the end of 2023, the interest terms of this funding programme were made substantially more attractive. A fixed annual rate of interest is payable over the agreed term. Until the end of 2023, its level was based on the interest rate then applicable to the “KfW-Startgeld” funding programme, with an additional surcharge of 1,5%. This surcharge was justified by the higher “quality” of support from the Goslar Region Equity Fund compared with KfW-Startgeld, but, not least because interest rates had risen in the meantime, it resulted in fairly high interest costs for users of the equity funding. Since 2024, the fixed rate has been based on the state “MikroSTARTer” programme, producing an initial reduction. Furthermore, the surcharge for newly founded companies (those no more than five years old) was reduced to 0,5%, bringing significant cost advantages overall compared with the old rule. The current “MikroStarter” interest rate is 5,45%, resulting in a fixed rate of 5,95% in total. Given that this is risk capital which improves creditworthiness and can therefore also reduce borrowing costs, it is a very attractive offer.
Further information on this funding programme, which is also available to growth-oriented medium-sized companies based in Goslar district, can be found at https://wirego.de/beteiligungsfonds-landkreis-goslar.html.
Contact at WiReGo:
Anja Blümel, Tel. 05321/76 703
anja.bluemel@wirego.de
WiReGo startup advice
Comprehensive service for startups
Starting a company involves many challenges, so prospective founders in Goslar district are not left to face them alone. Wirtschaftsförderung Region Goslar (WiReGo) offers a comprehensive advisory and support service for startups.
Its events cover business preparation and business planning, while also offering engaging formats for personal development and networking with like-minded people.
The core of startup support, however, remains individual, expert advice to founders on every aspect of planning and implementing their ventures, such as developing a business model, calculating capital requirements, financing, funding, choosing and finding a location, applications and permits. To provide this, WiReGo draws on a strong network of specialists brought together in the “Goslar Region Advisory Network”. For several months, WiReGo and TU Clausthal’s startup support team have also offered this advice on campus at the Clausthal-Zellerfeld startup centre, which only opened in 2022.
One distinctive element of WiReGo’s support is the Goslar Region Equity Fund, which provides promising startup ventures with equity that improves their creditworthiness and makes it easier for them to access loans.
Even after a business has been founded, WiReGo supports young companies in Goslar district with its own expertise and with the entrepreneurial experience of members of the Goslar Region Mentoring Network, established jointly with TU Clausthal in 2022.
In short, starting a business in the Goslar region is comprehensively supported. Further information on the topic, events and contacts is available at www.wirego.de and on the Goslar Region Startup Portal (www.gruenden-region-goslar.de).
Your startup advisers at WiReGo are:
Anja Blümel
Telephone 05321 / 76 703
Email anja.bluemel@wirego.de
Julia Lorenz
Telephone 05321 / 76 707
Email julia.lorenz@wirego.de
Tip: Goslar Region Startup Portal
Use the “Noticeboard” to connect with others
Prospective founders, founders and young entrepreneurs can find valuable information about starting a business on the Goslar Region Startup Portal created by WiReGo (www.gruenden-region-goslar.de). Beyond information about the startup process, however, the portal aims to do even more.
It is intended to bring people interested in starting a business for different reasons into digital contact – and, better still, personal contact. The startup portal’s so-called “Noticeboard” makes active networking possible. Modelled on the familiar noticeboard in a supermarket, the virtual noticeboard lets users quickly find helpful support with startup questions under the categories “I’m looking for”, “I’m offering”, “Introducing myself” and “Other”. As well as asking questions about starting a business, users can post offers to increase their visibility, for example. It also helps them build valuable contacts. “The idea behind this service is that cooperation and networking are essential success factors for startup ventures,” explains Katrin Fiedler from WiReGo. “We want the noticeboard to enable interactive exchange among prospective founders, companies, advisers, financiers and all the people and initiatives in the region interested in startups. We want it to be better structured than social media channels while remaining just as easy to use,” says Fiedler, summing up its value.
Contact at WiReGo:
Katrin Fiedler, Tel.: 05321/76 702
katrin.fiedler@wirego.de
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