Elke Rühe and Florian Pawellek draw on decades of experience for their own business idea
They have known each other ‘forever’: Elke Rühe (51) and Florian Pawellek (44) grew up together in Ostharingen. They have also worked together for a long time – since August 2024 in their own company. Their agency Landart.Media mainly supports local businesses with online marketing, social media and print advertising.
Their professional paths have been shaped by continuity and experience. Florian Pawellek trained as a media designer in his father’s print shop and gained his first practical experience there. Elke Rühe, a trained wholesale clerk, joined in 1997. Both expanded their skills by training as multimedia assistants (IHK) and moved to the Sonnenhotels group in 2003 and 2004 respectively. For more than two decades, they were responsible for all advertising for up to twelve hotels at a time in Germany and Austria. Alongside that, they handled smaller web projects, ran an online shop and have published the Lokalanzeiger Langelsheim since 2022.
Structural changes at their long-standing employer turned a long-held thought into a concrete plan: their own agency. In early 2024, they developed the idea further. The founding team attended WiReGo’s startup seminars and revised its business plan several times. ‘The conversations with WiReGo, the feedback and the professional guidance were enormously valuable to us,’ Elke Rühe adds. ‘Financial planning in particular gave us the confidence we needed to start a business realistically and with foresight.’ They eventually founded the Unternehmergesellschaft in August 2024. ‘We received only positive feedback from the start,’ founder Florian Pawellek says. ‘The Employment Agency also advised and supported us extremely well.’
The venture originally described in the business plan changed in a very short time. Instead of concentrating on hotels and restaurants, they now work across sectors for both small and larger businesses in the region. ‘Our aim is to make companies visible without selling them something that does not fit,’ they stress. Their connection to their home region plays a central role: ‘We want to use our experience here, specifically for businesses, associations and initiatives in the region.’
The young agency’s development shows that this concept works. It was able to hire a part-time employee just a few months after launch. Demand confirms their chosen direction, driven by personal recommendations and long-term client relationships.
Their advice to other prospective founders is correspondingly clear: ‘Don’t try to do everything alone. Ask questions, seek advice and use the support already available,’ says Elke Rühe. ‘WiReGo’s guidance helped us tremendously, professionally and personally. We would recommend this support without hesitation.’
Information: landart.media
