{"id":15737,"date":"2019-08-27T12:52:53","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T10:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/the-gruenderzentrum-is-a-breeding-ground-for-small-and-medium-sized-businesses\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T09:12:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:12:33","slug":"the-gruenderzentrum-is-a-breeding-ground-for-small-and-medium-sized-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/the-gruenderzentrum-is-a-breeding-ground-for-small-and-medium-sized-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gr\u00fcnderzentrum is a breeding ground for small and medium-sized businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY RONALD HINZPETER<\/a>, Augsburger Allgemeine, August 26, 2019 <\/p>\n\n

The streaming service Netflix isn\u2019t necessarily dangerous\n, but anyone working alone at home might well succumb to the temptations of its offerings from time to time\ninstead of getting any work done. Tobias Armiri\ntherefore says, somewhat jokingly, \u201cWe don\u2019t have the threat of\nNetflix here.\u201d By \u201chere,\u201d he means the small office in the Gr\u00fcnderzentrum of TFU GmbH,\n, which is located near the Dietrich Theater in Neu-Ulm. <\/p>\n\n

Tobias Armiri is a co-founder of the small consulting firm TF GmbH (\n), which advises startups on digital topics such as\ncorporate management and corporate communications. Since March,\nthe small GmbH has been based at the Gr\u00fcnderzentrum\u2014a very good decision,\nas Armiri believes: \u201cIt\u2019s great. We\u2019re getting more here than we expected,\u201d he enthuses\n, \u201cI\u2019m really pleasantly surprised.\u201d For a long time, he didn\u2019t even know\n\u201cthat there were spaces available for us here.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

\n‘s Grandma and the TFU Gr\u00fcnderzentrum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

This seems to be the case for quite a few aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own business. They\u2019re not quite sure who to turn to for help in making their dream of self-employment a reality. And that\u2019s where grandparents sometimes come into play\u2014they have plenty of time to read the newspaper: \u201cWe sometimes hear people say, \u2018My grandma told me to check this out,\u2019\u201d says Ulrike Hudelmaier, managing director of TFU, \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t underestimate the influence of grandparents.\u201d They\u2019ve simply heard of the TFU, which launched 35 years ago as the \u201cTechnologiefabrik Ulm\u201d to provide space and consulting services to newly founded companies. <\/p>\n\n

Startups\nare in good hands in Neu-Ulm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Today, such promising new ventures are called \u201cstartups,\u201d and accordingly, the TFU now operates as the Startup and Innovationszentrum for the Ulm\/Neu-Ulm region. Since late 1997, it has been headquartered on the former Wiley barracks grounds in Neu-Ulm. Nothing but the austere architecture reminds us that the building was once a barracks; even the rifle niches, where firearms were once stored, now serve as storage for brochures or as frames for art. <\/p>\n\n

The TFU is now spread across three locations.\nIn addition to the Gr\u00fcnderzentrum on the Bavarian side, these include the\nInnovationszentrum in Science Park II on the Oberer Eselsberg and the Biotechnology Center\nin Ulm\u2019s Weststadt district. Across a total of 10,000 square meters, 84 companies\nhave established themselves, covering an exceptionally broad range of business sectors\n. These range from the aforementioned biotechnology, through numerous\nIT companies, management consultancies, and planning firms, to security technology\nand a drug testing laboratory. <\/p>\n\n

Over the three and a half decades of its existence, the University of Applied Sciences (\n, TFU) has supported around 300 companies, the vast majority of which have actually managed to remain in business\n. According to Ulrike Hudelmaier, over 90 percent of the startups at\nwere successful\u2014that is, they were able to hold their own in the market\nfor at least five years. This is an \u201cextremely remarkable figure,\u201d she said in an interview\nwith our editorial team. <\/p>\n\n

\n: A Source of Comfort for Young Startup Entrepreneurs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Anyone who wants to take their first steps into the wild world of self-employment\ncan rent space at the TFU for up to eight years at\nand, in return, receives office space and, above all, advice and support,\nbecause finding commercial space alone isn\u2019t the problem, says Ulrike\nHudelmaier. However, many feel left to their own devices there and first have to learn the\nbasics of entrepreneurship. \u201cThis involves things like how\nto set up a sales team, how to write an invoice, when\nyou need a lawyer, or how to deal with the tax office.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

And it\u2019s not always just about hard business.\n\u201cSometimes you also get to be a bit of a source of comfort,\u201d says Arina Ingendorf, authorized signatory at TFU\n. When things just aren\u2019t going so well. And on the weekend,\nit\u2019s also possible that a TFU employee\u2019s cell phone\nwill ring because a problem\nhas suddenly cropped up at one of the young companies. Although the word \u201cyoung\u201d doesn\u2019t necessarily refer to the biological age\nof the founders, since they\u2019re around 40 years old on average.\n, the oldest tenant at TFU, is already over 70. <\/p>\n\n

\nhas always had co-working spaces here<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

One of the current economic trends is the \u201c\n\u201d \u201cco-working space,\u201d which is particularly popular among young creative professionals, especially in major cities\n. This used to be called a \u201ctemporary office\u201d and has been part of the TFU from the very beginning, as seen at\n. These \u201cSpaces\u201d are nothing more than desks,\n, which are rented out complete with the necessary communication infrastructure. Above all,\nself-employed people who don\u2019t want to work from home take advantage of this service\u2014for example,\nbecause they suffer from loneliness there during the day or because the basket of\nunironed laundry \u201chaunts\u201d them. And then, of course, there\u2019s the Netflix danger. <\/p>\n\n

Anyone who rents space at TFU is also looking to network with other entrepreneurs. There\u2019s plenty of that. The atmosphere alone speaks to this\u2014Arina Ingendorf describes it as \u201ca bit creatively chaotic.\u201d However, no one expects Neu-Ulm to one day \u201cproduce the next Google,\u201d as Ulrike Hudelmaier puts it. Above all, the TFU produces \u201cnothing but solid small and medium-sized businesses.\u201d Thus, the Gr\u00fcnderzentrum could confidently be described as a \u201chotbed for small and medium-sized businesses.\u201d By the way: Demand remains high. The number of interested parties exceeds the available space. <\/p>\n\n

Source: https:\/\/www.augsburger-allgemeine.de\/neu-ulm\/D<\/a> as-Gruenderzentrum-ist-eine-Mittelstandsschmiede-id55258076.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY RONALD HINZPETER, Augsburger Allgemeine, August 26, 2019 The … <\/p>\n

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