openHandwerk

Why did you found your start-up, what problem are you addressing and how are you solving it?

openHandwerk is a software-as-a-service solution for trade businesses and service companies - for greater efficiency. We are open to all types of trade businesses, from small to medium-sized companies. In addition, we support companies in communicating with their customers and optimize processes in trade businesses. We bring cloud computing to the skilled trades and construction industry, a market power of more than 1,000,000 skilled trades businesses in Germany alone with a low level of digitalization and great potential to the top. The skilled trades have golden soil.

How did you come up with the idea of founding your start-up?

openHandwerk was developed out of a need. I was looking for a cloud solution as part of the digitalization of my craft business. Another important aspect was the mapping of processes and the automation of recurring workflows. As I couldn't find a mature solution for my problem, I encouraged our in-house programmer to develop my own solution. From an initially simple order management system with document management, a powerful tradesman software was developed in the cloud that handles all operational processes in the office and on the construction site.

What is special about your business model, what do you do differently?

openHandwerk is a classic SaaS model. We generate monthly licenses from users. What makes us special is that there are no or only a few solutions in the skilled trades and construction sector that combine the complete workflow and invoicing in one cloud solution. We are developing into a multi-cloud. We want to map apps, microservices and procurement via manufacturers and wholesalers. With our cooperation and our strategy, we are on the right path to making our solution unique on the market.

What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome at the beginning?

We had to learn to understand what makes tradespeople and businesses tick. What prices we can charge on the market, how we can win over the tradespeople. What do tradespeople want and what don't they want? It was not only the biggest challenge, but probably also the most expensive experience. In hindsight, this learning was priceless for us.

What was the most valuable piece of advice someone gave you during your start-up phase?

We were lucky enough to get quick feedback from our first customers, the craftsmen. Thanks to our customers, many useful features were implemented from the very beginning and we were able to save a lot of time and money in development.

What has been your biggest success so far?

We have won some awards, we have happy customers, which means the most to us. Even if it sounds a bit harsh, our biggest success so far has been that a billion-dollar wholesaler liked our idea so much that he decided to copy our solution. That was the proof of concept for us and puts us in the appealing position of having all our competitors forced to move.

What is the next challenge for you?

The next step is to open up our solution to procurement. Procurement is a logical conclusion in our workflow. We are talking to manufacturers and wholesalers to get in touch with us. The first wholesalers are currently being connected.

If you could start again from scratch, would you do it exactly the same way?

When I look at the functions and features we have added as a young company under our own steam, the cooperations we have already concluded and what we still have in the pipeline - I don't think I would want to start all over again. We were lucky enough to call our solution openHandwerk and are moving in the direction of open MultiCloud. That sounds like a great strategy, but it was more of a stroke of luck. We were also very lucky to be able to digitize the office and administration in a craft business first. That's what makes our solution so powerful today.

Have you still had a real social life since the company was founded?

We see digitalization as a tool to achieve our goals. If you use digitalization correctly, you create the freedom you need. You don't have to be afraid of it, you have to open yourself up to it and embrace the added value. I'm a very process-oriented person, at least at work, and that's what digitalization makes possible for me. So yes, I have a real social life.

Who is the mastermind in your team and what is their superpower?

Our mastermind is definitely our CTO Sascha, who takes care of the solution from scratch and is involved in almost every function. Take a look at our solution and you'll understand.