Entrepreneur warns

Successor problem: “It’s already two past 12”

"I've been asked a few times myself whether I want to sell the company," says Gerti Schatzdorfer-Wölfel.(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Fotos: Markus Wenzel)

"The Austrian economy is being sold out," warns Gerti Schatzdorfer-Wölfel. The entrepreneur from Zipf (Upper Austria) talks about the difficult search for successors in family businesses, the consequences and image problems, which are not made any better by mega insolvencies such as Signa.

"The challenge in a family business is that everything is subordinated to the company: your whole life, your children," says Gerti Schatzdorfer-Wölfel. The 63-year-old has been the sole owner of Schatzdorfer Gerätebau in Zipf since 1999.

The handover to the next generation has begun and more and more responsibility is passing into the hands of daughter Marlene. Not a matter of course, as she revealed in conversation. Schatzdorfer-Wölfel about...

• The uncertain future of family businesses: "Far too little attention is paid to small and medium-sized enterprises in this country. Many companies are now being handed over. When times are very volatile, as they are now, with one crisis after another, you have a lot of sleepless nights. Many of the older generation say to themselves: 'I'm not doing this to my children'. On the other hand, young people say: 'I won't do it to myself: 'I'm not doing this to myself'."

Schatzdorfer Gerätebau in Zipf currently employs just under 90 people.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

• The consequences of the difficult succession situation: "I know some companies that have already been sold or are in the process of being sold. But it's not Europeans who are buying, but Asians or Americans. The Austrian economy is simply being sold off. It affects the entire population when our know-how ends up in other hands. It's already two past 12."

• Countermeasures: "Politicians should now recognize that the successors need to be appreciated. We're talking about the nurses who do so much, the sales clerks who do the impossible, the carers - that's all okay. During the coronavirus crisis, nobody said: It's great that you've kept working. If we had stopped, we would have lost thousands of jobs because we would have had to make deliveries. You have to recognize the challenge of keeping companies going."

• The bad image that entrepreneurs have to deal with time and time again: "With things like René Benko, the whole of entrepreneurship is lumped together, but we are miles away from that. When I look at my company now - and I speak for thousands of family businesses - everything they have is put back into the company over generations. We have invested the equivalent of around one million euros every year. In this way, I ensure that I remain competitive and thus also secure jobs."

• Lack of motivation among employees: "My experience is often very different. There are many committed people, young people who are extremely motivated and still don't forget about life. It's about being able to do this in a meaningful way."