In his long time as a businessman, Trigema boss Wolfgang Grupp has seen many entrepreneurs come and go. In a podcast he talks about why he has been more successful than other companies that have now gone bankrupt.
In 1969 Wolfgang Grupp took over the textile company Trigema from his father Franz Grupp. At that time, the company recorded sales of the equivalent of 8.7 million euros and was indebted to the bank. The sales figures are now well into the three-digit million range.
A credit to the 81-year-old owner, who knows, however, that his success is only a fragile structure. In the BVL podcast, Wolfgang Grupp spoke about how quickly a company can go under. He has observed this during his long career at other large companies. “Neckermann, Schlecker and whatever their names are” were also very successful for a while. “But they are not buried as successful entrepreneurs, they are buried as failures.”
Wolfgang Grupp doesn’t think much of short-term success
Schlecker, founded in 1975 by Anton Schlecker and best known for its drugstores, had to file for bankruptcy in 2012. Schlecker’s children went to prison for delaying bankruptcy, fraud and infidelity. The Neckermann mail order company was dissolved in the same year, 64 years after it was founded by Josef Neckermann. Johannes Neckermann, son of the founder, emphasized in a statement to the star however, that his father had already retired in the 1970s, long before the bankruptcy. Both companies had helped shape the Federal Republic, their founders had earned a lot of money. But their companies could not survive the changed market conditions in the 21st century.
In the conversation, Grupp therefore emphasized how important it is to keep up with the times. The mail order companies would not have recognized that at the time. “They said I’d throw you out of the range if you didn’t give me the price,” said Grupp. He then sold his goods to self-service department stores such as Metro (Real, Kaufhof) or Aldi. Other brands didn’t want to place their products there, he didn’t care: “I’ve always said: The cheaper a customer sells my goods, the faster he buys more.”
A path that has paid off for Grupp and his company. The businessman, known for his pithy sayings about other companies, employees and the new world of work, is reluctant to evaluate his own life’s work. He himself never spoke of success, he says: “You can tell whether I was successful when you stand at my grave.” The art is “to get through the success”.
Source:
Brandt, Nescafé & Co.
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You can see in the photo series: At Aldi Nord, the house brand products are significantly cheaper than the branded items in the supermarket. However, many of these foods are manufactured by well-known companies.
Source: Stern
