May makes everything new, as the saying goes. It’s not May, it’s July – but there’s still news to come. Wir ändern unseren Namen. Warum, wieso, weshalb? And isn’t that complicated when you’ve been trading under the same name for so long (since 2006)? Many questions that we as andersberater:innen are happy to answer.
When we were founded in 2006, there was a small boom in advice centres for start-ups, especially in Berlin. Whether it was due to the football World Cup, which went down in history as a summer fairytale, or to other factors, we don’t know. In any case, there was a spirit of optimism in the country and especially in Berlin. And we didn’t want to miss out on that.
This is how the .garage Berlin came about, because the founders who took the first steps towards their unique companies in the garages of this world must have felt something similar to this spirit of optimism. Whether Bill Gates with Microsoft Larry Page and Sergey Brin with Google or Bill Hewlett and David Packard with HP – what they all have in common is that a garage was their starting block into the business world. It is fitting that one of the founders said in the very first round of seminars in the then newly founded .garage Berlin that he wanted his company to be bigger than amazon one day. Nothing came of it, but perhaps this anecdote captures a bit of the spirit of those days.
And today?
People are certainly still setting up in garages today, but anyone observing the scene will not have failed to notice that something has changed. Perhaps the best way to describe it is that the scene as a whole has matured and therefore somehow no longer fits into a garage for us. Founders starting out today are intrinsically motivated, i.e. motivated from within, but at the same time they know that the hurdles and demands placed on them are high. Many are no longer interested in making THE big business, but rather in creating meaning with their company.
Why other consultants now?
Basically, that explains the new name a little. What we realise is that founders today have different needs than they did ten or 15 years ago. Just as economic conditions and the world in general have changed, there are also areas relating to start-ups that require more than just standard advice, in addition to classic topics such as business plans and target group analyses. In other words. More than the usual.
Of course, changing a company name is always a risk. We are currently seeing live how the renaming of Twitter to X is making waves and is sure to put many users off. But we are confident that good communication will help us to make a successful start to a new entrepreneurial phase and that the name is appropriate for this step.
What can you expect from the other consultants?
The andersberater:innen stand for solid start-up advice that focuses on you, your idea and everything that goes with it. We are aware that the demands and expectations placed on founders are high – this spurs us on to give our best.
But that is only one side of our offering and that is also a reason to break new ground with a new name. We advise teams and support social and creative organisations and companies. We also offer job and career coaching. In other words, a different consulting portfolio altogether.
We hope that you will continue to support us.
