Miller Magazine Issue: 131 November 2020

68 TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM MILLER / November 2020 What is the secret of this entrepreneurial success? There aren’t really any secrets. My success is based on very personal characteristics like creativity and courage, initiative, drive and will, tenacity and teamwork. And of course also on coincidence, meeting the right people at the right time and winning them as employee. And then there is my special company philosophy of flat hierarchies, free- dom to act in a sporting spirit. It also includes working at eye level, with my motto that “the boss is the first among equals.” Customers can sense that, also suppliers and they often help us to implement business ideas into practice. Pas- sion for a task is recognised and appreciated, and as a result multiplies. What was the most memorable and valuable thing for you in your 40 years of business life? That’s not a fair question! You can’t boil 40 years of en- trepreneurship down to a single point. I founded companies with a new product idea, I bought small companies that no- body wanted and made them big, I developed commodities into brand products. In all this, one valuable thing was in the foreground – TRUST. I have given much trust, and re- ceived much more trust in return. Brand products also make a promise and convey trust. When people, in-house and out of house, come to trust each other, long-term healthy development is secured. How do you explain the secret of your business success? Ultimately, numerous factors have to come together at the right moment. But for me, it all revolved on three things: courage, creativity, and the thirst for action. Then there was my curiosity to discover and accomplish some- thing new, again and again. One example is the decision to progress from a trader to a producer. Of course, this did not happen in one step. Through contract manu- facturers, we have slowly but steadily built up our own product manufacturing. In Wittenburg near Schwerin, we found favourable conditions to build the most mod- ern factory in Europe for powdered functional systems - our company STERNMAID. Here we not only produce for our own companies but also act as a contract man- ufacturer for third parties - for other large companies in the food industry. I wonder what an ordinary day is like for Volkmar Wywiol. What kind of contributions are you currently making to company management? Up until the corona pandemic I directed the Market- ing Department for all the individual companies, natu- rally in consultation with my son Torsten as CEO. Man- agement by video conference isn’t my thing. Today I take care of our social and cultural commitment; there is a lot to do. Also, compiling the history of the company, all the many ups and downs, has been neglected in my life’s motto “get up and get to it” which needs more attention. R&D in the broad-based application and research facility Stern-Technology Center – Futuremakers with over 100 food technologists, scientists and technicians is the heart and soul of the group