Company: Offenberg Happ PartG mbB Tax Consulting Firm
Founders: Paul Offenberg, Kristin Happ
Date of establishment: April 1, 2025
Industry and company: Tax consulting

What drives you? What is your motto?
We see ourselves as partners on equal footing. Together with our clients, we want to find the best long-term solutions. 

What is your start-up about and what makes it special? We offer companies and self-employed individuals collaboration via digital
tools that are optimally connected to our systems. This ensures that clients are well positioned for the future and have access to their data and an overview of their figures at all times.

For private individuals, we specialize in the sensitive area of inheritance tax, which will become increasingly relevant in the coming years.

What are your first successes?
The best compliments are positive feedback from our clients. It's nice to be perceived as a young firm with fresh ideas in an industry that is considered "dusty."

What is your professional background?
We are both tax advisors and got to know each other while working for the same employer. Since we worked very well together, it was obvious to take the step into self-employment.

What prompted you to start your own business?
The prospect of being able to make our own decisions. This includes not only managing our own working hours, but also working with suitable clients and focusing on specific areas of expertise.

In addition, self-employment also offers the opportunity to set up digital processes right from the start—from contract initiation to annual financial statements and tax returns.

Who advised you, who are your helpers and mentors? Not everything
goes according to plan at the beginning. It is important to get regular input from outside sources. There are special events for founders, but also numerous online resources, e.g., on YouTube. 

We also received lots of tips from colleagues and exchanged ideas with them about current developments in the industry.

How did you experience your first days as founders?
In the first few days, we set up our office and selected furniture and IT equipment. It's a great time, when the anticipation is huge. At the same time, we dealt intensively with a wide variety of topics such as marketing and website design, which we had never had any contact with before.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
The biggest hurdle at the beginning was setting up the IT infrastructure. There were so many different things to consider (data protection, security, backups, etc.) that we ultimately sought professional assistance.

How do you draw attention to your company? What is your best marketing idea?
We attend various networking events, give presentations on the topics of gifts and inheritance as well as tax law for founders, are active on LinkedIn, and have a website. Above all, networking with other entrepreneurs and founders is an essential part of becoming visible for us.

How did you finance your start-up?
With our own funds, as our business model does not require high investments.

What dream would you still like to realize?
We would like to further expand our law firm and increase our presence.

Please complete the following sentence: If we had more time, we would... walk through the adjacent
castle park more often.

What is your special tip: What would you recommend to founders?
As a founder, you are an expert in your field. But that also means that you have little or no knowledge of other areas. In our opinion, you should seek professional support from the outset, particularly in the areas of law, taxes, IT, and insurance.