Company: Kleinstimkerei Palz
Founder: Helmut Palz
Date of foundation: December 6, 2023
Industry and company Food production

What drives you? What is your motto?
The love of nature, the enthusiasm for the performance of bees - and the passion to create your own quality products.

What is your company about and what is special about it?
We are a genuine Wiesbaden honey manufacturer. We want to make you happy with our honey and bee products. We - that's currently around 150,000 bees and me, Helmut Palz - now you too can try our bee products and honey specialties. We promise that you will be impressed by our fast, family-like service, quality and passion.

What are your first successes?
A very close partnership developed with a large company in Wiesbaden, which provided me with a very special, protected area for my apiary. The management and employees were also my first paying customers. We also designed a special label for "their" company honey together. This is now given as a gift to guests, among other things.

What is your professional background?
Beekeeping is my long-cherished "avocation". I'm actually a project manager in a large insurance group, where I oversee international projects. But that wasn't enough for me and I missed the connection to nature. Beekeeping was and is the perfect complement, especially after a hectic working day - you live to the rhythm of the bees and at the same time drive a beautiful project forward (with planning, risk mitigation, budget control, etcetera). Very, very energizing and exciting.

What was the trigger for you to start your own business?
There were actually three reasons: the fun of building something of my own and offering a product that would (hopefully) be of interest to many people. The contact with other people and the curiosity about what other product ideas and inspiration would arise as a result. Beekeeping is not cheap. I wanted to sell something officially - under my own brand.

Who advised you, who are your helpers and mentors?
The Department for Economic Affairs and Employment paved my way through the jungle of business start-ups. Mr. Jan Erik Petersen in particular helped me in several phone calls, with clearly structured checklists and further information and useful links (for example to the start-up platform, with information on small business regulations).

The registrations with the tax office and business registration office were then completed very quickly and were done online followed by individual phone calls.

What made the process easier was that I didn't need any investments or loans and the hardware and premises were already available.

How did you experience the first few days as a founder?
The experiment of founding a company taught me a lot: how quickly and easily everything can happen - if you are passionate about something. How important and rewarding it is to stick with something. The energy and options that suddenly open up when you decide to get something of your own off the ground. The people you get to know and how doors suddenly open up.
Doors that you didn't even know existed at the start of your journey.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge is the bees. Around 150,000 bees with a mind of their own - subject to the fluctuations of nature. You can imagine what's going on.

How do you draw attention to your company? What is your best marketing idea?
The best advertising should be my products. They should speak for themselves and impress you as a customer with their sophistication and quality - and spread through recommendations.

I am also very lucky that I will already have a larger basic workload thanks to the partnership with the large Wiesbaden-based company. However, I may set up my own website or expand my Instagram profile.

How did you finance your start-up?
I financed my small honey factory with my own funds. An excellent investment.

What dream would you still like to realize?
There are a few things that inspire and drive me: To build a really excellent honey and a creative honey manufactory, to become a diver with the DLRG. To paint, paint, paint. In this special world situation, to make an active contribution to our democracy.

Please complete the following sentence: If I had more time, I would ...
... stay on course and work creatively and diligently for you (and my bees) with a lot of heart and passion.

What is your special tip: What would you recommend to founders?
Believe in yourself. Believe in your business idea. If you are not 100 percent behind it yourself, no one else will be on fire for it. Keep at it - keep at it - keep at it. Tell the people you trust about your dream. Completely new paths and options may then open up. Everything else will come naturally.