Many software companies are less than 10 years old. We see this as a positive sign, as there is certainly a lot happening in Germany as a hub for the digital sector. We work closely with some of them in trusting partnerships. Our own story began back in 1991, making us one of the most experienced and well-established German software companies. Nevertheless, there’s always a buzz at hsp every day, as if a start-up were set to move mountains with every new idea. In our Friday livestream, two of the three founders talked about how it all began – and what they expect for the future.
Two HSP legends
At hsp’s Bahrenfeld headquarters, Wolfgang Schönwaldt and Erich Rohland are regarded as legends. After all, the experienced and popular consultant and the modest but brilliant quality manager are among the company’s founders. It all began in a living room that had been spontaneously cleared out, as Wolfgang recounts. Initially, according to Erich, the fledgling company earned its keep by taking over the entire back-office operations of textile firms.
The first milestone came with the switch to five-digit postcodes. It was a major project that kept the young entrepreneurs glued to their computers round the clock. The next significant event took place at the start of the new millennium. The legislator required digital access to company data. On behalf of its clients, hsp sought software capable of complying with the new legislation. But none existed. Without further ado, Wolfgang, Erich and the team decided to develop the necessary software themselves: Opti.List.
The game-changer: Opti.Tax
The biggest milestone came in 2011 and, at first, seemed quite innocuous. Erich had the idea of developing software to cover the area of e-balance sheets. By then, the young Paul Liese had also joined the team. They were well and truly off the mark in their estimate that a few weeks would be enough to develop this new software. Opti.Tax It has now become hsp’s flagship product.
Erich is currently focusing on money laundering, amongst other things, whilst Wolfgang is driving forward the support side of things in particular. Broadly speaking, the founders continue to define hsp’s primary objective to this day: to solve customers’ problems and foster a close relationship based on trust. You can listen to the extremely fascinating and entertaining discussion with Wolfgang Schönwaldt and Erich Rohland here:
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