What do you do if you are unable to realise your own visions or ideas as an employee? You either change your job or you do your own thing. The young entrepreneurs, Martin Olma and Tim Spranger, dared to take the bold step of going self-employed and founded their “Systima GmbH” company – a start-up that has specialised in developing, manufacturing and assembling machines and complete systems.

The two men got to know each other through their work and get on well privately too, so either Martin Olma or Tim Spranger uttered the following sentence at some stage,

“We could actually set up our own business too.”

However, establishing their company was anything but a rush job. After carefully considering things, precise planning work and the necessary backing from their families, the two fathers were finally ready to launch out in September 2018.

“If you want to go self-employed, there’s really a lot of support available in the Vogtland region. There’s not much red tape,” says Martin Olma. “The fact that there are two of us also made a lot of things simpler,” his business partner, Tim Spranger, adds.

“After all, there’s always a financial risk when setting up a company. And, what’s more, engineering is a sector that is partly very dependent on the automobile supplier industry – and the latter is foundering at the moment.”

However, things are going well for the two managing directors. Their customer base may still be small, but the order books are full.

“We’ve even been able to gain a new customer from the Upper Vogtland area through the businessmen’s meeting held by the Vogtland District. It’s definitely paid off for us,” says Tim Spranger with a smile on his face.

The two men have another mainstay for the company alongside engineering. They are developing and programming switch panels for WTA-Vogtland on the Plauen-Reissig business park in the field of swimming pool technology. WTA Managing Director Volker Albrecht is, however, more than just a business partner – he has provided huge support.

“We’re very grateful to him. He’s taken us under his wing, given us contacts and made his premises available to us,” says Martin Olma.

Both entrepreneurs were absolutely certain that they would set up their joint company in the Vogtland region.

“We come from here, we have our roots here and even if there are only a few big companies here, that’s precisely a good reason to stay here. Things need to get moving here.”

They have not regretted their decision yet, even though they have had a few difficult moments. What do the two want to see happen?

“More flexible funding opportunities for small companies. It’s often difficult to obtain the minimum investment amount. If there was a staggered scale system, it would make many decisions a lot easier – particularly at the moment when it’s so important for companies to invest,” says Tim Spranger.

They want to grow in a healthy manner and make progress gradually. Systima GmbH is now no longer a two-man business either. Three employees are currently strengthening the team in the form of one programmer and two mechatronics experts. They are planning to have a third mainstay in future: services in the field of electrical installations for industry. The managing directors are desperately looking for an electrician at the moment who can travel and perform assembly work for Systima GmbH.

Vita Tim Spranger

Tim Spranger was born in 1985 and lives with his partner and their child in Plauen. He completed his training as a tool mechanic after completing his school-leaving exams.

Vita Martin Olma

Martin Olma was born in 1986 and lives with his wife and two children in Reichenbach. He completed his training as an electronics expert for operations technology after completing his school-leaving exams.