MittelstandsWiki

Good news is reported by the »Economic trade report for the spring 2006«, which was presented on Wednesday by Hanns-Eberhard Schleyer, secretary-general of the Federal Association of German Trade (ZDH). The economy was gaining momentum and expectations as regards future business are as positive as they were for the last time five years ago. Seen on a seasonal basis, however, economic indicators such as turnover, activity and backlogged orders continue to decline. At least the decline registered at the beginning of this year is not as sharp as in previous years. But, according to the association´s experts, increasing costs and continuous record-level energy prices weigh heavily on companies´ balance sheets. +++

The above can be considered to be the oversubtle conclusion drawn by the management and technology consultancy Accenture which was presented today in Kronberg. The survey was based on 302 telephone interviews carried out by Accenture in December and January with one half of these interviews done with business unit managers and the other half with persons in charge of information technology (IT). +++

In an online article on the subject of the negotiating of loans with banks some tips wich are literally worth money are given by Mr. Ernst August Bach, lawyer and book writer (we had already referred to his book). Even though bank clients are not entitled to being granted a loan by their bank, which is a fact being stressed more than once by the author in his article, already the way the request for the loan is made determines the kind of legal status the client will have later on in case of problems with the granted loan. The decisive point, according to Bach, is the necessity to ensure by means of the wording of the credit agreement that it is to establish a consultative agreement which obliges the bank to provide unbiased and comprehensive counselling. Otherwise, what the client will get is sales talk which enables the bank to promote nothing but their own products. +++

An article by the FrankfurterAllgemeineZeitung (FAZ) demonstrates an interesting connection: The German industry is profiting from high oil prices due to a backflow of petrodollars from the oil-producing countries buying high-quality technology and equipment in Germany. +++

According to the news service Pressetext.de the number of downloads from so-called podcasts (⇒ Wikipedia) has plainly multiplied by ten over a period of one year in Germany. Whereas in June 2005 there were still about 220.000 downloads being registered, this number increased to over three million recorded each month by March 2006. Podcasts can be compared to broadcasts on a special subject matter which can be downloaded and listened to by means of a MP3 player on a personal computer or any portable device. +++

For the first time in four years there is a noticeable increase by 0.9 percent in turnover on the German book market which is mainly dominated by small and medium-sized entities (SME). Book merchants, publishers and whole salers recorded a turnover of 9.2 billion Euros last year. Also in 2006 signs point to another increase. »Back in 2004 there were already signs of an upswing«, says Claudia Paul, press spokeswoman of the Börsenvereins des Deutschen Buchhandels in an interview with the news agency Pressetext.de. »Last autumn there was quite a book boom. In addition there are currently many broadcasting stations presenting books«. +++

Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland (WJD), the Junioren des Handwerks, the Interversicherungen and the im­pulse business magazine will award the »training ace award« to model companies providing training as well as to exemplary training initiatives. The prize is endowed with a total of 15.000 Euros. The award is intended to draw the general public´s attention to the variety and quality of training provided by German small and medium-sized entities (SME) and to further motivate entrepreneurs to strengthen the German economy by providing high-quality professional training. More than 1.000 companies have already taken part in the competition since it started in 1997. +++

With about 50 billion Euros the leasing industry is the biggest investor in Germany. As was reported by the dpa subsidiary news aktuell, the chairman of the Bundesverbandes Deutscher Leasing-Unternehmen e.V. (BDL), Mr. Horst-Günther Schulz, strongly criticized the plans of the Federal Minister of Finance, Peer Steinbrück, who wants to increase trade taxes on lease and rent payments. +++

A concise cookbook for the success of small and medium-sized entities (SME) is the „Innovative future – strategies for SME winners in 2006″ survey, which was carried out by Ernst & Young in co-operation with the F.A.Z. institute for management, market and media information. +++

As is reported by the IDC, small and medium-sized entities (SME) are increasingly interested in so-called Business Intelligence, a software which transforms operational data into knowledge on the basis of which business decisions are made. According to the IDC survey, the German market for such software is growing by approx. five percent annually and will probably reach a volume of 350 million dollars by the year 2009. +++