Q: How was the company founded?
A: I started the company on January 1st, 1983. In 1923 my father started a manufacturing company for surgical and medical instruments here in Tuttlingen, also known as the Medical Valley.
My father died when I was six and at the age of 18 I started to help my mother out with the company, which had some economic problems. At 20 I had to prepare it for sale. Six years later we sold it to a businessman in Pakistan and it still exists there today.
It was a rough start. For the next six years, I studied three days a week while working four. It was very difficult, but this was what encouraged me to start BINDER.
My parents’ company manufactured hot air sterilizers. Soon I realized that the real market for these ovens was not for sterilization purposes, but for the laboratory field. That idea grew into BINDER..
I began with a loan and in the first year we had about one million U.S. dollars in revenue with a team of 15. Now we have over 83 million U.S. dollars in revenue and our team has grown to over 400 in 2013.
We started our activities in the Far East because in the old days we had many connections to dealers. These dealers helped us to sell our products in bulk.
Ten years later, we started to conquer the European market. Our product range grew along with our sales team. In the 2000s, we introduced our products into the U.S. market. When Uwe Ross, Managing Director, joined the team he spearheaded our recent success in the U.S., too. Since then, we have seen consistent and continuous growth.
Q: What are the advantages and challenges of operating a family-owned business?
A: One advantage is the close relationship between the company and your family. I remember when I married, I told my wife, “We are three now. It’s you, me, and the company.” Monday through Friday I belong to the company and my weekends are for my family.
Being born into a family business you learn quickly to be careful with your money. You are responsible for both the welfare of the company and your family. The effect of a bad financial decision is felt strongly, not only by the business but also in your own pocketbook.
One of the biggest challenges I face is the generation gap. A decision has to be made on who will be the new leader of the company. It is critical that you select the most qualified person for the position.
As a founder you must be brave. You have to believe in yourself. And you must do this in spite of the many drawbacks you encounter every day. You must be reliant upon your strategy. As an entrepreneur these qualities are extremely important.
Q: What contributed to your company’s success in becoming a global leader in the industry?
A: We have a large statue by Jörg Bach, titled “Evolution,” in front of our R&D building. Evolution is what we do here each and every day. In our company as things develop there are exciting incidents that cause us to deviate in our direction, to change our path—Evolution. The key takeaway is that we work as hard as we can and we believe that will forge our success.
I am the sole shareholder in the company, yet I don’t drive to work every day telling myself, “Oh Peter, today you will get rich.”
In reality it is quite the opposite. You have to think day and night about what you can do to solve your customer’s problems. If you do this well, the other parts of running a business are a side effect.
One example of this is when we made our vacuum chambers. We had a lot of contact with pharmaceutical companies. They had communicated to us that the existing products were not working well for drying powders because during the post-drying process the chambers would be contaminated and very difficult to clean. This was a result of the powders blowing everywhere.
So we set out to create a product with no internal parts, with no corners, absolutely flat, clean, and in addition we improved upon the design by incorporating a patented heating system with expansion racks. We ended up selling about 10,000 units over the past couple of years.
At BINDER, we believe that if you deliver the best products, the best service, and the best consultation support, then you are on the right track.
www.binder-world.us
Former BINDER building until 2005. New BINDER building since 2005.
Maria Stone, B.S., is a high-tech industry reporter from the San Francisco Bay Area; e-mail: [email protected].