He just did his landlord a favor and then founded a startup. Five S founder Sebastian tells us how it all came about. He has developed a very special software for workforce planning.
1. Who are you and what do you do? Please briefly introduce yourself and your product!
Hello, my name is Sebastian Schwarz. I'm 32 and have a master's degree in security engineering and software design.
The idea for my product came about when my former landlord asked me: “You know your way around software, can you do something for our shift planners?My landlord is the managing director of the company “Madinger Industry Services” and was faced with the problem that he would like to network his personnel planning, but there is no internet access in the production halls.
So I developed a personnel planning software that networks itself and synchronizes all data within the company using end-to-end encryption.
This project then gave rise to “Five S“.
2. But that's been around for a long time!
Of course, there are already solutions that offer similar functions. However, these are usually associated with immense licensing costs and infrastructure overhead (e.g., SAP). This often makes them unprofitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
I even offer my software free of charge to companies that want to manage a maximum of 30 employees.
3. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
My biggest challenge was and remains marketing and customer acquisition. Unfortunately, staff planning isn't very fancy, and since we deliberately don't offer a cloud solution, the software doesn't scale well, as Frank Thelen would say. Therefore, I'm currently looking for a partner who would like to take over this area within the company.
4. Let’s get down to business: How is business going?
My entrepreneurial role model is Jimdo founder Matthias Henze. He built his company with little capital using the bootstrapping method. This means that all profits flow back into the company and no outside capital is used for growth. Therefore, I'm still at the beginning of my business. I already have my first customers, but there's still a long way to go before I achieve breakthrough success.
Bootstrapping for success
5. What does Munich mean to you?
Munich is home. I've lived here for many years and can't imagine ever leaving this city. From a business perspective, Munich is also a showcase location where all sorts of opportunities are open to you.
6. How can your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
The advantage of the bootstrapping method is that even if you fail, you only burn the capital you've already earned. So, it's definitely not going to be an epic fail night. However, creating a unicorn company with workforce planning software is also a challenging approach. The truth lies somewhere in between.
7. Fish on a stick or pork knuckle?
Definitely pork knuckle. It has to be as crispy as possible; boiled pork knuckle is a no-go!
