Steinbeis consultant provides pre-startup support to a coaching practice providing psychological and psychosocial counseling
Helping others to help themselves – the central task for Gunnar Keck and his coaching practice, Coaching-Keck.de. Based in Waiblingen to the northeast of Stuttgart, Keck specializes in psychological and psychosocial counseling. As a social worker and addiction therapist with a solid grounding in depth psychology, Keck (who is approved by German pension insurers) sought support with setting up his own practice from Joachim Fischer, a Steinbeis consultant with expertise in entrepreneurship.
“My clients hold the solution to their problem within, like a seed,” says Gunnar Keck, sharing insights into the essence of his experience. In coaching individuals or groups, Keck not only talks to the people actually affected by a problem, but also to relatives and employers. This may involve helping people confronted with private or professional issues, or people preparing for a medical-psychological assessment (for driving license authorities). A further area of focus for Keck is mindfulness and meditation based on scientific insights. His meditation coaching sessions and workshops are aimed at people with all levels of experience.
Drawing on his specialist knowledge, Keck helps clients access their individual solutions from within – in the depths of their inner selves – also supporting them in applying those solutions to their everyday lives. “What I want for my clients is that they walk out of the door with new insights that inspire them to make a change. It’s great when they take a solution with them that quickly turns their life around – for the better,” concludes the coach.
Startup consulting and business know-how for medical practices
Three months before opening the doors to his practice, Keck embarked on a series of pre-startup consultation sessions with Steinbeis consultant Joachim Fischer. An experienced consultant with a professional track record going back 25 years, among other things Fischer is specialized in setting up and taking over medical practices. A significant proportion of the consultation costs were covered by a subsidy offered by the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. This also makes it easier for people involved in the social professions to fund startups.
The pre-startup coaching allowed Keck and Fischer to look at a variety of topics that are important when it comes to setting up a business but require a certain degree of know-how. Just a few examples of those topics are organizational preparations in the phase before setting up a company, the drafting of a business plan, financial and investment planning, a competitor analysis, preparing for discussions with the bank, and assessing the commercial viability of the startup project. Other important topics included setting up a business after a period of unemployment, startup legislation, and marketing during the launch phase.
Planning everything together paid off: Not only did the bank provide Gunnar Keck with a startup loan to set up his practice, but he was also granted the full startup allowance he applied for from the German Employment Agency.
Partly financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor, and Tourism, and partly financed by the European Union, Steinbeis EXI Startup Vouchers are awarded under a startup funding program aimed at offering access to a variety of workshops and special consultation sessions.
Contact
Joachim Fischer (author)
Freelance project manager
Steinbeis Consulting Center: Business Start-up (Stuttgart)
www.steinbeis-exi.de
Gunnar Keck
Coaching-Keck.de (Waiblingen)
www.coaching-keck.de