Consulting itself

What Consulting itself does

Ipsum Consulting (legal entity: Ipsum Consulting UG (haftungsbeschränkt)) is a regional business consulting firm headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, founded by Michael Thiele in 2005. The firm provides personalized consulting services to founders, craft businesses (Handwerksbetriebe), and small-to-mid-sized enterprises (KMU) across the Stuttgart region and seven surrounding counties in Baden-Württemberg. Core offerings include business plan creation, liquidity planning, controlling systems, Existenzgründer coaching, financing and subsidy advisory (BAFA, BWHM GmbH, Gründungszuschuss), and business succession consulting (Unternehmensnachfolge).

Service delivery is direct and person-to-person: the consultant travels on-site to client locations and personally accompanies clients to bank meetings, with remote delivery via Zoom and Microsoft Teams for clients in outlying counties. Pricing is individualized, typically €1,500-€5,000 per business plan project, with government subsidies covering 50-80% of costs for eligible clients. Technology stack is limited to off-the-shelf tools — Zoho CRM (EU-hosted), Google Ads, MailChimp newsletter, and the company blog on ipsum-consulting.de. The firm also operates under the DBA 'ICL Unternehmensberatung'.

The business model is a project-based professional services practice with no software or productized IP. Lead generation relies on the founder's personal network, regional word-of-mouth referrals, content marketing through the blog, and Google Ads. A strategic partnership with BWHM GmbH Stuttgart provides access to specialized subsidy programs for craft businesses, and embedded relationships with local banks support the firm's role in preparing bank-ready financial documentation. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, and the practice is documented as solo-led by the founder despite a firmographic headcount range of 11-50 employees.

Name

Consulting itself

Legal name

Ipsum Consulting UG (haftungsbeschränkt)

Website

https://ipsum-consulting.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ipsum Consulting is a Stuttgart-based solo business consulting practice founded in 2005 by Michael Thiele, advising founders, Handwerksbetriebe, and SMEs in Baden-Württemberg on business plans, liquidity planning, subsidies, and succession.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Horb Am Neckar

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Business Consulting Services: Professional business consulting services including business plan creation, liquidity planning, controlling systems, startup coaching, succession planning, and bank preparation. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting engagements with individualized scope and pricing. In many cases, a significant portion of costs is subsidized through government grant programs (BAFA, BWHM GmbH, Gründungszuschuss).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ipsum Consulting is a boutique business consulting firm founded in 2005 that advises founders, craft/trades businesses (Handwerksbetriebe), and small-to-medium-sized enterprises in the Stuttgart region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The firm delivers personalized consulting engagements covering business plan creation, liquidity planning, controlling systems, financing and subsidy procurement (BAFA, BWHM, Gründungszuschuss), startup coaching, and business succession consulting, including personal accompaniment to bank meetings.

Product overview

Ipsum Consulting offers a unified consulting service portfolio focused on business founding support and business succession in the Stuttgart region. The core offerings include Existenzgründer Coaching (startup coaching from idea validation through implementation), Businessplanerstellung (professional business plan creation), Liquiditätsplanung und Controlling (liquidity planning and controlling systems), Finanzierung und Fördermittel (financing and subsidy procurement), and Unternehmensnachfolge Stuttgart (business succession consulting for buyers and sellers). These services are delivered as personalized consulting engagements rather than software products, with each engagement tailored to the client's specific situation using the consultant's 25 years of entrepreneurial experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Existenzgründer Coaching Personal coaching service guiding founders from business idea to implementation, covering all steps of business startup including idea validation, business plan creation, customer acquisition, marketing, financing, and subsidy applications. Targeted at individuals establishing new businesses, often from unemployment.
• Businessplanerstellung Professional business plan creation for founders and successors, designed to convince banks and secure financing or grants such as the Gründungszuschuss. Targeted at founders and small businesses needing bank-ready documentation.
• Liquiditätsplanung und Controlling Development of liquidity plans and controlling systems that satisfy bank requirements and provide business owners with financial oversight and cost optimization. Targeted at SMEs, founders, and craft businesses facing bank pressure for better financial documentation.
• Finanzierung und Fördermittel

Quantifiable outcome

• Gründungszuschuss approval rate — multiple clients successfully secured startup subsidies after professional business plan preparation

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BWHM GmbH StuttgartcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBWHM GmbH Stuttgart is a key strategic partner providing specialized subsidy programs for crafts businesses (Handwerksbetriebe) in Baden-Württemberg. Ipsum Consulting is an accredited consulting partner authorized to access and administer these programs on behalf of clients, significantly reducing out-of-pocket costs for eligible businesses.
• Profi Webspace UG (haftungsbeschränkt)minorOthersExternal web hosting provider for the ipsum-consulting.de website. A data processing agreement (AVV) is in place per GDPR requirements.
• Local Banks (Stuttgart Region)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIpsum Consulting maintains established relationships with local banks in the Stuttgart region. The firm prepares clients for bank meetings, accompanies them to meetings, and develops bank-ready financial documentation (liquidity plans, business plans, profitability forecasts) that meet local bank credit requirements.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• KfW Bankengruppe: Federal German development bank administering national SME and founder subsidy programs (including those similar to BAFA consulting subsidies). Shapes the policy and funding environment that drives Ipsum's demand.
• Handwerkskammer Stuttgart: Regional crafts chamber providing subsidized business consulting, succession advisory, and financing guidance to Handwerksbetriebe in the same Stuttgart geography. Operates as a public-sector alternative that overlaps with Ipsum's core craft-business services.
• IHK Region Stuttgart: Chamber of commerce offering startup and existing-business advisory, business plan reviews, and financing guidance to commercial founders and SMEs in the Stuttgart region. Directly overlaps with Ipsum's service portfolio as a free member benefit.
• L-Bank Baden-Württemberg: State development bank of Baden-Württemberg that administers SME subsidy and financing programs. Acts as both a referral source for Ipsum and a parallel advisory channel for the same Mittelstand clients in the same region.
• DATEV eG: Major German software and service cooperative providing tools and data infrastructure to tax consultants and SMB advisors. Many DATEV-affiliated advisors offer overlapping business planning and consulting services to the same Mittelstand/Handwerk clients.

Direct peers

• RKW Kompetenzzentrum: Government-funded German SME consulting body offering startup coaching, innovation advisory, and Mittelstand consulting nationwide. Most direct functional peer — same target client (German SMBs and founders), same service mix, same subsidy-navigation role. Differs mainly in scale and geographic reach.

Broad incumbents

• ETL AG: Large German tax and business consulting network serving SMBs including crafts businesses. Wider service portfolio but overlapping client base and similar Mittelstand/SME focus across Germany.
• Consileon: German management consulting firm specializing in Mittelstand strategy, restructuring, and succession advisory across multiple German states. Comparable in Mittelstand/SME target market with broader service portfolio and larger team.
• Staufen AG: German management consulting firm with deep Mittelstand focus, offering operational excellence and transformation advisory to mid-sized manufacturers and crafts-adjacent firms in Baden-Württemberg and beyond. Operates at larger scale but in the same Mittelstand advisory category.

Emerging players

• Förderland: Digital German platform that helps SMBs identify and apply for government subsidies. Represents the emerging digital competition to manual subsidy advisory — directly threatens the workflow around BAFA, BWHM, and Gründungszuschuss applications that Ipsum performs in person.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses6 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ipsum-consulting-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Consulting itself