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Guest Lecture: 5 questions to Henning Klimczak, founder of Sherpa Design

Henning Klimczak is a graduate of Design Factory International (DFI) and has owned the design agency Sherpa for seven years now.
He tells us in an interview how it came about that he chose the path to self-employment shortly after graduating and what role networking played in the process.

Brand University: Hello Henning, tell us about how you came to found Sherpa.

Henning Klimczak: My two co-founders and I met during our studies and quickly realised that we were a good match, both professionally and personally. During our short stays in large agencies, we quickly realised that we could also do it ourselves and, above all, that we had our own ideas. Right after graduation, there was hardly anything at stake for us in terms of life circumstances, so we simply dared to take the step of founding an agency. It all started with laptops in the living room. By now we’re a team of 12 people and still growing.

BU: Straight from university to self-employment, with hardly any professional experience. What was the biggest challenge for you on this path?

HK: We are three designers who had no previous experience with finances, client acquisition or staff management. These issues took time at the beginning. But the direct start into self-employment also had its good sides. Without professional experience, we were able to create our own working culture without bias.

BU: What role does the topic of “brand” play in your work as a design agency?

HK: This topic is absolutely fundamental for us and concerns us on a daily basis. In a saturated market, products only differentiate themselves through the brand. We look at the issue from a design perspective, but ultimately our work goes far beyond that. We develop brands by giving them values and attitudes that make them unique.

BU: You are a board member of the Marketing Club Hamburg. To what extent does a network like this help (early on) on the career path?

HK: The Marketing Club network has helped us a lot from the beginning. We enjoyed the exchange of experience in the mentoring programme, found employees, entered into cooperations with other service providers and even gained clients. This motivates me to now actively support the club’s work myself.

BU: What advice do you give our students if they want to start their own business early?

HK: The most important thing is that you really have the desire within you. Not having a plan should never be the reason for self-employment, because it requires a lot of stamina and self-discipline. I wouldn’t start such a project alone, because sparring partners are extremely important.
To encourage you: There are many ways to seek support, especially at the beginning. For example, there are free offers from the Chamber of Commerce. It is important to engage in exchange and to get in touch with people who have also started their own business. That way you can get valuable advice.

Many thanks to Henning Klimczak for the exciting insight into the path to your own agency!