Entrepreneur with his team in a meeting

For owner-managed family businesses

Successful for generations. But does everything still run through you?

ivato supports family businesses in becoming less dependent on the owner without losing their own culture: getting knowledge out of people's heads, turning approvals and sales into processes, growing with fewer staff and preparing the handover to the next generation in an orderly way. Step by step, with your people, at a fixed price.

Conversation with a consultant →Where does everything run through you? ↓

Clients from this industry

Your daily work

Do you recognise these sentences from your family business?

Family businesses are strong because people take responsibility, know customers personally and think long term. This is exactly what becomes a bottleneck when all the knowledge and every decision rest with a few people. Anyone who wants to grow or hand over has to make the company more independent. This is exactly where we start.

You recognise 0 of 8 statements

Tap the statements you recognise from your day-to-day work.

The pattern behind it: The company is as strong as the people at the top, and just as dependent on them.

Let's talk about it ↓

Where everything runs through you

In which area does your company depend most on individual people today?

Click on an area. You see how it works in many family businesses today, what ivato implements there and what changes as a result. Usually it is two to three areas that make the biggest difference. Which ones they are for you, we clarify in the initial conversation.

Today

Only the boss knows the important customers

Major customers call the owner directly, terms and arrangements are in no system. Follow-up happens when he gets round to it.

With ivato

Bringing customer relationships into the company

  • CRM with history, terms and special arrangements
  • Automatic follow-up for quotations
  • Handover of customer relationships planned and supported

What changes

Customers stay, even when people change

Sales can act without the owner, and customer relationships belong to the company.

Descriptions show typical situations. We calculate concrete effects for your company in the business case.

Practical examples

What does this look like in a family business like yours?

Four examples from different industries and stages of life, each with starting point, solution, result and calculation. What they all have in common: the employees were involved from the start, existing software stayed in place, and after 8 to 12 weeks the difference was noticeable in daily work.

  • WholesaleBavaria85 staff3rd generation

    The junior takes over, the customer relationships remain

    Starting point
    The senior knew every major customer personally, terms and arrangements were in no system. The daughter took over management, customers kept calling her father.
    Solution
    CRM with customer history, terms and special arrangements, filled together with the senior, quotation and follow-up process for sales, handover conversations planned for each major customer.
    Result
    Customers have accepted the new managing director, no important customer has left, and the senior can let go.
    Investment
    €39,000
    Funding
    €19,500
    Own contribution
    €19,500
    Payback
    8 months

  • Construction companySaxony120 staff3rd generation

    One day a week back for the owner

    Starting point
    Every order over €500, every invoice approval and every quotation went through the owner. In the evening he sat over approvals, during the day on building sites and with customers.
    Solution
    Approval rules by amount and area, digital approvals for site managers and purchasing, weekly cockpit with liquidity, order situation and open items for the owner.
    Result
    The owner only decides what really needs him, and has one day a week back for strategy and customers.
    Investment
    €26,000
    Payback
    6 months

  • Metal constructionThuringia40 staff2nd generation

    No succession in the family: ready for handover in 18 months

    Starting point
    The children did not want to take over. Costing, purchasing and customer contacts depended on the owner, interested parties asked for figures and processes that did not exist in that form.
    Solution
    Exit check as a stocktake, costing and core processes documented and digitalised, second management level strengthened, key figures cockpit for conversations with buyers.
    Result
    The company also runs day to day without the owner and is comprehensible and more attractive to buyers.
    Investment
    €34,000
    Funding
    €13,600
    Own contribution
    €20,400
    Effect
    Value +17%

  • Food manufacturerBaden-Württemberg200 staff4th generation, three family branches

    Shareholders informed, advisory board prepared, skilled staff found

    Starting point
    Three family branches, different levels of information, a lot of coordination by phone. At the same time, positions in production stayed vacant for months.
    Solution
    Shareholder portal with quarterly figures, minutes and resolutions, advisory board documents prepared automatically, digital application process with quick feedback to applicants.
    Result
    All shareholders have the same information, advisory board meetings are better prepared, and vacancies are filled faster.
    Investment
    €90,000
    Payback
    10 months

More case studies · Funding programmes

Solutions

How does ivato make family businesses less dependent on the owner?

With consulting and implementation from a single source. We are owner-managed ourselves and know that in family businesses it is not only processes that count, but people, trust and history. That is why we change things step by step and take your people with us.

  • Sales independent of the owner

    CRM with customer history and arrangements, automatic follow-up, quotations that go out even without the boss. Customer relationships belong to the company.

    To Sales & CRM Automation →

  • Knowledge out of people's heads

    Costing, purchasing, special arrangements and techniques documented and retrievable by asking a question. New employees learn faster, experienced ones are relieved.

    To Scaling with AI →

  • Approvals & owner's cockpit

    Clear approval rules instead of the boss deciding everything, digital approvals, weekly overview with liquidity, orders and open items.

    To Reducing cost pressure →

  • Automating processes

    Quotations, invoices, orders, applications: routine work runs in the background. You grow without having to look for new people for every task.

    To Implementation →

  • Succession & Exit check

    A stocktake of what depends on the owner, a roadmap for the handover to family, management or a buyer, and the implementation that makes the company ready for handover.

    To the Exit check →

  • Mastermind & Go Global

    Exchange with other business families and support in taking the step into new markets, for the generation that wants to develop the company further.

    To the Mastermind →

How we work

Do we have to turn everything upside down for this?

No. Your existing software stays, your culture stays. We begin where the pressure is greatest, involve long-serving employees as experts and change as much as necessary, not as much as possible. Senior and junior are welcome to sit at the table together.

Your systems stay

  • Existing systems such as ERP, accounting or industry software are connected, not replaced
  • Long-serving employees become knowledge holders, not losers of digitalisation
  • Dedicated contact person, fixed price, result in 8 to 12 weeks
  • Data stays on servers in Germany
Yearsof lead time

When did you start preparing your succession?

In our experience, an orderly handover takes several years, whether to your own children, to management or to a buyer. The less the company depends on the owner, the easier it is and the higher the value. Digitalisation is not an end in itself here, but the tool for making knowledge, customers and processes ready for handover.

As of: 10/2026 · general assessment, not legal or tax advice

Clarify in a conversation ↓

Process & prices

How do we start without jeopardising day-to-day business?

With a conversation, preferably with both generations at the table. After that you decide step by step. Your effort is a few appointments with the owner, the successor and the people who hold the knowledge.

  1. Step 1

    Initial conversation

    45 minutes with a consultant who knows family businesses. We listen to where things get stuck and tell you honestly where we see the greatest leverage.

    free of charge

    Request a conversation ↓

  2. Step 2

    Strategy

    A stocktake of what depends on the owner and key people, a business case in euros and a roadmap that both generations support.

    Fixed price by scope · eligible for funding

    To Strategy →

  3. Step 3

    Implementation

    We implement the most important building blocks, connect your systems and support your team until it runs.

    from €20,000 net · 8–12 weeks

    To Implementation →

Estimate your funding

Funding rate
Funding
€12,000
Your contribution
€18,000

Simplified calculation. Rate and maximum amounts depend on the programme, federal state and company size. Consulting can additionally receive a grant of up to €5,600.

projects successfully supported
1,000+
projects successfully supported
years of experience with mid-sized companies
25+
years of experience with mid-sized companies
funding for implementation
up to 60%
funding for implementation
dedicated contact person in the project
1
dedicated contact person in the project

Frequently asked questions

What owners and successors want to know beforehand

Your question is not here? In the initial conversation we take 30 minutes for your specific topic.

By not starting with technology, but with his knowledge. Experienced owners are often the most important experts in the project. When they see that their life's work is being secured rather than replaced, many reservations change. A joint initial conversation with both generations helps.

They are needed, more than ever. Their knowledge is documented and passed on, routine work falls away, and they can concentrate on what requires experience. We involve them from the start so that digitalisation is experienced as relief.

Precisely not like a corporation. We do not build large systems, but targeted solutions for the two or three points where your company depends most on individuals today. Whether it pays off is shown by the business case before the investment.

No. Personal customer relationships, short routes and responsibility stay. What changes: knowledge and arrangements no longer depend on individual heads, and routine costs less time. That tends to strengthen the culture, because more time remains for people.

Yes, especially then. Buyers and external managing directors look for companies that do not depend on the owner. With our Exit check we show what is missing and implement it together.

For consulting, grants of up to €5,600 are possible, for implementation up to 60% depending on federal state and programme. We check the suitable programmes in the initial conversation and take care of the application documents. As of: 10/2026, programmes change regularly.

Read on

Contact

Exchange ideas with one of our specialists from your industry.

45 minutes, free of charge. Preferably with both generations. We tell you openly where we see the greatest leverage and roughly what it costs.

  • Reply within one working day
  • Conversation preferably with senior and junior together
  • Confidential, not a sales pitch

Request a conversation

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