Life sometimes leads us on winding paths. Hence always towards the place where we belong. Four weeks before the official start of my self-employment, a global company want to recruit me to their team. Yet, I hold true to my path that leads me back to my roots …

Everything started with my studies of commercial sciences at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien). As I was fascinated by Joseph Schumpeter and his notion of „entrepreneur“, as well as by the Ernst Friedrich Schumacher’s bestseller „small is beautiful – A Study of Economics As If People Mattered“, an even clearer picture of my diploma thesis emerged. In » Wales I wrote a comparative study on small and medium-sized companies with Austrian SMEs nature based there. I discussed in my studies the „footprint“ that small and medium-sized companies leave in the world due to their local roots, their social networks and their value for preservation of culture and language.

I especially appreciated the friendliness, openness, and worldliness of that successful entrepreneurs. Later I also had a chance to experience this special mentality and handshake quality of the SMEs again and again in my professional positions. They sowed the seeds of my present self-employment. By the way, Schumacher completed his book in the small Welsh town of Aberystwyth, where I also carried out some interviews …

Learn from the „Big“

Though, at the beginning of my professional career everything turned out to be different. I learned how to do business from big market players:

  • I internalized the fundamentals of the credit insurance from a traditional credit insurer, who is part of the world’s largest credit insurance group.
  • For eight years I was developing a credit insurance department in Austria for the largest insurance broker of that time and today.
  • For almost nine years I was responsible for a credit insurance division in Austria at the largest European insurance broker of that time.

Customer service from Thailand to the USA, conferences with colleagues, the notions compliance, internal audits, and shareholder value were in place.

„back to the roots“: support SMEs

Still that gentle urging from Wales was developing in me until I could no longer ignore it. And together with it, an undeniable strong feeling of longing to return to middle-sized business myself. Such values as solely Shareholder Value could no longer motivate me. Once again, I wanted to experience that over-casual manner and handshake quality, which you can feel so close with the small and medium-sized businesses, where trust is cultivated and lives in the mundane.

In this way, I have decided to start my own company dedicated to support SMEs: die CIB Kreditversicherungsmakler GmbH. My core competence is credit insurance and related areas. With the provided services I want to improve the way SMEs

With customized coverage concepts I will help you to create the security for your entrepreneurial freedom. Let’s just start our conversation. I will be pleased to meet you!

Your
Mag. Gerhard Toth