ROTWEB UG

(The Challenge) Lüdenscheid is not an obvious place to build a cultural business. We grew up in a city offering nothing on nightlife and cultural experiences that would actually speak to us. Something that had to be changed. The challenge was not just to build a company, but also to build an audience and a brand in a market that didn't yet exist. (The Story) Out of a „Why not?“ I founded ROTWEB UG together with my friends Erik Weber and Thorben-Bennet Rolf. No money, no help from others, no real plan. Everything was built by hand: we renovated the location ourselves, designed the brand identity, built the website, created merchandise, handled HR and payroll, started to learn accounting and executed every event from the ground up. I took ownership of marketing, corporate design and external relations of any form. In that time we overcame the typical German permit issues, spent days and nights taking care of the location, used any network that we could possibly grasp to get what we want and of course created new experiences for different age groups in our city. Many clean-ups later we grew the company to over 10 employees within two years, established a permanent venue with Dahlmann in the heart of Lüdenscheid, and positioned ROTWEB as a cultural force in the city - including a collaboration at the international light art festival "Lichtrouten" and participation in political and cultural events. As the business matured and we continued studying, we built a project manager structure that now runs day-to-day operations independently, while we only do the managerial stuff from afar. (The Result) A profitable, self-sustaining company with its own venue, a recognisable brand and a real role in the cultural life of Lüdenscheid. Built from nothing, still running and structured to grow without us being in the room.