JOURNAL · POST #008 · CRISIS & STRATEGY

7,000 Bankruptcies, War Economy, False Safe Havens —
What Entrepreneurs in the DACH Region Must Do Now

On April 12, 2026, 1,045 companies filed for bankruptcy. In a single month. In Austria alone.

These are not abstract numbers. Behind each one stands a person who got up in the morning believing things would somehow work out. 7,000 corporate bankruptcies are expected for 2025 overall — a record that's just the beginning. 20 company failures per day. Every day. In Germany, the IWH reported 1,478 bankruptcies in May 2025 alone — an increase of 17 percent compared to the previous year.

The question is no longer whether the crisis is coming. It's here. And most entrepreneurs in the DACH region are still treating it like a passing storm. It won't stop. Because what's happening right now isn't a storm. It's climate change.

What War Economy Means Concretely for SMEs

The EU activated the EDIP program with 1.5 billion euros in 2025. In March 2025, the EU Parliament passed ReArm Europe — a package of up to 800 billion euros. VW informed its dealers at an internal meeting in Frankfurt: "From 2026, Germany is switching to a war economy." Absolute cell phone ban at this event. The BDI declared itself in September 2025 as the "central body for the militarization of German industry."

What does this mean for your company? Supply chains are being rebuilt — not for efficiency, but for defense relevance. Raw materials are being prioritized. Energy prices remain volatile with fluctuations of ±40%. Credit becomes more expensive. And your customers? They're saving. Because they're afraid. Rightfully so.

If you run a manufacturing SME in Bayern, Salzburg, or Zürich, all of this affects you. Directly. Not sometime. Now.

The 3 Biggest Mistakes Entrepreneurs Are Making Right Now

Mistake 1: "Things will get better."

The most expensive sentence in entrepreneurship. Things won't get better. Not the way they were. The world has changed structurally — geopolitically, regulatorily, in energy policy. Those waiting for normalization are waiting for something that won't come.

Mistake 2: Cutting costs without strategy.

Yes, cutting costs is right. But not blindly. Those who fire their best people to save the balance sheet short-term are building their next crisis. Those who cut marketing become invisible. Those who stop investments lose connection. Strategy means: knowing where to save and where to invest — simultaneously.

Mistake 3: Fighting through alone.

Entrepreneurs are used to making decisions alone. In normal times, this works. In a crisis of this dimension, you need someone who sees the big picture. Who tells you what you don't want to hear. Who goes with you when things get tight. That's not a consultant. That's a solution finder.

The Gottwald Crisis Matrix™ — 4 Quadrants, 72 Hours

From 22 years of entrepreneurship and personal crisis experience — including a near-death experience on June 17, 2017 — the Gottwald Crisis Matrix™ was born. It organizes your risks into four action quadrants:

Most SMEs in the DACH region are currently between Q2 and Q3 — without knowing it. In 33 minutes we can find out together where you stand. And what the next 72 hours mean for you.

Why Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Cyprus Are No Longer Safe Havens

Many entrepreneurs in the DACH region still believe their assets are safe in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, or even Cyprus. That was once. The facts:

Yesterday's so-called tax havens are tomorrow's debt traps. Those who don't understand this today will pay for it tomorrow.

Georgia — The Strategic Alternative Hardly Anyone Knows

While Europe closes its financial borders, a small country in the Caucasus is building up. Georgia is not the answer to everything. But it is an answer you should know:

GOTT WALD Holding LLC has been operating from Tbilisi since 2019. Not as a tax trick. As a conviction. Georgia is growing at over 8% per year. It has free trade agreements with 38 countries. And it has something Switzerland is currently losing: real sovereignty.

If you want to know whether a Georgia structure makes sense for your company, you don't need consulting. You need a conversation.