Restrukturierung des deutschen Mittelstands: Was das StaRUG nicht richten kann

Germany’s Mittelstand is built on discipline, craftsmanship, and generational pride. But as financial pressure mounts across the economy, more SME owners are looking at legal tools to buy time and keep creditors at bay.

Eingabe StaRUG – the preventive restructuring framework designed to give solvent-but-distressed companies a chance to reorganize before they fall into formal insolvency. On paper, it’s a lifeline. In practice, it solves only half the problem.

Because while StaRUG may keep creditors off your back, it doesn’t run your factory, manage your team, or convince your top customer not to switch suppliers.

StaRUG in one paragraph: what it buys you

StaRUG (Unternehmensstabilisierungs- und -restrukturierungsgesetz) came into force in 2021. It allows companies that are likely to become insolvent within 24 months to restructure debts and bind dissenting creditors through a court-confirmed plan.

Shareholders can be bound too, as seen in recent high-profile rulings like VARTA and LEONI. It’s modular, pre-insolvency, and in the right hands, can deliver breathing room.

But it has clear limits. StaRUG only applies to financial liabilities. It doesn’t touch employee claims. It can’t terminate operational contracts. And it certainly can’t implement a turnaround inside your business.

The operator’s gap inside the business

That’s where many owners get caught. You can have a restructuring plan moving through court, but day-to-day reality doesn’t pause. Customers don’t wait. Suppliers don’t guess. And your employees don’t operate well in a vacuum.

If production is slipping, margins are eroding, or customer churn is rising, those are not problems StaRUG was designed to fix. Those are execution problems. They require someone inside the business to take control and deliver stability fast.

We’ve seen this gap play out repeatedly: lenders are quietly anxious, KPIs are unclear, and no one is driving. Everyone is waiting on the plan. But by the time it’s confirmed, the damage is already done.

If you choose StaRUG, run a real business in parallel

Legal breathing room only helps if the business beneath it is actually breathing. That means you need two plans:

One that your legal team submits to court. And one that your operations team – or Interimsführung – delivers in real time.

Who is in charge? Not nominally. Actually. Who is signing the PO on Monday? Who is talking to the top five customers? Who is watching aged receivables, daily cash, and workforce stability?

The answer needs to be clear, and it needs to be someone with authority. An interim CRO or COO can step in quickly, with a written mandate, thresholds for decision-making, and direct board reporting. Their job is simple: steady the ship while the court process moves forward.

That means running a light but real cadence: daily huddles, weekly KPI dashboards, stakeholder visibility. Everyone from suppliers to banks needs to know who’s actually in the cockpit.

The first 30 days: Stabilize what matters

What matters most in Week 1? Not transformation – control.

Schauen wir uns das mal an:

I. Customers

Your largest accounts need reassurance. Pick up the phone. Lock in delivery timelines. Keep communication consistent and personal.

II. Cash

It becomes a daily rhythm. What came in, what didn’t, what’s stuck. Set a simple rule: log every exception, review it fast, escalate when needed.

III. Your people

Silence leads to drift. Even a 10-minute weekly floor update beats the fanciest email. Clarity keeps your core team steady.

It’s not about fixing everything. It’s about stopping the slide – visibly and confidently.

Days 31–100: Rebuild traction before it’s too late

Once turbulence is contained, shift into traction mode.

Pricing needs discipline. Inventory needs clarity. Anbieter need reliability. And margin needs to be real.

Small steps – like cycle counts on key SKUs, maintenance triage, or pausing loss-leading products – give the business breathing room.

You’re not shooting for brilliance. You’re rebuilding trust – with banks, partners, and the future owner.

And that next leader, internal or external, needs a business they can actually lead. That’s what a proper interim setup ensures: not just stability, but a clean, documented handover.

What StaRUG can’t change

Here’s what no court ruling can fix:

• You can’t cancel bad contracts unless you renegotiate.
• You can’t modify employee claims. Pensions and salaries stay untouched.
• You can’t restore credibility with stakeholders unless someone shows up.

And most importantly, you can’t outsource leadership. Not to lawyers. Not to bankers. Not to the restructuring plan.

The real fix is operational

StaRUG is a smart legal mechanism. But it’s not a strategy. It can postpone insolvency, but it won’t improve EBITDA. It can align creditors, but it can’t execute.

If you’re a board member, owner, or lender involved in German SME restructuring, make sure your legal plan has an operational twin. StaRUG needs someone in the business doing the heavy lifting.

Unter CE Interim, we step in where StaRUG stops. Fast, quiet, hands-on. Whether you need a CRO, COO, or stabilisation team inside 72 hours, our focus is on keeping customers, cash, and teams intact until the handover is ready.

Because every legal strategy deserves a strong operator behind it.