Origin of ActoMate
For the second time in his life, the inventor has come up with an idea that is either ahead of its time or at least "just in time" to meet market demand. He was ahead of his time with the Legal Guide to Germany, www.lg2g.info, which conceptually paved the way for what is now www.Make-It-In-Germany.de. He was ahead of his time with the Legal Guide to Germany, www.lg2g.info, which conceptually paved the way for what is now www.Make-It-In-Germany.de. LG2G was first published in 2006 and Make it in Germany only in 2013!
The background is that the inventor used the time between his second state examination and his admission to the bar to write the book "The Legal Guide to Living in Germany." While the first edition was kindly produced by Weißensee Verlag, the book's content proved too quickly obsolete to be profitable for the publisher. The second edition was therefore self-published and quickly became outdated due to frequent changes in the law, particularly in residence law.
To better serve the market, the "3rd edition" was published online at LG2G.info. This work is a layman's guide to German law for expats, intended for everyday use. It covers topics relevant to the everyday life of a successful expat, including residence law, traffic law, contract law, divorce, and more. All of this is presented in easy-to-understand English.
Despite having loose political contacts, no investor was found. "Lesson learned": Don't trust politicians, even if they don't make any promises!
The functioning prototypes of the online shops were created when the inventor, during the acquisition phase, became frustrated with clients being asked the pedantically precise questions of a German lawyer about matters that should be self-evident, as the clients' answers were often incomplete or imprecise. The inventor discovered Chronoforms[1]. Using such a contact form, it was at least possible to request the most important master data (name, address, etc.) in a structured manner. Yes, "complete" addresses have always been a challenge. What is "street & house number" and "additional address" or "city or county/district"? When it came to names, there was a jumble of names, especially among Arabs. What is the first name? What is the last name? In Chinese, you cannot determine a person's gender from their name. Indians often have words with many unfamiliar letter combinations for German tastes.
When Chronoforms reached its limits, the inventor assigned a professional programmer to develop an online shop for company formation [2]. This form paid for itself almost immediately because employees could focus on the tasks that were truly important. These tasks were intended to serve clients by providing guidance on work steps and drafts of their company articles of association to be created immediately.
[1] Chronoforms is a Joomla! plugin, https://www.chronoengine.com
[2] https://vonengelhardt.com/founding-form Feel free to try it yourself! The link leads to a test domain.