Entrepreneurs: take all the time you need
The cliché portrays the entrepreneur as someone always in a hurry. What if, on the contrary, they were a bearer of values that flourish over time?
Slowness as a success factor?
According to a study by Swiss Start Up Radar, 300 companies are born in Switzerland every year, and one fact stands out: "Swiss start-ups create fewer jobs during their first ten years of existence than their Western European counterparts. On average, a young company has 16 employees after ten years. It is only from the second decade onwards that things accelerate — they then develop twice as fast as during the first ten years." This slowness would be explained by the fact that they "develop complex products or operate in markets where product life cycles are long." Worth noting: almost all of them eventually become SMEs. The maturation period, as we can see, seems to be a condition for the success of these companies — reason enough for entrepreneurs to pay greater attention to time.
Not just a question of money
Service companies that bill by the hour, investors who earn returns on their investments, or industrialists trying to break productivity records all instinctively bring us back to the classic association of "time is money". But one would be wrong to reduce the added value of time at the heart of a company to this purely monetary dimension — especially since an "entrepreneur's time" goes beyond any sum one can imagine. To be convinced, one need only listen to Bill Gates in the Netflix documentary dedicated to him: if the most precious thing for him is time, it is, he tells us, "because it is the only thing he cannot buy." A question then arises: is "always faster" necessarily synonymous with entrepreneurial success?
The illusion of the instant
In the digital society, the "short time" of algorithms is increasingly imposing its tyranny: we demand a hot meal delivered to our door in under twenty minutes, we download all information and culture from our armchair without moving, we transfer astronomical sums to the other side of the world with a single click. The consumer is in a hurry — and puts pressure on the entrepreneur. But one would be wrong to equate this demand for "instantaneity", at the heart of our contemporary society, with proof of business success. Moreover, the successful entrepreneur must not remain stuck in day-to-day operations. They must take the time to reflect on the strategic developments of their company. It is by granting themselves this luxury that they can bring the elements necessary for their company's maturation. For that is the crux of the matter: duration rather than the instant.
Becoming the oldest company in the world
1,300 years — that is the age of Hoshi Ryokan. Considered the oldest company in the world, this inn, which came into being in 717, is today a luxury hotel in Japan. In total, more than 46 generations of the same family have succeeded one another at the helm of the establishment. In French-speaking Switzerland, Jacquet S.A. will soon celebrate its 350th anniversary. One cannot help but admire these "entrepreneurial heroes" who have weathered the vicissitudes of history and whose business model has adapted to every market evolution — all the more so when one knows the considerable time it takes to build a company's values and that a single moment of inattention is enough to destroy everything. These examples embody a strength and determination that inspire profound respect.
Should not every new company set itself the objective of lasting as long as possible, investing from the outset in the long term with a timeless message that can be passed on to future generations? This truism is a value to instil in the minds of young entrepreneurs at a time when it is common for some to create their "innovative start-up" with the sole objective of selling it as quickly as possible and pocketing a capital gain. This makes the approach of patrimonial entrepreneurship all the more valuable. And everything follows from it — for one will more readily place one's trust in an entrepreneur who wants to last than in one who is simply looking to score a quick win.
One then discovers at a glance all the virtues of time: that powerful ally in terms of communication that gives companies their legitimacy and credibility.
The Hénokiens Club, which brings together the world's oldest companies, champions these values: quality work, growth with wisdom, company culture patiently built. An eternal truth emerges: the entrepreneur who takes their time will always prevail against the vicissitudes of time.
