These companies thrive by staying small
What if small size were the true hallmark of a successful economy? Nearly 90% of companies in Switzerland have fewer than ten employees. Many of them have no desire to grow and explain how they choose to develop differently.
Sometimes size matters — in business too, as the statistics reveal. In Switzerland, 99% of companies are SMEs. They generate two thirds of employment in the country. Nearly 90% of them have between one and nine employees only, according to 2017 figures from the Federal Statistical Office — a total of 230,754 companies. Even more striking, 50% of SMEs turn out to be micro-enterprises with a single employee. Small size is therefore not a myth. It is an overwhelming reality that contradicts all the grand narratives of the growth gurus. Is smallness the true hallmark of entrepreneurship? Many thriving Swiss SMEs are deliberately choosing not to grow.
A choice, then — not a fear of growing up, even if the "Peter Pan effect" also affects many companies. Why have they made this decision in an era that swears by growth? Are they pioneering a way of growing that goes beyond headcount, new markets, or larger premises? What, ultimately, is growth? Are there not several ways of growing, or several conceptions of growth, that are not reducible to increasing in size? In 2020, smallness is becoming a marketing argument and a mark of trust for reconnecting with clients lost in the globalisation of the economy.
There is no point in growing
When he founded FiveCo in 2002, at just 25 years old, Antoine Lorotte dreamed of captaining a fine SME of around fifty employees. This independent engineering firm in Mont-sur-Lausanne (VD) has lost none of its flair with ten employees: "In 2014, we decided not to grow," explains the founder. The engineering firm has established itself in the development of innovative products combining expertise in electronics, mechanics, and software: "Unlike a mass-market company, FiveCo operates in a niche market," notes Antoine Lorotte. "Why grow — and above all, how? Growing in size would bring us more complications in our highly specialised field."
For eighteen years, FiveCo has been a small inflatable boat among large ocean liners. And Antoine Lorotte does not envy them: "For a very long time, I have been able to count on a multidisciplinary team. This means I have zero staff turnover. Our small size allows us to enjoy an extremely flat hierarchy and transparent company management. FiveCo does not have a reputation for being cheap, but we have never rushed a project." Smallness allows the company to be more responsive: "Sometimes clients find themselves in complicated situations. We arrive very quickly with solutions, simply because with ten people the decision-making process is greatly shortened."
Over the course of a career marked by "serious health problems in 2018 that put things into perspective", Antoine Lorotte has developed his own definition of growth. It does not come through size, but through continuous staff training and personnel stability: "I have a loyal team that I feed with varied projects. I prefer to have maximum skills per person rather than maximum people per skill. Thanks to this multidisciplinarity, FiveCo gains in firepower."
The power of networking
The company's small size also influences project management: "Sometimes you have to explain to the client that we won't be able to start the mandate immediately, but in four months," explains Antoine Lorotte. "Almost always, the client understands. With every new tender, we ask ourselves whether we want this project and whether we need it. I am very proud to say that we have generated the same revenue for ten years with the same team. Do we want to earn more? We are wise enough to say no. Because growing in terms of revenue also means taking on investors — and therefore losing financial independence. We don't want that."
