Zwei Schuhverkäufer

In the 1900's, two British salesmen land overseas to sell shoes. The first telegraphs Manchester: It's a disaster, nobody here wears shoes. The second writes: This is the biggest opportunity of my career.

I heard this story on a TED talk from Benjamin Zander last month and couldn't stop thinking about it. I had the exact same moment six months ago when I realized almost no one in Swiss manufacturing has strategic intelligence. Most people hear that and think: must not be needed. I hear it and think: this market is wide open for opportunity.

For decades, Swiss manufacturers didn't need to compete. Then tariffs closed the US. Conflicts disrupted the East. Swiss currency got so strong that exports barely make sense.

Last week, three different companies called me asking the same questions: What does the Brazilian market look like? Where else could we go? Where could we gain market share?

Those questions are buzzing in every boardroom right now. And almost none of them have the infrastructure to answer it. The gap is massive. And I'm the second salesman in this story.