Market access is key for any growing business in a competitive business landscape.

However, for small businesses, expanding market access and growing their customer base can be difficult, especially when there are large clients to be serviced.

The small business sector is a critical part of any country’s successful economy.

However, in South Africa, small businesses tend to struggle with a high failure rate. In fact, South Africa has one of the highest SMME failure rates globally.

A University of Stellenbosch Business School study found that there are multiple reasons for this, including a lack of proper management capacity and training, a lack of proper financial management skills, a lack of access to sustainable financial assistance; an inadequate understanding of the industry in which the business operates; and a lack of entrepreneurial networks to share resources and information.

Furthermore, South African consumers and corporates are not particularly renowned for their support of small businesses when compared with other regions.

There are however many reasons for the high failure rate of small businesses, agrees Catherine Wijnberg, founder and CEO of Fetola.

“In our experience as a business growth agency, the most common reason is that many businesses are simply not yet market-ready. While there is often a desire to onboard a big client, in reality, the business may not be in a position to service that client.

“Other reasons for a small market or ailing to grow its customer base is that its product quality might not be good enough, it could be targeting the wrong customers, using inappropriate marketing channels to reach its intended target market, or making it too difficult for customers to order and buy from them.”

“When it comes to market access, most small businesses have not yet cracked the secret to success. Businesses tend to blame the fact that nobody is buying from them and to be fair, as a country we don’t have a culture of supporting small businesses.

However, more often than not, the reason nobody is buying from these small businesses is that their product or service quality, capacity and value for money does not meet the needs of their customer,” says Wijnberg.

Expanding a business’s customer base to service larger clients can come with its own challenges, she points out.

“For example, does the business have sufficient resources to service larger clients? Small businesses need guidance to understand what clients are looking for from new suppliers. Critically, corporates and multinationals require a pipeline of reliable suppliers. An unreliable supplier is unlikely to receive repeat business.”

Key to the success of any small business, she says, is to know who your target market is and to ensure a suitable product market fit.

“Identify what your niche is and then decide how you can own that niche,” she advises.

“Other questions you should be asking is whether your brand is visible to the right target market; is your product or service of sufficiently high quality and does the quality justify the price you are charging; and can you guarantee reliable and consistent delivery?”

In fact, says Wijnberg, reliability is arguably the most important element of any supplier relationship.

“From a corporate perspective, there is a huge risk in buying from a supplier that is not reliable.”

The challenge, she adds, is that there is often a mismatch between what corporates expect from their small business suppliers and what small businesses understand as their responsibility to provide.

“Corporates and large retailers often miss the fact that they really need to explain and communicate to new small business suppliers in very clear terms what their expectations are.”

To help address the biggest challenges small businesses face – market access and access to growth finance - Fetola are launching a programme in July aimed specifically at youth businesses and focusing on market readiness as a route to market access, and investment readiness as a route to access growth finance.

"When small businesses get it right - with the correct strategy to build solid trade relations and partnerships - the results can be transformative," concludes Wijnberg.

Source: Zawya

Translated by: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Since 2021, Middle East and North Africa start-ups have witnessed a new leap in their growth. Although start-ups in the region have seen growth in the size and number of finance deals since 2013, as of the beginning of last year, there has been an unprecedented rise in start-up growth as the incubating business environment for start-ups in both the Gulf States and Egypt has evolved. In addition, new countries have entered the line of interest in start-ups, most notably Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.

The first half of 2022 was a new chapter in the great growth of start-ups. The total volume of deals acquired by start-ups in the region was more than $1.7 billion, with growth from the first half of last year of more than 83.7%, and up to 125% compared to total funding for start-ups in 2019-2020 in total! The number of start-up finance deals reached about 341 deals with a growth rate of about 38.6% compared to the first half of 2021 and nearly 94% compared to 2020 in total.

In the following lines, we will take a look at the situation of start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa for the first half of 2022, where funding is distributed geographically and sectorally, along with gender distribution, start-up funding phases, and others.

Distribution of Start-up Finance by Country

UAE start-ups have taken the lead in the Middle East and North Africa over the past decade in recent years, Saudi start-ups have advanced and become strong competitors of Emirati companies as a hub for attracting bold finance. In recent years, Saudi startups have advanced and become a strong competitor to Emirati companies as a center for attracting venture capital, thanks to economic reforms, developing the business environment for startups, and supporting and establishing investment funds to finance them. Egypt has also focused on supporting start-ups by improving the investment environment and supporting the establishment of investment funds, and providing facilities for foreign investors and entrepreneurs, which transformed the focus of corporate transaction finance over the past years.

While most start-up financing is concentrated in the UAE, both Saudi and Egyptian start-ups have a balanced share of the size of these investments. However, UAE start-ups continued to acquire the biggest share of total finance in the first half of last year, UAE companies received approximately 45% of total start-up finance. Start-ups in Saudi Arabia and Egypt received 28% and 9% respectively, but in the first line of 2022, changes emerged in the concentration of funding for start-ups in the region, The percentage of funding received by UAE start-ups was about 37.4% and althought it leads the list of the most attractive countries to fund the region's start-ups, its share shrank by about 7.5% compared to the first half of last year.

The decline was in favor of the expansion of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with Saudi start-ups' share of total financing reaching about 32.7%, a difference of less than 5% from the UAE. Egyptian start-ups accounted for about 18.5%, up 3.5%  compared to the same period last year. In the fourth place, Bahraini start-ups finished at 6.5%, which is more than 4.5% growth compared to the same period. It is also a significant rise in absolute numbers. According to the data of the first half of this year, Bahrain can be classified as a central country in attracting funding for start-ups in the region.

Sectoral Distribution of Start-up Finance

Since 2013, e-commerce start-ups have accounted for the largest share of total finance, but this has begun to change over the past two years. After e-commerce companies are extensively providing services, new start-ups entering the e-commerce market is difficult especially with the entry and expansion of large players in the Gulf and Egyptian market such as Amazon. At the same time, there was a need to improve and digitize the fintech market, this prompted the emerge of dozens of start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa region. This changed the trends of start-up financing to those companies that accounted for the largest share of funding in the past year by 18%, while the e-commerce share was only 12%. Besides the emerge of fintech companies, start-ups have also emerged in other areas, most notably health, education, food and agricultural technology.

In the first half of this year, fintech start-ups accounted for about 38.4% of total finance, with growth from the first half of last year reaching approximately 6.4%, In second place, agro-technology companies came in at about 21%, but about 50% of the total financing received by agro-technology companies belongs to the UAE company Pure Harvest. Therefore, it cannot be seen as a clear indicator of the growth of the agro-technology sector, as the number of agro-technology companies that received funding during the same period has not exceeded four. On the other hand, start-ups active in logistics, health and education technology and software show increasing and more sustained growth both in terms of the number of deals and the amount of funding received over the past two years.

Start-up Financing Stages

With the increase in the number of business accelerators in the region, particularly in the Arabian Gulf and Egypt, the number of start-ups receiving financing through fast-growing companies or so-called business incubators has risen. The proportion of start-up investment deals funded through business accelerators in the first half of this year reached about 27%, however, seed and pre-seed funding continued to dominate the start-up finance landscape. The proportion of companies that received an initial funding round reached about 22% and nearly 10% of start-ups received pre-establishment funding rounds. While the proportion of companies that obtained financing in the series (A) and (B) stages was limited to 4.8% and 3%, respectively, and the financing in the Series (C) stage was limited to only one company.

Funding Disaggregated by Gender

Data for the first half of 2022 show significant progress in terms of the high proportion of funding obtained by women-run start-ups rising to about 93% compared to the first half of last year. The percentage of funding received by these companies was about 2.7%.

Two separate meetings have been held in May 2022 in order to strengthening Arab-Swiss economic relations. The first meeting took place in Rabat on May 9, when the Moroccan Minister for Investment, Convergence and Public Policy Evaluation, Mohcine Jazouli, met with the Swiss Minister of State Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch in the presence of, Guillaume Schurer, Ambassador of Switzerland to Morocco. Where the two parties discussed the possibility of introducing new investments in many sectors, and pledged to hold similar meetings in the future. Jazouli commented on the already strong relations between the two countries, noting that the meeting was "an opportunity to present the various investment opportunities offered by Morocco to the Swiss officials." On the other hand, Ms. Ineichen-Fleisch described the relations between the two countries as "excellent".

Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services in cooperation with the Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Morocco had previously held a meeting in late April under the slogan "Focus on Morocco".

Commenting on the recent talks that brought the two sides together, Ambassador Guillaume Schurer referred to the Swiss-Moroccan agreement signed in December 2021, considering that the agreement allowed for "increasing cooperation in all areas."

On the other hand, a meeting was held in Manama on May 12, as part of an official visit by the Swiss economic mission to the Kingdom of Bahrain, where the mission met with the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Iman Al-Dosari, in the presence of the Swiss Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Massimo Badji and the Ministry Assistant Undersecretary for Domestic and Foreign Trade, Shaikh Hamad bin Salman Al Khalifa, and a number of senior officials in the ministry. The meeting dealt with bilateral economic relations between the two countries and ways to enhance them.

The Arab-Swiss relations occupies a distinguished position on the economic level. Switzerland is one of the most important commercial partners for the Arab countries, as it accounts for about 10% of the total Arab trade exchanges with the Europe.

Recent years have witnessed a development in Arab-Swiss economic relations, especially with the Arab Gulf states, in the same time relations between Morocco and Switzerland have improved significantly in the past few years.

Thanks to digital technologies, Morocco was able to better manage the health crisis related to the Covid-19 pandemic, says the London-based business intelligence firm "Oxford Business Group" (OBG).

In a report dedicated to digital transformation in Morocco in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Oxford Business Group analyzes the impact of technology on Moroccan society and economy, showing how the use of these technologies has enabled the Kingdom to best weather the crisis, offering avenues for future development through accelerated digital transformation.

According to the report, the Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated the need for increased digitization, but Morocco did not wait until 2020 to begin its digital transformation. This transformation, which started a decade ago, has been accelerated by major government initiatives, including "Horizon 2020", launched in 2017, and "Horizon 2025", which have set ambitious targets for e-government and training young people in new technologies.

According to OBG, these efforts had already borne fruit in early 2020, when Morocco was ranked fourth among the MENA countries in the European Center for Digital Competitiveness.

For the authors of the report, while Morocco already enjoyed relatively high internet and mobile penetration rates, the Covid-19 pandemic has spurred technological innovation in many sectors, whether in finance, agriculture, or education, noting that confinement has boosted e-commerce and that the habit of contactless payment now seems to be well established among the population.

As a result, online payments grew 31.3% in the first half of 2020, compared to the same period last year, according to the report.

In response to the pandemic, OBG adds, the public and private sectors put in place a series of measures that maintained productivity while respecting social distance.

source: mapnews

A new study has determined that Morocco is the second-fastest in “digital transformation,” in Africa ranking only behind South Africa. 

Morocco’s National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST) released a report of its recent findings. The study, titled “Scientific Production Relative to Digital Transformation: Scopus and WOS (2015-2020),” concluded that Morocco’s digital transformation is performing well relative to its regional partners.

Morocco ranks second in Africa behind South Africa, and third in the Arab-speaking world behind the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Morocco managed to integrate digital technology into its economy at a fast pace over the five-year span researched in the study, with particular advances in the fields of engineering, telecommunications, and business.

Morocco’s digital transformation efforts involved several international partners, including Canada, Denmark, France, and Spain. 

The study aimed to provide a better picture of Morocco’s digitalization of its scientific efforts and produced a ranking to determine Morocco’s progress on the matter.

Morocco is investing heavily in its scientific community that features renowned international experts such as engineers Rachid Yazami and enthusiastic science communicator Hajar Mousannif. 

Morocco appears to be preparing itself for a new scientific era with a new generation of young Moroccan scientists and the latest technology, such as Africa’s most powerful supercomputer. 

That supercomputer alone will help boost digital transformation according to Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. Its press release announced the new supercomputer could “solve African research problems in both academia and industry and create the next generation of computational scientists and digital entrepreneurs.”

“Research related to digital transformation is relatively recent and topical,” the bibliometric study emphasized as the Watch Department of the CNRST aied to study the evolution on the topic of digital transformation.

source:  moroccoworld news

Out of the 998 projects financed by foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa last year, Egypt, South Africa, and Morocco were responsible for the greatest share, according to a recent report by fDi Intelligence.

Egypt replaced South Africa as the top ranked destination by projects in the region, experiencing a 60% increase from 85 to 136 projects in 2019, the report said.

Along with a $12bn IMF-mandated reform programme, the government has embarked on massive infrastructure spending in sectors ranging from energy to construction.

South Africa follows Egypt at 123 projects, though it easily outdoes all other African countries in terms of the number of projects it financed outside its own territory last year.

fDi Intelligence, a product of the Financial Times, found that South Africa invested in 81 projects outside the rainbow nation in 2019 compared to just 29 in Morocco, the second most out of any African country.

Morocco had 102 projects financed by FDI last year, making it the third largest on the continent. Other countries with large numbers of externally financed projects include Kenya (87), Nigeria (73), and Ghana (42).

In fact, Nigeria and Ghana each attracted more FDI by capital investment than South Africa, but the investments were spread among fewer projects. Egypt topped the list both in terms of the number of projects and amount invested.Ghana entered the top 10 destinations by the number of FDI projects in the Middle East and Africa.

It saw a 56% increase on 2018 figures, equivalent to 15 additional projects.Ghana also saw capital investment growth of 479%, an increase to $4.8bn.

This was driven by projects such as a $2.8bn production facility being developed by Sweden-based Greenland Resources as part of a public-private partnership with the government of Ghana.

Other large projects in Africa last year included the establishment of a $2bn phosphate fertiliser plant in Togo by the Dangote Group.

The Egyptian government also established a $848m phosphoric acid plant in the New Valley Governorate as part of a joint venture with several Chinese companies and the Egypt-based Phosphate Misr.

source: africanbusinessmagazine

Apart from the bigger economies, other countries are also taking a stride and venturing into capital market to reach out to the global forum. Another nation trying to grow and prosper in its capital market is Morocco. It is evolving as a prominent property investment hotspot. The Moroccan infrastructure is considered of carrying the highest standards with high quality and competitive prices at the same time. It also boasts of top quality property in 5 star luxury resorts.

The development of Moroccan infrastructure is basically due to the deep interest of the Monarch of the Kingdom of Morocco Mohammad VI and the country’s government.  The Moroccan economy is also being featured as one of the best performed economy in recent times; the secret behind the flourishing economy is the valued government policies and reforms aimed at modernization.

They are receiving appreciation from the favourable market conditions and macro economic modernization.

The growth of the economy can be perceived from the fact that there has been a substantial improvement in the country’s GDP by about 2.9% a year since 2001.

The economy has further progressed and the year 2006 had showed vast improvement in country’s GDP amounting to about 8.1%. The various sectors adding feathers to country’s economy are: agriculture, banking, stock markets, insurance, and transport, respectively. With the introduction of new policies by the government, even the tourism and construction industry has witnessed a major improvement in recent years.

The Moroccan government have renewed various policies and introduced various legislative reforms in the banking sector.

Unlike other countries raising the interest rates, Morocco has shown depreciation in the interest rates since 2006 and has also given apt space to small and medium sized enterprises by providing them the required finances. 

There are not many banks in Morocco, but plans are on and establishment of many more banks are in the pipeline.  Apart from banks, real estate sector is also a preferred sector which the government is aiming to improve.

The performance of Casablanca stock exchange has garnered attention in the past few years and many IPOs have come up since which account for a profitable investment avenue.

This market promises of excess liquidity which gives ample opportunities to the investor to invest in the capital market.

With the spread of information on the insurance sector, the Moroccans are also paying quite a lot of attention to the insurance sector. In terms of reach, the Moroccan insurance industry is the second largest insurance market in the African continent.

The tourism industry is one of the important sectors for a nation to flourish and build links with other countries. The tourism industry involves road links, airports, accommodation etc.

Other areas that has given a boost to the Moroccan tourism industry is cheaper flights, improved airport services, and improved rail and road links.

source: globalbankingandfinance

Morocco has positioned itself as a top-tier destination for several international firms in various sectors, including energy, tourism, and aeronautics.

The 2019 International Franchise Attractiveness Index ranked Morocco 39 with a significant score of 54. With a list of 131 states, the index listed Morocco as the first attractive business hub in Africa and the 2nd in MENA after the UAE.

Morocco jumped up three places since 2018 when the annual report placed Morocco at 41 with a score of 54.53.

The list shows Morocco competing with some of the international powers, including  France, Spain, Germany, and Australia.

Germany is the first on the list with a score of 25.50, followed by the UK with a score of  26.08, and Canada with a score of 29.58.

Saudi Arabia ranks 42nd on the list with a score of 55.15, while Qatar positioned itself at 59th.

Egypt was listed  51st with a score of 60.53 ahead of Kenya, and South Africa with 54 and 55, respectively.

Tunisia is the 77th on the list.

The index listed Algeria as the 66th with a score of 69.53, Nigeria 81st, and Senegal as 82nd. 

Researchers at the Rosenberg International Franchise Center (RIFC) develop the index by taking into account the attractiveness of 131 counties as “international expansion markets” for US-based franchises.

“This index is generated through a quantitative model that is based on peer-reviewed research and a survey of franchise executives.

The model produces two different index rankings (Balanced Growth and Aggressive Growth) based on a company’s risk tolerance levels,” according to the University of New Hampshire (UNH).

Morocco’s location works as a pillar to attract international investors. The 2019 Investment Climate Statements from the US Department of State said in July that Morocco’s political stability, geographical location, and efforts to build a robust infrastructure, contribute “to its emergence as a regional manufacturing and export base for companies.”

The report also recalled Morocco’s strategy for attracting investors, with several measures in place, including facilitating foreign investment.

The report said that the facilitation is especially relevant in “export sectors like manufacturing, through macro-economic policies, trade liberalization, investment incentives, and structural reforms.”

The report also indicates that Morocco attracts the fifth-most foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa, with an intention to position itself as a regional business hub due to its status and location and the “tri-regional focal point of sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.”

source: moroccoworldnews

Last year, Morocco witnessed a 36% increase in foreign investments to reach $3.6 billion, primarily in the finance and automotive sectors.

The significant jump in foreign direct investment in Morocco confirms the growing confidence of international corporations in the country’s business climate. Morocco ranked fourth in Africa in their amount in the latest ranking by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) thanks to last year’s whopping 36% increase over 2017 to reach $3.6 billion, primarily in the finance and automotive sectors.

Data show that the flow of foreign investment to North Africa increased by 7% to reach $14 billion, the largest share of which went to Egypt and Morocco, while Algeria and Tunisia received between $1 billion and $2 billion in investments.

UNCTAD said Morocco continues to benefit from a relatively stable economic performance, in addition to having a diversified economy that is appealing to foreign investment in finance, renewable energy, infrastructure and the automotive industry.

The largest investment made last year in the country was the acquisition of 53% of Saham, Morocco’s largest insurer, for $1 billion by the South African Sanlam Group.

African countries, including Morocco, are increasingly relying on special economic zones, including free zones, with the availability of 237 such areas on the continent providing a special tax environment to attract foreign investment in various value-added industries.

According to UNCTAD, special economic zones represent an important means of export promotion for most countries, especially those of manufactured goods. For Morocco, these zones represent about 60% of the net non-oil exports.

In a new initiative that reflects the solidity of the Moroccan business climate, the Casablanca Financial Pole and the World Financial Centre in Toronto, Canada, signed a partnership agreement to promote sustainable investment opportunities between Canada, Morocco and the rest of Africa.

According to Manal Bernoussi, director of strategy, marketing and communications at Casablanca Finance City, this “agreement will open the door to exploring opportunities for cooperation between North America, Morocco and Africa.” She also noted that this new partnership with the Canadian financial institution would allow Casablanca’s financial pole to reinforce its network of partners and strengthen its international cooperation.

The agreement reflects both Rabat’s interest in the Canadian market and the attractiveness of the African continent to investors from North America. The agreement will provide a platform to promote best practices in green financing and environmentally friendly infrastructure, in addition to sharing knowledge and expertise to accelerate the development of professional, educational and training programmes in finance.

Jennifer Reynolds, president & CEO of Toronto Finance International, said that through cooperation with Casablanca’s financial hub, her company will facilitate the exchange of information and expertise to create new opportunities for enhanced international cooperation. “Africa is one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world and its trade and investment relations with Canada are improving,” said Reynolds during the signing ceremony.

American corporation Keller Williams, a global real estate network, recently announced that it had chosen Morocco as a new centre for its business. The company said it would launch its business from Casablanca after being encouraged by Morocco’s previous ranking on the 2018 Africa Investment Index, issued by the international group Quantum Global Research Lab, as the most attractive destination for business.

In order to ensure the development of the future structure for investments, the Moroccan government has launched the activity of collective real estate agencies, as this type of move has proven effective globally as an investment mechanism.

Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun said the activity of these agencies will contribute to modernising financing methods and instruments and will help create a dynamic in the financial markets so that the latter can play their role in mobilising savings and using them efficiently in investment.

The agencies operate according to strict rules in terms of governance, supervision and investment, making them modern investment tools of high quality. They also meet the needs of some companies in terms of long-term investment backed by real estate assets based on rental income, as well as providing flexibility in terms of access to various real estate markets.

These agencies are expected to contribute to the development of a sufficient and good supply of leased properties in the areas of trade, services, industry and hotels, as well as mobilising new financial resources for companies and helping them restructure their financial positions.

Nezha Hayat, head of the Moroccan Capital Markets Authority, said the launch of the initiatives is part of a strategy to diversify financial instruments that respond to the needs of investors. These initiatives are “a key backing of real estate financing and constitute an essential stage in implementing the specific vision for developing capital markets in order to effectively contribute to financing the economy,” she said.

Source: Thearabweekly

Cette année, « Christophe Claret » fête les 30 ans de sa manufacture et les 10 ans de sa marque. Nous le rencontrons à cette occasion, dans la ville du Locle, canton de Neuchâtel, qui constitue, avec la vallée de Joux, le creuset des marques horlogères les plus connues du globe, avec une main d’œuvre parmi les plus qualifiées et expérimentées dans ce domaine.

Pourquoi la Suisse est-elle si connue pour l’horlogerie ?

L’histoire de l’industrie des montres en Suisse remonte au dix-septième siècle, sous Louis VI, à l’époque où les Huguenots[1] ont été obligés de fuir les pays catholiques (seconde moitié du XVIe siècle). Ainsi la Suisse a-t-elle accueilli nombre des meilleurs ouvriers et industriels de l’horlogerie européenne, qui ont constitué le noyau de l’industrie horlogère du pays. Aujourd’hui, même les marques françaises s’installent en Suisse, car c’est là que se trouve la main d’œuvre qualifiée, les machines adéquates, les sous-traitants, etc.

Comment avez-vous créé votre entreprise ?

J’ai d’abord travaillé comme sous-traitant pour d’autres marques qui n’ont pas la capacité de fabriquer toutes les pièces d’une montre, qui sont nombreuses. Très peu de marques réalisent l’intégralité d’une montre en réalité. Puis, lors de crise financière de 2008 et de la baisse des commandes qui ont suivi, j’ai décidé de lancer ma propre marque, ce qui m’a permis de diversifier mes collections. J’ai alors commencé à réaliser des mouvements, et aujourd’hui, nous sommes en mesure de fabriquer nous-mêmes la quasi-totalité d’une montre (85%), en achetant uniquement certains éléments comme le cadran ou le bracelet. En 10 ans, nous avons ainsi réalisé 14 modèles différents. Nous travaillons principalement pour notre propre marque, mais nous avons également une dizaine de clients pour lesquels nous assurons des services de sous-traitance.

Quelle est l’origine du modèle « Mecca », orné du symbole de l’Islam ?

Nous avons imaginé cette montre car aucun modèle haut de gamme ne représentait encore la religion musulmane. Pour réaliser le prototype, je me suis rapproché d’un imam à Zurich, qui m’a aidé à identifier et retranscrire certains éléments de la religion musulmane, au-delà du simple ajout de chiffres en arabe. D’où l’idée d’intégrer la Kaaba au centre de la montre, un élément hautement symbolique de la religion musulmane. Le mirascope, qui permet de visualiser en 3D l’objet qui est à l’intérieur de la montre, offre une dimension mystique parfaitement en adéquation avec ce symbole. L’effet d’optique rend la Kaaba très réaliste, elle semble sortir de la montre, une proposition unique qui n’avait jamais été réalisée jusque-là. Cette particularité a nécessité un système spécifique pour l’affichage des heures, avec des aiguilles en forme de cloche pour indiquer l’heure. Deux autres éléments sont déterminants : d’abord le nombre de série limitée « 63 », qui correspond à l’âge du prophète au moment de son décès, et qui est inscrit en titane naturel ou PVD puisque l’or est interdit aux hommes selon l’Islam ; puis l’incrustation de deux diamants, l’un noir et l’autre blanc, qui représentent la « Pierre Noire », blanche à l’origine mais ternie ensuite par les péchés des pèlerins. À l’arrière de la montre, un troisième élément illustre encore l’Islam, avec un rotor orné d’une carte du monde et des points blancs personnalisant les Musulmans qui tournent autour de la Kaaba, considérée comme le centre de monde.

Qui sont vos clients ? Exportez-vous dans le monde Arabe ?

Nos clients sont en majorité des hommes passionnés par l’horlogerie et l’automobile, d’un milieu aisé. Les montres femmes ne représentent que 15% de notre chiffre d’affaires.  Nos marchés les plus importants pour les montres Claret sont l’Asie, la Chine continentale (Hong Kong, Singapour, Taiwan), les Etats-Unis, le Mexique et l’Europe, notamment la France et la Suisse. Nous n’exportons pas énormément au Moyen-Orient et, étonnamment, la montre Mecca se vend aux Etats-Unis.

Quel est le risque d’imitation et de concurrence pour ce nouveau produit ?

Lorsque je développe une nouvelle montre, je le fais par passion et non sur la base d’une étude de marché. Evidemment, je fais tout pour gérer l’entreprise de manière intelligente, selon les règles du marché. Mais il faut reconnaitre que seules les grandes entreprises réalisent d’importants profits. C’est plus difficile pour les marques indépendantes. Nous créons chaque année de nouveaux modèles, que ce soit pour notre propre marque ou pour des tiers. Et il est vrai que cela peut inspirer d’autres marques, qui suivent la tendance. Ce phénomène existe depuis toujours. Le problème est que nous pouvons protéger un mécanisme, mais pas une idée, et dans l’horlogerie même lorsque vous protégez un mécanisme ou un système, d’autres fabricants parviennent au même résultat en utilisant un autre système. Je dirais néanmoins qu’il est toujours avantageux d’être le créateur d’un modèle original, même lorsqu’il est ensuite copié.

Que pensez-vous de la concurrence chinoise, notamment sachant que leur business model encourage la réplication de produits novateurs ? 

Prenons l’énergie photovoltaïque : ce ne sont pas les inventeurs de la photovoltaïque qui ont le mieux commercialisé cette technologie, mais plutôt les chinois, qui le fournissent dans le monde entier à des prix très compétitifs. Il en va de même pour les téléphones mobiles. Certes Steve Jobs a inventé l’IPhone, mais aujourd’hui, c’est le téléphone le plus copié au monde, Samsung en tête en termes de nombre d’utilisateurs, suivi de Huawei puis IPhone.

Par ailleurs, nous ne sommes pas touchés par la contrefaçon. Pour reconnaitre une montre contrefaite, il faut regarder le mouvement, qui est très rarement imité. Normalement, les entreprises de contrefaçon copient le cadre extérieur et la boite, mais jamais les éléments de qualité que nous offrons à l’intérieur d’une montre. Si la montre est retournée, nous pouvons facilement établir s’il s’agit ou non d’un mouvement Rolex ou Piaget par exemple, et si nous sommes familiers avec une marque, nous pouvons même distinguer son origine par le bruit du moteur.

Qu’est-ce que vous pensez des montres connectées à écran tactile ?

Dans la haute horlogerie, il y a peu de compétition, mais si nous parlons de l’horlogerie de manière générale, c’est autre chose ! Nous travaillons pour 65 marques horlogères Suisses. En ce qui concerne les montres connectées, nous ne sommes pas concernés, puisque nos clients sont des collectionneurs passionnés par la mécanique. Peut-être achètent-ils une montre Apple parallèlement, mais ils continueront d’acheter les montres que nous fabriquons par ce qu’ils sont passionnés par la haute horlogerie.

Certains économistes parlent d’une crise économique à venir, qu’en pensez-vous ?

La crise apporte aussi des opportunités. Nicola Hayek a su investir quand plus personne ne croyait en l’horlogerie lors de la crise des années quatre-vingt. Il a ainsi sauvé beaucoup d’entreprises horlogères, notamment des entreprises de mouvements. Pendant la dernière crise, j’ai pu remarquer une perte d’activité, raison pour laquelle j’ai lancé ma propre maque pour diversifier mes montres, car j’étais convaincu que sous ma marque je pourrai vendre des montres, et pas seulement des mouvements, ce qui constitue aujourd’hui 60% de nos activités. Notre diversification se trouve dans la technique, l’innovation, l’originalité, la rareté, la qualité et la complexité. Il faut savoir que dans la haute horlogerie, il y a une histoire derrière chaque montre.  Par exemple la montre Poker est la seule au monde qui permet de jouer au Poker Texas Holdem’ à trois joueurs plus la banque, avec presque 100 mille combinaisons de jeux.

Comment évaluez-vous votre expérience entrepreneuriale ?

Je suis plutôt le style de Steve Jobs que Bill Gates. Steve était un visionnaire et un créateur et personnellement, je pense comme lui, j’aime être créateur et innovant, j’aime amener de nouveauté dans l’horlogerie. Cependant, je suis passionné par d’autres choses comme l’aérospatial, l’automobile, la magie et l’Antiquité. Dans l’horlogerie, il y a une part de magie. Il y en a dans la Mecca, et encore plus dans le modèle Marguerite. J’ai travaillé avec des magiciens pour cela, et appris certaines astuces. La magie se trouve dans la connaissance, car en réalité les magiciens travaillent sur la base d’astuces que 99% des gens ne connaissent pas.

Dans l’horlogerie, nous sommes confrontés à des défis techniques, donc il s’agit de trouver des solutions innovantes. Mais le défi est également commercial, car pour faire adopter un nouveau produit, il faut convaincre à la fois les journalistes, les détaillants, les intermédiaires et finalement les clients eux-mêmes, ce qui constitue de multiples challenges. Quelque part, c’est de la magie de réaliser un nouveau concept. Nous créons des mécanismes que les clients ont du mal à comprendre techniquement, et les collectionneurs apprécient particulièrement la complexité. Comme pour un magicien, qui est d’autant plus apprécié par les spectateurs lorsqu’ils ne comprennent pas comment il peut réaliser ses tours.