February 20: "Entrepreneurs' Day
On February 20, Alfred Escher would celebrate his 200th birthday. Credit Suisse is taking this as an opportunity to launch "Entrepreneurs' Day". The aim is to highlight and honor the great importance of entrepreneurship for Switzerland as a business location and for the prosperity of our country.
The achievements of Alfred Escher, the pioneer of the century and, among other things, the founding father of today's Credit Suisse and ETH Zurich, continue to have a significant impact on Switzerland as a business location. His formula for success, that prosperity and progress are closely linked to a good infrastructure and positive framework conditions, still applies today, according to a Credit Suisse media release. The major bank Against this backdrop, the company decided not to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Alfred Escher's birth. simply relive the past, but to take a look at the present and future of entrepreneurship in Switzerland. With the "Day of Entrepreneurs", a Switzerland-wide theme day will therefore be launched for the first time on February 20 to honor entrepreneurial commitment and highlight the achievements of the more than 600,000 Swiss companies for the country.
Wide range of activities to promote entrepreneurship
Credit Suisse's activities around "Entrepreneur Day" build on the Credit Suisse Progress Barometer already presented at the end of last year and the special edition of the client magazine "Bulletin" on the topic of "Courageous Decisions - Learning from Alfred Escher". In addition to its presence on various communication channels, the bank, in collaboration with Startups.ch offers prospective entrepreneurs a free company formation session on February 20. In addition, there are discounted memberships with the network organizations Swiss Venture Club and Switzerland Global Enterprise. In addition to the launch of the Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund announced last week, Credit Suisse will announce a further measure on February 20 to further promote entrepreneurship in Switzerland.
Andreas Gerber, Head of SMEs at Credit Suisse, says: "Entrepreneurs make a substantial contribution to Switzerland's well-being and progress. They take risks, create jobs, promote innovation - for a successful future for Switzerland as a business location. It is therefore time to say thank you. And this is what we want to do with Entrepreneurs' Day on behalf of the population."
Seven selected facts about entrepreneurship in Switzerland
- 601,755 Company existed in Switzerland in 2016, over two-thirds of which came from the tertiary sector (services), about 15% from the secondary sector (industry, arts and crafts), and 9% were in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry and fisheries). Source: FSO, Statistics on the Structure of Enterprises (STATENT) 2018, provisional figures 2016.
- 99.7% of all companies in Switzerland include less than 250 employees. They account for around two thirds of the total of around 4.4 million jobs in Switzerland. Source: FSO, Statistics on the Structure of Enterprises (STATENT) 2018, provisional figures for 2016.
- 2018 were 43,174 companies newly entered in the commercial register, most in the business services (B2B), business and tax consulting, skilled trades, retail, and hospitality industries. Source: Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce SHAB; IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen AG
- More than one third of companies are founded by women, 54.9% by men and 9.7% by women and men together. Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Business Demography Statistics (2016)
- The average Survival rate of the new companies in Switzerland lies one year after the founding at 83%. Thus, 32,820 companies founded in 2015 were still active in 2016. The survival rate is particularly high in the "healthcare and social services" sector. Source: FSO, Business Demography UDEMO
- In 2017, the European Patent Office recorded a total of 7283 patent applications from Switzerland - a new all-time high. With 884 registrations per million inhabitants, Switzerland is ahead in the per capita ranking throughout Europe. Source: IPI; European Patent Office (2018)
- In 2017, the statistics of basic vocational education included 218,539 Apprenticeships registered. This means that approximately every 23rd employee in Switzerland is an apprentice. Source: FSO, Statistics on basic vocational training (SBG-SFPI)
