Mission Statement
When the decision was made to look into creating a watch that would epitomise what our legacy stood for we went to great lengths to create a set of demands that left no room for compromise.
We had the benefit of countless decades of experience of varying levels of watchmaking and were intent on taking lesson from the good and bad that each encompassed.
We were under no illusion that it was going to be easy to create a high end timepiece and make it affordable but we go by the principle that anything’s possible if you put your mind to it. With that in mind we set upon doing a SWOT analysis. The very fact we were doing one of these set us apart from most of the ‘micro-brands‘ and smaller independent companies all wanting to dip their toe into the watchmaking waters.
The reason most don’t succeed past the first stages is that they haven’t done their homework. We weren’t going to make that rookie error. The image below pretty much tells its own story about why its important to pay as much attention to the business aspects as it is to the product you aim to make. We did just that.
The importance of Business Development We knew from experience that the one strength was that despite the many attempts by others to create truly high quality watches that there was still room for improvement. We paid attention to the smallest of detail as to where the market had been saturated and where there were gaps. In essence we did an analysis on our predecessors.
We recognised that the only way to achieve consistent quality would be to go down the old fashioned route of hand-making and finishing each piece—even if it was initially not cost effective, and of course with a little help using the latest technology. However, before we could do this we had to concentrate on sourcing the very best materials and craftsmen. We knew this would be expensive, but were always prepared to sacrifice profit margins for sanity. Profit may well be good for a short term fix but we had a long-term goal.
Its the longevity that is at the forefront of our mission statement. Anyone can make a watch of some level, but not everyone can repeat that process. It was here we turned to Biatec. They’d already established some great contacts who’d proven reliable. We teamed up almost immediately, and with our financial resources, years of watchmaking, along with our workshops and know-how in the industry we swiftly moved ahead.
We quickly created a plan together where we’d work on each other’s strengths and sourced the materials, watchmakers and eventually usuing our small but well equipped premises in Switzerland we were all but up and running. Irony had it that already being Swiss based watchmakers we ticked the threats and weakness boxes of our analysis as it’s the expensive route, but this was negated by the strengths and opportunities having a Swiss heritage would give. We were on our way.
Eliminating the Supply ChainThe manufacturing process relied on machinery, we’d sourced the raw materials. The watchmakers by chance were not as difficult to obtain for we knew many who were and are prepared to work on a freelance basis provided they believe in what they’re creating. In our case it was the backstory and ethics that struck accord. It was the logistics and supply chain which were to prove to be the last hurdles. Shipping from Switzerland would mean storage and distribution. Our presentation cases alone took up a huge amount of space. Our workshops are small and couldn't cater for this so we had to think of another way.
We then looked at Biatec and our dilemma solved. We had several things that were at the top of our priority list, Quality and Cost. Biatec have facilities not a million miles away from our own workshops. We figured that we could use this to our advantage by not only using their storage capacity but also for the logistics of shipping. Another added bonus was that we knew Biatec had exacting standards so it was little surprise that we’d use them as a final door quality control.
All the boxes of manufacture and distribution had been ticked. We could now make the final decision of whether we aimed for high street retailers. We knew that the bigger the supply chain, the bigger the expense, an expense that gets passed on to the consumer. The figures soon add up, and the cost to the consumer likewise. The decision was pretty much made up for us. We’d keep the costs down by selling solely online. We target a healthy social media presence, and as any profit goes to charity it was full steam ahead.
It’s here that we can summarise our mission statement, or story. We will never cut corners, we will never compromise on customer service, and we will never hyper-inflate our prices. We will strive to follow the path above as our way to provide the highest quality timepieces for the lowest price possible. Profit means little to us for as weve said, we are allocating any profit to legacied charities. Any surplus will be put into evolving the brand through research and developing and improving our manufacturing.
It’s a mission statement we believe will allow us to thrive in the competitive industry we’ve chosen. To read more, click here.
