SME Day 2025: Moving SMEs - Emotions and leadership
Emotions and their influence on companies were the focus of this year's Swiss SME Day in St.Gallen. Under the title «Moving SMEs - Power of Emotions», around 1,200 guests heard testimonials and tips on dealing with emotions from entrepreneurs such as André Lüthi, Thomas Borer and Joey Kelly.
On the Friday after OLMA, managers from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) met for «their» Swiss SME Day for the 22nd time, this time hosted by Miriam Rickli. Host Tobi Wolf presented the results of the annual SME Day study. One key finding: over 70 percent of the managers surveyed are convinced that emotions play a much greater role in day-to-day business today than they did ten years ago. At the same time, almost 80 percent of employees at lower management levels feel only slightly emotionally attached to their company - a clear signal of the need for action in Swiss SMEs.
SMEs between their own track and international challenges
In their presentations, tourism pioneer André Lüthi and former diplomat Thomas Borer shed light on the importance of living passion and the challenges posed by global power politics and offered guests valuable ideas for the future. André Lüthi (Globetrotter Group AG) took the audience on an emotional journey. Under the title «Living passion», he pleaded for more courage to follow your own path and not just follow textbooks. «I have something against Excel-Taliban», said André Lüthi. Rather, the most important task of a manager is to «create an environment in which employees can motivate themselves». This includes, for example, granting employees twelve weeks of travel time per year in his company, five of which are paid. According to André Lüthi, this is his marketing budget, so to speak. When asked about the compatibility of the environment and tourism, he would like to see more money invested in making flying more environmentally friendly. «Because you can't ban travel,» said Lüthi. He appealed for people to avoid short city flights «in between» in favor of longer trips every few years.
Playing golf with Donald Trump?
Thomas Borer then brought the participants back to the harsh reality of global politics. The former diplomat analyzed the «impact of geopolitical challenges on Swiss SMEs». He described the current global situation as a «rough sea» that requires experienced navigators. In particular, the policies of US President Donald Trump and the associated tariffs represented a major challenge for Swiss exporters. Borer criticized Switzerland for failing to build a reliable network in the USA. He also took a critical look at the complex relationship with the EU, which oscillates between being an indispensable partner and a bureaucratic giant. His conclusion: Swiss SMEs must remain agile, spread risks widely and adapt to an increasingly unpredictable world. «I'm not worried about Switzerland,» he said, wishing for a little more self-confidence in negotiations. After all, Switzerland is one of the top 20 countries in the world economically. And with regard to the negotiations with US President Donald Trump, Thomas Borer said: «I would be prepared to let him win a round of golf.»
KUORI wins the start-up pitch
The Inspiration Session was once again characterized by three strong startup pitches. David Geisser (ZATAP) showed how products can become a digital dialog channel with fans. He also revealed that it took a few detours to finally find the «right» business model. Christina Stahl (ALEMI Zurich) combined design, function and female empowerment, demonstrated with fashionable yet business-appropriate handbags. Sarah Harbarth (KUORI) presented «Biomaterials against microplastics». The materials, made from by-products from food production (e.g. nutshells, olive pits, banana peels, etc.) can be used to make shoe soles, for example. The long-term goal is to use these materials for car tires. This is because their abrasion is one of the reasons why a lot of microplastics end up in the environment. This seemed convincing: Sarah Harbarth and KUORI won the unofficial «KMU-Tag Startup Award» in a public vote.
SME talk: Emotions as a «business model»
Another highlight of the program was the SME talk: Michel Péclard, the entrepreneur known as the «Gastro King of Lake Zurich», and Sandra-Stella Triebl, founder of the business platform «Ladies Drive», were two personalities who not only allow emotions, but actively use them as the core of their business models.
Michel Péclard gave fascinating insights into his management philosophy, which is based on trust, courage and radical incentive systems. His «turnover pay model», in which employees participate directly in success and can earn top salaries, leads to an entrepreneurial attitude in the team. «It's suddenly no longer my company, it's suddenly his company,» explained Péclard. Absences due to illness have fallen to practically zero.
Sandra-Stella Triebl, the «Queen of Networking», emphasized the growing importance of emotional intelligence in an increasingly digitalized world. She advocated being authentic in business and embracing emotions as a human strength. «We need to recognize that we are social and emotional little animals,» said Triebl. She presented the concept of a «to-be list», which encourages companies and managers to ask themselves not only what they do, but who they want to be.
In conclusion: «Never give up»
The crowning finale and emotional highlight of the day was the keynote speech by Joey Kelly. The musician («The Kelly Family») and extreme athlete captivated the audience with his presentation «No Limits - How do I achieve my goal?». Based on his incredible experiences - from the South Pole expedition at minus 40 degrees to the «Race Across America» and a hike across Germany for just 9.24 euros - he impressively demonstrated the power of mental strength, discipline and an unshakeable will. Kelly drew parallels between the challenges of extreme sport and everyday business life. His credo «Never give up» became the central message of the afternoon.
Where Swiss SMEs are close
After the SME Day is before the SME Day: the event will take place again in 2026, on Friday, 23 October 2026. The conference has been organized since 2003 by the Swiss Institute for SMEs and Entrepreneurship at the University of St.Gallen (KMU-HSG) and the communications agency alea iacta ag. The Swiss SME Day is under the patronage of the Swiss Trade Association (SGV), economiesuisse, the St.Gallen-Appenzell Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the St.Gallen Cantonal Trade Association. The event is supported by long-standing main sponsors for whom SME issues are very important: Raiffeisen, OBT, ABACUS and Swisscom.
