Credits: Article and images by Wei Koh @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/de-bethune-pierre-jacques/
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A few weeks after joining, you immediately faced a huge crisis. Can you tell us about this?
I joined the brand as CEO in January [2011] and on March 15, the accounting department called me and said, “Pierre, we have a problem. We don’t have enough money to pay the salaries this month.” At the time, there were a few shareholders from De Bethune and around 30 employees. And I imagined having to tell them we couldn’t pay their salaries. I realized I was never going to let this happen. So I went to see Denis and I asked, “OK, what do we have in our parts inventory? What kind of movement case … anything? How many watches can we assemble as fast as possible?”
In the end, we identified about 20 watches we could assemble. So then I got on the phone and called one of the best clients I had in my network. I told him that in about one month I could deliver him these 20 watches, but I needed half a million Swiss francs right away. I told him this and simply gave him my word. The Swiss watch industry works in this way based on trust. He agreed and sent the money right away. It is the relationships that you make in this industry that are all the difference. To this day we are still friends. It was the half million Swiss francs that I used to start the engine of this beautiful brand to push it in the right direction. The funny thing was, before this crisis, I was uncomfortable in my job as the CEO.
In January and February, I felt I was playing a role, doing things that a CEO should be doing. After this moment where you really look at the potential failure and bankruptcy of your company and you are able to save it from this, I realized I actually am the CEO. So maybe in the end, De Bethune founders gave me a gift or a leadership lesson, because I had to face a crisis in the early age of my career in the company. When I first joined, a lot of people at the manufacture looked at me, like, “What is this guy doing here?” After they understood what I did, they treated me in a way that made me feel I really belonged there. In 2010, the brand made 65 watches; by 2013 and 2014, we made close to 400 watches.
Why was De Bethune facing challenges before you joined?
The reason the brand was having challenges was that there was no one taking care of the relationship with customers. Denis is a creative genius, but he feels the most at home in Sainte-Croix.
He always says, “I’m a watchmaker, I should be at the bench.” What I respected about Denis was, he was always striving for the best, always trying to push quality or performance to the next level.
Credits: Article and images by Wei Koh @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/de-bethune-pierre-jacques/