Successfully mastering change and growth

Two women – two companies: Daniela Steiner, co-founder of FELFEL, and Christina Stahl, founder of AMELI Zurich, have managed to challenge existing markets and set new standards. Both companies stand for innovation, quality and a clear vision. But what does it take to manage a business successfully?

In the latest Growth Talk, the two entrepreneurs talk about the decisions that shaped them, the challenge of recruiting the right talent and their growth ambitions.

Watch the talk directly as a video or listen to the conversation as a podcast:

Entrepreneurship often begins with a sudden moment of insight – such as realizing that you have a certain need or identifying a problem that has no satisfactory solution to date. This is exactly what happened to Christina Stahl and Daniela Steiner.

Christina Stahl worked as a business consultant for many years and traveled a lot as part of her job – always with her laptop but without, as she saw it, a stylish and functional bag. “There simply wasn’t any model that was professional, elegant and practical at the same time,” she says. Rather than prolonging her search, she decided to be proactive herself. In 2020, she founded AMELI Zurich, a brand that satisfied precisely this need. What began as a hobby has since developed into an established brand that is loved by a loyal customer base not just in Switzerland but in over 60 countries. AMELI Zurich’s high-quality bags are designed in Switzerland and handmade at a family-run factory in Italy.

It was also through personal experience that Daniela Steiner discovered her entrepreneurial potential. During a period of several years working in the US, she became interested in high-quality, conscious nutrition. Cities like New York in particular offer a dynamic environment with considerable demand for innovative and sustainable food-at-work solutions. On her return to Switzerland, it was all the more apparent to Steiner how uninspired much of the workplace catering is in this country. She founded FELFEL with her husband in 2014, with the goal of delivering healthy, high-quality and straightforward food and catering products to companies. Today the firm is the largest provider of employee catering and office coffee services in Switzerland, serving around 1,000 sites across the country. In addition to the FELFEL fridges, the product range also includes the Gavetti coffee machine system. The FELFEL fridges – a kind of healthy smart fridge – are installed at companies directly and filled with fresh produce every day. The same applies to the barista coffee machines. Employees can pay for the products easily and conveniently via an app and then remove them directly themselves.

Successful company leadership depends largely on the leader themselves. Christina Stahl and Daniela Steiner exemplify different but equally effective ways of achieving this objective.

Christina Stahl is the structured thinker. Her analytical training and her experience as an advisor determine her working and leadership style. She uses clear processes and focuses on prioritization and her ability to distinguish between the important and the unimportant. “I have learned that I can’t be up all night working on a regular basis,” she says. “Today, I focus on efficiency and smart decision-making.”

Daniela Steiner is the creative visionary. She loves developing visions and coming up with new ideas. This requires not only enthusiasm but also the ability to let go. “I’m not necessarily the perfect process or finance manager,” she says. “But I don’t have to be – we purposefully employ people who are better in these areas than I am.”

Both women also emphasize the importance of trust within the team, and this requires a healthy feedback culture. If they want to create an environment in which the workforce can also speak openly and honestly, managers must be open to criticism themselves. “Feedback has to be possible in both directions,” they both stress with conviction. “Employees should also be allowed to assess their line managers and ask questions about their actions.”

The takeaway: There is no magic formula for successful entrepreneurship. The important thing is to be aware of your own strengths and purposefully surround yourself with people who compensate for your weaknesses.

I’m not perfect. But I don’t have to be – we purposefully employ people who are better in certain areas than I am.

Daniela Steiner, co-founder of FELFEL

Entrepreneurs have to make countless strategic, operational and HR-related decisions in their day-to-day work. A key question is whether they should adopt a rational approach or rely on their gut instinct.

Daniela Steiner has a clear opinion on this matter: “It’s a mix of the two,” she says. Christina Stahl agrees: “Sometimes all the data point in a certain direction, but my gut feeling tells me something else – and listening to it has often been the right decision.”

One good example is recruitment: “Job interviews are sales pitches – from both sides. It is difficult to tell whether someone is really the right fit or not during the first meeting,” Steiner says. Stahl underlines this point: “Sometimes our feeling about people is more valuable than what it says in their résumé.”

The takeaway: Data, analyses and experience are important – but personal feelings also deserve a place in the entrepreneurial decision-making process.

Sometimes the data is clear, but your gut feeling is telling you something different. Having the courage to listen to your gut feeling will pay off in the long run.

Christina Stahl, founder of AMELI Zurich

Both FELFEL and AMELI Zurich have grown quickly. Just six years after it was founded in 2014, FELFEL already had 500 business customers and supplied over 100,000 employees across Switzerland with healthy food. AMELI Zurich was founded in 2020 and already had six permanent employees and two apprentices just a year later. Between September 2021 and September 2022, the start-up recorded sales growth of 123%. The company has also expanded internationally and now has a presence on five continents.

In addition to opportunities, this growth has brought a number of challenges – particularly with regard to the team. Christina Stahl describes growth as a continuous learning journey. “I learned that not everyone can keep up with the pace at a rapidly growing company. In hindsight, I would change some of my previous HR decisions if I were making them today.” Daniela Steiner agrees: “I would take the risk at an earlier stage of employing people who think not just about the present moment but also about the future – about the company’s growth.”

The requirements change with every phase of growth. At the beginning you need people with a “doer” mindset – later on, specialists who create structures and think long-term are more important. For that reason, it is crucial to reflect regularly on which skills the company really needs at the present moment.

Takeaway: Growth requires forward-thinking personnel development – and a willingness to share responsibility.

Today I would take the risk of recruiting people who support the growth process at an earlier stage.

Daniela Steiner, co-founder of FELFEL

With entrepreneurship comes responsibility – for the company, the team and your own vision. Christina Stahl bears the financial responsibility at AMELI Zurich alone, without any outside capital. “I sleep better when the figures are right,” she says candidly. Daniela Steiner adds: “As a founder, you don’t just bear responsibility – you also have to practice it, day in, day out.”
Regular doubts are a key part of that. “I often ask myself whether I’m doing everything right,” says Steiner. For Stahl, talking to other founders is particularly important, especially in moments like these: “The realization that others are grappling with similar challenges helps me to be less hard on myself.”

Seeing the effects of their work is a source of energy for both entrepreneurs. “When a customer tells me that her AMELI bag makes her feel like the strongest woman in the room at a meeting, that is the nicest possible compliment for me,” says Stahl. Customer feedback is also an important motivator for Daniela – and confirmation that all the hard work is worthwhile.

The takeaway: Doubts are part of being an entrepreneur – as is pride in your achievements.

When a customer tells me that her AMELI bag makes her feel like the strongest woman in the room at a meeting, that is the nicest possible compliment for me.

Christina Stahl, founder of AMELI Zurich

Successful entrepreneurship does not follow a fixed plan. What is always required, however, is a clear vision, the courage to make decisions, an openness for feedback and, above all, people – entrepreneurs and employees – who want to make a difference together. Christina Stahl and Daniela Steiner are excellent examples of how different entrepreneurial journeys can be – and how valuable it is to find your own path.