Hoje, no Jornal de Negócios, em "
É o investimento, estúpido!", Camilo Lourenço escreve sobre a dificuldade das empresas em obterem crédito:
"Em Portugal, um particular ou empresa que faça o mesmo bate com o nariz na porta. O banco não empresta ou, se o fizer, cobra juros proibitivos: há empresas viáveis que pagam taxas de 11% e particulares cujo crédito à habitação toca nos 7%."
Depois, mais à frente faz uma ressalva:
"É verdade que parte deste trambolhão era inevitável: Portugal estava demasiado "alavancado" e tinha forçosamente que reduzir a dependência do crédito. O problema é que o ajustamento está a prejudicar muitas empresas viáveis: algumas delas estão mesmo a fechar portas."
Entretanto, no The New York Times em "
German Small Businesses Reflect Country's Strength" leio:
"In fact, the Germany economy sometimes resembles one big Mittelstand company: it is built for stability more than growth. Debt is bad, prudence a higher virtue than profit."
Para mim, neto de agricultores que me ensinaram a fugir do endividamento como o diabo da cruz, esta linguagem das Mittelstand agrada-me.
"That characteristic often frustrates Germany’s neighbors, as well as some economists, who wish Germans would spend more to stimulate growth in the rest of the euro zone. But Germans argue that their approach has helped the country avoid downturns like those that have hit Spain and Italy and are threatening France. While Greece was racking up debt during the last decade, Mittelstand companies were resolutely cutting theirs, according to data from the Institute for Mittelstand Research in Bonn.
Quando falo de agricultores recordo-me logo do
cheiro a bosta, de gente que está habituada a pensar no futuro não como uma linha recta, mas como um circulo. Por isso, sabem o valor e o significado das palavras do Eclesiastes (
Ecli 3, 1-8). Sabem que se não forem eles a pagar as consequências dos seus actos daqui a 10 anos será alguém da família. Por isso:
“They want to increase their independence from banks and external financing,” said Christoph Lamsfuss, an economist at the institute. “They want to make sure that the next generation inherits a solid company. In the final analysis that is good for the German economy.”
...
“My machines are paid for,” said Ms. Bollin-Flade. “I have no bank credit. That’s what sets the Mittelstand apart. You set aside something for bad times.”
Já agora, esta política:
"A few years ago, Ms. Bollin-Flade did something that may help explain why the German economy has been so resilient. She turned down orders from her biggest customer.
.
Ms. Bollin-Flade was worried about becoming too dependent on any one source of revenue. So she and her husband and business partner, Bernd Flade, enforced a rule they still apply today: no customer may account for more than 10 percent of sales, even if that sometimes means turning away business.
.
“If 20 percent of your sales fall away, that’s difficult,” Ms. Bollin-Flade said. “If 10 percent falls away it’s not nice, but it’s not dramatic.”
.
In places like Silicon Valley or Shanghai, leaving money on the table like that would probably be enough to get an entrepreneur drummed out of the local chamber of commerce. But the risk aversion, and the preference for slow, steady growth rather than a quick euro, is typical of the Mittelstand."
E para acabar em beleza, algo que sintoniza bem a mensagem deste blogue:
"Bollin specializes in making parts to order and delivering them quickly — sometimes within hours, if need be. Customers will pay what they have to for a component that may be essential to keep a factory running, Ms. Bollin-Flade said. “The price is not the issue. Delivery time is the issue,” she said. “There aren’t too many companies that do what I do.”
Sim, eu sei, vão dizer que as nossas PMEs não são Mittelstand... mas isso não invalida que não aprendam a viver de forma progressivamente independente dos bancos. Basta
recordar como era há 30 anos.
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