Company - founder story

Our story – how Fasoon came into being

We, the three founders (from the left in the picture: Sascha, Walter and Damian) of Fasoon, have worked together for many years at a Swiss online start-up portal, which we helped to build up and manage. Due to different visions between the owner and us, we decided to start our own, new and fresh online company formation portal. Today we are a team of almost 10 people who are happy to do everything we can to make the step into self-employment as easy as possible.

This is our vision

Our goal is to make setting up a company as safe, fast, easy and cost-effective as possible, so that our customers can concentrate fully on their project. Because we think: Everyone should have the opportunity to realise their ideas and dreams and to set up their own company quickly and easily. With over 2,000 start-ups per year, we have quickly become one of the largest start-up portals in Switzerland. Nevertheless, we would like to grow steadily and acquire more partner companies so that the range of services for our customers becomes even broader and they can benefit from even more offers.

These are our customers

Our customers are as versatile as people are. The hip café in the city centre, the hairdressing salon in the countryside and the furniture maker with customised dining tables are just as much part of our clientele as the internationally oriented high-tech start-up or the pioneers in the fintech sector. The different needs and starting points of our founders make our work really interesting. That’s why craftsmen are just as exciting to us as graduates from the best universities. Everyone who wants to become self-employed is welcome.

We know what we are talking about

Our team has already accompanied thousands of founders into self-employment and knows the best and fastest way to start their own business. The advice is free of charge and highly competent thanks to years of practical start-up and SME experience. Our team has many decades of experience in starting and building businesses. We know the challenges of our clients from our own experience and have one or two practical tips that we can share with them.

We are a startup for budding startups

We know that every franc counts in the beginning, that’s why we try to make our offers as affordable as possible. Thanks to our partners who support us in this endeavour, it is even possible to start up completely free of charge. We also focus on transparency: Our price overview page not only lists the costs for Fasoon, but also all other costs that arise in the course of the foundation. Another advantage: We are not only cheap, we are also the fastest start-up service in Switzerland (see Express Start-ups).

What does “Fasoon” actually mean?

This is a question we are often asked. Finding a good name for our platform was actually a somewhat lengthy process. We wanted to consciously distinguish ourselves from the existing providers in the name – but at the same time the name should of course fit us, not cause any problems in terms of trademark law and still be available as a domain. This is a challenge that many of our customers also know. We have tried everything: Different creative techniques, terms that have to do with reasons translated into all possible languages, but we were not to find a suitable name in a hurry. Trying to get our creativity going with a few beers ended in a fun evening, but not in a name for our venture. We even hired an agency to find a name, only to find that the only name we could come up with was already registered as a trademark.

Since at least the company headquarters in Appenzell had been decided very early on, we scoured an Appenzell dictionary for suitable terms. The term “fasoon” was a good fit for our project from several perspectives: In the Appenzell dialect, “fasoon” is a derivation of the French “façon”, i.e. the kind or form. With “Fasoon” we want to give the founders the right form for their idea. At the same time, as a dialect term, it establishes a reference to our company headquarters in Appenzell. If you move away from this origin a little, you can also recognise in it a play on words from the German abbreviation for company “Fa” and the English “soon” – meaning “soon” or “in good time”. A composition that fits perfectly for the fastest start-up service in Switzerland.

Our tips for founders

As a young company ourselves, we know the challenges that founders have to face. The step into self-employment requires a lot of courage: To start with Fasoon, we had to leave our own comfort zones and give up a job with a secure income. Especially when you have a family you are responsible for, it is a step that does not only affect you.

Even if it sounds like a cheap cliché from one of the many start-up guidebooks – the step into self-employment felt right for us from day one: the possibility to implement our own ideas to make the path into self-employment even easier for our customers motivates us every day anew.

A few words of advice to anyone who is thinking about turning their idea into reality:

• Now is the right time to start pursuing your dreams. Waiting for the perfect moment will only put off the decision and waste valuable time.
• Set yourself high goals: Only those who set high goals for themselves and measure themselves against these goals will achieve great things. Those who aim for mediocrity in advance will not get beyond it.
• Plan your resources: Time and money in particular are essential resources that are often in short supply when setting up a company. A financial plan is therefore an important means of assessing whether the project can be realised at all. If you keep your financial figures up to date, you can also see if and when you might run into serious difficulties.
• Plan conservatively: Don’t confuse goals with planning! High goals and expectations often lead to very optimistic planning. However, experience shows that everything always takes longer and costs more than originally expected.
• Don’t be discouraged: Setbacks are part and parcel of being an entrepreneur. It is important not to lose courage and faith in the project.
• Stay flexible: If something doesn’t work as planned, try something else. It is often better to test many possible variants instead of investing all your energy in improving a variant that does not work.
• Involve your environment.

Last but not least – just say thank you

As with every start-up, it is also crucial for us that our environment supports and strengthens us in our decision, for which we would like to say a heartfelt “thank you” here.