When someone says ‘businessman’, we typically think of a middle-aged man with a big house and an expensive car. But Till Lenhard, and 18-year-old boy living in Switzerland close to Lake Constance, is almost the opposite. Two and a half years ago, he set up his business, TL - The Time For Living, with the help of only two employees. He told me that he now has ‘an online shop and a showroom.’, as well as many more members of staff.  

They sell everything from honey to backpacks to candles, manufactured and homemade. In our recent interview, we discussed his wide variety of honey that is produced in partnership with Swiss honey giants 'Bee Family' – they have hives in Slovenia, Hungary, and Germany among many others. Alongside all their gorgeous products that are available for purchase in their online shop (link below) as well as their showroom in Switzerland, they also give bespoke one-to-one housing and interior design advice. Impressive, considering that the mastermind behind it all is only eighteen! 

Since their humble beginnings in a garage with, according to Till, only ‘a small number of products’, they have created a company worth being proud of. With his grandmother managing the bookkeeping and various friends helping, Till also employs multiple people to help with day-to-day customer interactions and financing.  

It hasn’t all been a breeze, though. Till says that it is often difficult being a young entrepreneur, because often other businesses and manufacturers don’t take him seriously. They consider him to be ‘not the right age’ in their line of work, and he says that ‘it’s not easy in his job to deal with those people’.  

When asked what advice he’d give to his younger self when first setting up the company, he said ‘no pain, no gain’. Till’s view is that you must put pressure on yourself and try as much as you can to achieve the maximum.  

One of the things that most impressed me about Till was how much he manages to do in one day. After getting up a seven every morning, he goes to business school that specializes in real estate. Having a brief respite at midday from his favourite takeaway, he returns to lessons until five p.m. and then has meetings and appointments with clients, as well as playing golf and tennis. He says that after school he sometimes spends up to three hours in the office until returning home for his evening meal.  

Till has grand plans for his future. He told me that in five years he sees himself selling houses and apartments to rich clients all over the world. He also said that in the more distant future he’d like to have a family and some children. I asked if he sees TL – the time for living as something that he’ll stop doing when he begins to do bigger things, and he said that he’s taken on some more employees who will help alleviate some of the pressure that comes with running a business.  

In Till’s case, the pressure seems to be productive.