These companies will make any business feel like a startup

So your business has been around for a few years now. Things aren’t as much of a panic as they once were and the general chaos of startup life seems to have settled into something more generally manageable. Thing is, with the average lifespan of businesses dropping all the time, it takes a hell of a lot of hard work to build something with a lasting legacy.

But even if you find yourself comparing your business to companies that have been around for decades, you can rest easy in the knowledge that there are companies that make them look like young upstarts.

Take Japan’s Kongō Gumi Construction for instance. It was established in 578 AD, Then there’s Sean’s Bar in Ireland, which has been serving drinks to thirsty customers since AD 900, making it the oldest bar in Europe.

Read more: What shutting down my business taught me about running one

To be fair, it seems pretty likely that neither of those businesses are turning out products that even vaguely resemble the ones they were when they first started.

The same cannot be said of the Maranelli Bell Foundry. Founded in 1040, Italy’s oldest family business has been turning out bells, bas reliefs and bronze portals for churches for nearly 1 000 years. Of course, having the Catholic Church as your biggest customer doesn’t hurt.