Not doomed, but your market narrows down. You better produce and sell something really special.
Switzerland is an example of it: its currency, and thus work of its people, is expensive. Their exports are things like high-end mechanical watches, and other low-volume high-precision machines.
In addition, I would think the relative safety and attractivity of finance in Switzerland is also key to making sure said currency doesn't become irrelevant. For a small country, they command impressive power in the financial space, however privately so.
Switzerland is an example, but at less than 10 million people, it doesn’t compare well to many other economies like Japan, Korea, Germany, Russia, China, etc.
I constantly hear this argument about inflation being good for exports, but I cannot help but wonder that in the final analysis, it is just a mechanism by which wealth is shifted from those with savings, into the hands of exporters. Isn't this propping up exports that would otherwise have not been naturally competitive?
As the yen appreciated by 60% following the 1985 Plaza Accord, Japanese companies lost competitiveness in final electronics goods
In other words, if your currency appreciates, you’re doomed.