My life.
From a hospitality business where I did the cooking myself to developing property. My story as an entrepreneur is about putting ideas into practice, meeting people and learning from experience along the way.
Learning business on the job
In my first hospitality business, I did everything myself. I made pancakes, served the guests and then washed the dishes. That was where running a business began for me: among people, doing work that had an immediate result. You could see whether someone was enjoying themselves and quickly notice what could be improved.
In my hospitality businesses, I could immerse myself in the lighting, the interior, the music, the performers and the atmosphere of an evening. All those elements had to work together. What I enjoyed was both coming up with an idea and carrying it through: seeing something in my head grow into a place where people wanted to spend time.
But as the owner, I was also the person people called when something went wrong. While I was busy at one venue, a problem could already be developing at another. Those years taught me how much energy a business takes when almost everything comes back to you.
A different way to build
My hospitality businesses brought me into contact with property. Buying a hotel and later selling it introduced me to property investors. What began as an interest grew into a new direction. I discovered a world that called for longer-term thinking, where strategy and structure played a larger part.
In 2002, I bought the office on the Loolaan in Apeldoorn. It suited the business I wanted to build. At the same time, I brought my experience in hospitality with me. I looked at a building with the same attention to its appearance and atmosphere that I had previously given to a restaurant or club.
The numbers mattered, but I was also interested in the story behind a place. What could you make of it? Who was it for? And how could you help someone experience its possibilities? It was in that combination of property, creativity and marketing that I found my own way of doing business.
Bringing people together
My New Year’s receptions at Paleis Het Loo became a distinctive part of my business story. I brought together people from property, business, politics and other walks of life. People who would not necessarily meet through their everyday work.
The speakers were part of the attraction, but I also valued the conversations between guests. A meeting could lead to a more detailed conversation later. I would then invite business contacts to the office as well. That gave an initial introduction a follow-up and allowed a business relationship to develop more substance.
When I later began organising the receptions again, I thought more carefully about what a gathering like that should offer. A good conversation and hearing from someone with first-hand experience became more important to me. Bringing people together remained appealing, especially when there was room to learn from one another.
Experience as a starting point
After business setbacks, I had to look again at what I could build. In doing so, I discovered how much I still had: my experience, my knowledge of business, my feel for marketing and my ability to see possibilities. I could draw on everything I had learned over the years.
It also meant turning my attention to new questions. When it came to housing, for example, I began thinking about what someone really needs: a place of their own, a practical layout and opportunities to meet other people. That idea took shape in Edelwonen. My attention shifted from the building alone to the lives people could lead there.
For me, starting again happened in small steps. Having a conversation, inviting people again, developing an idea and then showing what came of it. Gradually, I found more room to look ahead. My experience became the starting point for new work.
Looking back to move forward
In my books, I record different periods of my life in business. Het komt VastGoed covers the early years of building a business, from hospitality to property. My book In alle BouwStaten describes my experiences during the financial crisis and its consequences for my business. In De Weg Terug, I look at starting again and the lessons that continue to shape what comes afterwards.
Looking back also shows me how my own measures of success have changed. For a long time, a successful project mainly made me think about the next step: how could it become bigger? These days, I also ask how much room a plan leaves if circumstances change, and whether I really want to spend my time on it.
The pleasure of coming up with something and making it happen has stayed with me. My view of what makes a good business decision has broadened. That is the development I want my stories to show: the ideas, the decisions and the way experience changes how you do business.
