Multientrepreneur

“Running a business

doesn’t feel like work”

If entrepreneurship had not yet existed, Bas van der Werf would have invented it. This passionate business economics student at Tilburg University already has three companies to his name at the age of 24, as well as many other initiatives.

Text: Peter de Jong

At the age of ten, he earned his first money doing odd jobs: mowing grass for five euros, washing cars for ten. Later, as a junior at the local hockey club, he took over refereeing duties from veterans who didn’t feel like it, fifteen euros per game. “I officiated about five games a weekend, so it was easy money.”

America is the land of his dreams. At the age of fifteen, he had to do a three-week internship at an English-speaking company. Bas arranged an internship in New York right away. The seed was sown. In 2018, he was back in the US, this time in Texas for six months to take electives for his studies in business economics. “I definitely want to go back there. In America, ambition is valued. Here’s the more: just act normal, that’s crazy enough. But first, let’s set up a solid business here.”

Greece

After high school, he started studying technical business administration in Eindhoven, but that was too theoretical for him. “After six months, I had had enough. I went to work as a ski instructor in Austria. In the summer, I supervised flotillas in Greece. I still do the latter; I go there for about six weeks every year. Wonderful. I learned a lot from working with groups. You learn to be good with people. To make people happy, even those with whom there is no click.”

The companies

At the age of twenty, he started Wemeb, a management consultancy firm. Roughly speaking, Wemeb mediates between established companies and promising startups. One is looking for innovation, the other has good ideas and is looking for an investor.”

Gold

Not everything Bas touches turns to gold. In 2018, he set up an investment fund in cryptocurrency, Werfs Investment Management. In the end it didn’t work out, there were too many legal snags. No reason to be put off, though. In October of last year, he launched Hallolex, an online platform that delivers custom-made legal documents to entrepreneurs. General terms and conditions, employment con-

The preferences of Bas van der Werf

Example Sander Schimmelpenninck and Jort Kelder Newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad Book What we can learn from America by Rick Nieman Watches Shark Tank Film The Big Short, The Wolf of Wall Street Actor Leonardo diCaprio Restaurant JAXX Marina CEO Nancy McKinstry (Wolters Kluwer) Club Ajax and Willem II Car Volvo XC90 Sport golf and hockey Tilburg University beautiful campus Tilburg breeding ground Country America Bucket list: skydiving

“I learned a lot from working with groups”

“My drive is not only to make money, but above all to achieve something I am proud of”

tracts, privacy statements, etc. “In the Netherlands, we have a lot of freelancers and small entrepreneurs who lack the time and money to hire an expensive lawyer to draw up legal documents. Entrepreneurs can order them from us for a reasonable price. Leave legal to Lex,” he says with a laugh.

Seizing opportunities

Bas works an average of 12 hours a day, six days a week; he has put his business eco

BRAM BELLONI

nomics on the backburner for the time being. Isn’t he at risk of a burn-out? “No. It doesn’t feel like work. Running a business is wonderful. Freedom. Seeking opportunities and trying to seize them. Making your own decisions. My drive is not only to make money, but above all to achieve something I am proud of. Some people work to live, for me work is an important part of life. I also take good care of my body and mind. I work out and play golf, and I never bottle things up. I am in contact with my mother every day. And with my grandfather, my great example when it comes to business. He wasn’t able to go to university, but he still set up a company in the IT sector. He always gives me advice, solicited and unsolicited. In honor of Hallolex, he gave me a sign with a beautiful maxim: “Success is doing ordinary work extraordinarily well.”

Simple online shop

Does he have any tips for a fellow student with an idea for a company? “Certainly. There are roughly four steps you have to take. It starts with your idea, what do you want to sell? Step 2: check whether there is sufficient demand for your product. If so, you can carefully start a pilot, limiting your costs. With Hallolex, I started a simple online shop, without a lot of frills. It allows you to make adjustments easily. I launched a new website only recently. Once things are really up and running, you take step 4 and continue investing and building up the business.”