Interview with Jür De Cleene with Finex

What services or products does your organization offer?
Financial advice to businesses and private persons

What type of business or organization do you operate?
Bvba. Belgian equivalent of Ltd.

How many employees do you currently have?
3

How did you originally discover the idea for your organization?
I started the business with a friend who was as much passioned by finance as I was and we got two other persons to help us out nowadays.

How did you originally fund your organization?
Personal funds

Are you the founder of your organization?
Yes.

Do you believe there is any distinct culture within your organization? If so, please describe it.
We work in a informal style with the employees but to the customers we have a formal approch which is still necessary in the line of business we work in.

What obstacles or challenges have you faced in your organization?
Not a lot of people believed things would work out for us##comma## but we had a lot of perseverance and so##comma## we still exist today. Also a lot of people thought we were too young to start a business.

Did you accept any advice along the way? Do you believe new organizations should be open to such advice?

Did you receive any help along the way from other businesses or organizations? If so, how and from whom?
No

What have been the keys to success in your business? What do you believe are the keys to success?
Mostly hard work and a lot of research in the field.
Our company is based on trust between all the partners##comma## so there aren##aps##t almost no internal problems.

What kind of relationship do you establish with your customers or clients?
Just like the former question##comma## it##aps##s a lot of research. We try to come up with a fresh approch to the services we sell.

What types of marketing do you employ?

Do you employ any web or online marketing?
A lot! Almost every thing we do is by means of computer. It saves us a lot of time.
The internet and email are great inventions for us.

What role does trust play in business or in your organization?
In the beginning we made a lot of mistakes but we kept our chin up high and continued to work hard.

Did you struggle with starting your own organization or venture? Why did you decide to begin on your own?
Yes. When I was about twelve years old I started dreaming of being an entrepreneur or CEO. The will idea grew stronger and stronger during the years I was in school and college.

What books or resources would you recommend for individuals starting off now?
A lot of books in the Dutch Language. No need to give titles##comma## because no one will knwo them.
But to give you an idea: ##quote##Economie als tijdverdrijf##quote## en ##quote##de Handel Vandaag##quote##

Do you notice any trends in the marketplace? If so, what are they?
In my line of work I see that more and more young people get into excecutive jobs.
Internet and Email are becoming very importand tools for the employees.

Do you believe networking and contacts are important? If so, how?
It is just as important who you know as what you know.
With the former phrase I##aps##d like to illustrate that networking and contacts are very important.

What do you think about contracts and other legal obligations? Are they important in your business?
Don##aps##t let setbacks put you down. Every cloud has a silver lining.

The most important thing is that you keep believing in your own capacities and the capacities of your business.

If there is one thing that would sum up your advice to new entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Formal education is very important to get a good base about economics##comma## accountancy…
But the experience you get by really doing business is just as important.

What, if any, final advice do you have for new entrepreneurs?
Get informed well before you start your business about all the legal aspects of entrepreneurship.
They say that art is 10% inspriration and 90% transpiration##comma## for entrepreneurship this is also a general truth.
And also don##aps##t let setbacks put you down.