The Pen | Patrick Leering, director Decolegno

A little less conservative please

Naturally, thanks to the editors of Binnenwerk for allowing me to provide this DE PEN. It is quite an honor to be the guest columnist for once. But I'll come straight to the point with the following question: aren't we all a bit too conservative in the industry?

Thinking ahead is difficult, I note. OK, you can have 'knowledge of the market' but of course it is also about - if you reason from the perspective of entrepreneurship - knowing how to jump into 'the gap in the market'. So, how to successfully exploit available knowledge for yourself.

When we started 10 years ago, literally in a little office at home and a few externally hired square footage that was supposed to represent a showroom, I decided right away to abandon opportunism. Of course I had to make a living, but I firmly believed even then that I could only succeed in the long run if I knew what type of customers I wanted to serve. And, with what products. Therefore, I believe in specialism in our field. It is the reason why we only carry one brand. Only then can you give the best advice and avoid being presented as a mishmash in the market.

Only in that entrepreneurial and business mode can you be progressive and break unnamed taboos. It is the basis for your own innovation in thinking and doing. Because, with that specialty, you can play....

However, I would like to see that a little more in the marketplace. I'm sorry to say it but I see that many are still living in the 90s. People are quick to judge and condemn and many continue to do as they always did. Why not jump out of the band a little more?

When I look at interior designers, for example, do they dare to charge a price that matches the value of what they want to sell? The answer is no. After all, quality does not deny itself but why can't we always tell the story that matches the beautiful products we are all trying to sell?

After all, telling that story can be done in so many creative ways. It surprises me that - despite the presence of so many technological possibilities - too little use is still being made of them. Social media, for example. Is hardly ever used. Or, what about Influencers? Unfortunately, there are also too few trade shows. People grumble about that. Now yes. So be it. So we are considering starting our own In House Shows at the various Concept Stores. Also the  Developing webinars is high on list to start communicating with target audience in a different inspiring and innovative way

Whether it all works out? I don't know. But inaction and sitting still are no longer options. We have no choice because we don't want to be opportunistic. That's why we think ahead every day precisely because we don't want to be conservative. And therefore distinctive.

I grant you the same.

Patrick Leering (51) is founder and commercial director of Wormerveer-based DecoLegno. In 2020 his company will be 10 years old, it now employs 17 people in a showroom of 1100m².  In 2021 - is the plan - the company will move to a larger location in Zaandam.