The Spring 2004 Issue contains a.o. the following articles:

INTERVIEW

Erik De Vlieger – I Do It My Way
By Sabine Haenen
Relatively unknown to outsiders only a few years ago, Erik De Vlieger (44) is now climbing up the Dutch business ladder at a dazzling speed. He expanded his father’s sewing machine business into the Imca Group, which is also active in real estate, shipping, aviation, media, and publisher of The Amsterdam Times. Not bad for someone who almost dropped out of high school, but surprised his peers by graduating all the same. De Vlieger thinks he received his best training for life as an apprentice in his father’s business. Five years of hard work provided him with the necessary skills to make it in the business jungle.
Read what else Erik de Vlieger had to tell Sabine Haenen in this fascinating interview with one of the Netherlands’ more successful young entrepreneurs.

INTERVIEW

Interview with Professor Geert Hofstede
Sympathy for Entrepreneurs
“Currently, there is this sort of myth around ‘special’ people who are ‘needed’ to run a company. To me, they are simply profiteers. They’ve learned a trick that worked well in the past and because of this, they are rented by the big companies to manage their businesses, in the hopes that they will be successful again. They don’t know at all whether their trick will work again, but they arrange it so, that if it does, they’ll get rich on the shares, and if it doesn’t, they’ll get rich from the golden handshake. I have far more sympathy for entrepreneurs than I do for so-called ‘top managers’. Successful entrepreneurs build a business. They do a lot of work for very little money. They show great dedication, and incredible stamina. On average, a new company takes eight years to become a success. This means they must persist, ignoring misgivings and overcoming setbacks. At this point, I find it far more acceptable that they come out of this with a lot of money. The so-called top managers never experience this type of sacrifice.”
Prof. Dr. Geert Hofstede
www.geert-hofstede.com

TAX

Starting a company in the Netherlands
Fiscal Aspects
There are various ways of doing business in the Netherlands. In many cases, a company that is established outside the Netherlands will simply seek a way to contact Dutch suppliers and clients. Or it may set up a permanent establishment here.
There are various legal forms for setting up a company in the Netherlands, such as a so-called one-man business (eenmanszaak), a general or commercial partnership (vennootschap onder firma, or Vof), a limited partnership with managing and ‘silent’ partners (commanditaire vennootschap, or CV), or a private company with limited liability (besloten vennootschap, or BV). You can also use a non-Dutch form for a company that you establish here, such as the French SA, the German GmbH or the British Ltd. Each form has its particular legal traits.
In this article, the author goes into the fiscal aspects of having a company that is established in this country.
www.loyensloeff.com