Patrick van Rhienen: "I'll get there in a different way than school."

Patrick van Rhienen is not the poster child for studying and going to school. Yet he has become a hard-working and successful entrepreneur. Patrick demonstrates that the right attitude can take you far. He runs SUNS, a successful company that sells garden furniture. The company presented itself at MASTERS EXPO with its own booth.

Patrick van Rhienen isn't it poster child for studying and going to school. Yet he has become a hardworking and successful entrepreneur. Patrick shows that if you have the right attitude, you can really get there. And he does that, with his successful company SUNS, which designs and sells garden furniture, among other things. SUNS was also present MASTERS EXPO in November last year. MASTERS spoke to the entrepreneur about his wheelbarrow and success. Text: Noa Verseveldt
Online editor: Patrick Stoffer

What was your very first job?

“I started at Leen Bakker, which was part of Blokker Holding. I started in the company as an assistant to an assistant. My father was also an entrepreneur himself and owned the company Jardin Tuinmeubelen. He was a purveyor to Leen Bakker and Blokker. Arie Bakker was a friend of my father. I am an example of an entrepreneur where school and I were not a good match. I have always said: “I will get there in another way”. I had the right work ethic, so Arie Bakker said: “let him come over.”

How did you end up in your current job?

“When I started at Leen Bakker, my father said: “if you have a choice, choose purchasing”. By coincidence, there was a vacancy available in purchasing. Rene de Hond, purchasing director at the time, had a good relationship with my father and I was allowed to go on a purchasing trip to Asia. A purchasing assistant had never accompanied me before. We then went to four countries: Indonesia, China, Taiwan and Singapore. I wanted to convince Rene the Dog that he should take me to Asia more often. I then started making visit reports, I measured the garden furniture and took photos of the products. I had done an entire book about that trip. Rene told this to Arie Bakker and in the first year I was allowed to go to Asia 4 times. The following year six times and finally I traveled to Asia eight times a year. I left Blokker Holding at the end of 2008 and in 2009 I created my first own collection in Asia. I immediately started doing business with Leen Bakker, Blokker, Sligro and Karwei, among others, and that's how it all started.”

Who was your wheelbarrow in that?

“My real wheelbarrow was of course my father, without my father's working relationships I would never have ended up at Leen Bakker. If my father was not in that industry, they would never have hired me at Leen Bakker. I had no high education, only a MAVO diploma and MEAO certificates. But in the field of entrepreneurship and purchasing, my mentors were really Rene de Hond and Arie Bakker.”

What is your greatest passion in your profession?

“Yes, the love for garden furniture. Of course it was in my DNA through my father. He was one of the first with plastic garden furniture and when I was young I didn't find it that interesting. But by chance there was a vacancy in the purchasing department, so I started purchasing garden furniture.”

What has been the biggest learning moment in your career?

“Because you haven't really had any training, you don't learn to work together within a project group. Arie Bakker wanted me to study alongside work, but I had no time to stop. Which resulted in working six days a week. When I was 25, I became overstressed and spent three months at home with a burnout. That has been the biggest learning moment in my career. Learning to delegate and work with a team. Not wanting to do everything yourself, but to do it together with your team. I now also know if it gets too much for me that I can take a step back instead of always carrying on.”

What advice would you give to your 18 year old self?

“I'm very happy with how it went and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I have nothing that I regret or wish I would have done differently. Maybe just think big, if you want something you just have to go for it. You shouldn't be afraid of failure, you should chase your dreams. Training or no training, if you do that you will get there.”

Have you been a wheelbarrow for someone?

“Yes, what I have a soft spot for are young people who have not been given the opportunities like I have or who do not have a wheelbarrow. I find it a nice challenge to motivate these young people and give them a chance. Some started in the warehouse and grew in the company. Then I come back to that attitude, if you have the right attitude you will get there. I actually do the same thing Leen Bakker did with me.”