PETER KOPERDRAAD, MERIDA BENELUX

Peter Koperdraad has been working as Managing Director at Merida Benelux since 1997. The provider of Merida's high-quality bicycles. He does this with a lot of passion, knowledge and craftsmanship. His enthusiasm is the flywheel of his success. But who helped Peter into the saddle? Text: Mical Joseph
Image: Merida Benelux

What was your very first job?

“That was folding cleaning cloths in my father's laundry. I was only 14 years old at the time. My father had an industrial laundry for cleaning cloths, for printing companies, garages and machine factories. Think of oils, printing inks and solutions that had to be cleaned and cleaned from engines. These cleaning cloths were washed in our industrial washing machines, sorted, folded and returned to the user. This saved the environment a bit, because these cloths could be reused about 30 to 40 times.”

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

“As an 18-year-old boy, I would advise myself to always be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm goes the furthest. Do everything with a smile, then you have already won half the battle. And this is really true!”

How did you end up in your current job?

“My then father-in-law had several companies in the bicycle industry. He was the owner of Union, among other things, and met Tseng's family at a fair. The owner of the Merida brand from Taiwan. They were still looking for an importer for the Benelux. My then father-in-law told me that if I ever wanted to do something in the bicycle industry, this might be a good way to get into it. So I got into the bicycle industry through my ex-father-in-law.”

Who was your wheelbarrow in that?

“My then father-in-law opened the door to finding my niche in the bicycle industry, but if I want to name a real wheelbarrow, it was my own father. I got the way of working, always with a smile, perseverance, management and the entrepreneurial drive from him. He was the real wheelbarrow, who assisted me with advice and assistance and still does so at the age of 76.”

What is your greatest passion in your profession?

“My greatest passion is to see satisfied consumers who are happy with the purchase of their bicycle. It is always cool to receive people back with a big smile after a test drive of about two hours and to see and feel their enthusiasm. That's what you think, this is really what you do it for!”

What has been your biggest learning moment in your career?

“Ensuring that the ship does not sink during a difficult period. In the early 2000s, collaborations were somewhat difficult due to shareholder changes. This was not easy and I learned a lot from this.”

Have you been a wheelbarrow for someone?

“I have been a wheelbarrow for my own children. I have two daughters. They are now both flight attendants at KLM. At that time I often took them to trade fairs. I have always taught them that if you 'eat' from selling bicycles, then you can also do something for it. They have both worked behind the bar at various fairs. From there they often moved to another company to do the same for another company.”

“When my children were only 6-7 years old, I always taught them as a joke to thank people who rode a Merida bike. When we had gone out for dinner they had to shout from the car to the person riding the Merida bike; 'Thank you for the delicious food!'. I then told them that we could go out to dinner because of the profit from the bicycle that that gentleman or lady was riding. I also taught them that if there was a group of cyclists together, one of whom was riding a Merida, they always had to say that the Merida bike was very nice and that they didn't think the other one was that cool.”