Testimonial
Doing Business
It is our mission to help small and medium businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals to focus on creating value by being their preferred partner that provides a great workspace, co-working facilities and business support services.
Joost Leenders
Owner, Hatchhub Serviced Offices
My name is Joost Leenders, I was born in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands in 1990, and since then I have lived, studied, and worked in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Singapore, and the Philippines. During my International Business studies in Singapore, where I lived with my parents, I met my wife who is from the Philippines. We moved to Metro Manila back in 2014 where I started working for European-based online companies exploring options in Asia. I then worked in the outsourcing industry, still following European working hours, and over a year ago I started living the dream of having my own company and becoming an entrepreneur.
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Together with my wife Ingrid, we opened Hatchhub Serviced Offices in May 2019. Hatchhub Serviced Offices is a co-working space that focuses on supporting small and medium enterprises with their office needs. Hatchhub offers them a place to start their business and let it grow while we take care of all of their office needs, from furniture to IT & internet requirements, from coffee to facilitation, from high-quality customer service to free business consultation.
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It is our mission to help small and medium businesses, entrepreneurs, and professionals to focus on creating value by being their preferred partner that provides a great workspace, co-working facilities, and business support services.
My motivation to build my own business developed when I was growing up in the Netherlands. My grandparents would tell me about how they set up their own shoe store in Amersfoort, starting by only selling shoes for men and then growing their portfolio and business from there on. What I love about being an entrepreneur is the endless opportunities and challenges that you face. Every day, I experience new challenges, like the situation with COVID-19 and the subsequent closure of offices. I also continuously want to create new opportunities. The co-working space just provides that flexibility and opportunity. Last year, one of our private offices was used by a call center team. Today, we have a company that gives lectures in alternative medicines to a small group of doctors (with safety procedures in place). We even had a couple that recently used our office for their marriage ceremony that went virtual, with a limited number of guests present on the scene.
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I truly love being at Hatchhub every day, developing businesses, and improving our business every day by always trying to get to know existing and potential new clients better and thinking about how we can serve them in the best possible way by offering excellent customer experiences. Managing a team and seeing my employees grow in their jobs motivates me to continue to work on my own leadership skills.
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What attracted me to opening a business in the Philippines is the endless opportunities that Manila offers in the growing start-up industries. In Manila, it is easy to start your own business. The need for capital is less than in other parts of the world and I like the business culture in the Philippines where people are very much willing to help each other.
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The best practices to become a successful entrepreneur in the Philippines are as follows. Number one: always be open to new opportunities and welcome them into your business. Think about the opportunities that arise and adapt your company towards them. Number two: always take time to take distance and to think before facing a new challenge or problem. Talk about this with others that you trust. Number three: remain optimistic. Where there is a will there is a way. Never think that things are always impossible. If you are motivated, you can achieve. Number four: always be open to and ask for feedback and advice from others and make sure you keep a structured approach to work, including (financial) reporting. Lastly, always keep on giving opportunities to your employees to support them to develop themselves by working as a team.