15 years ago to the day Leika Consult BV, the company vehicle to facilitate my self-employment, was formally established (09-09-1999).

I have been self-employed a little longer though. In between two jobs I had experienced a year of freelance work, and in the months running up to the establishment of Leika I was involved in projects under its (preliminary) title already.

To me self-employment came pretty natural. Not that I was born an entrepreneur or came from an entrepreneurial family. All my fiends at university graved to start for a solid career with one of the big firms in the Netherlands. I landed a job with Shell myself, which was the number 1 employer for young graduates at the time. There I was at the start of a solid 35 year life time employment career path as a salary man…. Of coarse with hindsight this was a misconception, that world was already eroding.

But the world was changing. Young professionals started to hop jobs, the yuppie status was a novelty. Young, high salary, high bonuses. I was one of them…

Ten years later I found my self at my third employer and realized I was pretty lucky that I had been able to be involved in some unique projects and developments. At the same time I realized that if I wanted to add value to a(ny) company it would not be reasonable to expect that I could do so at one employer all the time. That is when I decided to start as an independent business consultant. As my project listing shows I have been involved in many interesting projects since.

To keep up and running for 15 years is a challenge. It brought me many ups as well as a few downs. There is one certainty: the uncertainty of landing a new project after the last one ended. But most importantly it gives the instant gratification that I have been able to hold up my own pants.

I am looking forward for the next interesting 15 years.

Jan Willem Mars

Leika bmp transparant