Headfirst into private enterprise
In 1993, Frank graduated from Group T as an Electromechanics engineer. Then he did a year of Business Studies at the K.U. Leuven and went to work at Alfa Laval, a company specializing in pumps and compressors. “I started out as assistant to the sales manager but that gave me the opportunity to acquaint myself thoroughly with the company and see how a company works,” he continues. “After six months, I was sent into sales myself. That was a very instructive period.”
Two years later, Frank moved to CE+T, a telecom company in Liege that works for all large telecom manufacturers. “I have done prospecting for CE+T around the globe”, he says. “Asia, America, Africa, all European countries.”
In the meantime, Frank is back in town. He worked briefly for Asea Brown Boveri and then moved to the software company Softcell. Another two years pass and Frank is a body shopper with the Computer Task Group (CTG). He literally started from scratch and was managing a turnover of 800,000 euro after only one year.
The taste of consultancy
After much wandering, Frank has ended up in consultancy. “I immediately got the taste for it,” he confirms. “I also met three like-minded people in this sector who were later to become my partners at Kite. It all started very spontaneously and informally over a beer but before we actually realized it, we had a business plan on paper. To our astonishment, we found five investors in a short period of time who were willing to do business with us. Suddenly, it was all very serious.”
Advocating entrepreneurship
Frank stands up for entrepreneurship. “As an entrepreneur, you determine your own course every day. Sometimes you do things right and that is really satisfying. Sometimes it goes wrong and you have to come up with new solutions. You’ll never have this kind of freedom as an employee. What I have learned in the last few years, I would never be able to learn as an employee in 15 years.”
Amongst Kite’s many customers, we see big names like ING, KBC, Belgacom, SPE Luminus, the Corelio Media Group, Securitas, the Belgian Railway Cooperation. “At the moment, we have an annual turnover of 1.3 million,” Frank relates. “Our ambition is to grow further and to raise this number in the coming years to five million euro.”
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