'We can go back to business!'

No longer just the delusion of the day

A look back at 2022 as well as a look ahead to 2023 is well spent on Johan Hol and Aart van den Berg, director-owners at Markiezen Nederland from Culemborg. For, there is much to tell, were it not that their message is immediately clear: "We hope that we can all get back to business after two years of corona. In that frenzy, we ran from one extreme to the other. It's nice when there's a little more peace again." 

By rest, Johan does not mean, by the way, that it will be a matter of sitting back. "Oh no, certainly not," he laughs. "But we were mostly executing and arranging because of all the corona misery. We were all consumed by the delusion of the day. I also saw it with our customers: the dynamics dominated their daily goings-on, even though they too once started their business because they wanted to be in business."

After all, it all went pretty easy in the past two years. Everyone in the Netherlands was sitting at home and so consumers discovered that some work could be done on the look and feel of their own homes. Now that great ease is over. "If I am very honest, compared to the corona years, I expect a step back. Maybe shrinkage. But then there's the challenge: are you creative enough as an entrepreneur to still be able to grow?"

"Because we all have to work harder for it again, I expect that manufacturer and specialist retailers will have to show much more of their mutual cooperation," Aart explains. "Attention to customization is still badly needed, because consumers know very well what they want. I am also convinced that awnings - in all shapes and sizes - still have a lot of potential. We are therefore developing steadily. We have invested a lot in recent years, for example in CNC benches, other new machines and a new truck." 

"In the awning market, it has now become much more of a conversation about interior and exterior," Johan continues. "Consequently, we see a lot more different variants and more modern colors in the awning industry. Not everything is still very traditional with stripes. A lot has also changed in the materials used. Now you see 80% aluminum and 20% wood. Just a few years ago it was the other way around. Our own collection has also become broader in that respect." 

When asked if their company could be considered a forerunner in the market, the pair nodded in the affirmative. "When we were really developing our collection and products a few years ago, some people declared us crazy. But in retrospect it turned out that our insights were right. We are now appreciated for our wide range. But apart from that, 2023 will be an exciting year, though. But we see it anyway. The reason? We can get back to entrepreneurship! And when you undertake, you think ahead again!"