Lara Wilkens

We spoke with Lara Wilkens, founder of Business Breakfasts, an English spoken community-driven business development platform for growing entrepreneurs with monthly presentations, workshops, and various content provided by experts both offline and online. 

Born in Belgium and raised in New York City, Lara moved to The Netherlands for college and has been here ever since (aside from her brief stint in Dublin). Read on to learn more about Lara, her business, and how she’s dealing with these uncertain times. 

Hustle Amsterdam (HA): Where are you from? And what brings you to Amsterdam? 

Lara Wilkens (LW): I was born in Belgium, raised in New York, and a Dutch citizen.  Having been raised bi-lingual Dutch and English by Dutch parents, I wanted to explore my roots. After graduating from Scarsdale High School in New York, I moved to Leiden, The Netherlands to start college. The plan was to stay one year but I actually never went back but only made a side step to Dublin in 2015 for two and half years. 

HA: Tell us about your business? What is your mission? 

LW: Business Breakfasts is an English spoken community driven business development platform for growing entrepreneurs with monthly presentations, workshops, and various content provided by experts both offline and online. 

We originally started offline events with Amsterdam Business Breakfast in November 2017, followed by Utrecht Business Breakfast in November 2018, and recently Rotterdam Business Breakfast in September 2019. We have plans to launch in more cities throughout The Netherlands over the coming years.

In April we launched the Business Breakfasts free Online Community, an exclusive platform where entrepreneurs have access to further discussions and networking, a database of knowledge and skills updated by various experts on a monthly basis, and a forum to generate leads. An official Member Program will launch May 1st, 2020. 

My mission is to continue to support entrepreneurs, help them get connected and grow their businesses. I’m also on a little side mission to  bridge the gap between Dutch and international entrepreneurs within The Netherlands.

HA: How are you handling our new “normal” due to the coronavirus outbreak? What impact has it had on your business? How has the transition to working remotely been for you? Are you being strict with a routine or taking it day-by-day? 

LW: The current crisis has taken a toll on all of us including my business and I’m being challenged every day! 

From mid March my events went from offline to online, which was a very big step for me as I never organized such events before. I was thrown in the deep end but thanks to our brilliant guest speaker that month, highly skilled in giving presentations with a production background, we were able to turn it all around quickly! Sure, a few bumps here and there but I really didn’t mind. It was new for me and I had to learn. 

As the saying goes “people do business with people” so for three years I’ve been trying to get entrepreneurs to meet offline. During those three years, however, I’ve also been looking for new ways to add more value to the community which logically brought me to think about developing an online community. At the beginning of March, I hired three interns to start setting up the new free and paid online community which was literally two weeks before semi-lockdown. Interesting timing eh? 

Luckily for me, I enjoy working from home and have been doing so for quite a few years now so there was very little transition for me there. I do miss networking but have managed to organize my current online events to make time for networking.

HA: Why Business Breakfasts? What brought you to the community building and networking industry?

LW: When I came back to The Netherlands from Dublin in 2016, where I launched my first business as an all around marketing and communications expert, I knew I wasn’t going to move back. I kept a few of my clients there but felt very out of touch. I didn’t feel close enough to my clients which made it difficult for me to communicate their message and address their needs and those of their customers. I then decided to launch another business in online marketing in The Netherlands, as this was much more in demand at the time. I soon realized how much competition there was and how important it was for me to network to get my business noticed.

During this time I found very few if any morning networking events that were English spoken or that attracted international entrepreneurs, with interesting content and on a regular basis. I attended a few evening events but after a long day working I had less energy or enthusiasm to attend them and I thought I can’t be the only one.  

I reached out to a local international community and asked, if I were to set up a morning networking event in Amsterdam, would there be an interest. Within a very short period of time I had several positive responses including another entrepreneur who wanted to help and also introduce me to his network. This was my cue and so I launched Amsterdam Business Breakfast in November 2017.

From the very first event, I had a following of people who regularly came back which was proof to me that this concept was working. I soon also realized while organizing these events, how much I enjoyed it; they gave me tons of energy and inspiration which I was missing from my online marketing business at the time. I then started to look back at my personal and professional history, and it all made sense why. I grew up in an expat family well before the Internet when networking was essential to find like-minded people. Throughout my entire youth, we attended many events at the Dutch consulate and my parents hosted get-togethers where I met their friends and many international people. All through my entire career I was always the “spider in the web” where I pooled resources, managed accounts, projects, relationships, and regularly organized events. Business Breakfasts is thus a result of all my experience and background! 

HA: What is the current state of Business Breakfasts? Do you have six and 12-month goals for your business? 

LW: Business Breakfasts started in November 2017 in Amsterdam and has grown to include Rotterdam and Utrecht and an online community that we launched in April 2020. 

This coming year, the focus will be to continue the momentum and organize monthly events in the various locations and grow our online community. From 2021, I would like to add more locations such as Den Haag and research other opportunities within Europe.

HA: What kind of obstacles do you face in your company? How do you handle them?

LW: I see every obstacle as an opportunity. As a matter of fact, one of the many things I enjoy about being an entrepreneur is finding solutions and creating new opportunities! 

I’m honored to be able to work with so many amazing people, such as my brand ambassadors Jennifer Nunez, Juan David Garzon, Ana Carolina Gallo and James Calcinai aka Team Business Breakfasts, talented guest speakers and our experts, sponsors and partners all who dedicated their time and/or resources to support the growth of Business Breakfasts. Without them, I really don’t know whether Business Breakfasts would be where it is today. Although not an obstacle, I try very hard to ensure everyone who helps me gets a win-win situation and to help them move their business forward.

HA: What has been your most successful moment so far? And how do you celebrate your wins? 

LW: I’ve had many successful moments! Each location launch and having an amazing loyal team of volunteers to help grow my business. I celebrate my wins by going out for a nice dinner somewhere where I haven’t been yet with a very nice bottle of wine. 

HA: How have you accomplished what you have? Did you go to business school? Did you wing it? Fake it till you make it? Get really lucky? 

LW: I studied Integrated Communications Management and always worked in Marketing departments before I became an entrepreneur. With Business Breakfasts I wasn’t very sure what the results would be but felt very strongly about the concept and I guess sort of winged it, dove right in and kept on going!

HA: Did you fundraise for your business? If so, tell me about your experience.

LW: I funded my business through sponsors, collaborated with various media partners, and I was able to generate revenue through my events and various projects such as the quarterly Entrepreneurs Morning Session; a collaboration event with the Kamer van Koophandel and Gemeente Amsterdam.

HA: How big is your team? And where are your team members located? 

LW: I’m a freelancer (éénmanszaak) and work together with an amazing team of four volunteers each with a unique skill set. I also hired two part-time interns in March and one full-time intern from April to help set up the Business Breakfasts online community which is hosted on a new platform called Mighty Networks.

“We don’t do business with companies. We do business with people.” - Simon Sinek

HA: Do you have a favorite motivational quote? 

LW: “We don’t do business with companies. We do business with people.” - Simon Sinek

HA: What 3 tips would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs? What do you wish you had known before you started? 

LW: Do what gives you positive energy, stay as close to your heart as possible, and PLEASE have integrity! I’d like to add one more, be empathetic! 

HA: How would you describe your working style? 

LW: I’m a die-hard coordinator, thrive on hands-on activities, and love collaborating. I’m flexible and do my utmost best to be reliable and practice what I preach at all costs and expect that from the people I work with. 

HA: When you’re not working on Business Breakfasts — where can we find you? 

LW: Pre corona time you would find me in the gym or going out for a nice lunch or dinner, or having a biertje and bitterballen at a café along a canal when the weather is nice. During the Corona crisis, I love biking through the beautiful streets of Amsterdam, they really never bore! I love music and while I go for walks I’m always exploring new sounds or artists from indie, world, jazz, house, R&B, you name it (Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” really helps me with that.) Lastly, cooking and trying new recipes! 

HA: How do you find work-life balance while being an entrepreneur? 

LW: It can be challenging at times especially to dedicate time for exercise. I can easily get lost in my work as I’m having so much fun! To make sure I get my exercise, I found a way that works best for me and that’s to start first thing in the morning and avoid looking at my phone! I also work on the weekends but always make time for fun with friends! 

HA: What’s your passion? 

LW: Music and my business, Business Breakfasts.

HA: What inspires you most about Amsterdam? Do you have any favorite spots to work or hangout? 

LW: I absolutely love Amsterdam! Everywhere you look you are bound to see something beautiful. It’s very international which fits me perfectly, has a small village feeling and so much creativity and innovation. As the founder of Business Breakfasts I have the fortune of regularly meeting entrepreneurs in all kinds of businesses who also inspire me. 

I have many favorite spots in Amsterdam but when the weather is nice, I always try and find a nice spot along Het Ij, the Amstel River or the many canals.

HA: Anything else you’d like to tell our readers? 

LW: Feel free to join our events or the Business Breakfasts Online Community (its free 😉)