{"id":1058,"date":"2021-02-04T07:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T07:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1058"},"modified":"2021-02-04T14:50:49","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T14:50:49","slug":"rene-dekker-success-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Ren\u00e9 Dekker \u2014 The Success Story"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n{ \"@context\": \"http:\/\/schema.org\", \"@type\": \"Person\", \"alternateName\": \"Rene Dekker\", \"name\": \"Ren\u00e9 Dekker\", \"gender\": \"Male\", \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/\", \"affiliation\" : {\"@type\" : \"Organization\", \"name\" : \"Ren\u00e9 Dekker Design\" }, \"worksFor\" : {\"@type\" : \"Organization\", \"name\" : \"Ren\u00e9 Dekker Design\" }, \"jobTitle\" : [ \"Luxury Interior Designer\", \"Interior Architect\"], \"knowsAbout\" : [ \"Luxury Interior Design\", \"Interior Architecture\" ], \"image\": \"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/rene_dekker.jpg\" }<br \/>\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/code><br \/>\nWhen Ren\u00e9 Dekker moved to the UK from South Africa (originally from The Netherlands), he was thrilled with his career choice in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/\">interior design<\/a> and the considerable experience he had already gained as an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/\">interior architect<\/a>. \u201cAlthough I had a two-year higher diploma, I had made some wonderful contacts in the industry. At the time, I would have said that this tenacity would get you everywhere, but that was 20 years ago. Now a qualification is paramount,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are a limited number of jobs with far too many people applying, so the more qualified you are the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Ren\u00e9 started to climb up the industry ladder, it soon became clear that his skills and ambition were going to need a large arena in which to grow. \u201cI had been employed as Head of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/residential\/\">Residential Interior Design<\/a> for several years at a large architectural practice, and although the role was challenging and the environment was great, I wanted to own my own future. My business partner, the Financial Director, had suggested a few times that I go solo but I resisted. Eventually I faced up to the fact that the move would be for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI'd always thought there was more security in self-employment than simply being an employee, because you are the master of your own destiny. Providing you remain focused on projects and opportunities, you will always have work. If you are employed by someone else, you tend to rest on your laurels and when work dries up, you can easily be given the boot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1061\" src=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Rene-Dekker-Merchant-Square-_020.jpg\" alt=\"Rene Dekker Design at Merchant Square\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Rene-Dekker-Merchant-Square-_020.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Rene-Dekker-Merchant-Square-_020-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The change came in December 2011 when Ren\u00e9 decided to start his own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/our-studio\/\">interior design firm<\/a>. \u201cWhen we were in the process of starting the company, the state of the economy was not great, but we were offered quite a big hotel project that would see us through the bad times. It was a great motivator to leave full-time employment and that really kick started the process &#8211; it was thrilling!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After that, things quickly snowballed. \u201cI started working from home, but soon realised that I needed more space. We had seen a few options in and around London, but found nothing suitable until we saw an advert for a space in a business centre, so went to go and look. As luck would have it, we couldn't get to see the space they wanted to show us so they showed us a different studio that wasn\u2019t yet available. I loved it &#8211; it was bright with big windows, but in a terrible condition. We waited for it to come available, rented it and set about the refurbishment on a very tight budget. We also had to install phones, a computer network, buy equipment and stationary on top of trying to work on projects &#8211; it was quite stressful, but because there were two of us, it was manageable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the support from people in the industry, Ren\u00e9 was able to settle into the new role quickly. \u201cMy peers were more than happy to help where possible, which was hugely important as this helped provide useful work leads as well as boosting my morale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"700\" height=\"469\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1059\" src=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2016-Design-Architecture-Awards-Image.jpg\" alt=\"Rene Dekker Design and Architecture Awards\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2016-Design-Architecture-Awards-Image.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2016-Design-Architecture-Awards-Image-300x201.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It's safe to say that, almost six years after starting up his business, Ren\u00e9 has never looked back. So what advice would he give people who want to follow the same path? \u201cMake sure you have a one-, three- and five-year plan, and make sure you have enough money to start the venture properly. You'll need sufficient funds to get you over the bad times and, being realistic, there will be bad times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For <a href=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/our-studio\/\">Ren\u00e9 Dekker Design<\/a> today though, things are going from strength to strength as Ren\u00e9 was recently voted one of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/accolades\/\">Top 100 Interior Designers in the world<\/a> while the studio continues to win project awards. Ren\u00e9 adds \u201cWe would like to expand to about 12-15 people, own our own office and showroom, and expand out into product design.\u201d One might ask what the secret to his being a successful businessman comprises. \u201cI\u2019m not a successful businessman &#8211; my business partner tends to that side of the things. But the secret to my success as an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-designer\/\">interior designer<\/a>\u2026well if I told you, then it wouldn\u2019t be a secret now would it?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Ren\u00e9 Dekker moved to the UK from South Africa (originally from The Netherlands), he was thrilled with his career choice in interior design and the considerable experience he had already gained as an interior architect. \u201cAlthough I had a two-year higher diploma, I had made some wonderful contacts in the industry. At the time, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ren\u00e9 Dekker \u2014 The Success Story<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82],"tags":[137,118,135,136],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"High end interior designer Ren\u00e9 Dekker discusses his journey through the interior design space &amp; how he found success starting his interior design company.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ren\u00e9 Dekker | High End Interior Designer | The Success Story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"High end interior designer Ren\u00e9 Dekker discusses his journey through the interior design space &amp; how he found success starting his interior design company.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Consilium Luxuria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-04T07:00:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-04T14:50:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/About-Rene-Dekker.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"441\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ren\u00e9 Dekker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Consilium Luxuria\",\"description\":\"Interior Design by Ren\\u00e9 Dekker\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/About-Rene-Dekker.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/About-Rene-Dekker.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":441,\"caption\":\"About Rene Dekker\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/\",\"name\":\"Ren\\u00e9 Dekker | High End Interior Designer | The Success Story\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-04T07:00:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-04T14:50:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/55da09c31df36294f3d974481cd64c33\"},\"description\":\"High end interior designer Ren\\u00e9 Dekker discusses his journey through the interior design space & how he found success starting his interior design company.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ren\\u00e9 Dekker \\u2014 The Success Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/55da09c31df36294f3d974481cd64c33\",\"name\":\"Ren\\u00e9 Dekker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2a2479c0c481536f61ed951a4d5dda0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2a2479c0c481536f61ed951a4d5dda0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ren\\u00e9 Dekker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/author\/luxuria9875\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"description":"High end interior designer Ren\u00e9 Dekker discusses his journey through the interior design space & how he found success starting his interior design company.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ren\u00e9 Dekker | High End Interior Designer | The Success Story","og_description":"High end interior designer Ren\u00e9 Dekker discusses his journey through the interior design space & how he found success starting his interior design company.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/","og_site_name":"Consilium Luxuria","article_published_time":"2021-02-04T07:00:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-04T14:50:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":441,"url":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/About-Rene-Dekker.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ren\u00e9 Dekker","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"Consilium Luxuria","description":"Interior Design by Ren\u00e9 Dekker","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/About-Rene-Dekker.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/About-Rene-Dekker.jpg","width":700,"height":441,"caption":"About Rene Dekker"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/","name":"Ren\u00e9 Dekker | High End Interior Designer | The Success Story","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-02-04T07:00:37+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-04T14:50:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/55da09c31df36294f3d974481cd64c33"},"description":"High end interior designer Ren\u00e9 Dekker discusses his journey through the interior design space & how he found success starting his interior design company.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/rene-dekker-success-story\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ren\u00e9 Dekker \u2014 The Success Story"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/55da09c31df36294f3d974481cd64c33","name":"Ren\u00e9 Dekker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2a2479c0c481536f61ed951a4d5dda0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2a2479c0c481536f61ed951a4d5dda0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ren\u00e9 Dekker"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/author\/luxuria9875\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1058"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1455,"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions\/1455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renedekker.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}