The Brief Intro
- My name is Fer van Heijzen, entrepreneur, business consultant, and coach;
- Currently, I am co-funding and acting CFO at PHIX Genomics Inc. in the Philippines;
- I am available as a business coach for young entrepreneurs and start-ups;
- I am used to working with all organizational levels, with an eye on what people drive and existing cultural sensitivities;
- I have vast experience, covering many aspects of strategy development, program management, finance, operations, and IT implementations;
- Over the years I have gained experience in all aspects of starting, acquiring, merging, running and, closing down businesses;
- I am used to balancing market and commercial demands, client and company interests, within legislative, fiscal, and regulatory requirements;
- I am hands-on, ready to take up any task needed to achieve results;
- In my financial roles, besides delivering financial insights, I combine strategy, finance, and feasibility in well-prepared business cases and contribute to realistic operational planning;
- Since 2008 I devoted a fair share of my time to promote Fair Trade retail in the Netherlands;
- In 2016 I aligned with Rainmaker Worldwide, and her mission to produce clean water for communities in need;
- In 2013 my wife and I changed our lifestyle. With the children grown up, in winter times we now are traveling, and living and working abroad. In summer, in the Netherlands, we live on our sailing yacht, currently based in the Rotterdam City Marina.
The Long Introduction
Over the years I have conducted numerous consultancy, interim and program management assignments using the trade name Van Heijzen Management Consultancy. The common elements for all these assignments are: getting strategies implemented and objectives realized sustainably and successfully.
This involves working closely with all levels within the clients’ organization, understanding its culture and what people drive. It is all about combining vision, strategy, and innovation in a detailed business case, running a smart and effective plan with realistic goals, fact-based decision making along the way, and executing the plan consistently, with a lot of personal commitment.
General Business Consultancy
As a seasoned business owner and entrepreneur, I have gained experience in all aspects of starting, acquiring, merging, running, and deciding to close down businesses. Accredited with an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, my general business insights, sharp analysis, and effective coaching are highly valued, I am told.
Health Care
In 2017, I joined the PHIX Genomics project, to bring genomics-based diagnostics to the Philippines. First as a consultant, in 2019 I committed myself to the company as CFO and co-investor. Within PHIX I am responsible for strategy implementation and leading the periodical planning and control cycle. I also lead investor relations and manage the PHIX Academy.
Financial Services
Most of my experience, however, falls within the Financial Services Industry, having held executive management and consulting positions in this industry since 1990. The projects involved strategy implementation, operations management, business, and product development, change management in general and ICT systems implementations specifically, most of the clients being insurance companies and pension funds.
In addition to my business ventures, I have designed and lead several seminars for the Royal Dutch Actuarial Society and the European Actuarial Society, on business and product development. He also lectured for the Actuarial Master and Bachelor programs of the Actuarial Institute and TIAS Business School in the Netherlands.
Fair Trade Retail
In the past 10+ years, I have also served the Fair Trade Retail industry as CFO of a Fair Trade retail outlet and as co-founder of an investment fund for Fair Trade retail shops. In the last capacity, I advised retail outlets on their strategy, business plans, and finance, and assessed investment requests. Recently I have extended my reach advising a Fair Trade production facility in the Philippines on improving their business and certifying their operations.
Hospitality Services
In recent years, with the crucial help of my wife, I entered the Hospitality Industry, combining our large experience as travelers, business management experience, and awareness of guests’ expectations. Assignments involved setting up a hotel business and running guesthouses in Surinam, managing a bush lodge in South Africa, and catering for groups of cyclists in the French Alps, all to the satisfaction of guests and the owners. Keywords here are trustworthiness, reliability, and running the business as if it were ours.
IT Services
Before entering the Financial Services Industry, I worked as a lecturer, system analyst and designer, consultant, and project manager in the world of IT Services. The assignments introduced me to many different industries in many different business functions, e.g. processing, manufacturing, logistics, sales, accounting, and ERP.
Aknowledgments
I graduated from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands, as a Biologist, with majors in comparative animal physiology, social behavior, and marine biology. Minors involved applied mathematical data research and a license for first-degree biology education. I also hold a master’s degree in General Management International Business from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.