Dutch entrepreneur Ralph Poppelaars has newly entered this year's Quote list of young self-made millionaires at spot 43. His estimated wealth is €40 million, built up mainly through his company Tierra Outdoor and real estate investments. "I tried to stay under the radar for a long time," he says in an interview with Omroep Brabant.
© Tierra Outdoor | Ralph Poppelaars
3D drawing of the new building Tierra Outdoor | Ralph Poppelaars.
Poppelaars started in the garden furniture business at a young age. At the age of 12, he sold his first garden set in his parents' garden centre. He continued that passion for outdoor furniture into his own business, which he started at 19. 'I flew to China and produced my first products. I put them in my parents' garden centre and they sold like mad,' he told Omroep Brabant.
Tierra Outdoor now supplies more than 500 shops in 17 European countries through shop-in-shop concepts. 'That is comparable to, for example, the Gucci stand in the Bijenkorf department store,' he explains. The company deliberately does not have its own shops. With annual sales of around EUR 30 million, Poppelaars continues to grow; it recently opened offices in Germany and France. The head office is located in Zundert, where he says he no longer wants to leave.
Besides garden furniture, Poppelaars also invests in real estate and supplies soft drinks to companies. Despite his success, he remains down-to-earth. 'I am very happy on Sundays that it is almost Monday again,' he says of his work ethic. His diploma from Avans Hogeschool, where he studied International Business, is still unopened in the safe: 'I get the same e-mail every year telling me to come and pick it up.'
Source: Omroep Brabant