Robin Vermaat: Helping Firms Grow Through His Expertise In Business Consulting & Logistics Management
Robin Vermaat
Founder & CEO
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Robin shares his overall professional background, his thought process behind the changing market behavior, and much more.
Throw some light on your professional background and experience. What inspired you to start your professional journey in the Consultancy Services domain and what drives you today as an entrepreneur?
I started my career in freight & logistics, third party logistics, and contract logistics in a tank container company in the Nether lands. Eventually, the firm brought me to the UAE,where I have my own Logistics Consultancy firm in Abu Dhabi. I always wanted to start my entrepreneurial venture and work for myself independently. So after more than 20 years of experience as well as spending more than a decade in the Middle East, I founded RV Consultancy. As an entrepreneur, I
always see interesting opportunities to work on or create collaborations.
Being independent and responsible for the company’s growth is something that drives me today as an entrepreneur.
How would you define RV Consultancy as an organization and its position in the market?
I founded RV Consultancy in 2021 to help, assist and support both local as well as international companies to grow their business to a higher level through experience, knowledge, network, and skillset. We also provide Management Consulting, where we help companies excel in Sales, KPIs, C-Management training, and many more. As a relatively young company I find ourselves growing in this competitive market while creating name awareness. Our specializations in Freight Forwarding, as well as Contract Logistics, are something that helps us stand out from the rest in the market.
Reflect on some of the major challenges you have encountered so far. How did you overcome them and what did you learn from them?
While there have been several challenges that we have faced throughout the whole journey, the pandemic was by far the biggest challenge for everybody. However, it also taught us to be flexible, and agile, and not to give up. Many companies perfectly adopted the ‘workfrom home’ model and in some cases, companies adopting the ‘work from home’ model showed better productivity as compared to those working from the office.
Being independent and responsible for the company’s growth is something that drives me today as an entrepreneur.
Our specializations in Freight Forwarding, as well as Contract Logistics, are something that helps us stand out from the rest in the market
How would you define RV Consultancy as an organization and its position in the market?
I founded RV Consultancy in 2021 to help, assist and support both local as well as international companies to grow their business to a higher level through experience, knowledge, network, and skillset. We also provide Management Consulting, where we help companies excel in Sales, KPIs, C-Management training, and many more. As a relatively young company I find ourselves growing in this competitive market while creating name awareness. Our specializations in Freight Forwarding, as well as Contract Logistics, are something that helps us stand out from the rest in the market.
Reflect on some of the major challenges you have encountered so far. How did you overcome them and what did you learn from them?
While there have been several challenges that we have faced throughout the whole journey, the pandemic was by far the biggest challenge for everybody. However, it also taught us to be flexible, and agile, and not to give up. Many companies perfectly adopted the ‘workfrom home’ model and in some cases, companies adopting the ‘work from home’ model showed better productivity as compared to those working from the office.
Going forward, what are the changes in market behavior that you anticipate, and what are the opportunities that you foresee? In the light of your strong industry experience, what advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs in this domain?
The pandemic as well as the subsequent lockdown has increased the health concerns among people, and nowadays, everyone is mostly opting for online ordering. This new market behavior has positively impacted the e-Commerce sector with a massive rise. Even everybody wants fast or same day deliveries, which is automatically encouraging firms to adopt digitalization, which for me, definitely is the future. The advice I would like to give to budding entrepreneurs is not to give-up on their dreams. Don’t give-up on your dreams and beliefs. Keep pushing and you will succeed.
Robin Vermaat, Founder &CEO, RV Consultancy
Robin has over 20 years of experience in Freight Forwarding in the Middle East and Europe. Over the years, he has been responsible for Supply Chain, Sales Management, B2B/B2C Sales, Marketing & Strategic Implementation. Robin has worked in Iraq for two years and been in the UAE for 10 years where he built a wide network of business connections, allowing him to create strong ties and business relationships with internal and external stakeholders. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Commercial Marketing & Communications from the Netherlands and currently is the Founder & CEO of RV Consultancy.
•Hobbies:Sports & Swimming
•Favorite Cuisine:Japanese
•Favorite Book:The one minute manager meets the monkey
•Favorite Travel Destination:Dutch Antilles/Caribbean or the Maldives
Awards & Recognition:
Selected as Advisor Board Member and Round table Lead for SCLG Middle East Selected as Board Member and Vice-Minister for Global Transportation, Traffic & Logistics Affairs(The Global Union) Selected as Global Freight & Logistics Advisory role at Guide Point
The pandemic as well as the subsequent lockdown has increased the health concerns among people, and nowadays, everyone is mostly opting for online ordering. This new market behavior has positively impacted the e-Commerce sector with a massive rise. Even everybody wants fast or same day deliveries, which is automatically encouraging firms to adopt digitalization, which for me, definitely is the future. The advice I would like to give to budding entrepreneurs is not to give-up on their dreams. Don’t give-up on your dreams and beliefs. Keep pushing and you will succeed.
Robin Vermaat, Founder &CEO, RV Consultancy
Robin has over 20 years of experience in Freight Forwarding in the Middle East and Europe. Over the years, he has been responsible for Supply Chain, Sales Management, B2B/B2C Sales, Marketing & Strategic Implementation. Robin has worked in Iraq for two years and been in the UAE for 10 years where he built a wide network of business connections, allowing him to create strong ties and business relationships with internal and external stakeholders. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Commercial Marketing & Communications from the Netherlands and currently is the Founder & CEO of RV Consultancy.
•Hobbies:Sports & Swimming
•Favorite Cuisine:Japanese
•Favorite Book:The one minute manager meets the monkey
•Favorite Travel Destination:Dutch Antilles/Caribbean or the Maldives
Awards & Recognition:
Selected as Advisor Board Member and Round table Lead for SCLG Middle East Selected as Board Member and Vice-Minister for Global Transportation, Traffic & Logistics Affairs(The Global Union) Selected as Global Freight & Logistics Advisory role at Guide Point