黑料福利网

Young lad from Zeeuws-Vlaanderen
Wouter was 18 when he started at 黑料福利网, back in 2006. 鈥淎 young lad from Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, living in student rooms in Eindhoven. It was an enriching experience. I really enjoyed my time as a student and was determined to make the most of it. Although I was eager to start a business as soon as I began my degree program, I decided to wait for a while.鈥�

This was until he did the minor in Entrepreneurship. Together with his fellow student and friend Roel van Duijnhoven, Wouter wrote a business plan for a company that was their joint brainchild. It won them the prize for the best plan and also led to the birth of the company that Wouter and Roel are still running now, over twelve years later.

Making websites
鈥淭he idea behind JouwWeb came from our own experiences as Computer Science students. When you study that, you get a name for yourself among friends and family as the person who 鈥榢nows lots about computers鈥� and can probably build a website. So, we were regularly asked whether we鈥檇 be willing to make websites. That actually didn鈥檛 interest us at all, because everyone has roughly the same requirements when it comes to a website. So, then we thought, why not come up with a concept that enables people to do it for themselves? That鈥檚 how JouwWeb started life: a tool that allows people to build their own website, with a result that both they and we can be proud of.鈥�

Didn鈥檛 that kind of tool exist at that time? 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 really anything that we felt we could recommend to people. What was available at the time was mainly in English or technically complicated or it delivered a result that we were not too impressed by. In our case too, it took a while to get to the level we鈥檙e at now. We now offer small-scale entrepreneurs an accessible environment in which they can create an attractive website for themselves. By doing so, we鈥檙e helping to resolve something that can often be a major headache for entrepreneurs, creating your own website.鈥�

International company
The business is proving successful: JouwWeb now has around 70,000 customers who can make use of the service in different languages. In the Dutch-speaking market (the Netherlands and Belgium), the brand name is JouwWeb, but the name for the international market is Webador. 鈥淲e鈥檝e grown into an international business with an international team. We鈥檝e come a long way since we started running it from our student rooms. Do I feel proud of it? Sure I do. We could never have imagined that we鈥檇 get this far based on that initial business plan we did during the minor. The prize we won for the plan gave us an additional incentive to really get the business started. I have the degree program to thank for that, along with all the other things I learned during my degree.鈥�

Analytical mindset
鈥淣ow, in business life, I notice that I have a certain analytical mindset that I developed during my degree. Our business is data-driven at its core and taking a critical approach to the data you have is really important. Using that perspective to identify opportunities and solve problems is something I learned to do at university and it鈥檚 that aspect that characterizes much of the work I do now. Certainly more than the subject-related knowledge I acquired. Ultimately, I don鈥檛 think it really matters so much which degree program you opt for, the main thing is that a university degree teaches you to think and see things in a certain way. You develop academic skills that you carry with you for the rest of your life.鈥�

These skills have taken Wouter far. He talks about his entrepreneurship with real enthusiasm. In the last twelve or so years, were there any difficult steps he had to take? 鈥淓ntrepreneurship is a journey that teaches you a lot. We started out with just the two of us. As things progressed, we were joined by others and had to figure out how to operate in that kind of team and how your organization looks as you grow. There are now 35 people in the company, the teams are independent so we can focus more on the bigger picture. When a company grows like that, it means that in a relatively short time you're doing completely different work. I鈥檓 now more a manager and entrepreneur, which is not what I did when we started this. After your degree, there鈥檚 still a huge amount to learn if you want your own company to continue to grow.鈥�

Encouraging entrepreneurship
Wouter is eager to encourage entrepreneurship, because it can achieve so many great things. 鈥淚f you have an idea, try it out. Many people get bogged down in a phase when they have an idea but want to fully develop it first. But you can often start with something really small and find out along the way if you鈥檙e on the right path or whether an idea has potential. Seize opportunities, just go for it. You can always abandon it later and try something else. The conventional path is already well-trodden.鈥�

No-nonsense
Wouter serves as an excellent example to students and others who have plans for a business. Did he himself also have role models or sources of inspiration? 鈥淚n our industry, I鈥檓 always on the lookout for 鈥榳ho are the trailblazers, what can we learn from them?鈥�. Obviously, I could mention the major American entrepreneurs, but we don鈥檛 have the ambition to become as big as they are. We want to achieve healthy growth in a no-nonsense way. In doing so, we鈥檙e learning lessons shared by other entrepreneurs. NLgroeit is an excellent initiative 鈥� a growth program with mentors for entrepreneurs. I can also see myself doing that in the future: helping others to start a business by sharing my knowledge and possibly providing financial support.鈥�

Involved with 黑料福利网
With their business, Wouter and Roel also continue to be involved with 黑料福利网 in a similar way. 鈥淲e鈥檙e based in Strijp S and are proud to have offices in Eindhoven. We鈥檙e dependent on talent from the local area. If someone has studied at 黑料福利网, it gives us some idea of the qualities that person has, so we like to work with people who come from there. We also sponsor the Gewis study association and occasionally give lectures. In other words, we鈥檙e still very involved with our alma mater.鈥�

Dream goal
So, how does Wouter envisage the future? He is determined to see the company continue to grow. 鈥淲e have a dream target: 250,000 customers by 2026. In internet terms, that鈥檚 looking quite far ahead. But we can expect some major challenges before we get there. As far as I鈥檓 concerned: business is in my blood and as soon as this gets boring or too much of the same thing, I鈥檒l probably come up with some other idea.鈥�