Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in home care but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Johanneke Delsink, Interior Designer of Thuis je Droomhuis (Your Dream Home), located in Waardenburg, Netherlands.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I'm an interior designer, and I help people make plans for renovating their homes.
Tell us about yourself
After high school, I studied to become a designer. When I finished that, I started working in the business world and grew into a marketing manager in a few years. A very nice job, but I missed my creativity. In the meantime, I built a house with my husband, sold it again, and then completely renovated a house. I noticed how complex that process is and how many choices you have to make. Two years ago, I was interviewed on TV about our renovation project. I enjoyed sharing my experiences and noticed that people around me were increasingly asking my advice for their homes. If you are going to renovate for the first time, you will be faced with many choices, and if you make the wrong choice, it can have major consequences. It then costs more money than budgeted, or you regret it afterward. And then I thought: I'm going to help people with that.
I came up with a new concept where people follow my online training, in which I tell them exactly what they should pay attention to when they are going to renovate their house. And then, for a year, they can ask me for advice about anything they have doubts about. This is done digitally with a form, and I then send them a video with my feedback. A whole new way of working that is very efficient. As a result, I can help people with their renovation on a large scale throughout the Netherlands. In fact, it could even be done abroad because I work entirely digitally with videos and video calls.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I go for the same result for every customer: that they can renovate without doubts and regret afterward. Whether it's an extensive renovation or a small one, it doesn't matter to me. My biggest compliment is that the contractor or craftsman the customer works with compliments them. They say: I rarely see someone who has prepared the renovation so well. When the customer proudly tells me that, I know my mission has been successful again. It means that customer is happy that they started working with me. Because I organize this company and my service exactly for what I find important, every feedback or review is a huge compliment.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Every choice you can make yourself feels free, but that can sometimes be overwhelming when it comes to my company. No one is telling me I'm doing it right. Looking at others can raise doubts, but I follow my feelings and also try to look critically at the goals I have set for myself and the results thereof. I also sometimes find it difficult not to always feel that I have to work at home. That's why I rent a small office elsewhere so that work and private life are better separated.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Build your company completely according to your own idea. Don't look at others; don't be guided by how it should be or what is common. The better it suits you, the more unique and powerful it is.
- Keep looking closely at what gives you energy and adjust your choices accordingly. It is very important that you enjoy working at your company; you radiate that.
- Be careful not to work 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. It is very tempting to work way too much. If you find that difficult at home, invest in a small office. If you have better concentration there, you simply earn back that investment, and your house is really home again.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.thuisjedroomhuis.nl/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thuisjedroomhuis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thuisjedroomhuis/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannekedelsink/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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