With some 3,000 bookings annually, they are already the market leader in the Netherlands. Now The DJ Company is aiming for expansion beyond the Netherlands. Last year they started in Belgium and, with the support of GroBusiness, there are serious plans to roll out the concept elsewhere in Europe as well. Step by step, of course, because international business is not something you just do. There is quite a bit involved.
The DJ Company quickly conjures up associations with big festivals and club parties. 'But what we do is slightly different,' laughs co-founder Yme Sake Boonstra of the Groningen-based company. 'We focus on small parties like birthdays and weddings. Or more concretely, The DJ Company is an online platform where you can very easily book a DJ and manage your party. Customers can enter their wishes and the party location, including any specifics, on the platform. Based on that, and the DJ's evaluations, an algorithm is used to make the right pairing.'
Cape Verde
Yme Sake founded the company some twelve years ago with Tette Boekema, a childhood friend he had met at the Stedelijk Gymnasium in Leeuwarden. Together they studied Business Administration at the University of Groningen and at the same time developed a passion for kite surfing. During a surfing trip in Cape Verde, they struck up a conversation in their hotel with a Danish boy. They had noticed that, in between surfing, he regularly sat behind his laptop. Why, really? Was he perhaps e-mailing with his girlfriend? No, that wasn't exactly the case, they heard. 'It turned out he was running a DJ company in Copenhagen from there,' says Yme Sake. 'Our interest was immediately piqued '
Not that Tette and Yme Sake had very much with the world of Djs at that time. Not at all actually. Or as Yme Sake puts it himself: they might as well have been toothbrushes. 'It was the freedom that appealed to us so much,' he clarifies. 'That you can keep control of your work-life balance in a beautiful way. A boyhood dream, especially for surf fanatics like us. As Dane told us more about his activities, we became more and more enthusiastic. A month later we visited him in Copenhagen and became convinced that it had potential in the Netherlands as well. Basically, he was doing almost the same thing we are doing now with The DJ Company, but on a smaller scale.'
First request for quotation
Back in the Netherlands, a business plan was made and soon a start was made on building a website. At the time, Yme Sake was still finishing his master's degree and the now graduated Tette was doing the online marketing for a travel agency in downtown Groningen. After the website went live, a first request for a quote followed the same evening. 'A certain Mr. Dubois from Brabant wanted to organize a party for one of his children and was looking for a DJ for it,' Yme Sake remembers like yesterday. 'From that moment on it all started running.'
Powerful platform
Over the years, The DJ Company has grown considerably in every way. A powerful platform has emerged, including related systems, where customers can easily book a DJ. Customers, DJs and venues alike are also provided with their own online environment. In such an environment, they can manage the party and exchange and view relevant information. 'Of course, the DJs are enormously important in our concept. Still, we consciously chose not to put the DJ at the center of our marketing communications,' Yme Sake emphasizes, 'simply because at our parties people come for the party itself and not for the DJ. That is also the reason why you can only book all-round DJs with us. DJs who do not play a specific genre, but almost everything. For young and old. From 70s and 80s music to today's Top 40, and everything in between.
10,000 satisfied customers
Customer reviews are leading in the activities of The DJ Company. As a marketing tool, but also to see where there are still areas for improvement. At the same time, customer reviews are important for connecting with the customer. The customer cannot choose a specific DJ, but can indicate how the DJ should be rated in the reviews.
Growth has never been a goal in itself for Yme Sake and Tette. Rather, they see it as the result of having fun building the company with the rest of team. Still, a while ago they set an ambitious goal. 'In 2027 we want to have 10,000 satisfied customers,' says Yme Sake, 'and yes, you're probably not going to achieve that in the Netherlands. For that you will have to cross the border. That is why we have now also started in Belgium. Why precisely Belgium? That had everything to do with the language. Until recently, the platform was not multi-lingual and multi-regional. Some might see that as a rookie mistake. But yes, we never foresaw twelve years ago that it would go this way. Meanwhile, the platform has a new framework, linked to our CRM system, so that we will soon be able to manage everything per country.'
In Belgium, The DJ Company is starting to pick up steam nicely. However, our southern neighbors were less likely to book online without speaking to someone beforehand. That obstacle has been overcome now that the company has recently hired a Belgian salesman. After Belgium, it looks like it will be Germany's turn. To then roll out the concept even further internationally.
GroBusiness
Besides opportunities, international business also presents quite a few obstacles: different (tax) laws and regulations, different cultures, customs, subsidy possibilities and more. To best prepare for the opportunities and risks, The DJ Company sought contact with Wessel de Vries, theme specialist international business at GroBusiness and YnBusiness'.
'In the Netherlands we know exactly what we are doing,' explains Yme Sake. 'But doing business internationally is quite different. That is precisely why it is valuable to be able to put your questions and uncertainties to someone like Wessel. Thanks to his international experience, you can spar with him about numerous relevant topics. In addition, he has an enormous network, from which we are already benefiting. For example, with a view to market research in specific countries, Wessel has linked us to the Hanzehogeschool and NHL Stenden. And shortly after we indicated that we would like to learn from other international entrepreneurs, we were already sitting around the table with a company that has been active in Germany for some time. After all, you don't have to reinvent the wheel.'
And the surfing?
International business takes time, attention and energy. Especially for a company like The DJ Company that also has plenty of growth opportunities in its own country. Is there any room for Yme Sake and Tette to surf at all? 'Although slightly less, we still do,' smiles Yme Sake, 'We keep a sharp eye on our work-life balance and that of our employees. We never undertake at any cost, quite the contrary.'