An idea only counts when it works.

To turn BookYourDive.com from an idea into a business, I raised funding, put together a team of developers, and took the platform to customers. I had to explain the choices, lead the build, test it, and make sure the platform reached customers and had a real place in the market.

The business gained traction and did well for a time, but was eventually overtaken by other players. That is part of being an entrepreneur. It is not a simple success story. It did give me years of experience in product development, technical project management, and the gap between what a business wants to achieve and what is actually delivered.

At BookYourDive, I learned how online customer acquisition could generate real inquiries in a traditional market. Through the BookYourDive network, other dive schools asked whether I could do the same for them. That is how Bluebrand &Co began.

Requests then came through my wider network as well. People saw the work and asked whether I could do the same for their organizations. My work expanded to small and mid-sized businesses and larger organizations.

I started with campaigns and customer acquisition. Then my work moved into chat, email, and automation, first for companies themselves and later for agencies that did not have that knowledge in-house.

The work then shifted from bringing in new inquiries to making sure follow-up, information, and internal agreements could handle what came next.

I now build and test more of the technical work that I spent years designing and leading myself. That lets me translate what a business wants to achieve, and how its day-to-day work gets done, into something that works in practice. AI is a tool in that work, not a substitute for responsibility.

Bluebrand Systems is the next step. I investigate where the work gets stuck, decide what needs to change, and can put that change into practice.

For me, a brief is a starting point, not a purchase order. Maybe the way of working needs to change. Maybe existing software needs to be set up differently, or systems need to be connected. And if custom software is the best path, I can design, build, test, and improve it. If something already works well, I leave it alone.

See how this approach created a single digital order process for Snijmeesters →

I work with a small number of companies at a time. That lets me understand what is really happening, work directly with the people who do the work, and stay involved until the solution works in practice.

You know the business, the customers, and the exceptions. I bring an outside perspective to what is getting stuck and, where needed, design the change that gets work moving again. That only works when we can question each other’s assumptions and both take responsibility for a good outcome.

Every phase needs to create value on its own. You are not automatically committed to anything. The next phase is always a separate decision.