Tristan Grootenboer started his first business in 2002 from the attic room in his parents' house. "From an early age I have always been creative. With pencils, a handful of markers and a stack of paper you couldn't hear me anymore. An education at the Grafisch Lyceum in Rotterdam was therefore a logical choice," says Tristan.

Responding to demand

The Graphic Lyceum is the school for media, design and technology. "At this school I developed purely in the field of graphic design. During my internship I learned how to create websites and how to make them findable. Then I had all the tools for my own business and just started," Tristan explains. "I found that freedom you have as an entrepreneur very interesting, like setting your own times."

"With my company, I actually always respond to demand. I started designing, but when they ask: can you do this too? Then I just find a solution to be able to do it too. We do so much and cannot be the best at everything, which is why at Studio New Media I now have a team of freelancers around me, in addition to my own team. When a great job presents itself, I can't always hire someone. But I can work together and I like that very much. That way I don't have to sell no so often," Tristan laughs. "I don't like doing everything the same, I just want to do nice things. I like that diversity."

Printing Meters

Before Studio New Media, Tristan and his wife ran another wholesale business in corporate gifts, business clothing and personal protective clothing. "We had a daughter and therefore had to quit the business. Now we can focus fully on Studio NewMedia and our daughter," Tristan says. "Studio NewMedia is actually a lot of designing and a lot of printing. We print a lot of square footage a year," Tristan laughs. "We have big projects like covering walls, floors and ceilings, as well as making business cards and logos. Sometimes a potential customer comes in for a business card, for example, and then leaves with a full quote for multiple advertising media or services. Often even with signature for the job already."

Although Studio NewMedia does a lot of design, printing, signing and large-format printing, the other half of clients come to them for web design and hosting. "It's our other specialty. In websites, our specialty is design again, but also making the websites findable. As a reseller with Superspace, I bring all the hosting to them."

"I don't want a hassle."

"I had interned at a company and things didn't always go smoothly with the hosting there. When I started for myself in 2002, I knew one thing for sure: I want my hosting taken care of properly. Through a Google search I ended up at Superspace. It sounded good and it felt right. Now 15 years later, my silly questions are still being answered by the guys at Superspace," Tristan laughs. "I can always go to them. I know the necessary stuff, but I'm not a techie. I have our team for that now. Besides, we like to call Sander or the other guys. With Superspace, it's more than just having an account somewhere for a while."

"We go through all kinds of things and of course sometimes things come your way that don't go so well. For example, when the AVG law went into effect last year. All my clients panicked slightly. Fortunately, Superspace gave me good advice and guidance on legal and technical issues so that eventually all of my 250 hosting customers were up to speed. We make custom made websites, so we don't have a template. It's all custom made, just like making the website AVG proof. Superspace really helped me a lot with that."