The latest issue of a Dutch IT magazine "Automatisering Gids " featured an article about Goyello and its founders Peter Horsten and Arie De Bruin.
One of them used to live in Hague, the other in Hardinxveld-Giessendam. Halfway between these two cities they found an ideal meeting point: Het Zalmhuis – a cozy restaurant in the very heart of Rotterdam, on the river bank, with the view of Van Brienenoordbrug bridge.
Today they are sitting again in the very same restaurant: Arie de Bruin and Peter Horsten – the founders of the IT company, Goyello. “We met here some time ago to discuss business opportunities in Poland”, says Arie de Bruin. “ I was very positive about the whole idea as I knew in Poland I would be able to find highly educated, eager and capable software developers. When I started giving some serious thought to this option I learned that Peter – my former colleague from the consulting company Verdonck, Klooster & Associates- had a similar plan.
Peter Horsten, married to a Polish woman, had a far-reaching plan to set up the training and consulting company aimed at Polish executives and company managers. Peter Horsten recalls that meeting with Arie de Bruin: “during our conversation we came up with the whole new idea. Arie was planning to invest in the IT company which would be focused on developing and implementing computer software in Poland. Before he made any further steps, Arie wanted to find a suitable business partner in Holland.” In the meantime, Peter went to visit Poland in order to carry out an intensive research of the Polish outsourcing market. Once he returned, he organized a meeting with his future partner to merely present his findings and exchange ideas of what shape the business plan could take. However, the meeting very quickly resulted in a serious decision of setting up the company as soon as possible and relocating Peter and his family to Poland. “The moment we reached an agreement and the decision was finally made we went to Poland to register the company under the name of Goyello Ltd. The next step was moving the family and our home to Gdansk. Goyello was established in November 2007 and currently employs 40 people. Impressive start” comments Peter Horsten.
Goyello soon established its strong position on the Dutch IT market. “We are interested in forming an authentic, reliable and durable cooperation with our customers”, the company owners underline. “Among others we develop cutting-edge software and innovative community portals for our clients who fill important niches on the Dutch market. We believe our chance of satisfying our customer is higher when we fully understand their needs and the character of their business. Consequently, effective and direct communication is essential. Our clients appreciate our attitude and that is why we have already acquired a number of regular clients.”De Bruin and Horsten cooperate with each other on a daily basis and mainly communicate via e-mail, Skype and telephone. Moreover, they regularly arrange business trips for their clients to GOYELLO’s head office based in Sopot. They place a huge emphasis on the importance of such meetings as they considerably help establish lasting relationships between the company and its clients. We actively encourage our clients and developers to communicate as much as possible with each other especially during the main stages of development. In order to strengthen the relationship even more Mr. Horsten visits Dutch clients on the regular basis as well. Whenever he travels to Holland his meeting schedule is tight from the very first day of his visit. “Sometimes I wish we had more free time to be able to meet more often in Het Zalmhuis and celebrate the success of Goyello. For the time being, we can only enjoy it separately: Peter in Gdansk, and me here in Holland” says Arie de Bruin.
The original version of the article: http://www.automatiseringgids.nl/artikelen/2008/44/ideaal%20%20trefpunt.aspx
