Description
Description
In October 2004, when the fumes of the Amsterdam taxi war had barely subsided, I founded a new kind of taxi company together with my partner and friend Martijn Beversluis: the Tuk Tuk Company. In our opinion, the motorised tricycles from Thailand were a welcome addition to ‘the last mile’, the after-transport of passengers on short journeys that taxis do not want to drive. The Tuk Tuk Company happy, taxis happy, passengers happy.
But things turned out very differently.
“How?” I asked myself in despair when I wanted to take my first steps as an entrepreneur. Where do I begin? How do I finance such a business? What are the pitfalls? Where are the opportunities, dangers, problems and solutions?
Breaking into the wonderful world of taxis was difficult enough at the time, but complying with all the rules of the Road Authority Service (Dienst Wegverkeer or RDW) in order to have a Tuk Tuk on the Dutch roads turned out to be even more complicated. With skill, intuition and the necessary courage, I was therefore forced to take an alternative path. And in doing so, I made astonishing observations.
This first part about the rise of the Tuk Tuk Company tastefully shows all the classic mistakes a novice entrepreneur can make. Yet this is not a standard management book. It is also a personal story about my youth, wrong (study) choices and my love for cricket and Zandvoort. Moreover, the reader finally gets an answer to the question why I have been known in Groningen as the thief of cheese for years!
