Tech success from Holland to the Sunshine Coast

From playing on a Commodore 64 in the city of Haarlem, Holland, as a child, to working with code and SEO, Noud de Rover is today the proud owner of his own web design company Data Roots. The immigrant started up the business in 2015 in Port Moody, B.C., before recently relocating to the Sunshine Coast.

With a slight hint of dry humour, de Rover begins talking shop before we even start the interview, providing me with tips and advice on how I can improve my own website. He explains why he sees these as critical aspects for business success, in a friendly but persuasive manner.

It’s this combination of nice and determined that has seen de Rover succeed quickly after immigrating to Canada. He established Data Roots just six months after landing in Canada, and he began generating leads and clients immediately once he opened his digital doors. In an ever-changing technological world, where we constantly turn to the web for everything we need and want, there is a huge demand for web design and development services. But Data Roots has found that a lot of businesses are not having their needs met by the web designers who initially designed their site, due to the bustling industry and a reputation for poor customer service.

Customer focus in business

Essentially, it is this customer focus that he strives to offer his clients, in addition to skilled coding.

It’s not surprising that de Rover comes from a business background in his former life in the Netherlands; he applied his marketing degree in a management role for a home improvement store where he spent 15 years creating teams and working with people.

In a country with just 17 million people, de Rover says, “You had to be good at what you did. You had to provide a good customer service. It’s in my DNA, it’s how I grew up.”

Building relationships is also a big part of how he approaches his business. Networking events is an important part of that, he says, but he has a preference for smaller, casual networking events (Noud is a firm non-believer in suits). They allow him the opportunity to build relationships, to build trust, to engage with other business owners and to show that Data Roots is out in the industry.

To illustrate that trust is the foundation of his relationship with customers, Data Roots offers a warranty on all work. He notes simply, “If something goes wrong with your appliance, you take it back to the store. Why would you not do this with your website?”

With this refreshing approach, it’s no surprise that Data Roots has quickly established itself in the market, and de Rover finds he is increasing his workload sufficiently to hire additional help. He is also in the process of becoming incorporated within the next year.

Integrating into Canadian way of life

Although he originally came to Canada to follow his life partner, Daphne, a Canadian who wished to return home after living abroad for 10 years, de Rover is happily integrating into the Canadian way of life and culture.

“Everyone I’ve met here are all nice people, super friendly, but I noticed that people in general are slower to respond,” he says. He mentions a networking event where he will be conversing with someone and suggests they meet for coffee. While de Rover is thumbing through his agenda to pick a date, he says his new contact is looking at him sideways, not expecting this to happen so quickly.

“The way Noud operates is unique because he excels in what he does and because he actually enjoys it immensely,” says Daphne. “He carries with him a strong work ethic and pride in his work.”

For de Rover, he’s happy to be building his new business and life in Canada. “It’s my turn to be the foreigner now,” he says.

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