Information for entrepreneurs, news, reviews, tips & tricks etc.
Photo by NS.
As soon as you turn into a freelancer (also known as zzp’er in the Netherlands), you’re free to choose the transportation method for commuting. Which I consider one of the benefits of being a freelancer.
So you can choose to walk, cycle, drive etc.—or to use public transport.
Photo by Annie Spratt.
Exactly three years ago, on October 1st, 2016, Yktoo Solutions was born.
Each legal entity in the Netherlands receives a special identification number called btw-nummer shortly after the registration (btw is Dutch for “value-added tax”).
This number is necessary for invoicing, both domestic and international, and—obviously—for VAT payments.
So what’s so special about it? Well, it turns out that if you’re a self-employed entrepreneur, your VAT number is based upon your BSN identifier. Which is quite a blunder from the privacy point of view.
Following up on the Entities vs. persons story, let’s make a step from abstract theory to a bit more practical view on entrepreneurship.
Let me start with circumstances that pushed me in this direction. In 2016, in the course of yet another reorganisation at ING Bank, which was my employer back then, I was given a choice: keep earning money for someone else—or embark on an adventurous freelance journey.
In my previous post I briefly listed pros and cons of being an entrepreneur. The next logical question is—what does it actually mean, to be an entrepreneur?
To properly answer this seemingly simple question one needs to take a deep dive into the swamp of Dutch laws, regulations, stipulations, and definitions.
As a follow-up to the post about my professional anniversary and to fulfill my promise I’d like to elaborate on my reasons and the path of becoming an entrepreneur. The story is going to be quite long so I’ll split it up.
In fact the very idea of freelancing wasn’t new at all. Many of my expat friends living in Holland have been doing that for years. That mainly concerns IT specialists as they arguably represent the majority of those who came here from the ex-USSR.
