ROERMOND
It started with one activity
The eenmanszaak was registered in Roermond. I arrived prepared, with a long list of questions. The best advice was the simplest: start with one activity, add more as the work proves itself.
The story.
One person, a fleet of AI agents, and a workshop that found its shape by hitting real walls and turning each one into a door.
THE AMAZON PLAN
A cap that costs €15 and sells for €100
The first idea was Amazon FBA. Caps were selling for €70 to €100 that could be imported for about €15 a piece. Import, tax, and delivery costs were all counted in.
THE OBSTACLES
Rijswijk, and a German VAT number
The landlord ruled out registering at the private address, so a small space was rented in Rijswijk. Because the Netherlands had no Amazon warehouses, FBA ran through Germany. A German VAT number was applied for, and won.
THE TURN
The pivot that made it better
VAT number in hand, the product upload refused to work. The manufacturer had closed their caps to Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. So the plan changed to custom pieces instead of mass listings. Hats distressed, colored, embroidered, hung with charms; shoes reworked by hand; print on demand for the wider line.
THE LAST WALL
The company closed. The workshop didn't.
In time the eenmanszaak was dissolved, and it turned out to be the best wall of all. What remained was the part that had always mattered: the craft, the machines, the ideas. Jo Cor is no longer a company. It is a personal workshop, and the workshop is free to become what it wants.
TODAY
The hobby that took over.
These days the workshop runs on a small fleet of AI agents that build and refine this site. There is a private cloud where members talk encrypted, share files, and work alongside open source agents. There are e-books being written, fashion pieces made as craft rather than commerce, and a game growing wave by wave. This is the part of the story still being written, and it is the best part so far.