Moving to the Netherlands on DAFT? Let’s Build Your Business Website.

One of the great things about the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty is that you don’t need to arrive in the Netherlands with a mature company.

You can arrive with an idea and build from there.

But eventually, that idea needs to turn into an actual business.

If you’re thinking about moving to the Netherlands on DAFT, this is something worth starting before you get on the plane. And if you’ve already made the move, it’s worth asking yourself a simple question:

If someone searched for my business today, would it look like a real business?

That’s why I’m putting on a free, beginner-friendly workshop on September 22.

Your DAFT business needs to become a real business

A website isn’t technically a requirement for a DAFT residence permit. The IND isn’t going to reject your application because you don’t have a .nl.

But DAFT isn’t simply a residency permit that happens to require registering a company.

You’re coming to the Netherlands as an entrepreneur.

For a first DAFT application, that means establishing your Dutch business, registering it with the KvK and making the required investment. Later, when you apply to extend a treaty-based residence permit, the IND specifically asks for financial records to determine whether your company has actually been active and whether the required investment remained in the business. (IND)

Your website isn’t a substitute for customers, invoices, contracts or proper accounting.

It’s part of actually having a business.

It’s somewhere a prospective customer can find you. Somewhere that explains what you sell. Somewhere to publish information demonstrating your expertise. Somewhere to collect subscribers, attract search traffic and, if appropriate, sell memberships or services.

And unlike a social media profile, it’s a piece of your business presence that you control.

So let’s build one.

I’m Kevin, the person behind GoDutch.us. I also run a Dutch business called Kaperkunde and recently launched Plek.je (“little spot” in Dutch), a managed website and newsletter hosting service built around Ghost.

To celebrate the launch, I’m running:

Zero to Website: Launch Your Business Online in One Workshop

This isn’t intended for web developers.

Actually, the less you know about building a website, the more appropriate this workshop probably is for you.

If you’ve heard terms like DNS, CMS, SEO, domain registration and search indexing but don’t really know what they mean, that’s fine.

If you’ve never heard of them, that’s fine too.

Bring a laptop and an idea for a business. I’ll walk you through the rest.

Over 60 minutes, we’ll work through getting a secure website online, using your own domain if you have one, publishing your first content, setting up a newsletter and making your site discoverable through traditional search engines and AI services such as ChatGPT.

If selling directly through your website makes sense for your business, we’ll also look at connecting Stripe for paid memberships and subscriptions.

And everyone who attends gets Plek.je hosting, so the website you create during the workshop is something you can continue using afterward.

Still in America and only considering DAFT?

You’re welcome too.

In fact, this can be an excellent time to start.

You don’t need to wait until you’ve received a residence permit to figure out what your business is going to look like online. Starting now gives you somewhere to describe your idea, begin creating content and start developing the business you intend to bring with you to the Netherlands.

You’ll also get a practical introduction to some of the pieces involved in operating a small business online—without having to learn web development first.

Already living in the Netherlands on DAFT?

Even better. Bring the business you’re already operating.

Maybe you’ve been getting work entirely through referrals. Maybe your “website” is currently a LinkedIn profile. Maybe you bought a domain six months ago and it’s still displaying a parking page.

We’ll fix that.

The goal isn’t to spend an hour learning how websites work.

The goal is to spend an hour building yours.

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

14:00 Amsterdam time (CEST)60 minutes · Online · Interactive · Free

I’m limiting attendance to 15 people. This is a hands-on workshop rather than a presentation, and I want enough time to help when someone inevitably discovers that their domain registrar has hidden the button we need behind three menus and an inexplicable pencil icon. Early bird signups get 3 months of free hosting (€30 value) on Plek.je (My web hosting SaaS), everyone else still gets a free month!

Come with an idea. Leave with a website.