Tomas van der Meer

Why this persona fits the audience

They run a 2-person ecommerce services business in Amsterdam, tracking merchant leads from referrals, trade shows and email campaigns in Notion and Google Sheets while one contractor handles setup work.

• Age: 36
• Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Occupation: Founder and client consultant
• Income: €48k-€75k
• Education: Bachelor's degree in communications
• Company size: 2 (1 full-time founder, 1 contractor)
• Years in role: 4

“Efficiency isn't about doing things faster; it's about having the freedom to stop doing things that don't matter.”

Born in Rotterdam and raised in a household that valued self-sufficiency, Tomas van der Meer developed an early affinity for systems and organization. After earning a Bachelor's degree in Communications from Erasmus University Rotterdam, he initially worked in traditional marketing agencies, where he grew frustrated by the inefficiency of legacy software and the disconnect between strategy and execution. In 2020, capitalizing on the e-commerce boom, he pivoted to founding his own boutique consultancy, focusing on helping small brands navigate the complexities of online selling. Today, Tomas runs a lean operation from Amsterdam, employing only himself and a trusted remote contractor based in Eastern Europe. His business model is built on trust and agility; he personally manages client relationships, acting as the primary consultant, while the contractor executes the technical heavy lifting of store setups and integrations. Despite the small team size, the workflow is intricate. Tomas meticulously tracks every lead source—whether from a referral, a cold email campaign, or a booth at a trade fair—using a hybrid system of Notion databases and Google Sheets. This manual tracking, while effective for now, is becoming a bottleneck as the volume of inquiries increases. Financially, Tomas operates with a 'profit-first' mentality. With an income ranging between €48k and €75k, he reinvests wisely, avoiding unnecessary overheads. He recently made the decision to pause hiring a second full-time employee, opting instead to automate certain workflows or increase his hourly rate. He is acutely aware of the 'founder trap'—the tendency to get lost in the weeds—and is actively seeking ways to reclaim strategic time. His recent decisions reflect a desire for stability over explosive, risky growth. He has started attending more physical trade shows to build genuine connections, moving away from purely digital outreach. For Tomas, success is defined not by the number of clients, but by the sustainability of his lifestyle and the ability to maintain control over his business's direction.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Tomas wakes up at 6:30 AM in his Amsterdam apartment, brewing coffee and checking the weather for his bike ride. By 7:30, he is pedaling through the city streets, listening to a podcast on supply chain logistics. Back home by 8:15, he showers and sits down to review his Notion board, prioritizing three key tasks for the day: responding to two pending proposals, checking the contractor's progress on the new fashion brand store, and updating the financial sheet. Lunch is a quick sandwich eaten at his desk while skimming industry news. The afternoon is reserved for client calls, often video chats with merchants in London or New York. He finishes work around 5:30 PM, leaving his laptop closed to avoid the urge to check emails late. Evenings are for cooking dinner with his partner, perhaps a walk along the canal, and winding down with a book. He sleeps by 10:30 PM, ready to do it again tomorrow.

Lifestyle

Tomas lives in a sunlit apartment in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid, sharing the space with his partner who works in education. Their weekends are dominated by long bicycle rides through the city parks or trips to nearby nature reserves, emphasizing health and sustainability over luxury. Financially, he is disciplined; he avoids subscription creep and keeps personal and business accounts strictly separate, often reviewing cash flow every Sunday morning. Socially, he prefers intimate dinners with close friends over large networking events, valuing quality conversation over superficial connections. He maintains a routine of early mornings, preferring to start his day before the city wakes up, which allows him to focus on strategy without distraction.

Work life

His days are split between high-touch client consulting and managing the operational backbone of his agency. He spends mornings handling sales calls and nurturing leads tracked manually in Notion, switching contexts to review Google Sheets where he calculates margins and lead sources. Afternoons are dedicated to overseeing his single contractor, ensuring the technical setup work for new Shopify stores is accurate before handover. The pressure isn't about crunch time, but rather the constant friction of maintaining manual processes that feel increasingly fragile as the client list grows. He constantly evaluates if a task can be automated or if it requires his direct intervention, often feeling the weight of being both the strategist and the janitor of his own operation.

Relationships

Tomas relies heavily on a tight-knit circle of three other freelance founders for peer advice, meeting monthly for coffee to vent about scaling challenges. His relationship with his contractor is professional yet friendly, built on mutual respect for clean code and clear instructions. Family remains a priority; his parents visit quarterly, and he prioritizes their gatherings over business dinners. He influences local ecommerce meetups in Amsterdam, often speaking on the importance of 'doing less with more,' though he rarely seeks the spotlight beyond these niche communities.

How they decide

Cautiously experimental and evidence-based. Tomas does not make impulsive purchases; he requires proof of concept, usually through free trials or case studies from similar-sized businesses. He values transparency in pricing and hates hidden fees. While he is open to new ideas, he defaults to the status quo unless the friction of current tools becomes unbearable. He trusts peer recommendations from his immediate network more than marketing copy, often waiting to see how a tool performs in a real-world scenario before committing financially.

How they sound

Tomas speaks with a calm, measured Dutch accent, mixing English fluently with occasional Dutch idioms like 'even' (just a moment) or 'dat werkt' (that works). His cadence is steady and deliberate; he avoids hyperbole and corporate buzzwords, preferring plain, functional language. He tends to ask clarifying questions before answering and pauses frequently to gather his thoughts. He never sounds desperate or overly eager, maintaining a professional but approachable tone. He avoids jargon that doesn't have a practical application and is quick to cut off rambling explanations, valuing clarity above all else.