During a festive moment on location, Alderman Wietske Veltman presented a digitization voucher to Emill de Waal of Huschka, owner of the Huschka Group, specialist in security services and security training. With this support from the program Make digitization work for you Huschka has realized a digital solution that significantly simplifies the quotation process and makes it more sustainable.

Working more efficiently

Using the voucher, Huschka developed a smart link on their website that allows clients to digitally sign quotes. This replaces the traditional printing and scanning process and increases service speed and reliability.

“We wanted to make it easier for our customers to quickly and securely approve our quotes,” says Emill de Waal, owner of Huschka. “Through a unique link, the customer receives a personalized quote page, where digital signatures can be made immediately. The signed quotation is automatically saved as a PDF in our system. This saves us and the customer a lot of time and use of paper. Huschka scores again in the area of sustainability with this.”

Support from Key Region Leiden

This digitization effort was made possible in part by the voucher scheme of Key Region Leiden, an initiative that supports SMEs in the Leiden region in their digital transformation. Dwayne van der Klugt, project leader of the program: “Huschka shows how digitization not only improves internal processes, but also enhances the customer experience. This is exactly what the voucher scheme is for.”

Leiden municipality encourages digital growth

Wietske Veltman, alderman for the economy and president of Key Region Leiden is also enthusiastic about the application: “This shows well how targeted support works and helps entrepreneurs to work and grow smarter with digitalization. By stimulating solutions from, for and by entrepreneurs, we strengthen the SME and keep our region competitive and innovative.”

About the voucher scheme

The digitization voucher offers entrepreneurs in the region up to €5,000 support for projects such as website improvement, cybersecurity and digital customer interaction. Workshops and coaching are also offered, in addition to an online digi-scan. This broad program of Make digitization work for you, is implemented by Key Region Leiden for future-proofing SMEs.

UPDATE 9 oktober: Het maximaal aantal van 60 aanvragen is bereikt. De mogelijkheid tot aanvragen van een voucher is daarom gesloten.

Vandaag, 6 oktober om 12.00 uur, kunnen ondernemers via onze projectsite een voucher aanvragen voor digitalisering binnen hun bedrijf. De regeling is bedoeld voor ondernemers uit de gemeente Katwijk, Leiden, Leiderdorp, Voorschoten en Zoeterwoude.

Uitdagingen en kansen

De urgentie om met MKB-vraagstukken rondom digitalisering aan de slag te gaan is groot. Wat nu gewone handelingen zijn, zoals online boodschappen doen, met je telefoon betalen, verschillende slimme apparaten met elkaar verbinden en op grote schaal digitaal vergaderen, was enkele jaren geleden nog aanzienlijk minder ingeburgerd. In hoog tempo landen deze ontwikkelingen in alle sectoren en maatschappelijke domeinen waardoor het impact heeft op iedereen. En dus ook op ondernemers in het mkb. Daar zien we dat digitalisering nieuwe kansen biedt, maar mkb-ondernemers tegelijkertijd ook voor nieuwe uitdagingen stelt om deze kansen goed te benutten. Kennis en tijd ontbreek vaak bij hen om goed aan de slag te gaan. Het initiatief ‘Laat digitalisering voor je werken’ helpt daarbij met coaching, workshops en een voucherregeling.

Het is een samenwerking van vijf gemeenten, de ondernemersverenigingen en de onderwijs- en kennisinstellingen uit de 071-regio. De vijf gemeenten die actief bijdragen aan dit project zijn: Katwijk, Leiden, Leiderdorp, Voorschoten en Zoeterwoude. Het project wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door de Provincie Zuid-Holland.

Lees op de projectsite voorbeelden van ondernemers die al een voucher hebben benut, zoals Palfinger uit Zoeterwoude.

Digitalization allows entrepreneurs to generate more sales, but you have to invest in it. Cees van Duijn, owner of Duijn Bouw from Katwijk, decided to do just that and used a voucher from Key Region Leiden to professionalize the appearance of his website. On Friday, September 26, he received the voucher from Katwijk Alderman Jacco Knape.

Request a voucher as well.

More professional look online

“Our previous website was now about eight years old and no longer matched who we are as a company and what we do today,” says Cees van Duijn. “Because we had and have enough work, this simply wasn’t a priority. Still, we felt it was important to have a professional image towards partners, clients and other parties we work with. Especially now that we are also active with development and new construction projects, our old website gave a wrong image of Duijn Bouw. When we took the step towards a new website, we came across the voucher scheme. Thanks to this voucher we were able to make the site even more professional. The result is a digital business card that we are proud of and that really shows who we are and what we stand for.”

Alderman supports digitization

Alderman Knape handed over the voucher: “It is important that entrepreneurs continue to invest in themselves and their business. With this voucher scheme we want to encourage entrepreneurs in Katwijk to take the step towards digitalization. Nice to see that Cees van Duijn is so actively involved in this.”

Digitization offers opportunities

“Whether it’s improving your website, opening a web shop, or optimizing your digital security – digitization is an ongoing process,” said the alderman. “It requires constant attention as well as investment. That is why we are pleased that we can support entrepreneurs in Katwijk with these vouchers.”

Apply for a voucher yourself?

Do you also want to work on digitizing your business? Then apply for a voucher from the project Let digitization work for you. “On October 6, the new, and for now last, voucher round starts. Schedule an interview now via the website to prepare your application,” says project leader Dwayne van der Klugt. “Be quick, because gone is gone!”

On days when Holiday Park Koningshof is fully booked, the Rijnsburg family business receives as many as 1,100 guests a day. Crazy, then, for the people behind the reception desk. Fortunately, they got help answering simple questions. A chatbot tells guests, among other things, what kind of coffee makers are in the rental properties and what time to check out. Courtesy of digitization vouchers from Make Digitization Work for You.

Pim Kromhout (36) who runs the vacation park with his sister Penny, finds the chatbot a godsend. But more importantly, the receptionists are happy with it. And they are. It takes a lot of work off their hands now that the answers to simple questions can all be found online.

Pim and his sister took over the business from their parents six years ago. They are the third generation in the business, he says proudly. “It’s nice when you get to continue the business of your parents and grandparents. That you build on their work is special.” The informal atmosphere and personal attention characteristic of family businesses is very important to Pim. “We maintain that as best we can. It’s an important part of our hospitality.”

A chatbot fits well into that ambition. “People increasingly arrange their affairs online. But calling, we find, is still faster. So especially for quick questions, we still get a lot of calls. Then you don’t want to be on hold for a long time to find out if there is a tea towel in the accommodation.”

1400 phone calls

The answer to all such questions is now much easier to find on the website. A comprehensive frequently asked questions section supplemented by a chatbot gives guests quick answers. “Last season, the chatbot was accessed an average of 8 times a day. It saved our front office 1,400 phone calls and emails. That’s really nice because in high season it’s super busy here. Moreover, this way you serve your guests very quickly. That is also very much appreciated.”

The frequently asked questions section and chatbot were created by the company that maintains Koningshof’s website. “They did the technical part. We did the content part. Together with the receptionists, we came up with the main and sub-questions. That was very fun and instructive to do because together we thought again very carefully about the guest experience.”

Second voucher

For Koningshof, this was the second time they received a voucher. Previously, they used one for digitization. “Then we modernized our reservation module. Since that modification, you get to see alternatives if the preferred period or accommodation, is full.”

Some government grants require a lot of work, Pim knows. “But these vouchers didn’t. It’s really very easy to apply. And if you have questions, you get quick answers. That’s nice, too. So when it turned out that we could apply a second time, we brought forward our investments in a chatbot – because you always pay part of it yourself, too. So as far as we are concerned, the incentive policy to make digitalization steps works!”

Visit www.digitaliseringwerkt.nl to apply for a voucher.