MONEY DROP - What do you do if a lot of work is lost due to corona? That's right: coming up with a new concept. Annette Tol (50) and Matthijs Keuper (50) from Geldrop did this last year with Kaboomlaser, their new company in homemade wooden puzzles and wall decoration.
Living together, working together
“We had never worked together before, but noticed that it went very well. That's where the idea arose to continue working together,” says Tol. “We walked a lot and thought about what we wanted. Matthijs is very handy and technical and had already built a laser cutter himself, more for the hobby. That made it logical to do something with it.”
“I built the software myself that creates the patterns for the puzzles. We have puzzles in the shape of animals, a heart, a brain and a four-leaf clover. The puzzles are for adults and consist of coral-shaped pieces. They look a bit like a brain. All the parts are blank, so you just start laying and as you progress you see what it becomes,” says Keuper. "We wanted to work with natural materials, as a counterpart to the plastic stuff that is already there. Our wooden puzzles provide an authentic and sustainable feeling.”
Annette Tol and Matthijs Keuper started doing something different during the Corona crisis. They now make wooden puzzles. © Sem Wijnhoven/DCI Media
Full-time puzzling
“We noticed that puzzles were very popular in the autumn of 2020. We responded to that,” says Tol. “It has now taken off so much that I am working on it more than full time,” says Keuper. “At first we worked at home mainly in the evenings and weekends, with one laser cutter. In February we moved to the building where my company was already located.” It is Piet Hein Eek's old building, says Keuper. “We have purchased a laser cutter to process all orders. The Brain Foundation also asked us if we wanted to make a puzzle for them. We are now donating part of the proceeds from the puzzle to that foundation. Museum Naturalis also wanted a wooden puzzle from Kaboomlaser, in the shape of a T-Rex. That's cool."
“Our puzzles are really a gift to receive and we often hear that people appreciate that,” says Tol. “It's nice that you can grab something and use all your senses. You smell the wood, feel the pieces and have to focus on the shape. For the small puzzles we have added the outline of the shape on the label. But there are no instructions for use.”
What is possible?
“Kaboomlaser helped us through the corona period. We were making great plans and mainly thinking: what is possible?", says Tol. “We would prefer to continue growing and would like to add two employees and machines. I continue to combine it with my training and Matthijs wants to work on it full-time. But: we keep it small-scale and personal.”
Annette Tol and Matthijs Keuper started doing something different during the corona crisis. They now make wooden puzzles. © Sem Wijnhoven/DCI Media