The network I wish had existed when I lost that prospect.

A few years ago, I was sitting across from a prospect that I really wanted to win. An international wholesaler with operations across Europe, sourcing in China, the kind of company that could have been a great Odoo customer. We had the methodology, the experience, and the right answers to most of their questions.

But not to the one that mattered most.

They asked me how we would handle the implementation across their European entities, in multiple currencies and languages, with sourcing systems in China that needed to talk to it all. And I had to tell them the truth: my agency was too small to deliver that level of international depth. Not the local execution. That I could do. But the coordinated, multi‑country knowledge they needed across the whole programme.

They went with SAP. Not because SAP was better. Because SAP could show up everywhere they needed it.

That conversation has stayed with me. Not because losing one prospect mattered financially. It didn't. But because of what it revealed about the gap in the Odoo ecosystem. There are excellent Odoo implementation agencies in every country. Most of them are local, sharp, with deep domain expertise. They know their market. They know their customers. But when a customer's question grows beyond one country, those same agencies hit a wall.

And so do their customers.

I'm not the only Odoo implementer who has had this experience. Talk to any Silver or Ready partner, and quite a few Gold ones, and you'll hear variations of the same story. A great prospect comes in. The local fit is perfect. But the project requires capacity, expertise or geographic reach that the agency doesn't have. They look around for partners they trust. They don't find them. The prospect goes elsewhere.

The pain shows up on both sides. Customers want a regional agency they can call, sit across from, hold accountable, but with a serious international network behind it. Not a multinational consultancy that treats them like a number. Not a solo agency that can't follow them when they grow. Something in between, which doesn't really exist yet.

Partners want to grow. They want to take on bigger customers. But every implementer learns the same lesson the hard way: scaling alone is brutal. Hiring is slow. Quality drifts. The work that made you good in the first place starts suffering. And the customers who would let you grow are the ones who need exactly the international reach you don't have yet.

doopartners is the network I wish had existed when I sat across from that wholesaler.

The idea is simple. A worldwide network of Odoo implementation partners. Each strong in their own market, each maintaining their own brand and autonomy, but working together when a customer's needs cross borders. Local where you are, global when you need it.

For customers, this means you can choose the partner you want. The one whose office you can visit, whose people you know, whose work you trust. Without giving up access to international capability when your business expands. You don't have to choose between “lokaal” and “groot.” You get both.

For partners, this means you can grow without hiring everyone. The network handles the international coordination, the shared methodology, the financial guarantees that make cross‑agency work safe. You stay focused on what you do best, in your own market, with your own customers.

Why now? Because the tools to make this work without overhead, like content production, methodology distribution, multi‑language reach, have become genuinely accessible in the last twelve months. The economics of building a network like this used to require a multinational corporation. They no longer do. One person, with the right approach, can lay the foundation that a real network grows on.

The Netherlands is open to two partners, one in the north and one in the south. My own agency, BlueZebra, continues to operate independently and is not occupying one of those seats.

The network starts with shared content and methodology. Over time, it grows into shared capacity, with a payment guarantee between members and an arbitration committee for disputes, so that resource‑sharing across borders becomes not just possible but reliable.

I'm not building this alone. The first founding members are joining throughout 2026. If you're an Odoo implementation partner who recognises this story, or a customer who has been looking for exactly this kind of network, I'd like to hear from you.