A year ago, a discussion in this sub sparked an idea. Fast forward 12 months, and I now run a boutique webshop solving the ISO-BE shortage. AMA!
Hi r/belgium!
About a year ago, while I was exploring an idea I was playing around with, I started a discussion in this subreddit asking what keyboard layout you all actually use: https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/s/EGLqlasdxh
Over 1,200 of you responded, and the results were super interesting. It turned out to be a massive split: 552 of you stubbornly sticking to Belgian AZERTY, and 506 having switched to QWERTY.
The discussions in that thread confirmed exactly what I suspected: if you want a premium mechanical keyboard in Belgium, you usually just have to compromise. Your feedback was a crucial piece of the puzzle and gave me the final push to actually turn this idea into reality.
The 12-month journey
Over the past year, I went down the rabbit hole of setting up a local boutique webshop, Bonsai Keyboards, focused specifically on bringing premium ISO-BE mechanical keyboards to Belgium.
Doing all of this as a side project in the evenings and weekends alongside my full-time day job meant progress was step-by-step, but it turned out to be quite an adventure:
- Navigating sourcing & language barriers: Finding reliable manufacturers who actually understand the exact specifics of a niche European layout like ISO-BE was a massive learning curve.
- Insane factory MOQs: Large factories demand huge Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) for custom keycaps. Convincing manufacturers to do smaller production runs for a compact market like Belgium was one of the biggest hurdles.
- Constantly shifting corporate partners: Working with established brands like Keychron isn't as simple as placing an order. Between shifting contact persons, changing internal policies, and dynamic stock allocations, securing fully assembled premium boards in native ISO-BE straight out of the box was a constant negotiation.
- Local logistics: Building actual local stock in Belgium so buyers don't have to deal with 3-week shipping, surprise import duties, or nightmare return policies.
Why I'm sharing this
I'm sharing this story because that thread was one of the first times I actively validated this idea, right here in this subreddit. I wanted to thank everyone who participated and gave me the insights to just go for it!
Ask Me Anything!
Whether you're curious about:
- How custom mechanical keyboards actually work (switches, hotswap, sound profiles, lubing)
- The realities and behind-the-scenes struggles of starting a niche e-commerce business in Belgium as a side hustle
- ISO-BE vs QWERTY / ISO-FR layouts
- Or just desk setup advice in general!
Fire away in the comments!