STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Stephen O'Sullivan, managing director, printing.ie

Eleven years ago Stephen O’Sullivan decided to be his own boss. His venture continues to prosper today and he tells Linda Pearson how to succeed in business from the start.

Entrepreneurs, like any pioneer, have their own set of qualities, rules and strategies they need to succeed. If an entrepreneur is good at starting a business, but bad at running it, then they are in trouble.

Entrepreneurs are usually considered to be creative people, people who are willing to take risks and think outside the box. Their passion originates from a desire to do something better than how it’s being done now and they have a vision to succeed.

Passion And Desire

For Stephen O’Sullivan it was a desire to do something better in the realm of printing that encouraged him to found Printing.ie. It was also “100% passion” that drove him to succeed and push his company to new heights. He also wanted to follow his own set of rules and strategies and become his own boss. “I wanted to see if I could work for myself and become my own boss. I felt I had good communication skills and was good at sales. I’ve had jobs in the industry previously and so I had a good idea of what was expected. I saw a niche in the industry eleven years ago and decided that I wanted to modernise the whole approach to printing and the way it was sold,” he reveals.

O’Sullivan explains there are certain qualities an entrepreneur needs when starting and progressing a business. “Dedication and belief in their product and themselves is crucial. They also have to surround themselves with a good team from day one. They should never be scared to ask questions and if they don’t understand the answer, ask it again. An entrepreneur starting a business also needs to be a people person and communicate well to get their ideas across,” says the entrepreneur.

Dedication

If an entrepreneur is to make their start up a success, hard work, dedication and determination needs to be commonplace. For every successful entrepreneurial venture, there are many unsuccessful ones mostly because entrepreneurs don’t devote the time and skills that are required. O’Sullivan found that working a seven day week was necessary to make his venture a success.

“At the start we were working seven days a week just to get the company off the ground. You have to have dedication. I see too many start-up companies failing because they put in their five days a week at the start and they think that’s all that’s needed. The reality is you have to put in seven days a week to keep excelling and improving yourself for the clients,” says the managing director.

Getting Outside Help

Business coaches and mentoring will help a company with strategies and techniques to create business success. They also help increase sales and profits, boost clarity and focus, and improve on areas where the entrepreneur may be lacking experience.

“We invested in a business coach to help us take the next step, and we’ve been using the coach for the last 18 months. His primary focus is putting systems in place so we can look at taking the next step. I think as an entrepreneur you can only grow to a certain level within your own skillset and once your company gets to a certain size you have to get help putting systems in place such as work practices. It’s with a mentor or business coach that you can take the next step,” advises O’Sullivan.

Achieving Recognition

Printing.ie was shortlisted for a Golden Spider Award 2005 in the Best Shopping and Retail Website category which puts the company up there amongst the top players. O’Sullivan describes his sense of achievement and says a dedicated team has played a huge part in driving business forward. “I get a sense of achievement from contracts we’ve got and the work we’ve produced for companies in Ireland, UK, and further afield. Large multinational contracts in exhibition and display solutions brings in most of our business, and the fact that they trust in our products and have the confidence to work with us although we’re not on their doorstep is encouraging. If you don’t have a good team it’s going to be extremely hard as an entrepreneur to grow and succeed. You shouldn’t be afraid to push for the people you want on your team and employ staff that have the same passion and drive as you,” concludes O’Sullivan.

Contact: Printing.ie
T: +353 (0) 64 34505
E: info@printing.ie
W: www.printing.ie