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I GOT A good feel for business from working with my dad. He was a self-employed draughtsman for most of my younger years, and I was regularly there to hold the measuring tape for him.
I worked with him in the evenings and at weekends, going around to survey sites and examining houses that were getting extensions. The main thing I liked about his job was that he was the master of his own destiny.
He had previously worked at an engineering firm, but in the 1990s when things weren’t going great he was let go.
I remember the day he told me. He collected me from school and, of course, he was nervous about telling me because it was upsetting.
I was 12 at the time and remember thinking that I didn’t ever want to be in that situation either. I wanted to be the master of my own destiny. And when he was brave enough to set up on his own, that showed me the path I could take.
For the rest of his career, he was self-employed and provided a living for his family. I learned many basic business lessons from him. I saw that across the board, people deal with other people that they like, and that’s half the battle in business.
I also got a great feel for how to treat people from my dad, and I saw that if you’re nice to people and give them what they need, usually they’ll come back for more. He never built a massive business, but he created a good reputation for himself.
Setting up our business
Straight after school, I went to college to study business and accounting after getting bad advice from a guidance counsellor. My gut told me it wasn’t the best decision for me, but I went with it anyway.
I ended up dropping out of the course after Christmas because the number crunching was too heavy – it was a bit mundane and just wasn’t for me.
I went back to study engineering in September, but to pass the time in between I worked for six months with a building company – mainly roofing small extensions in the middle of winter.
It was actually during my engineering course that I met Shane Loughlin, the co-founder of our business SL Controls – a software integration firm which is headquartered in Sligo.
He was one of my lecturers at IT Sligo when I was studying electronic engineering. He had started lecturing after taking a sabbatical following an industrial accident.
Shane had worked in a company for a good number of years before that sabbatical and, by chance, I ended up working in a summer job at that same firm building electrical control panels.
Then Shane came back into that business and was tasked with setting up a systems integration department.
I had two years left in college, but Shane asked me would I consider working for that department he was setting up. I ended up working with Shane for nearly two years while finishing college part-time.
By that stage, the company we were working for was taking a different slant, and we felt they weren’t completely committed to our department. So myself and Shane spent a few weeks chatting and looking at where the opportunities were.
I felt there was a gap in the market for software systems integration at the machine and equipment level, so at the same time we both handed in our notices and a couple of days later formed SL Controls in May 2002.
Starting out
The way we set it up was Shane looked after the technical side of things, and I looked after setting up the business itself. We initially set up in the kitchen of a house that Shane owned while we were waiting for a county enterprise unit to be ready.
It was never a question whether or not we would set up the business in Sligo. Back then Shane was forward thinking and could see that, when it came to tech businesses, you can work from anywhere in this industry.
That wasn’t a popular opinion when we were setting up SL Controls, but he could see it back in the early 2000s.
And even though we were a small tech company in Sligo, we saw no reason why we couldn’t supply our service to big foreign multinationals.
At the very beginning we were quite lucky and won a contract from Hewlett-Packard, and after that we managed to sew up a deal with the Pfizer unit in Grange Castle.
Those couple of contracts, along with smaller deals, gave us a springboard to move the business forward and hire more people.
Since then, we’ve set up offices in four locations outside Sligo – in Limerick, Dublin, Galway and a hub in Birmingham – all while keeping the company firmly rooted in the west of Ireland.
Mistakes
We’ve had to weather some storms over the years, but we’ve always come out the other side. There was no growth during the recession, things were just steady, and we were lucky that we had a couple of blue-chip companies to keep us going.
We were maintaining at around 20 or 25 employees, but I do remember watching the news and feeling unsettled as a business owner by what was being discussed day in, day out.
I remember my wife Carol, who is an economics lecturer, saying, “This recession will come and it will go and come again. That’s the way the cycle works.”
For a while, we also had an issue with retaining staff as multinationals moved in and salary levels were getting very competitive.
That was a difficult period for us. We weren’t losing a massive amount of staff, but more than we would have liked.
Engineers might come to us for two or three years, get a lot of experience from the time we invested in them and then be out the door with other companies benefiting from the investment we put in.
We decided that to address this we needed to bring in a full-time HR department, and it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done as a company.
We now have three people in the department and as a company are very competitive in terms of salary, healthcare, holidays and all that good stuff.
It’s not all about work, work, work. We’re now promoting wellness and fun, and the culture has changed enormously. At the time it seemed like such a huge investment, but all I can say is you cannot afford not to have a HR department.
You need to measure up what it costs you when you lose someone and the cost of having a resource to retain staff. Now the retention issue has turned around hugely, and we’re seen as a great place to work and I feel we’re a tight-knit team.
If I could have done it sooner I would, but you live and learn. I think a mistake is only a mistake if you make it twice.
Keith Moran is the co-founder and managing director of SL Controls. This article was written in conversation with Killian Woods as part of a series on business mistakes and what can be learned from them.
If you want to share your opinion, advice or story, email opinion@fora.ie.
Written by Keith Moran and posted on Fora.ie
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as someone who lost a beautiful niece last August because of her taking one MDNA tablet (it was her second one she ever took )
I can’t in anyway condone the taking of drugs .the devastation snowball that has hit our family from this is just awful to say the least .
a seventeen year old , an only daughter ,a father who is just a shell .a mother lost .and all for that one pill .
PLEASE KIDS THINK .
@john sheridan: so sorry to hear that, John.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: thank you
@john sheridan: Sorry for your loss but I’m betting she was raised on the “Just say no” mantra and it didn’t work. It’s never worked. If you really cared about more people not being lost to drugs you’d drop that useless approach and wholeheartedly support this initiative.
@Bryan Kelly: what a comment. you don’t have a lot of friends Bryan, do you?
@Bryan Kelly: sorry for your loss but…. you would have been better off jogging on
@Seamus Mac: I think he means MDMA I never heard of MDNA.
Pretty progressive stance. Harm reduction should be rolled out for all drug use, not just party drugs. Testing is a great idea.
@K: harm reduction !! Don’t ingest something that you have no idea what it contains…if you do, well you can’t fix stupid.
@K: facilities should be available for people to test their drug’s in all pubs clubs and concerts.the government needs to take responsibility and grow up about this matter that the people in this state do drugs.this can save lives..
@Robert Phelan: whos going to pay for these testing facilities Robert?
@Seamus Mac: we’ll be the ones paying just like we have to pay for the problems caused by alcohol seamus.its either that or legalize regulate and tax.
@SFNutters: “Just say no”’s been working fantastically hasn’t it? I’m sure there’s a saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Question for ye: Are you just stupid, or are you an amoral sack?
@Seamus Mac: Which is cheaper, relatively inexpensive test kits by the 100′s or the cost of one person’s treatment in ICU after a dodgy pill?
Testing drugs would save money and more importantly lives and hospital beds.
@Mill Lane: sense
@K: at work as well…
@Mill Lane: you have costings on this? What about staff to distribute the kits? What if one of the kits give an inaccurate measurement? How much would the lawsuits cost? Just say no.
@SFNutters: were you ever young? I suppose you just popped out of the womb ever so sensible
@Seamus Mac: Lol! Classic Irish.
Drugs have never been cheaper to buy. I remember in the late 90s an xtc table cost 10 pounds, now you can buy one for as little as a euro. If the government goes a head with minimum pricing of alcohol the drug cartels will be rubbing their hands with delight.
@TRUMPS#BLIMP: FG are visionaries with their tax increases to stop had habits
@TRUMPS#BLIMP: What tabs have you being buying for a euro?
@TRUMPS#BLIMP: well if you are buying E for €1 a go, then you are buying some seriously messed up cheap crap, more than likely a multiple mix of various tranquillisers, I know all drugs are dangerous but that type of stuff should be avoided at all costs….
@Devilsavocado: Sure, right? Cos the expensive ones are full of vitamins and good stuff.
@Devilsavocado: No the local drug dealer said they are fine, just as safe as the more expensive stuff.
@TRUMPS#BLIMP: Fiver a pop, or 3 for a tenner is the regular price.
@TRUMPS#BLIMP: will you direct me to these €1 pills please! I’m paying a tenner a pop.
@Richard: ye mad for the bitta gear richie??
Trust me guys if you buy in bulk from a whole sale drug dealer you will get them for a euro each.
@#Inglés Retweeter: did you miss the whole “I know all drugs are dangerous” part of my post??
@Hank Kingsley: Aspirin, possibly
@TRUMPS#BLIMP: where you getting yokes for a euro? Asking for a friend
Take a quarter of a pill ? There will be lads double dropping to beat the band
@Anthony Healy: Serious parenting skills being taught there Anthony……..lucky child
@John Joe & Bridie: there is no need for that. I’ve been to about fifty festivals and what Anthony has stated is the reality of what will happen. Young lads and girls trying to out do each other because the festival they are at has been the topic of conversation for the last six months.
@Ned Flanders: That comment tells me you’ve either never been to a festival or if you did you never met anyone doing drugs.
I’ve done more drugs than you’ve imagined seeing people do and you’re full of it.
@John Joe & Bridie: parenting skills have what exactly to do with telling the truth? Did he put two down his kids throat? I think not. You’re way out of touch with the accuracy of his statement so you take a cheap shot. Stunning.
@Bryan Kelly: I would disagree there very big difference between those who party in late teen/early twenties and those a bit older. Been there done that like lots of people. You’ve never seen people double drop in your life or double dab? Saying I’ve done more drugs than imagined makes you sound like you’re the one who has no idea to be fair. There’s always the few that go on how they could handle twenty pills in one session the scary part is I seen it happen. And it’s not exclusive to festivals. People party every weekend like this are out there
@Anthony Healy: that made me lol. Legend
@Bryan Kelly: ye mad thing kelly doing drugs, then tellin us all about it, your a madser altogether!
If i want to see flowers on my wall i’ll buy flowery wallpaper, Drugs are bad kids!
@Hank Kingsley: tell me the health benefits of a whack of heroin hank son?
@tooler doogan: The weight just falls off ya.
@Hank Kingsley: thats only because you have no money for food, having spent it all on gear!
@tooler doogan: this is an article on festival goers taking yokes, and not shooting up heroin. But I suppose you think all recreational drug users are also heroin addicts.
@Hank Kingsley: what are they taking? Cos they haven’t got a clue what’s in it…then they get a bad reaction and end up occupying a hospital bed that someone who is really ill needs..fools.
@Hank Kingsley: lol yokes, heroin probs safer than yokes, do they do vegan yokes for festivals?
@tooler doogan: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61462-6/fulltext
Do a bit of reading bud. Knowledge will free your mind. Reputable scientific journal rating the relative harms of various drugs. Mdma is quite low.
@john doe: you sound more like hannah montana than tony montana pal!!
@tooler doogan: what are you on about
@john doe: thanks for that article very interesting o1ne point to note is the most dangerous drug on that list is legal and probably is in everyones house up and down the country, while the unregulated drugs black market will continue to thrive until we regulate the market, or at a minimum start to give out drug testing kits at nightclubs, festivals etc, and until that happens there will be death’s with people popping what they think could be yokes, but could be PCP instead of mdma
@SFNutters: A bottle of whiskey will do the damage
@tooler doogan: If they really were (bad) then there wouldn’t be a problem.
From this article, we are allowing people to sell our kids drugs and we then advise them how to take those drugs. We have no idea what’s in them and telling them how to ingest them is not the answer either. Would it be safer if our Government got involved. We really have to look at this in a different way to protect the next generation. The war against drugs has not worked. It’s like fighting big Pharma, They win every time.
@Teresa Scanlon: we are not allowing people to sell drugs. But like it or not, people are taking drugs, and taking lots of them. Giving advice is a much better option than burying out head in the sand.
@Teresa Scanlon: Wow! Why did no one tell me drug dealing’s legal now since we’re allowing people to sell them?
“Just say no” has been an abysmal failure for decades but you keep on beating that dead horse instead of considering that maybe alternative approaches developed by people who actually know what they’re talking about might be better.
@Teresa Scanlon: they’re taking them anyway meaning prohibition is failing so at least educate people to what they’re taking
I am actually shocked to believe that doctors are telling people in the mainstream media how to safely take illegal drugs. Is there not a better way to enjoy festival season than drink and drugs? Call me old-fashioned but what about #justsayno instead?
@Seeking Truth: aah fook sake seeking truth this is a serious conversation haven’t you got mass or something to go too…
@Seeking Truth: you are old fashioned
@Seeking Truth: How Well has #JustSayNo been working there? Sure in the decades since that ridiculously useless slogan began drug problems must surely have improved coz it’s just so damn effective yeah.
Seeking truth? Well it’s right there in the article, from the mouths of people who know what they’re talking about and not some ignorant tool who just wants to hop on their high horse.
Seeking truth? Seeking any excuse to be an arrogant toff and to hells with the people my ineffective catchphrase and opposition to information kills more like.
@Seeking Truth: Surely you can get it through your head that people ask doctors all the time how best to help them to cut down? Whether it be eating or drinking or taking too much medication, people do need helpful, practical advice and whatever helps each person is worth hearing. If the GPs wanted to advise thousands of people one at a time and bill the HSE, you might have some grounds for a gripe.
@Bryan Kelly: True. I would change the slogan to #JustSayYes. If they are determined to take an unknown substance made by criminals and havn’t got the brains to figure out the obvious danger, give them all that they want. If there is a particularly dangerous batch, all the better. Don’t waste resources trying to stop them, let them work away. If people are determined to play Russian Roulette, give them the guns and ammo.
@Kieran Woods:
People have been getting high since they have been on the planet. And they will be as long as humans will be around. We need reform mate, not the Stone Age views you just spurted out.
@Seeking Truth: it failed
@Nollaig Elliot: No reform needed. Let them at it.
I’m in my 30s now had my fun done the festivals and backpacking, 20s was a party but pretty happy with pints in pub life and the odd all nighter and honestly shocked there are still people believing just saying no is a thing. back 15 yrs ago this was regular not just limited to festivals. The scag was real lads. I work with active drug users and a doctors job is to save lives. It’s extremely naive to think people will say no. Harm reduction saves lives and if this advice makes someone take a more careful approach then fair play. You don’t have to agree with drug use but education is key. Some people need to climb down from that know it all attitude. Would you rather people die that’s the question to ask yourself. I assume answer is no. Then no opposition for this should be the norm.
Pity people can’t just enjoy the music…..just saying.
@Dorothy: pity people cant have a social occasion without alcohol, pity people cant eat less chocolate, pity people cant go to the cinema without eating loudly.
Just saying.
People arent perfect, they have weaknesses, we arent in a perfect world so lets give good advice and make it a bit safer for our youth
@Dorothy: people do enjoy the music. Ever had a pill and danced your ass off while listening to your favourite music? It’s a lot better than sober.
@john doe: Jeez lots of things are a pity in your world. Let’s cover them all then and say it’s a pity people aren’t perfect just saying…..
@john doe: Dont waste your energy worrying about them, neither should the HSE. Let them work away. Dodgy batch? That’s their problem, who cares?
People have been taking drugs for 1000s years and they’re never going to stop. How about we just make it a bit safer for them?
Soft pop em
People are always going to take drugs, in particular, people in the 18-25 year age bracket are always going to take drugs, it’s a brilliant idea to make it safer.
I think the buyer of the drugs should ask the seller to test one of the drugs on the spot and wait a few hours to see the result before chancing it
@FlopFlipU: bwahahaha. You’ve never bought a pill in your life with that statement. Here’s an idea – buy a testing kit yourself and test it yourself. Simple.
The cops would love to see a person bringing out a bag to test on the spot. Lol. Save them the bother.
Annie Oakes?
Like elsewhere, they should have a facility to test at festivals, make sure there are no life-threatening additives and know the strength. Safer.
have your say