What I wished I had known in 1996
I was honoured to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cavan Business & Tourism Awards 2024. I spent an evening in the presence of many great people, brilliant companies, deserving award winners and the wider Cavan business community. This included two entrepreneurial powerhouses - Ron Tidy of CICS (Cavan Industrial Cleaning Services) and Austin Kelly of The Bailie Hotel. The knowledge and energy they have for their businesses and the wider community is infectious. Its pure passion and wonderful wisdom bottled up. I think we can really all benefit from listening to them when we can.
It got me thinking. When I accepted the award, I spoke briefing about my own personal and business learnings over the many years building Callaghan Electrical. I wanted to share the essence of it here. I feel it might be useful to others running a business.
These are not my ideas. More so they are what I learned and took from the many others I was fortunate to meet along the way – those who built long before me. I hope you find them useful. I wish I had known them at the beginning in 1996!
Passion really is the key. Passion for your business is truly inspirational. It’s the starting point. It’s the driver during the challenging times. Expect it to be with you until the end. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be doing what you do.
I set up Callaghan Electrical in 1996. Back then I had a van to get around. The van was also the office. The van was the store. It was the canteen. I did the book-keeping in the
van. When you start your own business, you are very much the business. You do the purchasing, you’re the salesperson, and the bookkeeper. You must also deal with the bank, the revenue, the suppliers, the accountant! You get great broad exposure. But when starting out you really are the business. Be ready for that.
As I grew and the business grew, it was essential to surround yourself with the right people. I currently have 14 foremen. 13 of them did their apprenticeship with me. I have one staff member who is with me for 27 years. I brought in a student once to do summer work with us. He then completed his apprenticeship with us. After a few years in the business he travelled to Australia. On his return he joined us again as Project Contracts Manager and is a key member of Callaghan Electrical again today. The team is critical. Invest in your team, upskill them – and yourself as you go.
Professional services companies like us, must be solution-focused. That’s all customers are interested in. That’s what they deserve. Delivering solutions is how we add value. Package up your work into solutions that take customer pains away and execute as flawlessly as possible. Quality is key. When you finish the job, that’s what they will remember.
Scale is not possible without technology. Stay abreast of trends and developments in your sector. Be vigilant about doing things better, faster and smarter through technology and business tools.
When you are setting up your OWN business, in some ways you are on your OWN, however there are supports all around. For example, for us the Local Enterprise Office (LEO Cavan) provided invaluable support throughout our growth and at peak times of expansion and strategic change. I utilised all their supports with the mantra that I would ‘always learning something new from someone new’. They have the right expertise, the know-how and the supports. Their work and that of the wider Cavan County Council is truly commendable. It’s impact is visible throughout the vibrant county, towns and villages we have today.
Whether you want to grow your business to 1, 2 or 5 million, go find business and owners at that level. Get to know them. With their advice, often your biggest challenges can be viewed as big stepping stones.
You must make sacrifices. I know my family time has suffered from my hard work in the business. Balance is only possible by being clinically efficient with work time. Be punctual, be on time, make decisions – fast. They might not be the right decisions. If so, learn and move on. Life is too short to live in the past.
Network. Get out and meet people. We have a natural inclination to help others. People want to help people. I can no longer count all the people who helped me build Callaghan Electrical to what it is today.
Kieran Callaghan, Managing Director, Callaghan Electrical
PS – thank you the Anglo Celt for organising the awards and their service to the local community.
