Starting and Scaling a Startup in Ireland

Guest Post by Tony Corrigan

Ireland has a thriving tech scene. Our startup, TenderScout, is in Dublin, the capital city, but it’s encouraging to note that there are tech hubs across the whole country. A map plotting Ireland’s startup sector can be found here.

All of the tech behemoths are to be found in Ireland (Google, Facebook, Apple etc.) and their presence has created quite an ecosystem for tech companies. The last recession, beginning with the credit crunch in 2008, also contributed to people setting up businesses since many individuals lost their jobs.

As the founder, I set up TenderScout after realising that SMEs did not generally compete for tenders. I’d worked as a tender consultant for many years, and was constantly surprised at how few small and mid-sized enterprises competed for government contracts. In fact, as little as 10% of SMEs compete for tenders. This figure is even more alarming when the scale of the tender opportunity is brought into focus ($3 trillion worldwide or 18% of global GDP). In addition to this, governments actively want to procure goods and services from SMEs.

TenderScout was launched in April 2014 to demystify the tender process and help SMEs win more contracts. Today we are a team of eight people and we are achieving our mission. In 2016, we helped 200 businesses win contracts worth more than €100 million. These contracts help businesses improve their sustainability, protect jobs and create more.

Although setting up and running a startup in Ireland is invigorating, there are still challenges that need to be overcome.

The two most serious challenges we’ve encountered have been recruitment and securing funding.

Recruiting for a Startup

Startups compete with the tech giants for talent in Ireland, and getting our recruitment strategy right has been critical to success. I’ve discovered that the most important thing for anyone who is going to work with TenderScout is to have a ‘can do’ attitude and be motivated by the mission. It’s clear that the people who gravitate towards working for us see how their own ability can help TenderScout realise its potential.

We are aware that people who prioritise stability are better suited to an established tech company, rather than a startup. And, it goes without saying that a startup isn’t able to compete on salary for talent.

So we do three things:

• We clearly communicate the difference TenderScout is making to SMEs across the world
• We highlight the role each team member plays in making this impact
• We ensure each person knows the five year plan for TenderScout so they can see the growth trajectory

One of the advantages of working for a startup is that structures are more flexible than in large companies. Our team members get an opportunity to engage with aspects of the business that might not be their job focus. This contributes to employees expanding their skill-set, and provides them with a well-rounded view of how the business works. I’m also proud to say that my team has implemented a training session each month where each person in TenderScout gets a chance to present an aspect of their own role to the rest of us.

Working for a #startup, the structures are more flexible than in large companies. Click To Tweet

Our team is a close-knit group of people who are all invigorated by the problem we’re solving.

Finding funding

I’d say that funding is on the mind of most entrepreneurs, whether they’re located in Ireland or not!

That said, Ireland, by virtue of its small size, adds an extra dimension to the funding challenge entrepreneurs and founders face. There are many startups chasing the available pool of money.

One of the key lessons we’ve learned as part of our funding search was getting our product/market fit correct. Many searching questions were asked as we engaged with startup investors, and though these were hard to field at times, they contributed to refining our fit as well as our message.

Through our engagement with the startup community in Ireland, we were incredibly fortunate to be championed by Niamh Bushnell, in her role as Dublin Startups Commissioner. Her introductions to various investors helped us enormously. Networking is key to contributing to the overall tech sector in Ireland as well as growing your own startup.

The Irish landscape is interesting as Enterprise Ireland (a government vehicle focused on growing startups) will match investment raised (subject to certain criteria), a great resource we have made use of.

If you’re thinking of starting your own startup, go for it! It’s a challenge unlike any other, but the rewards can be substantial.

More information on TenderScout can be found here and here.