Glasgow technology entrepreneurs learn not to put eggs in one basket

Greg and Julia Lavelle.

Age:

45 and 37.

What is your business called?

Etellect.

Where is it based?

Hillington, in Glasgow.

What does it produce, what services does it offer?

Etellect is a specialist business process automation solutions provider. We can take a business process and, using our own technology base, build solutions to make it more efficient and streamlined. We came from an ecommerce background. Ecommerce is now a business-wide activity so instead of it being focused on online, it is now concentrated on the entire business. It's about making the whole organisation more efficient and, in doing so, increasing staff and overall productivity.

For example, we have automated the business processes of Edinburgh-based Shower Doctor to supply customers throughout the world without any human intervention, aside from those rare occasions when an issue, or a system alert, has been triggered.

Whom does it sell to?

We are dealing with SMEs across Scotland and have a healthy client base in the wider UK. We intend to expand internationally in the fullness of time, because the technology travels - it doesn't matter where we're based.

What is its turnover?

£400,000 this year. We're projecting £500,000+ next year and £1 million the following year.

How many employees?

Six full-time and a number of consultants, we have just taken on two software engineers to accelerate the roll out of our new business integration product, eAutomate.

When was it formed?

2000.

Why did you take the plunge?

It was a personal drive to go out on my own. I saw there could be real opportunities in starting just after the dotcom bust, which was a period of great uncertainty. Businesses were trying to grapple with and understand the extent of the business channels open to them. I think it has taken until now for business to fully realise that the internet is the primary conduit to market.

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

I was an engineering manager at Barr& Stroud, which became Thales. I was part of the core technology development group. I was involved in projects such as the Future Infantry Soldier Technology project, which laid the groundwork for what we're moving to now in terms of automated systems. The focus was on integration and digitisation.

I also worked as a contractor for various design agencies around Glasgow and worked in England for Touchstone and BT as a technical consultant. That led on to developing our own technology base. Julia, who has a background in business development, joined in 2004.

How did you raise the start-up funding?

Personal savings. The business has been profitable since year one and growth has been funded by retained profits. This may have restricted growth to some extent, but we are 100 per cent owners.

What was your biggest break?

In 2001, we took on the Ultimo brand website, when Michael and Michelle, now Baroness, Mone were building their online business. Working with web designers, we built the technology platform and then took over the full contract. It allowed us to develop the platform on the back of the clients' needs. It was one of the first live Microsoft.Net platform in the UK, at a time when .Net was still beta. We also won contracts with First Engineering and Pinsent Masons along the way.

This sent us down the ecommerce route, but the transformation had started from a consultancy-based business to a service-based business. We want to change from bespoke provision to a solution which we can apply across the board. There will always be a customised element to our product, but 80 per cent of the core is now something we can offer as a base platform.

What was your worst moment?

That is easy. We had won a contract with Homebuy Group in 2006 - we were just married - for a 1200-user internet application. Two months in we were sitting in a hotel in Dundee and we opened the papers to read that Homebuy had gone into administration. It wasn't so much the money that we lost: it was that we had cleared the books for three months to get the work done.

It gave us an understanding of how destructive business can be and the effect it can have on your personal life when the wheels fall off. But it also made us more phlegmatic and taught us not to put all our eggs in the one basket. Strangely, too, it gave us a sense of confidence that we could sit at that table and win that scale of business.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

Ski holidays. Seriously, it's a matter of being master of your own destiny, regardless of what that destiny might be. There's also the flexibility and the freedom to follow your path. We try to strike a reasonable work-life balance. We have two small daughters and there has to be a harmony and a mutual support mechanism between us.

What are your ambitions for the business?

We'd like to establish a lead in developing the next generation of automated business solutions. There are tremendous opportunities for smaller businesses to be more innovative and more fleet of foot than the bigger players. As we grow, we will triple our staff numbers in the next two years.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

Actually, we have had considerable help from government and associated agencies. We have had Research and Development tax credits and as a Scottish Enterprise account-managed company we have had grants and training help. We have never experienced any negativity in this sphere. The enterprise agencies, rightly, will focus their attention on business which they believe will create future growth. Businesses have no right to expect support. It has to be earned.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

We're always learning. The most pertinent lesson is that it's all about hard work. There is no free lunch. If you want to make something happen, you have to go out and do it yourself.

How do you relax?

With two children and two dogs, we relax as soon as we're in the door. Or perhaps it's just a different kind of stress.