Looking back at when we were a StartUp

"An entrepreneur is someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on the way down.”

Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn

Welcome to Swappsi’s exclusive newsletter “The Path of the Entrepreneur”, designed to give an insight into what it is to be an entrepreneur and also guide and inspire Founders as they navigate the entrepreneurial journey ??. Here, you’ll discover valuable advice and practical tips that we learnt along our journey and we wish we had known sooner.?

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So, grab a coffee and join us every two weeks as we dive into what it takes to start and grow your business ??.

Today, on the entrepreneur's journey, we bring you our birth #story, where adversity transforms into an opportunity for something new ??.

Once upon a time…

It's the year 2008, two colleagues from a large IT company in Ireland are working with a major client. A global economic crisis leads the company to decide to close the custom #softwaredevelopment department, despite having a contract with a big fish. One of our characters decides to take charge of this client and invites his former colleague, who had already returned to his home country, to participate in the project.

Does it sound like a great plot for a technology movie? ?? Or perhaps the beginning of a buddy-film? ??

This is the story of how Swappsi came to life back in 2009, and how Gonzalo and Andreas, our founders, joined forces in a challenging moment to create one of the leading software companies in Ireland and the entire UK.

Prior to 2009 Andreas and Gonzalo were both working for Datapac Ltd, one of Ireland’s largest ICT solutions and services providers. Their main business was ICT Support, Networking, and Consumables, however, they had a software development division called Manser, where the two worked as software developers. One of their clients at the time was an Irish Government Body.?

The Great Recession

Around 2008, at the height of the Great Recession, Datapac decided to close down the custom software development department but they still had an ongoing contract with the Government Body. Gonzalo contacted Andreas to see if he was interested in joining forces to continue supporting their application while also pursuing new challenges. Since Gonzalo’s and Andreas’ know-how of the client’s software was critical, they approached Datapac to engage in a partnership to future-proof the client’s support contract while also providing Gonzalo and Andreas with the opportunity to look for new challenges independently. Said and done, thanks to this partnership, Swappsi Ltd was formed.

The famous learning curve

? Initially, many challenges began to surface: how to make decisions, what tools to use to keep track of all the work items, how to keep costs low, how to look for new customers and many more. But the excitement of starting a project with your best friend and knowing that what you're offering goes beyond a simple service is a driving force that allows you to never stop ??.

Lesson Learnt

??Nothing is easy at the beginning, and it doesn't get simpler with time, but we learned that the feeling of bringing an idea to life with your own creativity and passion is one of the best adventures anyone could have. The entrepreneur's path is long and filled with many obstacles, but each one tests our creativity and provides us with experience – the same experience we use to advise our clients in their businesses.

Subscribe to our newsletter “The Path of the Entrepreneur” to discover more stories about entrepreneurs and the challenges (and satisfactions) that come with navigating the path of the entrepreneur ??

Do you want to know how Swappsi can help your startup? Find out more by visiting Swappsi

?We’d love to hear from you! Your feedback is crucial in shaping the future of ‘The Path of the Entrepreneur.’ Are there any topics you’d like us to explore, or do you have specific challenges you would like advice on? Please comment below. Let’s make this journey together even more insightful and tailored to your needs.

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