A bold step into business after redundancy

Inside the last 10 years, Paul Leonard has experienced redundancy not once, but twice, making him something of an expert when it comes to the dreaded R word. The first time it happened was at the beginning of this century when the Dunboyneman was let go by Thermoking, the producers of transport refrigeration units. The company was changing location from Dublin to Galway, and while Leonard had the opportunity to move out west, he decided it was best for his family"s sake to stay closer to home. Within weeks of leaving Thermoking, Leonard got a job as a team leader with Superquinn. Around that time, he also suffered a severe loss that had a profound effect on him. His father, Christopher, passed away at just 57 following a long illness. 'It was a huge blow, a huge shock, he was my best friend, I"m the eldest of six children and he was my buddy as well,' Paul told the Meath Chronicle last week. 'My way of dealing with the loss was to work very hard. After leaving Thermoking, I got a job in Superquinn within three weeks and never missed a day, worked 12 hours a day. Probably not a great way to deal with loss but that"s what I did at the start.' Paul Leonard picks out the passing of his beloved parent as a defining moment in his life. It also taught him some hard but useful lessons that he has applied to his career since; how to absorb, as William Shakespeare put it, the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' and fight back. It"s that kind of fighting spirit and resilience that has come in useful to Leonard as he goes about setting up a new business slap, bang in the middle of a recession. Late last year Leonard, who is from Dunboyne, was made redundant for the second time in his career when he was let got from his job with Superquinn. He had joined the supermarket giant as a team leader and progressed to the position of project manager. He had been with Superquinn for seven years and was a victim of the company"s decision to downsize last winter. For a month or two, he looked at his options and opted to take a bold step. Using his redundancy money, the 43-year-old went about setting up DunboyneIT, a company that repairs PCs and laptops with web design among the other services provided. Married to Isolda, a Dublin woman, and with four children, Leonard wasn"t content to stay on income support for long. The feeling that went with going down to the local welfare office didn"t sit easily with him. Fired with a new enthusiasm, he set about forming his own business. He was 'sick and tired' hearing about all the talk of gloom and doom and predictions of impending economic meltdown in the media and on the street. He says his natural inclination to see the glass half full has helped him emerge through a difficult time. 'I think we"re a good nation of people who have worked really hard to get where we are, we"ve been through a lot of recent times. We have the people, we have the technology, the education system and we need to use it. I"m a very positive, optimistic person and anybody who needs to talk to me about business knows that. I"ll say things as they are, I try to be honest and forthcoming and get the job done.' While DunboyneIT has yet to be officially launched, he says he already has 10 customers on his books. He also has got support from other business people in Dunboyne, something that has proved to be a major help to him as he sets out in a new direction. He says local business people have a big role to play in helping a new companies become established in the community. 'Local businessman Sammy Macari, from whom I have rented out the building where we are based, has been extremely helpful to me. He has vast experience in business. He is well aware of how hard it is to do anything now,' he said. 'He had a chat with me, he sees the project, he understands the project, he knows I come from a very experienced background and he"s helping me get started.' Learning new skills whenever the opportunity presented itself has been a big factor for Leonard in helping him find work over the years. While with Thermoking, he took the opportunity to explore new avenues and learn different skills. He went back to college in his mid-20s to study computer programming and the science of computer numerical control at Bolton Street. He was sent on courses abroad while with Thermoking and also was involved in travelling to places as far away as China on company business. It was his knowledge of technology and computers gained during his time with the company that subsequently helped him get employment with Superquinn. The type of experience picked up over the years, he said, will be extremely useful to him as he looks to build up his business in the coming months. The aim is to recoup the initial investment spent on Dunboyne IT, at least by the end of the year. Further down the line, he hopes to be in a position to take people on. The biggest problem in establishing Dunboyne IT, he says, is the supply of money with the banks, not surprisingly, reluctant to lend in the current environment. He also looked to the credit union and, at the time of writing, was awaiting a response. To keep initial costs down, Leonard has 'exchanged" services with other business people in the area. A local company put up a sign on his premises on the main street in Dunboyne and, in return, he designed a website for the signwriter. It"s little ideas like that and a swapping over of services that will help to promote local enterprises, added Leonard, who says is doing his best to battle back against the worst recession to hit Ireland in long time.