Drew McCoubrey

• Company: Quality Manufacturing Systems
• Industry: Software
• Website: http://www.qm-systems.net/
• Location: Carrickfergus, N. Ireland

Drew McCoubrey started his business in Jan 2007 when he left his previous job in order to launch QM Systems in the Irish market. Quality Manufacturing Systems are the Irish supplier of the 123insight Manufacturing Enterprise Management software to the manufacturing and processing sectors throughout N. Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Why did you decide to start your business?

Having previously worked for 22 years as Bombardier Aerospace’s Cadcam Team Leader in its Fabrication Division I had gained vast experience in the selection and implementation of business management and Cadcam systems in a manufacturing environment.

Whilst I loved every minute of my time working in an organisation that was at the cutting edge of technology, I always believed that due to the amount of knowledge I had gained that I apply it for the benefit of the manufacturing/processing sector in the Irish market.

I was always on the lookout for the “right” product and when I eventually came across 123insight in 2003 I knew I had found it. When I learnt the software was being targeted initially at the SME market and was being offered on a Pay As You Go monthly rental basis without a contract or minimum tie-in it further proved that this was the product I was looking for.

What was the biggest challenge you faced when starting your business?

The biggest challenge was taking a product from zero exposure in the Irish market and introducing it to a sector that has been through a very tough time in the past 20 years. As my background is not in sales I had to learn a whole new skill set to look after this side of the business.

I learned how to network with other businesses and learnt how to work outside my comfort zone which took some time getting used to.

What has been your biggest achievement to date?

After a somewhat sluggish start my biggest personal achievement has been growing the business by 225% in its second year and 140% in the 3^rd year with current projections on course to exceed those figures this year whilst coming through one of the worst recessions in recent history.

Who do you look up to in business?

Being an avid follower of the Dragons’ Den television program and having read the biographies of James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne I would be in awe of their business achievements.

However, the two people I really look up to are the two founders and co-owners of 123insight i.e. Mr. Guy Amoroso and Mr. Craig Grant as they had the foresight to look at the Manufacturing software market and how it traditionally did business.

What is your advice for other entrepreneurs?

Believe absolutely 100% in what you are doing, take advice from those who are best placed to advise and GO FOR IT.

If you do not believe in your product or service with a passion then I believe you will be destined to fail.

What makes your business different or special?

Our approach is unique, refreshing and honest in that customers choose to buy from us rather than us trying to sell to them. This does however, create a minor problem for us in that some customers spend more time trying to figure out if there’s a catch only to realise later that there isn’t one.

Our ultimate aim is to make our customers self sufficient with absolutely no attempt on our behalf to sell them additional consultancy or service. We do this solely for their benefit as this is at the core of our business model.

How are you gaining visibility and promoting the business?

The promotion of our business usually occurs via three methods i.e. web search from companies looking for an ERP/MRP/CRM solution, word of mouth recommendation and via our free regional evaluation workshops which are open to anyone to attend.

The evaluation workshop lasts just 2.5 hours and demonstrates the capability of the 123insight software whilst highlighting the pitfalls associated with the traditional approach which could lead to an expensive mistake and possibly failure meet the objective.

The Evaluation Workshop in itself is also unique as this is where we gain the vast majority of our customers from. This is an unbelievable statistic given that a customer going through the traditional sales process could spend 12 months or more evaluating various systems through site surveys, drawing up specifications and scoping documents all to obtain a quote.

Then a subsequent implementation period of months and years is not uncommon whereas we have documented case studies of customers attending a 2.5 hour Evaluation workshop, attending 7 days of training and implementing within 14 days.

We have numerous video and written case studies on our website which provides a strong testament to our whole approach.

Do you use any Social Media?

The main ones we use are Linkedin, YouTube where we have a 123insight channel set up and Twitter and at present we are exploring further use of these methods as they are so popular.