UNDER THE RADAR: PETER CLUSKEYtalks to David Lawlor, managing director of Watermark Technologies.
SINCE HIS teens, David Lawlor has always wanted to run his own business, and his professional life right up to his early thirties was dedicated to being prepared for that moment.
A commerce degree from UCD in the mid-1990s, followed by a masters in accounting, a spell with KPMG where he qualified as a chartered accountant, a job with Dunloe Ewart plc, and then with Greenstar, honed his business skills.
"Accountancy is undoubtedly the best foundation for running a business – I'm still convinced of that," says Lawlor (34). "But once I'd qualified, I started to get involved in the operational side of things – especially at Greenstar, which was on an acquisitions trail and where I was involved in the integration of those acquired businesses. It was fascinating."
Then, in 2005, Lawlor saw his opportunity – ironically a business he believes many other potential buyers probably wrote off at the time as virtually "unsaleable".
Watermark Technologies was run by a husband and wife team who also ran a second business.
"There were a number of issues," recalls Lawlor, "but essentially I suppose it wasn't being run with all the rigour you'd expect of a successful business. When it came to buyers, I was the last man standing – but even so I wasn't prepared to just throw in a load of cash and take a chance."
Watermark is the exclusive agency for a number of well-known brands of commercial coffee machines – nowadays Gaggia, Rancilio, Egro, Bunn and Bravilor. At the time that Lawlor got involved it was just Gaggia and one other.
"There were problems, but I felt the agencies were very attractive and the client base was good. I felt it was something I could build on, if I structured it a different way."
So Lawlor hedged his bets, joining first as managing directorfor a two-year period during which he could road-test the company to see if it felt right to purchase. In the event, he bought it outright after a year, completing the deal in January 2007.
The figures since then tell the story. Turnover for 2005, before he joined, was about €2 million. Since then, there's been an increase of about 30 per cent and he's anticipating an increase of another 10 to 15 per cent over the next 15 months.
Similarly, staff numbers have increased from seven to 13, and he'll probably add a few more by the end of 2009 – the entire workforce has changed in the three years since he took over the reins.
"When you're running a small, tightly-focused company like this, you need to work with like-minded people – especially in recessionary times," he observes.
So what has changed at Watermark? "One of the first things was to restructure the sales team, which was in order-taking mode rather than looking for new business," replies Lawlor.
"Another was to recruit more carefully. We used a US company which draws up role profiles to find staff with high goal orientation. Because our machines are relatively high-value capital purchases for most companies, pubs or restaurants – they typically cost between €4,000 and €14,000 – buyers make decisions carefully. So sales people need to be very clear about how they put across the benefits of our products."
He also put in place a new branding and marketing strategy. "In the past, people simply didn't know about the company. But that marketing is now beginning to feed through. As a result, we've seen a 15 per cent increase in sales over the past three months, compared to the same period last year."
Lawlor motivates his staff through clear sales incentive plans, but he says it's not that simple.
"Money is a reward, but it's not necessarily a motivator. I motivate my staff by getting stuck in, by dealing with issues as they arise and by working at least as hard as they do. How will I deal with recession? I'll work harder."
ON THE RECORD
Name:David Lawlor
Company:Watermark Technologies
Job:Managing director
Age:34
Background:Commerce degree from UCD in 1995, masters in accounting, 1996. Joined KPMG where he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1999. Worked with Dunloe Ewart plc and then Greenstar, an NTL subsidiary. Joined Watermark as managing director in 2006 and bought the company in 2007. He has since increased turnover by more than 30 per cent and moved to a new 7,000sq ft showroom at Citywest.
Inspired by:His father, Pat, managing partner at chartered accountancy firm, JPA Brenson Lawlor in Donnybrook. "He's a great sounding board, he's always positive and that gives me confidence when things aren't going as I wish."
Challenges:"The thing about recession is that quality becomes more important than ever – and that suits us."
Most important thing learned so far:"I've had many a sleepless night over this company, even before I owned it, so I'd say: for every day that things go wrong, there's another day to start afresh. Self-belief and persistence are crucial."
