- What is your background? What led you to setting up your own business?
Joseph Mady started his career as an Electrician, then in 2008 when the crash occurred he went back into college to upskill, becoming an Electrical Engineer and Revit Specialist with BEng Tech and BSc degrees in Electrical Engineering Services Design, an MSc in Applied Building Information Modelling and Management, and recently he completed an MSc in Business Leadership and Management Practice.
Digital Construction Technologies (DCT) began in March 2018. After possessing a strong interest in BIM technologies, principles, and methodologies Joseph saw an opportunity to launch DCT at a time when the skills and experiences gained over his career were in high demand which such a shortage of skilled BIM staff at all levels. This was the confirmation he needed to move forward and set up the business.
“The prior on-site work experience as an electrician, as well as my extensive engineering knowledge, have proven to be valuable assets in this transition to enable virtual environment to be utilised in the physical environment, digital construction career and throughout the five years of DCT.”
- Why and when did you decide to become self-employed?
After a number of companies approached Joseph for support due to the lack of experience in terms of the standardised virtual design and construction processes and procedures he spotted a need for skilled BIM staff in Ireland. This highlighted the demand for these services and led to the creation of the company.
DCT was established in 2018 and became Ireland's first digital construction technologies consultancy to become a member of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).
DCT's first office was located in Glasnevin, Dublin 9, and was home to a small core group of BIM professionals. As the company expanded, they identified a talent pool of highly qualified individuals based in Argentina, and DCT Argentina was launched in 2019, followed by DCT Croatia which was launched in 2020, DCT now with over 50 staff globally.
DCT Ireland relocated to new premises in Dublin 9 in 2020 to accommodate the growing workforce and to facilitate client meetings, briefings, and project conferences. DCT invested in high-quality technologies to enable an agile workplace. When the Covid 19 pandemic struck DCT’s workforce could seamlessly transition to a remote working model with no negative impact on customers, clients, projects, or deadlines. DCT now employs a highly skilled team of BIM technicians, designers, and administrators across the UK, Ireland, Croatia and Argentina.
- What do you believe makes your business different from others in your industry?
DCT’s core ethos is to become part of their clients’ companies to ensure that they work collaboratively and embed into their team to ensure a successful delivery to their projects. DCT’s strengths come from its core pillars of construction knowledge, a discipline; weather it is mechanical, architectural, electrical engineering etc. and BIM software knowledge.
“It is very difficult to get these 3 core pillars all together, our team are ex plumbers, electricians and if we have the site knowledge it enables us to ensure what we build virtually can work within the physical environment.”
DCT has partnered with many industry organisations, including BRE, UK & Ireland BIM Alliance, and CiTA as part of their continued efforts to raise the awareness of BIM across the construction industry globally.
- Biggest Challenges and Opportunities to date?
Challenges -
Recruitment: The talent pool for BIM-specific roles globally is very small and this has led to challenges with the hiring of staff. To mitigate this risk DCT has worked with local academic institutions to create or update courses, In some instances, they may hire staff with two of the required pillars and train staff internally to ensure that they have the require skills. To enable this DCT have built an internal training website and robust training strategy.
Access to new clients/markets: Without a dedicated business development team, DCT has found it challenging to enter new markets, particularly in the data centre sector, due to the limited resources available in-house.
With a network and support from Enterprise Ireland, DCT has been exposed to the major players in the sector. This has helped DCT to enter new markets and has also provided networking opportunities overseas.
Human Resource management:“When you set up a company and as it starts to grow this is an area that can be challenging ensuring compliance with the latest legislation in Ireland or the country in which you have set up the company, ensuring that the staff are managed correctly. This is an area that we have highlighted to the Local enterprise office as an area that more support should be provided for new start-ups and as company’s scale because a new start up company may not have the luxury of hiring a dedicated human resource staff member.
As a start-up, generally the founder can be taking on the roles and responsibilities of all departments’ accounts, business development, recruitment etc. so ensuring that staff management is done in the correct manner is essential as it can cause problems at a later date. Now this has accelerated lately with legislation changes due to Covid 19 and the new work from home legislation that shall be passed.”
Opportunities
Supports – “As a new start up a lot of time is spent on getting the work and ensuring that we get it completed to the required standard and deadlines. Sometimes it is important to get your head up and look at what is available to support you to enable your company to grow. The Local enterprise office have a lot of training courses and grants available that can educate you in business but also to support your company as it scales and grows. So, I would definitely recommend spending the time to educate yourself on available supports.”
- Have you changed your business model or target market? What led you to this pivot?
“Our clients vary, they include main contractors, specialist subcontractors, international investors, developers, consulting engineers, to manufacturers who sell industrial kitchens internationally. Larger clients developing data centres and pharmaceutical plants for multinationals, smaller clients constructing A-Rated residential homes.
Regardless of the size of the project or service provided, we apply the same methodology to all of our projects. The recognition of our work is constantly increasing across four of our locations, and we are currently engaged with clients globally.”
DCT’s services developed over time due to the demand of specific roles, one such role is the Digital Information management role which is basically a project manager for the production of the virtual BIM model production which also has to be maintained during the construction of a building to ensure a smooth transition between the virtual and physical build.
“DCT have been brought to different countries as that is where our clients have progressed. We can work on a project anywhere globally and remotely as we work within the virtual environment. At present they are completing projects across the UK, Ireland, Europe and South America but never have to visit the construction site.”
- One stand out moment that made you feel like you were on the right path/ or one that made you rethink strategy? (Did it work?)
DCT won the Start Up of the Year Award in 2019 and was awarded Local Enterprise Office funding in 2019; along with being shortlisted for a number of other local awards for our innovative construction technologies.
“Receiving this funding and awards solidified that DCT were moving in the right direction, and the team were motivated to continue to grow and expand further. This led to the expansion into the UK, Argentina and Croatia.”
DCT also began to be affiliated with a number of construction bodies including the Construction Industry Federation, (only BIM provider affiliated with CIF), BRE, CITA, Local Enterprise Office, EU Regional Development Fund, BIM Hrvastka - BIM Croatia and UK BIM Alliance and now an Enterprise Ireland client.
- LEO supports received and direct benefit to you and your business. We have record however your personal testimony is really what will encourage others to follow your path.
DCT received two priming grants from the Local Enterprise Office. These two grants provided DCT with an opportunity to continue and grow their team with the right staff.
“It is important to investigate what is available to support your company to grow but also to develop your own skillset to ensure that as a new company you have the skills to support you navigating as a business owner. When we are in the trenches, we are generally worried about getting work in, getting it completed and then getting paid. But help is available via training course, grants that are designed specifically to enable start-up companies.”
“I would say sometimes the forms that have to be completed seem daunting but it is definitely worth it to complete them to enable the progression of your company.”
In Ireland, DCT are working on new exciting innovative projects to support the government Project Ireland 2040, with the development of modular construction processes and enabling a circular economic approach to design for disassemble.
The strategy at present for DCT is to continue to expand into additional markets in our sector. They have just recently set up our UK office and are currently working to expand their services in this region.
In Croatia, DCT have moved into a bigger office and are expanding into new regions including Germany and Austria. Then in Argentina they are targeting the US market.
- What advice would you give to new entrepreneurs?
Support - this is key to ensure that you have the right people around you to ensure that when times get tough, they will be there to support you. This includes in the work environment and outside in your personal life.
Within the company, hiring the right staff is key as this can be detrimental to the company growing if you hire the wrong staff that are not aligned to the vision of the company.
A supportive partner, friends and family can make all the difference outside of the work environment as setting up a new company can have its risks. The biggest risk can be financial, as we all have mortgages and bills to pay, so worrying to ensure that we can deliver and that we will not affect our family can be additional pressure on you when setting up your company.
Vision/Strategy – When setting up a new company it can be a daunting task, but it is imperative to believe in what you are doing, that when you are delivering a message to your potential clients of what you are selling that you believe it. Furthermore, to ensure that you have a passion and enjoy what you do.
Cashflow – As the old saying goes cashflow is king. It is imperative to have a very strict payment structure to ensure that as a new start up, the money is coming in. As a start-up generally, the founder will take up every role from accounts to human resources we do not have the luxury of hiring for specific departments within our company’s.
Do not undervalue the service you offer, expect to be paid with your payment terms and in some instances get advance payments to de-risk it if you have not built a relationship with certain clients.
Contact
Website: dctgrp.com
Phone: 0035319121900
Address: Digital Construction Technologies Group (Ireland), Station Mews, Lindsay Grove, Glasnevin, Dublin, D09 CC92, Ireland
LinkedIn: Digital Construction Technologies Group
