What happens when you build a technical team first, a sales team second, and never take a penny of outside investment?

In this episode, Harry Driscoll and Owen Lovell sit down with Stuart Harper, CEO of Optec Services, to unpack how he took the company from a one-man operation in a rented room to a team heading toward 30 people, Fortinet's expert partner in Wales, without a business degree or a single investor.

Stuart talks openly about the early days of selling anything to pay the bills, the moment services became more valuable than hardware, why finding good salespeople has been harder than building a brilliant technical team, and the ongoing challenge of protecting culture as headcount grows. He also gets candid about the pressure that never really goes away, even when the business is doing better than ever, and why it took him three days to switch off on his first proper holiday in years.

Highlights:
00:00 – Starting Optec alone with no investment or business background
08:00 – Why the technical team came before the sales team, and why good salespeople are so hard to find
18:00 – Moving from reselling hardware to a services-led, security-focused business
23:00 – Protecting culture while scaling from a two-person team to 30
38:00 – Office culture, hybrid work, and where the balance sits
44:00 – The struggle to switch off and avoid burnout as a founder
50:00 – Growth plans for the next five years and advice for founders starting out

Host Links
Harry Driscoll: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-driscoll-170676b7/
Owen Lovell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owen-lovell-prince/
Prince Talent & Resourcing Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prince-talent-resourcing-group/

Guest Links
Stuart Harper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/optec-stu/
Optec Services: https://www.linkedin.com/company/optec-services/

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Produced by Vertical Drop.