What 15 Years of building an IT business has taught me about Leadership
Back in 2010, my business partner Tom and I started Bunker with two laptops, plenty of enthusiasm and very little understanding of what running a business actually involved.
Like many technical founders, I believed that if we worked hard, solved problems and looked after customers, everything else would take care of itself.
Some of that turned out to be true.
Much of it didn’t.
Over the last fifteen years we’ve experienced rapid growth, difficult setbacks, financial pressure, COVID, leadership challenges, recruitment, imposter syndrome and countless moments where we questioned whether we were making the right decisions.
Looking back now, there are a handful of lessons that changed not only how I run a business, but how I think about leadership.
🎥 Watch the conversation
Earlier this year I sat down to reflect on the journey from apprentice to building Bunker over the last 15 years. If you’d rather watch than read, you can watch the full interview below.
1.) Being good at technology isn’t enough
When we started, success was simple.
A server failed.
We fixed it.
A laptop broke.
We repaired it.
Another support ticket arrived.
We closed it.
That felt productive.
The problem was our clients couldn’t always see the value we were creating.
We were measuring ourselves by technical outcomes rather than business outcomes.
Today the first conversations we have with new clients rarely involve technology at all.
Instead we ask:
- Where is your organisation heading?
- What are your biggest challenges?
- What does success look like in three years?
Technology should support the business—not become the conversation.
"I thought success was fixing technology. I eventually realised success is helping organisations achieve their goals."
2.) Partnership beats transactions every time
If there’s one word that runs through our business today, it’s partnership.
I’ve never particularly liked the phrase Managed Service Provider.
It sounds transactional.
Our best client relationships don’t feel like supplier/customer relationships.
They feel like two organisations trying to solve the same problems together.
That mindset changes everything.
Instead of asking,
“What can we sell?”
we ask,
“How can we help?”
It’s amazing how different those conversations become.
3.) Let go of what made you successful
This one was probably the hardest lesson.
For years I remained heavily involved in technical work.
I genuinely believed I was helping.
Looking back…
I was often slowing everyone else down.
I had employed people who were smarter than me technically.
Yet I still wanted to review everything because “that’s how I’d always done it.”
Eventually I realised leadership wasn’t about being the smartest technical person in the room.
It was about creating an environment where everyone else could do their best work.
Stepping away from day-to-day technical delivery was uncomfortable.
It also became one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
4.) Culture doesn’t happen by accident
In the early years our culture was simply:
Fix things quickly.
As we grew, that wasn’t enough.
Communication became more important.
Transparency became more important.
Everyone needed to understand not just what we were doing, but why we were doing it.
Today our technicians, apprentices and leadership team all ask the same question before introducing something new:
Will this genuinely make a difference for our clients?
If the answer is no…
We probably shouldn’t be doing it.
5.) Leadership starts with knowing your own weaknesses
One thing I’ve become much better at over the years is admitting what I’m not good at.
Earlier in my career I probably tried to do everything.
Now I actively look for people who are stronger than me.
The best leaders don’t know everything.
They build teams that do.
Understanding your own weaknesses isn’t a sign of failure.
It’s the beginning of building a stronger organisation.
6.) Frameworks create freedom
Implementing EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) completely changed how we run the business.
Before that we worked incredibly hard.
But often in different directions.
EOS forced us to define:
- our vision
- our priorities
- accountability
- culture
- leadership rhythm
It didn’t create discipline.
It revealed where discipline was missing.
Sometimes structure doesn’t slow you down.
It helps you move faster.
7.) Apprentices aren’t a cost—they’re an investment
I owe my entire career to someone giving me an opportunity.
I left school early.
An apprenticeship changed my life.
That’s why we’re passionate about giving young people the same opportunity.
Some of our longest-serving team members started as apprentices.
Yes, they’ll make mistakes.
So did I.
The job of leadership isn’t avoiding mistakes.
It’s creating an environment where people can learn from them.
8. COVID taught me more about leadership than success ever did
COVID wasn’t difficult because of technology.
Our clients were actually in a strong position because we’d already invested heavily in remote working and security.
It was difficult because people were struggling.
Clients.
Staff.
Families.
Children.
Everyone looked to business owners for certainty when we had very little certainty ourselves.
Sometimes leadership isn’t about having all the answers.
Sometimes it’s simply saying:
“We’ll get through this together.”
9.) AI won’t replace people—but it will change them
Every conference today seems full of AI experts.
The reality is much simpler.
AI is here.
Ignoring it isn’t an option.
But neither is assuming it replaces human judgement.
The organisations that succeed won’t be those with the most AI.
They’ll be the ones that combine technology with great people.
That’s where the real opportunity lies.
10.) Success isn’t revenue
If you’d asked me fifteen years ago what success looked like…
I’d probably have answered:
Revenue.
Clients.
Growth.
Today?
It’s very different.
Success is watching apprentices become leaders.
It’s seeing clients achieve their goals.
It’s hearing technicians talk about culture without prompting.
It’s enjoying coming to work again.
The numbers matter.
But they’re the outcome—not the purpose.
Final thoughts
If I could go back and give my younger self one piece of advice, it would simply be this:
Stop trying to prove yourself. Start trying to help people.
The technology will keep changing.
The tools will keep changing.
AI will continue to evolve.
But leadership still comes down to the same things it always has:
Listen more than you speak.
Be curious.
Be authentic.
Invest in people.
Play the long game.
Fifteen years later, that’s what building an IT business has really taught me.
