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Inoapps is an award-winning systems integrator that utilizes Oracle’s technology and applications to deliver value-added solutions to its clients, both on-premises and in the cloud. The company also ensures that they achieve operational excellence and maximize the benefits of their Oracle technology investment.

Operating across the world, Inoapps covers the whole range of Oracle solutions and services including consultancy, implementations, change management, support, and training. As per the dynamic nature of its clients’ needs, Inoapps aims to build strong, long-term relationships by providing excellent service.

The Entrepreneurial Leader Behind Inoapps

The Founder and CEO of Inoapps, Andy Bird, established the company in Aberdeen, Scotland in 2006 by initially working from a four-desk set up in his living room. In those early days, Inoapps competed for space with Andy’s infant son who had just started crawling and took a very keen interest in all the keyboards and PC cables.

In Inoapps’ first year, the company secured its first major implementation project, a five-year hosting, and managed service contract. The project laid a foundation stone and launched the business. By 2013, after making two acquisitions which gave Inoapps a technology practice and increased the scale of its managed service team, the company was set to grow its business globally. After initially planning to finance this growth through bank loans, the company then received a compelling offer from the recently launched UK/Ireland Business Growth Fund, which remains a major Inoapps investor even today. Their support led the company to make a further acquisition and accelerated the ability to launch in Asia and the USA. Andy then relocated his family to Houston, Texas in 2018 to closely focus on Inoapps’ US growth. On the back of recent investment into the company’s leadership and management teams, Inoapps aims to double its business in the next couple of years.

Andy truly believes that experience shapes the way one looks at things. Reflecting on the year of 2020, he presumes that Covid-19 is an example of that. Andy says that since he started Inoapps in 2006, it felt as though the company has gone from one major international crisis to another. He adds that while each of these can be initially unsettling, both in terms of how they could affect one’s family and all the people who directly or indirectly depend on them, they also lead to new opportunities. Andy remarks that he and his team focuses on confronting the challenges that accompany changes and leverages the opportunities created in its wake.

Conquering the Challenge of Answering One’s Own Questions

Andy mentions that like many other start-ups, cash-flow was a major challenge in the early days of Inoapps’ business. He adds that he has spent many sleepless nights thinking about how to afford payroll, where the next sale would come from, what if customers do not pay, how to apply more governance, what if he is unable to afford necessary organizational structure, what to do if there is juggling growth and how to handle investment with profitability and expectation, so on and so forth.

Two Must-Have Attributes of a Good Leader 

According to Andy, a significant leader should have two major attributes.

First, he/she should be a good leader who believes in their team. To achieve that, leaders should stay honest and be committed to their words.

Second, a great thought-leader is someone who really knows their subject, audience and can capture that audience with the right message at the right time.

Right Mindset as the Catalyst for Growth

Andy believes that implementing the right mindset across the entire organization is vital in generating growth and achieving success. Andy adds that it is an art, which he is yet to fully master. However, Andy shares that he is committed to promoting a positive mindset across Inoapps by ensuring that his colleagues are focused on what the business needs to achieve in the short, medium, and long-term.

Entrepreneurs Outperform by Starting Things from Scratch

Andy claims that entrepreneurs and leaders are people who feel the urge to start a business from scratch. He also believes that entrepreneurs should possess two important qualities. First, they need to have absolute belief in what they do and should motivate themselves to do it. Secondly, entrepreneurs should be prepared to gamble everything in order to achieve success. They should be engaged in the mindset not only in the early days of setting up a business but also in the later stages. Andy highlights that if leaders start enjoying success, they must be reminded of the fact that much of their wealth is tied up to their company and is potentially at risk with every decision they make.

One Slogan ‘Go with Your Gut Instinct’

Andy suggests all the budding leaders to follow with their gut instinct. That doesn’t mean that leaders shouldn’t be open-minded or allow their minds to be changed, but if leaders strongly believe that they are on the right track, they should not allow themselves to be swayed. He concludes by saying that in his experience, his gut instinct is right more often than not.