Chris Horgan is managing director of Dexgreen, a Cork-based company that designs and manufactures connectivity components for digital infrastructure – including broadband networks and data centres.
The company works closely with telecom operators and network builders to develop solutions aimed at improving reliability, reduce faults and lower long-term costs.
Over time, Dexgreen has expanded from its roots in copper connectivity into newer technologies such as optical fibre connectivity, adapting its products to suit the needs of different markets and investing significantly in its manufacturing base in order to underpin its growth.
What prompted you to start up in business?
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Dexgreen was founded by my father in 1994. Our core business model has always been to develop product solutions collaboratively with customers. The company has worked across many sectors throughout this time. However, it has always had a strong focus on telecommunications utility networks in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of materials and ensuring that they were fit for purpose for use in external networks.
Over the years many different products and technologies have been developed, which have resulted in the company expanding into multiple overseas markets working with a diverse and growing range of customers.
What moment or deal was a game-changer for the company?
Securing an initial but relatively small business for our newly developed fibre-optic connectivity offering in 2017.
This was vital in order to start building and growing our relationships with key stakeholders and building a fundamental expertise. We have continued to invest in product development and scale our operations to meet growing international demand. This has been key to scaling our business globally.
To what extent does your business trade internationally?
Most of our business is international, as it’s difficult to scale purely within Ireland. We’ve built strong positions overseas and intend to continue that growth by expanding our product range and developing new technologies while staying close to rapidly evolving market needs.
Describe your growth funding path.
Growth has been funded through internally generated cash flow throughout the years. Our approach has been shaped by the 2008 financial crisis, leading us to prioritise disciplined capital allocation.
This model has provided resilience and flexibility, allowing us to invest strategically in products, markets and innovation. This is key to our agility in capitalising on new opportunities whenever they emerge.
What are you doing to disrupt, innovate and improve the products or services you offer?
In collaboration with a separate business founded by my brother Mark and me (SkillsBase), we have developed an in-house AI platform that provides real-time feedback on installation quality in the field of critical network components.
Through thousands of field installations, this has been proven to improve standards and minimise costly repeat visits. In addition, our engineering teams are constantly building in additional product features.
What is the most common mistake you see entrepreneurs make?
Many entrepreneurs underestimate the importance of cash flow as a result of various other issues in their business, such as placing a strong focus on pursuing operational excellence and growth/scaling.
Maintaining strong financial discipline is more important now than ever as market trends can change rapidly. Constant reinvestment is vital to maintain relevance in order to adapt offerings to address these changes.
What was your back-to-the-wall moment and how did you overcome it?
When I joined the business in 2015, there was a big technological shift in the telecoms industry from copper to fibre-optic connectivity networks.
This resulted in major uncertainty for the future of our business as our product mix at that time was entirely focused on copper connectivity.
By staying close to customers and adapting quickly, we successfully repositioned the business for long-term growth through the innovation and expansion of our offering to support a vast array of next-generation networks.
