IP firm Ingentium was set up by Josef Geoola four years ago to bring innovation to the industry. The company also has unique work structures where employees only work four days a week and can have unlimited holidays.

Name: Josef Geoola

Age: 37

Position: Founder and CEO

WHAT IS THE BUSINESS CALLED?

Ingentium

WHERE IS IT BASED?

Edinburgh

WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?

AFTER living in Scotland for 10 years and working in IP, I found the market undersold customers. Old school business providers were in place with little innovation. They only used standard office software. The other reason for setting up my own business was that I felt like my values were different to my employer’s.

My academic background is that I have a degree in microbiology from the University of California Davis. In the mid-2000s I got a degree in intellectual asset management and entrepreneurship from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. I got headhunted for a small start-up which was an animal health organisation in Edinburgh and part of the condition was to move to Edinburgh from Stockholm. It was a welcome change, I loved the city and settled in. I worked there for a few years but I wanted to move into consultancy and then set up my own business which I had always wanted to do. There is always the fear of no security or support system under you. I thought this was the time to do it. I had ideas about how to run a business and I didn’t want to wait. It was good timing.

WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?

WE initially thought it would be SMEs. As it turns out, four years on, most of our customers are large international corporations or public sector research institutions or governments. It’s SMEs now and again but it is generally targeted to those.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?

I DON’T believe that other companies have our policies. It’s all about values for me. It’s very important in that I want to do something positive. In the old school mentality employees are not always appreciated. All the policies I’ve incorporated are policies I would have loved myself. We do four-day weeks. Monday is a day off but the caveat is if you have a client deadline you have to work. Holidays are unlimited. In the UK you get generous holiday time anyway. It means staff I hire from all over the world could easily take time off to visit family.

I’m from the US and I wanted to go home twice a year for a considerable amount of time. It has little impact on the business. I want employees to want to come to work. It’s the most important thing for me. Staff joke with me that their family don’t believe they have a job. It shows the difference between how the older generation were brought up to think about work.

We also try to create a personal approach to clients – we’re not formal. I’m from a minority background and so are some of our employees and we say you should be yourself and most people will find the experience authentic. I never want the client to walk away feeling the experience wasn’t what they wanted – it’s super important that the customer is always happy.

IS SCOTLAND A GOOD PLACE FOR THIS TYPE OF BUSINESS?

IT’S a fantastic place. When I tell people I’m from San Diego they ask why I would move to Scotland. The weather is amazing there but in Scotland the market has lots of opportunities and the population in Scotland is really accepting – I’m not from here but I was accepted with open arms.

Scotland has international connections which add lots of value with Brexit happening. It all makes living in Scotland a no-brainer to me. One thing that stood out to me is that in Scotland you get younger people who are very well skilled. The university systems in Scotland are quite superior. It’s a good thing for business to be able to tap into a talented pool of people.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

I LOVE my staff – they are super-smart and super-motivated and I have to credit them for the success of the business. They are just as much of a customer to me as clients are. Each client comes with their own set of challenges and we are innovative in solving that.

WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?

EXPANDING – in the next 10 years we want to have a few offices round the world. Africa and the Middle East would be the target. It would be good to potentially merge with other small businesses in a similar state.