Why You Should Leverage Relationships with Dublin's Tech Hub

Successful people and businesses leverage relationships and resources. It might sound cynical and, well, perhaps it can be a little at times. But at its core and done right - using others’ experience to your benefit makes perfect sense. These kinds of situations are often mutually beneficial - so everyone wins.

Tapping into established resources, networks and infrastructures can be vital to the growth of any company, no matter how big or small. Building a business up and taking it to the next level requires hard work and guile, but it’s rarely something that is achieved without other people. That’s where the ‘leveraging’ part comes in.

If you’re looking to set up a European base of operations, there are plenty of great reasons to choose Ireland. We’ve covered a lot of them previously here in our blog: tax breaks, R&D perks, high skill levels, a native English-speaking workforce, the list is almost endless. But one of the most prominent feathers in the collective Irish cap is the sheer number of existing multinational firms in the country - especially in the tech sector.

Nine of the world’s top ten software companies are based in Dublin. Nine of America’s top ten technology companies have offices in the city. Every single one of the top ten 'born on the internet' companies has their Euro offices in the Irish capital. There is no escaping the fact that Dublin is the tech hub of Europe.

It’s not just established IT, software and other tech businesses that call Ireland home. The sheer number of start-ups is incredible. And why wouldn’t it be? After all, where better to ‘startup’ than where the giants work and succeed? The symbiosis between small and large organisations working together is a big factor. Both can help each other out. There’s that relationship leveraging again.

See? It’s not as cynical as it first sounded, is it?

Establishing and nurturing connections and relationships with firms and influencers that you admire is a surefire way to push on as a company. Sure, you need to offer something to them in return, but it can be as simple as an eager ear or a promise to attend a networking event. Eventually, as you grow, your network will see your worth in a more tangible context, and you’ll become a valued part of it.

Strong B2B relationships are essential and if they’re local? All the better. But it’s not just about benefiting from the other firms directly. The perks can be indirect too. The more peers you have, the more influence you all have together. And the more the local area wants to accommodate you all as you become a bigger and bigger asset. Ireland loves its foreign investors, and the rewards are clear for everyone to see.

There’s something romantic about ploughing a lone furrow and going it alone. But romance doesn’t pay the bills. You might feel like a maverick moving somewhere unexpected, and it’s a nice idea. But the sensible option is to look at the market. 90% of the big tech companies chose Ireland and with very good reason. Follow their lead, then benefit from being around them.

Facebook, Twitter, Google, Mastercard, Hewlett Packard, Capita, Cisco, Accenture, SAP, IBM, Apple, Eriksson, Symantec, Yahoo!, Oracle, LinkedIn, Intel…

Those aren’t bad neighbours to have, are they?