By Business & Finance 
Conal Henry, CEO, enet, takes the Business & Finance 60-second challenge.
Q. What was your first job?
My first job involved helping launch the career of Patrick Kielty who, like me, was a student at Queen’s University in Belfast.
I paid my way by working as a karaoke compere and persuaded him to tell jokes at a charity event. My first real job was as a financial analyst at Procter & Gamble in the UK.
Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date?
I can honestly say my family and our home-life are together my greatest achievement.
Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
My dad once told me that if I wasn’t part of the solution, I was part of the problem and I’ve never found anything better than that.
It is really important in business to try to fix things.
Q. If you could step into the shoes of one businessperson for the day, who would it be and why?
Jeff Bezos. He once said the longer your time-horizons, the fewer competitors you will have.
He took Amazon from selling books to what is now the world’s biggest cloud-based services provider, having a very clear long-term understanding of what his business is, where it is going and how it will succeed.
Q. In three words or less, how do you define success?
Achieving your ambitions – clear strategic focus is how you get there.
Q. How do you motivate yourself and your staff?
You must communicate with staff explaining where we want to go as a business, how we intend getting there and making sure that every colleague understands how their role fits it.
At enet we talk about ‘the project’, which is building an open-access carrier in Ireland and then taking it global.
We keep colleagues constantly up-to-date, so that when things happen, they understand the context. It’s important not to say something if you don’t mean it.
Q. How do you relax?
I run most days and I’ve done a couple of marathons.
Q. What’s your motto?
Illegitimi non carborundum – don’t let the bastards grind you down.
Q. What are your aspirations for the future of your business?
At enet we have a sense of mission. I think we can double in size in three or four years and then make the business truly international.
You must communicate with staff explaining where we want to go as a business, how we intend getting there and making sure that every colleague understands how their role fits it
BACK OF THE NET
Formed in 2000, enet has spent the last 16 years investing in fibre infrastructure to create the largest alternative telecoms network in Ireland. The company has also integrated an extensive, high-performance licensed wireless network to complement our fibre footprint.
The company is committed to the development of open access networks for the delivery of affordable, high-capacity connectivity solutions to homes and businesses throughout Ireland.
