This week Vivid Minds vivid futures interviews Daniel Baldwin of New England Business Technology. Daniel provides high quality IT solutions to businesses in the New England region as Daniel Baldwin IT, he has now joined forces with Laurence Nussbaumer launching New England Business Technology united in their mission to help their clients do business better.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born in Wollongong, and at the age of seven we moved to Walcha as my parents loved the country lifestyle. After primary school in Walcha, I attended Duval High school, that’s where I first met my now wife. We didn’t really know each other but had many mutual friends. After school I worked at Hungry Jacks as a manager, and later at Woolworths. At Woolworths I started in the deli, and then did some butchering, after that I worked in all areas of the store. While working I started doing a bachelor’s in computer science. I then got a job at Computer Support Team, and within 6 months I was doing business support. Due to our common friends, I had met my now wife a few times. One day I left a Facebook comment on one of her posts and was invited out to a dessert night. We then started hanging out, and the rest is well, history. After Computer Support Team closed, I started my own business operating as Daniel Baldwin IT, providing IT support to businesses in the New England.
What does New England Business Technology do?
We look after technology solutions for your business. We take the stress out of the IT side of things so our clients can focus on doing their business well without having to worry about their IT requirements. We do everything from setting up and providing new computers, looking after antivirus and security, disaster recovery solutions, scoping out and implementing changes to your environment, supplying high quality business telephone systems, right through to just providing good general advice for IT best practice. We work with our clients to help them use technology so they can do their business better.
When did you start your business?
I started working for myself in 2017, things got busy fast, and I quickly reached capacity where I couldn’t grow any further without neglecting my clients. I had met Laurence from nTech & Communications through mutual clients, and after getting to know each other we decided to merge our businesses together. Around 2020 we knew the time was right and set the date for July 2020. Then Covid happened, and that put a stop to everything. Fortunately, we were able to sort through everything and we started trading as New England Business Technology on 1st of July 2021.
What have been some of your challenges in starting a business?
The biggest challenge has probably been knowing when work time is up and when family time needs to start and creating that separation. You can get caught up in the work, especially when you are starting out and there is always so much to do.
I can’t let a problem go. I am also a good listener, and I can communicate well with clients. I try to understand the full scope of someone’s problems and then figure out how to work in a solution that suits all their needs.
What do you like most about running your own business?
In theory it gives me the flexibility to work when I want and have a bit of control over when and how I do things. I also like that the rewards I get from my business as they are directly related to the effort I put in which gives me a huge sense of achievement.
What advice would you give a business just starting out?
Don’t stress so much on the details, you will get some things wrong and that’s ok. Be open to learning from your mistakes and doing better next time.
What motivates you?
Technology is varied and the possibilities aren’t yet fully discovered. I really enjoy exploring what can be done, and how I can use things to make my life better instead of what’s just on the label. I like to stretch the technology beyond what it was originally intended for. Problems and challenges also motivate me; if something is not quite right, I just can’t let it go, I need to work out what is the issue, and fix it. Even if it means reinventing the wheel or fixing something that is deemed unfixable. I will find a way.
I can’t let a problem go. I am also a good listener, and I can communicate well with clients. I try to understand the full scope of someone’s problems and then figure out how to work in a solution that suits all their needs.
What is your secret for success?
I can’t let a problem go. I am also a good listener, and I can communicate well with clients. I try to understand the full scope of someone’s problems and then figure out how to work in a solution that suits all their needs.
What’s next for New England Business Technology?
We are currently building a new showroom so we can showcase some of the things we do. We are taking the hardware we provide to businesses and making that available to the everyday consumer. Businesses will also be able see before they buy. We will also simplify the options; giving you what you need instead of giving you every choice under the sun and making sure what’s available is of the highest quality and is backed by business grade warranty.
We are also going to be building a local data recovery centre, so in the event of a data loss event we can do more of the recovery work locally instead of having to send it away, which will reduce downtime and cost for our clients.
