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Business Builders
I created Business Builders as a weekly interview series to have honest conversations with business owners, entrepreneurs, and investors about their journeys; their successes, setbacks, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. As a growing business builder myself, I want to learn directly from my guests and share those insights with you. My goal is to provide listeners with practical takeaways, fresh perspectives, and real inspiration to help you on your own path to building and growing a business.
Business Builders
How We Scaled From €3M To €20M By Starting Over | Oltian Dervishi, Forte Pespa
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Oltian Dervishi explains why every growing business eventually hits a ceiling, why founders must keep taking risks long after they've found success, and how Forte Pespa transformed itself from a traditional contractor into one of Ireland's fastest-growing offsite manufacturers.
Oltian Dervishi joins Business Builders to share the story of building Forte Pespa from a small construction business into Ireland's largest aluminium balcony manufacturer, growing from €3 million to €20 million in turnover after completely reinventing the company and its business model.
Oltian reflects on the difficult early years of entrepreneurship, including going nine months without taking a salary, explains why rebuilding the business from scratch became the only way to scale, and shares the lessons that transformed both his leadership and the company's trajectory. He discusses the importance of timing, learning through failure, hiring ahead of growth, building a culture driven by hunger rather than credentials, taking on private equity, and surrounding yourself with people who force you to think much bigger than you thought possible.
This is a conversation about entrepreneurship, manufacturing, leadership, innovation, scaling, risk-taking, company culture, hiring, private equity, business strategy, offsite construction, and building a high-growth manufacturing business from Ireland.
"You can't teach hunger."
🎧 In this episode, you'll learn:
• How Forte Pespa grew from €3 million to €20 million by reinventing its entire business
• Why every growing business eventually reaches a ceiling—and how to break through it
• The advice from Oltian's father that completely changed how he thinks about risk
• Why going nine months without a salary was worth it
• How failure became his greatest business teacher
• Why ambition matters more than talent
• How hiring ahead of growth helped the business scale faster
• Why the best founders learn to let go of control
• How private equity accelerated Forte Pespa's next stage of growth
• Why surrounding yourself with bigger thinkers changes your own ambitions
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 - Cold open
01:18 - What is Forte Pespa?
02:17 - The €3 million ceiling that changed everything
05:42 - Finding the opportunity that started the business
07:13 - Landing the first €1 million contract
08:10 - Surviving without a salary
11:02 - Why timing is everything in business
12:13 - Rebuilding the company from scratch
15:17 - Lessons from Oltian's father
16:21 - Why entrepreneurship beat the 9-to-5
18:02 - Why ambition matters more than talent
19:16 - Learning through failure
22:15 - Hiring before you can afford to
26:07 - Why every team needs spare capacity
27:22 - Reinventing the business to scale
30:16 - Growing from €3 million to €20 million
34:08 - Building a leadership team
36:15 - Creating a winning company culture
37:16 - Why Oltian hires for hunger, not CVs
40:25 - Controlling the entire supply chain
43:00 - Thinking bigger after EY Entrepreneur Of The Year
45:59 - Building a business that's impossible to compete with
48:18 - Why success hasn't changed his mindset
50:10 - Final thoughts
Topics covered:
Entrepreneurship, business growth, scaling, manufacturing, offsite construction, innovation, leadership, founders, company culture, hiring, ambition, risk-taking, failure, private equity, operations, strategy, engineering, construction, aluminium, supply chain, acquisitions, productivity, Irish business, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, Forte Pespa.