I spent my first summer after graduating with degree in Computer Science developing a small system for a 2-man fastener company. They had an office and a shed full of stock that were separated by a short distance. Every time a customer called, they had to run to the shed to see what they had in stock. At least they were both keeping fit! It was very obvious to me that this was no way to run a business and suggested I could help them by developing a simple system to track their stock levels. I never imagined that little offer would have the consequences it did.I loved seeing a tool I'd developed being used in a business and more importantly being effective. A strong focus on exceptional customer service from the outset meant that the business grew... and so did the requirements from my stock-tracking system. It was handling sales enquiries, sales orders, purchase orders and invoicing. The business continued to grow and moved to new premises (everything in one building!), and so did the system - order picking was added. The systems development was all happening in my spare time when I was holding down the day job as an Analyst/Programmer at Sainsburys. The time had come to choose one role or the other, it wasn't sustainable to do both.I joined Grampian Fasteners as a proper full-time employee and was able to focus all of my efforts on developing the company's IT systems. I would take on every role to understand it as well as I could, model the processes and develop systems to support them. The result was that we had a system that covered all of the operational processes and I understood the whole business in detail. When the owner decided to retire I was in a position to purchase the business with my partner and take on the role of Managing Director.We are now a 30 strong operation with a client list that reads like a Who's Who of the Oil & Gas industry and exports to over 60 countries.