This year marks 30 years of ProSys (parent of TachoSys) and to celebrate we wanted to share our story to highlight some of the successes and challenges we've been through over the years. In today’s blog I asked Ian Frost, managing director and founder of ProSys to share about how it all started.

ProSys started, as most companies do; quite a while before ProSys actually started.

As a child, my mum bought me the Ladybird book 'Magnets, Bulbs and Batteries'. It quickly became my go to book in any free time I had. My parents set me a challenge to build a radio unit and if I completed it, they would reward me with my first electronics set. Bribery or good parenting, I’ll let you decide. Having finished the radio, although it didn't quite work, for a boy just starting out, it was pretty good and so followed my first electronics set.

Throughout my teens, I continued to experiment, design and develop within the world of electronics. At age 16 and in the late 70s, I was featured in the local newspaper for building a computer in my bedroom. I had always been fascinated by science, taking things apart to unpack each little element, and to put it back together and figure out how it all worked.

Alongside this I had gained a bit of a reputation as a trader. I had a friend buying sweets from the local sweet shop which I then sold to other students at a premium – the sweet shop was across town and was renowned for its ground-breaking confectionery so the market was ripe and the profit was good.

Having done rather badly in my A-levels, I had decided to start an apprenticeship, when a family friend persuaded me to apply for a HND (Higher National Diploma) in electronics instead. Throughout my first year, I was completely uninspired to be 'learning' things that I had taught myself five years previously. There was a lot of maths, which I was too lazy to learn and by the time I arrived at my first-year exam, I took one look at the exam hall, turned around and went home. I remember saying to my mum "it will be alright", to which she replied "I know." My dad took a little longer to process, but they continued to support me as I started a summer job in data entry.

That summer job led to another with one of the customers who were responsible for developing computer systems. As I grew in confidence and gained experience, I then moved to Concept Computers in East London, a young business, where I was able to develop computer systems and provide technical and pre-sale support.

After a couple of years, there was a change in management and myself and a colleague were promoted to Managing Directors. The experience was great, but the days were long, the commute didn't help, so when a friend who had a business just down the road from where I lived offered me a job, I took it and started developing databases for businesses.

It was here that I had the opportunity to work more closely with businesses; to see their inner-workings, processes and efficiencies (or lack of). I found I was able to take what they needed and to see things that they hadn’t and provide creative solutions allowing them to work far more efficiently and intelligently.

Having always wanted to run my own business, it was at this point and with this experience, that I caught a wave of courage and channelled my entrepreneurial spirit into starting ProSys. I started up in 1991 in Coulsdon with an engineer and programmer from my previous job.

We developed creative solutions, systems and products; utilising our experience in computing and electronics to create everything from hair removal systems and faradic muscle exercisers through to car immobilisers and a multi-counter machine for reconditioning photocopiers and of course we continued to develop numerous databases.

Unfortunately, the three of us only lasted a week together. Having set up as a partnership, I quickly realised I wasn't very good at relinquishing control. It wasn't about the money; it was about decision making and being able to react quickly. This caused some real tension and we decided to part ways with our programmer who decided to go freelance but continued to work with us on specific projects.