Former Garda from Athlone becomes an entrepreneur

An Athlone man who attracted tens of thousands of views some years ago for his comic and music videos on Facebook now has his sights set on a different form of online success through his phone charging business, DockHive.

Garreth O’Sullivan, a former member of An Garda Siochana, recently made a permanent return to his home town to continue his business and be close to his family and friends.

“Athlone is my home town and it’s the place where all my family, my close friends and my business friends all live,” Garreth told the Westmeath Independent.

“I've always appreciated where I'm from, and I'm happy to be here. I hope to stay here forever and don't plan to leave or to move to another country. I want to continue building my business here and I want its base to be here in Athlone.”

Garreth believes his power bank rental business, for charging phones, tablets and headphones on the go, provide a high-end service to the local area.

He is Managing Director of Genuine Power Solutions Ltd, which trades as DockHive, and is also the founder of the business, which he runs with Liam Regan from Glasson, who is well-known for his own business, Photobooth Guys.

The duo have used up-to-date software to make efficient power banks, which has created one of Ireland’s most advanced power bank rental networks.

An early milestone for DockHive occurred in early July, when the company reached the top position in Google search results for 'Power Bank Rentals Ireland', a development which Garreth sees as recognition of the work that has gone into establishing the business in the Irish Midlands in the early part of this year.

“The search rankings are only one measure of our success, but it’s encouraging,” said Garreth.

DockHive is part of a new chapter in the life of Garreth, who, in the years before the Covid pandemic, shared his comic videos online under the title of ‘The World’s Best Cooking Show’.

He also ran a Facebook page, called ‘Something Random’, to display some other comic clips, including a bizarre comedy routine in which Garreth was singing and playing an acoustic guitar while fully clothed in a bathtub!

The Athlone man (32) has always been entrepreneurially minded and was previously involved in the marketing of various products.

He was an online fitness trainer and influencer, and during his time as a member of An Garda Siochana he obtained personal training and fitness qualifications.

He is a grandson of the late PJ O’Sullivan who ran a pub on Friary Lane in Athlone for many years, and his great-grandmother ran the pub in the 1930s and 40s.

Garreth is a past student of Athlone Community College and Athlone Institute of Technology, and as a youngster he played rugby with Buccaneers.

“I happily joined the guards because I believe that helping people was something that we are supposed to do in life. I always wanted to be in the uniform, and I worked hard towards it, and wore that uniform with pride,” he said.

“My whole timeline for there was about five years. I did eventually want to build my own business and I managed to discover a niche in the phone market that I knew would be beneficial not just to me, but to the public in general.”

Garreth said that building a business has been highly stressful, but was helped by his membership of An Garda Siochana.

“Joining the guards gave me the ability to be able to manage high-pressure situations, understand my stress levels, and understand how to decrease stress, which is a lot easier now than if I had just jumped into starting a business before I was a guard.”

Garreth worked for almost five years in the Kildare Garda division.

“It just felt like it was the right time to leave and start the phone-charging business, and everything fell into place perfectly,” he said.

“I like struggles and I like pain because I know pain that leads to success is a lot more enjoyable than having it just handed to me.”

During night-time patrols as a Garda, and also when socialising, Garreth regularly met people whose phones had gone flat, leaving them unable to contact family members, arrange transport home, or access vital information. It convinced him of the importance of access to a portable charger.

Today, DockHive’s portable power banks can be rented from self-service units before being returned to another participating location.

The devices are designed to cater for a range of mobile phones using different charging connections, allowing users to continue charging while on the move rather than the user having to remain beside a wall socket.

The Athlone entrepreneur points out that building his business, involved much more than simply importing equipment, and he and Liam spent several months developing the software behind the system, testing equipment, and refining the service before installing the first units.

“Our technical development was carried out in Ireland, which is something that was important to the project from the outset,” said Garreth.

The former Garda admits that leaving a secure career to start a business was not a decision taken lightly. Before handing in his resignation, he discussed the move at length with his family and those closest to him.

“My family encouraged me to pursue what had long been an ambition to build my own business and I eventually decided that the time was right because there never would be a perfect time,” said Garreth. “Sometimes you just have to take the opportunity when it's there.”

Like many start-up businesses, the journey has involved long hours and plenty of uncertainty.

At the development stage, Garreth worked every day, balancing research, product testing, meetings with potential customers and the practical challenges involved in launching a new company. He has enjoyed the challenge of creating something from the ground up.

“One of my principles has been my determination to focus on quality rather than simply cutting costs,” he said.

“Too many products are designed to be just "good enough", whereas my aim, and Liam’s, has been to provide something reliable that people can depend upon when they need it most. That philosophy also extends to customer service nationwide, and I will be personally involved.”

Using his experience of security, among the features built into Garreth’s system is anti-theft technology designed to disable a power bank if it is forcibly removed from a docking station. He believes it reflects lessons learned during his years in An Garda Síochána, where preventing problems was often better than dealing with them afterwards.

He hopes to expand steadily throughout Ireland over the coming months, with cafés, hotels, leisure facilities and other public venues among the locations being targeted. He also believes hospitals could benefit from the service, particularly Emergency Departments where relatives may spend unexpected hours away from home without a charger.

“At the same time, growth will not come at the expense of the company’s local identity,” said Garreth.