Not everyone is a born entrepreneur, but Michael Doyle (29) always had a knack for business. When he was at school, he started washing trucks for a local transport company at the weekends.
What he didn’t realise at the time was that this would be the start of his journey with trucks and logistics.
“After school, I went to college in Galway and studied a business and entrepreneurship degree. At the same time, I was going up through the ranks of the transport company.
“I moved from washing trucks in the garage to the warehouse, then into the office, and started planning the trucks for Irish domestic, UK, and European work,” says Michael.
For the first two years of his degree, Michael travelled home to Cashelard, located between Ballyshannon and Donegal town, for work.
At the age of 20, he was organising a fleet of 25 trucks. Towards the end of college, Michael wanted to move into a bigger company. He started working for O’Toole Transport, which had 100 trucks at the time and was based in Galway.
“One thing for me was that I wasn’t able to get the grant funding [student grant], and I wasn’t able to make enough money as a waiter. So, I got my truck licence, and I was doing a trip to Dublin at night, and then I worked the weekends.
“I was basically earning a full-time wage while in college,” he says.
After doing work for Eugene Drennan, a former president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Michael was asked by a customer about the implications of Brexit, because they traded with the UK. He then started looking into Brexit and transport, and what it actually meant for Irish businesses – even though he was busy during his final semester in college.
“I realised Brexit was going to cause major disruption for exports. I researched a lot and I understood logistically the movements between the UK and the EU. It was just a case of fitting the customs knowledge around it.
“I trained in customs, and then in 2012, I set up my business Customs Complete as a sole trader. We started with one customer in Galway, and we grew from there,” he says.
“I quickly realised that if Irish businesses are having this issue – so is the UK. Pretty much immediately, I looked into setting up a UK entity, and I was able to deliver end-to-end services for businesses trading with the UK,” he says.
Exporting goods
Initially, Michael was running the business alone, but then he took on an employee and found a business partner, Conor. It was very intense at the start, as with the nature of exporting, they had to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The borders don’t close at 5pm, so we can’t either. You’ve got trucks coming in and out of ports 24 hours a day; you just can’t close. In the early days, that’s what distinguished us from some of our competitors. A lot of them would close at 6pm, whereas we wouldn’t,” he says.
With an office now in Galway, the UK and northern France, the company employs 20 people, with the hopes of reaching 30 by the end of 2025.
Michael Doyle was a truck driver then switched to logistics in college. He now owns two companies. \ Claire Nash
“There are three pillars to our business. The first is customs compliance and supply chain. Customs are fairly straightforward. We provide import, export clearance and special procedures, whether it’s a permanent import or a music group moving equipment. We provide operational customs support to businesses and people moving between the EU and the UK, and now, we can provide the service in over 90 countries because we’ve developed a global network to allow us to do that,” says Michael.
The second pillar is compliance, where they support businesses in preparing for audits and help them with their customs compliance and tariff planning which is a big thing at the moment with the tariffs announced by President Trump.
Thirdly, the firm also deals with all types of customs and economic procedures that businesses need support with.
Michael is hoping to pivot the business in the next few years to move into taxation consulting. He sees an opportunity in mixing the customs and finance functions within their business to help other businesses navigate global trade.
He never thought the company would expand so much. Initially, Michael planned to build up the business for a couple of years and sell it.
“I got so interested in customs and international trade. I love how fast-paced it is, it’s always changing, no day is the same, and you’re never bored so I am seeing where I can go with it,” he says.
If one business wasn’t enough, Michael's latest venture is Carbon Complete, a new start-up consultancy business with three employees offering a variety of CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) services from training to reporting and consultancy.
“A new regulation called CBAM is coming into force in January 2026 for the EU, and 2027 for the UK. What it means is businesses are going to have to report on their third-party emissions that are admitted into other parts of their supply chain,” says Michael.
Already offering support to businesses in terms of international trade, Michael identified an opportunity to help them with their sustainability goals because there’s a lot of crossover.
Work-life balance
With his businesses growing apace, Michael quickly realised the need to prioritise a better work-life balance. He started to crash in the middle of the day because he wasn’t switching off – including taking calls in the middle of the night.
“Healthwise, I can’t emphasise enough the importance of daily exercise for the mind. You cannot operate at a high capacity if you’re not doing the basics. I go out for a walk in the morning and a run in the evening.
Something as simple as a walk can really just change your mindset.
“It’s great on paper; you’ve got all these businesses. But what good is it to you if your health and mind are suffering because you’re thinking about work all the time?” Michael is bringing this idea into his businesses to make sure his staff are not feeling overburdened.
When it comes to being his own boss and a successful entrepreneur at such a young age, Michael points out “there is no freedom like it, and there’s nothing like building your own business.”
“It completely opens your world. It brings you so many opportunities, so many avenues you can go down, you can pivot, you can be whatever you want, and there’s freedom in that. It doesn’t come without its challenges. But I always say to people: no risk, no reward”.
Not everyone is a born entrepreneur, but Michael Doyle (29) always had a knack for business. When he was at school, he started washing trucks for a local transport company at the weekends.
What he didn’t realise at the time was that this would be the start of his journey with trucks and logistics.
“After school, I went to college in Galway and studied a business and entrepreneurship degree. At the same time, I was going up through the ranks of the transport company.
“I moved from washing trucks in the garage to the warehouse, then into the office, and started planning the trucks for Irish domestic, UK, and European work,” says Michael.
For the first two years of his degree, Michael travelled home to Cashelard, located between Ballyshannon and Donegal town, for work.
At the age of 20, he was organising a fleet of 25 trucks. Towards the end of college, Michael wanted to move into a bigger company. He started working for O’Toole Transport, which had 100 trucks at the time and was based in Galway.
“One thing for me was that I wasn’t able to get the grant funding [student grant], and I wasn’t able to make enough money as a waiter. So, I got my truck licence, and I was doing a trip to Dublin at night, and then I worked the weekends.
“I was basically earning a full-time wage while in college,” he says.
After doing work for Eugene Drennan, a former president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Michael was asked by a customer about the implications of Brexit, because they traded with the UK. He then started looking into Brexit and transport, and what it actually meant for Irish businesses – even though he was busy during his final semester in college.
“I realised Brexit was going to cause major disruption for exports. I researched a lot and I understood logistically the movements between the UK and the EU. It was just a case of fitting the customs knowledge around it.
“I trained in customs, and then in 2012, I set up my business Customs Complete as a sole trader. We started with one customer in Galway, and we grew from there,” he says.
“I quickly realised that if Irish businesses are having this issue – so is the UK. Pretty much immediately, I looked into setting up a UK entity, and I was able to deliver end-to-end services for businesses trading with the UK,” he says.
Exporting goods
Initially, Michael was running the business alone, but then he took on an employee and found a business partner, Conor. It was very intense at the start, as with the nature of exporting, they had to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The borders don’t close at 5pm, so we can’t either. You’ve got trucks coming in and out of ports 24 hours a day; you just can’t close. In the early days, that’s what distinguished us from some of our competitors. A lot of them would close at 6pm, whereas we wouldn’t,” he says.
With an office now in Galway, the UK and northern France, the company employs 20 people, with the hopes of reaching 30 by the end of 2025.
Michael Doyle was a truck driver then switched to logistics in college. He now owns two companies. \ Claire Nash
“There are three pillars to our business. The first is customs compliance and supply chain. Customs are fairly straightforward. We provide import, export clearance and special procedures, whether it’s a permanent import or a music group moving equipment. We provide operational customs support to businesses and people moving between the EU and the UK, and now, we can provide the service in over 90 countries because we’ve developed a global network to allow us to do that,” says Michael.
The second pillar is compliance, where they support businesses in preparing for audits and help them with their customs compliance and tariff planning which is a big thing at the moment with the tariffs announced by President Trump.
Thirdly, the firm also deals with all types of customs and economic procedures that businesses need support with.
Michael is hoping to pivot the business in the next few years to move into taxation consulting. He sees an opportunity in mixing the customs and finance functions within their business to help other businesses navigate global trade.
He never thought the company would expand so much. Initially, Michael planned to build up the business for a couple of years and sell it.
“I got so interested in customs and international trade. I love how fast-paced it is, it’s always changing, no day is the same, and you’re never bored so I am seeing where I can go with it,” he says.
If one business wasn’t enough, Michael's latest venture is Carbon Complete, a new start-up consultancy business with three employees offering a variety of CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) services from training to reporting and consultancy.
“A new regulation called CBAM is coming into force in January 2026 for the EU, and 2027 for the UK. What it means is businesses are going to have to report on their third-party emissions that are admitted into other parts of their supply chain,” says Michael.
Already offering support to businesses in terms of international trade, Michael identified an opportunity to help them with their sustainability goals because there’s a lot of crossover.
Work-life balance
With his businesses growing apace, Michael quickly realised the need to prioritise a better work-life balance. He started to crash in the middle of the day because he wasn’t switching off – including taking calls in the middle of the night.
“Healthwise, I can’t emphasise enough the importance of daily exercise for the mind. You cannot operate at a high capacity if you’re not doing the basics. I go out for a walk in the morning and a run in the evening.
Something as simple as a walk can really just change your mindset.
“It’s great on paper; you’ve got all these businesses. But what good is it to you if your health and mind are suffering because you’re thinking about work all the time?” Michael is bringing this idea into his businesses to make sure his staff are not feeling overburdened.
When it comes to being his own boss and a successful entrepreneur at such a young age, Michael points out “there is no freedom like it, and there’s nothing like building your own business.”
“It completely opens your world. It brings you so many opportunities, so many avenues you can go down, you can pivot, you can be whatever you want, and there’s freedom in that. It doesn’t come without its challenges. But I always say to people: no risk, no reward”.
SHARING OPTIONS