Preface this by acknowledging don't know much bout the OP and his professional experience, but he is likely young.
I don't care for the "I'm now the Lead Software Engineer with my own department". If he was in manual data entry, he is likely young and has limited professional coding experience to cut his teeth on.
He is likely soloing himself, will limit his advancement by not having peers, and when he changes jobs he may have unrealistic expectations not realizing these.
He didn't have the resume to get a job in a proper software house with strong peers before. Two years from now he will, assuming he wants to leave his one-man-band operation.
I don't care for the "I'm now the Lead Software Engineer with my own department". If he was in manual data entry, he is likely young and has limited professional coding experience to cut his teeth on.
He is likely soloing himself, will limit his advancement by not having peers, and when he changes jobs he may have unrealistic expectations not realizing these.