Hi All,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for the year ahead! 2011 was a bit of a howler for a lot of people so we can only hope that 2012 will be a little easier for us all.

I actually had quite a good year last year with deals done on 2 new shops and good progress made online, the highlight was the success of the beer club which had a fantastic year culminating in a really successful participation at the Taste of Christmas event in Dublin’s convention center in November. All of the above made it quite difficult for me to be as active on Startups as I would have liked however I have been very fortunate to have had great support from DCU, Graham @ Exist.ie. Dave @ Hiddendepth.ie, John @ Complex.ie and many other contributors so many many thanks to you all.

2012 has had a great start for me already with the birth of my first child Isabella on New Years day, I thought I was busy before….

I as ever remain positive about the year ahead (what is the alternative?) at Startups we have two major announcements coming which I am really excited about, both have been cooking for a while but it has taken me until now to get the right team together to make things happen..watch this space both initiatives will be launched in the next few weeks.

To those of you considering starting a business this year I would like to wish you the very best of luck, as ever I would urge you not to listen to the doom and gloom, a good business is a good business! if you have done your homework, are honest with yourself, and have protected the downside as much as possible then you will be ok. If you can survive in these times then you will thrive in the upswing. During the Celtic tiger businesses borrowed to plaster over the fundamental flaws in their business, throwing good money after bad. That will not be an option for businesses in the current climate – thank god. Your business will have to stand up to tough tests but look on this as a good thing…

As ever we are here to help if we can, if you are a new Startup and would like to be profiled on the site please get in touch. If you would like to contribute to the site we are always grateful of any help – as usual you can get us on info@startups.ie

I will leave you with three quotes at the start of the year and once again wish you all well,

Kind Regards,

Stephen

‘Feeling sorry for yourself and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have’ – Dale Carnegie

‘Many Intelligent adults are restrained in thoughts, actions and results. They never move further than the boundaries of their self-imposed limitations.’ – John C. Maxwell

Start-up businesses can fail for a large number of reasons. It goes without saying that the fewer mistakes made the less likely failure will occur. People provide many tips on how to start businesses successfully but perhaps it would be easier to actually look at what not to do. By overcoming the below common mistakes you will give yourself every possibility to launch a successful business.

1) Capital: Lack of funds can be a major obstacle in starting your own business. It is hugely important to launch your business with the right amount of money. Starting with too little cash is not advised and can be a big mistake. If seeking investment be realistic in terms of the amount required, the money should be enough to at least take you to the next step of the business plan, whatever that may be. Typically this may be simply building a prototype. Money must be carefully managed in its early stages, and start-up companies must look for the most attractive deals from suppliers. It is now cheaper than ever to start a business with many online companies expanding from a simple website. One early expense that can be avoided is the immediate hiring of staff. It is not suggested to hire staff in abundance before the business has really taken off. If you do require help perhaps look to friends, or family, however if hiring someone is unavoidable look into paying them in equity as opposed to salary. Believe it or not it is also possible to raise too much money. Changing the direction of a business may be needed in the early stages and if there has been a significant financial commitment, changing the business direction may be very difficult. Looking for huge investments is also time consuming and may delay the launch of the product or service.

2) Timing of the launch: Getting the timing of the launch of the business wrong is another common mistake for start-up businesses. Launching too slowly is possibly more damaging than launching too quickly. If the launch is delayed you run the risk of another start-up business introducing a similar or identical business concept. Some common delays for not launching on time include working too slowly, not truly understanding your target audience, working on too many different projects, and the fear of actually having to deal with the users of the product or service. On the other hand launching too early may ruin the reputation and may discourage people to ever use the product or service again. Getting the timing right is crucial to early success.

3) Relying heavily on one supplier: This is particularly important during times of recession. With the huge number of businesses closing down, relying on one supplier only is a silly mistake for a start-up business. Let’s assume a company is starting up and uses one supplier to source their raw materials. They may have favourable terms of trade with this supplier and the supplier may understand what exactly the company requires, however if this company goes sunder so does the start – up in question. It is recommended to have a variety of suppliers to lessen the risk involved. For business to business start-ups it is advised to have a number of different customers. If you only have one major customer and that business fails you too will be in serious trouble. Starting a business is in itself a massive risk so any opportunity to minimise risk is advised for small businesses.

4) Not identifying a specific user: Having a great innovative product or service is not enough. You cannot adopt the attitude of “people will like this”. You must ask yourself who will like this and who will purchase this. A clear target audience must be identified. Start-ups that are unsure about their target audience are far more likely to fail. All future marketing efforts should be aimed at your specific users. These people need to be understood in quite some detail.

5) Not being fully committed: Many entrepreneurs looking to start new businesses have other business interests and are often employed elsewhere. Some talented entrepreneurs have the ability to manage a number of their businesses simultaneously however for most people this proves to be a very difficult task. Statistics show that many founders of failed start-ups have other jobs and have not devoted their full attention to the new business venture. If you want your business to be really successful other work commitments must be questioned. If you are happy to just try your hand at starting a business and are not overly concerned about whether or not it fails well then I would recommend hanging onto your day job.

Our Good friends at exist the web design and online marketing experts have kindly offered one lucky Startups.ie facebook follower the chance to win a voucher worth €500.

This voucher can be used to avail of any of the services which exist offer which include: web design, online marketing and social media services.

We have worked with exist over the past few years and their help has been invaluable, so if you are a Startup looking for a leg up make sure you enter the competition which we will be launching in the coming days!.

www.exist.ie

NetStore.ie is a New Online Department Store with big plans to help Irish retailers sell online…

NetStore.ie is a new online department store focusing on getting Irish retailers online and competing with the larger high street UK names that are dominating the market place here in Ireland. Online retail is worth about €3bn a year and growing by 20% year on year so the news that the exchequer is down by some €300m in VAT may come as a surprise to some people.

NetStore is aiming to level the playing field for Irish retailers and to get them selling and competing online with these high street monoliths. The migration from traditional bricks and mortar retail outlets to online is a difficult path for some retailers. Their margins are tight and profit has been squeezed over the last 5 years, in short, there is nothing left in the kitty to invest.

The strategy is simply protectionist. NetStore has developed a free turnkey solution to get Irish retailers online. NetStore will provide the website, shopping cart, payment processing and shipping as well as marketing activity. NetStore simply make a margin on the sale with no entry or subscription fees.

NetStore is also very consumer directed and they have a strong focus on consumer loyalty. NetStore have introduced some new concepts to Irish retail to help people find the products they need and where possible through an Irish retailer who may not be online at the moment. Challenge NetStore is an online personal shopping service. You simply contact NetStore through their website and they have a team of go getters who will source the good or service that you are looking for, they will then place it online for sale.

Club NetStore is introducing the power of group buying to individual consumers in Ireland. If you are part of a large multi-national or public service group such as the Gardaí, you are already enjoying group discounts on a whole matter of things. However a large proportion of us are not enjoying these discounts. By bringing everyone together NetStore will start negotiating with utility, financial services, holiday and general retail providers to get the best deals and group discounts. Effectively consumers are better and have stronger purchasing power together.

For more information on joining Club NetStore, Challenging NetStore or becoming part of their retailer network, simply visit www.netstore.ie or send an email to info@netstore.ie.

We at Startups are delighted to announce that we will be exhibiting at the ‘Out On Your Own’ conference run by the Sunday Business Post on Thursday October 20th.

For any of you who have not attended in previous years this is a fantastic event. This year’s conference has another great line up of speakers including: Brody Sweeney, Gavin Duffy, Bobby Kerr, Niall O’Farrell, Sean Gallagher and many more ( see full list below).

So come along and get inspired to get Out On Your Own and be sure to pop over to our stand to say hello, we look forward to seeing you on what promises to be a great day!

OUT ON YOUR OWN 2011
THE 3rd ENTREPRENEURS & SMALL BUSINESS CONFERENCES

How to start, finance, sustain and grow a small business?

October 20th, RDS, Dublin

Many highly regarded economists believe we are now at the bottom of the recessionary curve. This means many superb business opportunities are just around the corner for the SME sector which is the life blood of the Irish economy. The development of new businesses is the key to the country’s efforts to develop organically and getting these companies to export their goods and services is essential to pulling Ireland out of recession and into a sustainable period of economic growth and job creation.

Following on from the previous two years of successful Out On Your Own events, The Sunday Business Post is dedicated to further expanding this year’s event. A new regular weekly feature in The Sunday Business Post is the Out On Your Own Pages which are dedicated to covering the start up and entrepreneurial sectors and has proved extremely popular with readers.

Last year’s event was a huge success sponsored by Sage with over 500 delegates in attendance in Dublin. We were also delighted that the exhibition stand packages sold out. The continued success of this event is due to the excellent conference agenda and the cheap delegate price.

We are delighted to have all the Dragon’s from RTE’s Dragon Den confirmed to give keynote presentations as well as Minister Richard Bruton. To grow these conferences significantly it is necessary to have the best high profile inspirational speakers and leading entrepreneurs in Ireland involved and this is the Dragons. Furthermore, distinguished Sunday Business Post journalist, Richard Curran, presenter of The Dragon’s Den will again chair the event with many interactive discussions and networking opportunities planned for this year.

Who should attend?
• Entrepreneurs and would be entrepreneurs
• Owners of small businesses
• Recently redundant employees who may have some funds and are now looking at other career options and business opportunities
• Policy makers
• Bankers
• Venture Capitalists
• Export specialists
• Universities and third level colleges
• Investors and venture capital companies
• Executives who provide financial and other support services to the small business sector
• Others who wish to support and facilitate new business development
• Tax experts
• Enterprise Boards

Conference Agenda

8;45; Anne O’Leary, Welcome from Vodafone

8;55 Opening Address – Minister for Small Business, John Perry, T.D.

9;05; Transforming Ireland – the role of enterprise
• Creating Networks through Communities and Enterprise
• Putting enterprise at the heart of the Presidency
• Building Confidence at home and restoring reputations abroad
Sean Gallagher, Entrepreneur & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist

9;35 Sound Familiar? Tired, Unfocussed, Dejected, Business in a Rut, Need A Kick In The Ass….… It’s Time to Re-energise Yourself & Your Business for the Times Ahead
• Practical real-life teachings from Brody’s experience of the highs and lows of starting a small business in Ireland
• Growing a small business into a global brand
• Navigating your way out of the depths of a business meltdown
• Insight into the valuable lessons learned
• The importance of business owners to concentrate on re-energising themselves which will ultimately lead to a re-energising their business
Brody Sweeney, Entrepreneur and Author

10;00 The 10 Steps to Success
• The insider guide to being a success in business
• Funding for growth and learning from failures
• How to get everything FREE
• Doing your homework (including the hard sums)
Norah Casey, Chief Executive, Harmonia & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist

10;30 Morning Coffee Break, Exhibition Viewing and Networking

11;00 How to Network, Make Contacts & Connections and Grow Your Business
• You never get a second chance to make a first impression
• Learn how to win friends and new customers
• How to work a room avoiding business card confetti
• Generating real business leads
Gavin Duffy, Management Consultant & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist

11;30 GET INFORMED – Compliance for Start-Ups
• Get information
• Get it right at the beginning
• Stay in control
• Keep informed
Kevin Prendergast, Corporate Compliance Manager, Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement

11;50 Leadership, Change, Accountability & Survival
• Lead from the front & by example
• Change is all around us, change or be changed
• Personal responsibility for my actions
• How to win in tough times
Bobby Kerr, Chairman, Insomnia Coffee Company & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist

12;20 E – Celtic Presentation (TBC)

12;40 “Crossing The Divide” – Looking at the non text book issues that prevents 90% of would be entrepreneurs achieving their dream
• Entrepreneurial Reality Check: Do you have what it takes?
• Entrepreneurial Flaw: Starting in the wrong place
• Dealing with you emotional demons
John Culliney, CEO, The Entrepreneur’s Source

1;00 Lunch, Exhibition Viewing and Networking

2;00 Creating and maintaining a brand in a changing market place
• Creating a Brand
• Right sizing not downsizing
• Turning an elephant into a cheetah
• The Top Ten Tips for Business
Niall O’Farrell, Retail and Property Investor & RTE Dragons’ Den Panellist

2;30 Starting and staying, do you have a roadmap or is there a road map?
• It is chaos
• We are reaching technology inflection points
• It is easier and more difficult to start and stay in business
• A few tips to keep sane (and maybe safe)
Ron Immink, co-founder of smallbusinesscan

3;00 Panel Discussion 1; Financing your business – what are your choices?
• AIB
• Ulster Bank
• Enterprise Ireland
• HALO Business Angels
• First Step Micro Finance
Chaired by Richard Curran, Deputy Editor of The Sunday Business Post and Presenter of RTE’s The Dragon’s Den.
3;30 Afternoon Coffee Break, Exhibition Viewing and Networking

4;00 Panel Discussion 2; Pitch the Dragons with your plan
• Sean Gallagher, Entrepreneur & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist
• Norah Casey, Chief Executive, Harmonia & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist
• Gavin Duffy, Management Consultant & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist
• Bobby Kerr, Chairman, Insomnia Coffee Company & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist
• Niall O’Farrell, Retail and Property Investor & RTE Dragons’ Den Panellist
Chaired by Richard Curran, Deputy Editor of The Sunday Business Post and Presenter of RTE’s The Dragon’s Den.

5;00 Conference Ends – Exhibition Viewing and Networking

To take a sponsorship or exhibition package please contact the Conference Director, Adrian Hopkins, on 01 2811 111, 087 6811 830 or ahopkins@sbpost.ie
Speakers Profiles

Sean Gallagher, Entrepreneur & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist
Seán Gallagher has worked hard to overcome many challenges during his life, from the physical challenge of visual impairment to the entrepreneurial challenges of unemployment and setting up his own business. Seán was the co-founder of Smarthomes Ireland’s fastest growing technology company and he has built up a successful business presence in Ireland. An entrepreneur for over a decade, Seán has helped to mentor other budding entrepreneurs through RTE’s successful, Dragons’ Den and through his work with County Enterprise Boards and Chambers of Commerce around the country. Seán also holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). Seán has worked in every county in Ireland using business expertise to mentor and advise charity, voluntary and community groups helping them to maximise their resources and achieve their goals. Seán understands the challenges faced by people and has worked in almost every industry, including youth work, farming, politics and the public sector, technology and others. This has given Seán a firm knowledge of some of Ireland’s best and brightest industries as well as the need to nurture our youth to encourage them to innovate and find their own enterprising solutions to today’s challenges. Seán, aged 49, was born in Monaghan and spent his first few years in Devin Reilly Terrace, Monaghan Town. He grew up in The Square, Ballyhaise in Co. Cavan. He is married to Trish O’Connor from Kanturk, Co. Cork. They live in Blackrock outside Dundalk, Co. Louth.

Niall O’Farrell, Retail and Property Investor & RTE Dragons’ Den Panellist
Niall O’Farrell was born in Dublin and educated in Catholic University School in Leeson Street. Having left school he went straight into business in the retail menswear sector and studied marketing in Parnell Square. During the recession of 1985 he left his employment and did a Start Your Own Business Course with ANCO: Following which he set up his first formal wear shop in Ranelagh which then became the Blacktie retail chain of formalwear shops. Niall has been building his property portfolio since the age of 22. He has many landmark buildings in London and Ireland. His portfolio includes high end residential properties, high end office buildings in London’s mid town as well as a residential and retail block on London’s Pall Mall and a prominent gastro pub in London’s Whitehall. Niall has been a Dragon since the first series of Dragons’ Den in 2008, as a Venture and Development Capitol investor. So far to date Niall has invested in the goldsmith Elaine Sarah Comerford, Button & Co Goldsmiths, Dee’s Burgers, Kate Carmody of Beal Organic whole milk cheddar cheese in County Kerry and Mooz Milkshake. Niall has a particular interest in supporting Irish Crafts and in harnessing Irish creativity and in guiding these companies to the commercial world of competitiveness in a global market. Niall is in demand as a speaker at conferences and is outspoken in his support for the reintroduction of government-backed training schemes and enterprise allowance schemes.

Norah Casey, Chief Executive, Harmonia & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist
Norah Casey is CEO (and owner) of Harmonia, Ireland’s largest magazine company printing over four million magazines annually for the Irish, British, US market and more recently in China. Harmonia’s stable includes strong women’s brands: Irish Tatler, U, Woman’s Way and www.ivenus.com; and specialist titles like Food&Wine, Auto Ireland and Ireland of the Welcomes (aimed at the Irish Diaspora with over 80,000 USA-based subscribers). She is a member of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board and the London-based Women’s Irish Network and The International Women’s Forum. She was awarded The Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award for 2007/8 and has won The Publisher of the Year Award for three years running. She is the latest Dragon to join RTE’s Dragons’ Den for 2011.

Gavin Duffy, Management Consultant & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist
Gavin Duffy was reared in the hospitality and retail business with his family running pubs, restaurants and shops in Naas, Dun Laoghaire and Drogheda. Though he was born on a farm outside Naas, Co Kildare, he considers Drogheda, Co Louth as his home town. He now resides, with his wife Orlaith and four children, about five miles outside Drogheda. By 18 he had set up a local radio station employing 20 people. In 1989 he set up the country’s first licensed provincial local radio station, LMFM, after working for some years in RTE presenting various programmes including Ireland’s first television business programme, “Marketplace”. In 2004, LMFM was sold to UTV for €11 million. In 1992 he founded his Media Consultancy business Dorland which owns www.mediatraining.ie. Dorland is the leading consultancy helping Senior Executives to communicate their business messages internally and externally. He also successfully invested in a number of companies and start ups and remains part owner of the HRM Group of Companies, one Ireland’s biggest players in recruitment.

Bobby Kerr, Chairman, Insomnia Coffee Company & RTE Dragons’ Den Panelist
Bobby Kerr, 49, had a very eventful 2008/2009. Aside from becoming a Dragon, he spearheaded the sale of the Kerr family business – Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny –for €23 million. Last year he sold 51% of his Insomnia group to Penninn, valuing the business at €16 million. Bobby got the business bug at a young age while helping his father run the four star Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny. A career in catering followed, when he landed his very first job at AIB Catering in Ballsbridge. He was soon travelling the globe, working as a chef on Oil Rigs in the North Sea, and then to Canada where he gained vast experience in stadium catering. He went on to co-ordinate catering for 1 million people at the Pope’s visit to Canada in 1985. He returned to Ireland in the mid-80s where he worked initially at Jury’s Hotels, followed by Campbell Catering in Cork and then Bewley’s. As Managing Director of Bewley’s Oriental Cafe, Bewley’s Franchising and Bewley’s Bakery he oversaw 30 Bewley’s Cafes and a bakery with a turnover of €40 million. He was also responsible for the overseas development of the Bewley’s Brand in the UK, USA and Japan. In 1999 Bobby set up PERK Coffee Shops in Dublin, before selling the brand to Insomnia. Bobby reinvested all the proceeds of the PERK sale back into Insomnia and became a shareholder and CEO. Since 2004 he has led the expansion of Insomnia from 17 to 50 shops and increased turnover from €5 to €13 million.

Brody Sweeney, Entrepreneur and Author
Brody is an experienced and well known Entrepreneur with a successful career spanning over 25 years, with a good understanding of the highly regulated food and gaming industries – and with a track record in retail, franchising, gaming, Online, C.S.R and the food industry.
Brody has experienced the highs and lows of creating a global brand as he was founder, CEO and Chairman of O’Brien’s Irish Sandwich Bars, a global business with sales with operations in 14 countries, employing 3,000+ in over 320 stores and sales of €140m. He successfully built an International brand selling products with the concept of “Irishness” to various cultures in Europe, and around the world. In September 2011, he stepped down as a non-executive director, of one of Irelands largest and fastest growing PLC’s Paddy Power, after 7 years service. He has served on the Board of DCU Educational Trust from 2003 – 2008. Brody also has a successful track record of corporate fundraising through Venture Capital and Private equity. Brody is founder and Chief Executive of Camile Thai Kitchen – a new gourmet restaurant delivery business that he set up in response to changing eating habits, brought about by increased use of the Internet at home. Camile is on target to build a 50-store chain in the U.K. and Ireland over the next 5 years. Brody runs the “Small to Tall – How to grow your business from its Entrepreneurial roots” Training Programmes, based on his best-selling book of the same name. Designed specifically for Entrepreneurs and Business owners, he shares the valuable lessons he has learned from building a business from scratch over 20 years.

Michael Fitzgerald tells us about his New Business OnePageCRM….

Company: OnePageCRM
Website: www.onepagecrm.com
Founders: Michael FitzGerald
Age: 39
Based: Galway
Staff Number: 5
Date started: March 2010

Tell us what your business does?

We have developed the first of a range of productivity products for small business and sales teams. Our flagship application, OnePageCRM, is an easy to use sales action-based application that helps small business generate revenue and focus on sales activity. We have developed a unique system whereby users are encouraged to make sales decisions upfront rather than deferring them to a later date. The result for business owners is that they are not only able to generate and move sales through to completion smoothly and quickly, but with this reassurance they have more clarity when they have to manage other elements of their business.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

From the lack of a suitable product on the market! I knew I needed a CRM for my increasingly busy client services company, so I lined up about four products to test, leaving the one I thought I’d use to last. But I was flabbergasted at how poor they were for the sales function of a small business– so I searched for others and still no joy.
I’m a GTD person (productivity method Getting Things Done), and thought I should apply that concept to sales and OnePage was born.
I hate inefficient processes. More than any part of your business, sales needs clarity and upfront decision making. It is important to keep the focus on the next action to move a sale forward towards completion.

Have you always wanted to run your own business?

Not always “run it”, but to have one, yes. I had dreams of being “the inventor in the backroom” but still owning the company. Now I’m used to working with people and getting out there.

What planning did you do before you started up?

To be honest, not an awful lot! I’m a product person so I want to build a good product. Then build a better one. My main ‘plan’ was to make sure my product was both unique and solved a problem in the market. I’d hate to have a “me too” product.

Which entrepreneurs do you admire?

Personally, I don’t like or use the term entrepreneur. I love business and businesses. To see a shop owner opening up the shutters at 8:00am, sweeping around the entrance and fixing the shelves is like watching the beginning of a show! I’ll always chat to them and ask how things going.
Of the better known ones, I admire Michael O’Leary, but he’s a one-off. Dermot Desmond is one of Ireland’s finest, he is very astute.

What challenges have you faced how have you overcome them?

There are many challenges but funding is one of the biggest. Finding the right people to work with you to bring your product to market is another. You need that trio in your start-up team – product, tech and commercial. Luckily I have a great team now.
Lots of your challenges though, are inside. You’ll get knocked back and put down, but you have to believe that “if you don’t give up, you’ll be impossible to beat”. So it’s your choice, don’t give up.

How have you promoted your business?

To date it’s been through social media, PR and encouraging word of mouth. The big drive has yet to be put into place. We’ve spent a year developing the product with early adopters and finding our product/market fit.
There is a lot planned for the coming weeks including the redevelopment of our website and the introduction of reselling programs.

Are you optimistic about the remainder 2011?

I’m feeling confident from the point of view that our product is geared for international markets. We have users from all over the world and the response has been great. We have not lost a single subscriber and we intend to keep it that way!
We have a new product in development that is geared towards sales teams which we will be launching into Beta late this year as well as some developments in our current product that will meet the needs of a wider market.
Also, since we use OnePageCRM ourselves to boost sales, we have good reason to be optimistic!

What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

After getting some industry experience behind you, just do it! The biggest risk is not taking one.
It should be in an area where you have some passion, but also keep in mind that one day you may need to scale it. As they say, think about building pipelines instead of carrying buckets. From a personal point of view; get up early and plan your day – pick the toughest task and tackle that one first.

www.onepagecrm.com

Pat Byrne Introduces his new accountancy practice…

Company: DCM Accountants
Website: www.dcmaccountants.ie
Founders: Pat Byrne
Age: 32
Staff Number: 2
Date Started: June 2011

Tell us what your business does?

DCM Accountants aim is to focus on the supply of accounting, taxation and associated services to small businesses and taxpayers.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

“I worked for two accountancy practices over the past seven years and the one thing that really stood out was the lack of communication with the clients. All too often the clients are not viewed as businesses; they are seen as a fee. At DCM we would like to get more involved with the clients business. We plan to run a number of different workshops including understanding accounting, social media for business and credit control for small businesses. Our belief is that if our clients succeed so will we.”

Have you always wanted to run your own business?

It is definitely something I have thought about for a number of years. It is a lot of hard work but the pay out could be great.

What planning did you do before you started up?

I had done quite a bit a research about what is currently on offer; prices, customer service etc. I also looked at how accountancy practices market themselves. Planning for the cashflow of the business for the first 12 months was very important.

Which entrepreneurs do you admire?

John Teeling – Cooley Distillery
James Farrell – Professional Development Ltd

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

A big challenge in setting up this practice was getting a loan from the bank. This was a long process but eventually with a lot of persistence and a well prepared business plan the finance was made available.

How have you promoted your business?

I have been doing a lot of networking. In the accountancy profession the vast majority of new clients come on foot of word of mouth. I don’t believe the cold calling will work.

Are you optimistic about the remainder 2011?

I would be very optimistic about 2011. I think with a lot of hard graft our business can overcome the difficult economic environment we are in.

What advice would you give a budding entrepreneurs?

Just get out and do it; stop thinking about it.

Best of Luck Pat we hope it goes really well for you – Startups.ie

Entrepreneurs looking for an investment in their new business venture must have the ability to deliver an effective pitch, and in a sense they must be good salespeople. Having a good idea with a solid plan in place may not be enough. Pitching your idea to a potential investor is no easy task and many entrepreneurs struggle with this. Nerves can often get the better of you and at times the value of the business idea can decrease following a weak pitch. RTE’s Dragons Den provides us with evidence of business people, often with excellent ideas, that simply cannot communicate them effectively for whatever reason. Hopefully the following tips will make the daunting prospect of making a business pitch a little easier.
Like any business or professional presentation pitching your idea should involve the four P’s planning, preparing, practicing, and of course presenting. These rules almost go without saying. We all know the importance of speaking clearly, making eye contact, and using attractive slides; however what is really going to make you stand out from the crowd to the investors are the following.

1) Know your audience: Before entering the room in which you will make your pitch you should know exactly who will be facing you. Surprises on the day can throw the entrepreneur off. Potential investors should be selected carefully. It is not a case of just getting anyone to invest in your company. They must fit well with the start-ups business culture as well as the product or service being provided. You should know as much as possible about their interests or other business activities or involvements. The presentation style may have to be altered depending on the audience so this is something else that should be kept in mind.

2) Be passionate – sell the idea to them: Perhaps start the presentation with a one minute elevator pitch and include only the important details. Do not immediately ask for money or come across desperate. Make it feel like they would be lucky to invest in a product or service. Most of all be passionate, enthusiastic, and genuinely excited about you new business. If you are not excited about it you can’t expect others to be.

3) If appropriate use props, prototypes or demonstrations: This may be particularly important for new start-ups that are highly technical or complex to explain. Perhaps showing the investor how the product works may be more effective than trying to explain. If your business is a website it may be a good idea to have some screenshots of the site within your slides. If an investor is going to part with his/her cash they will want as much details and knowledge of what they are buying into as possible. At the same time don’t over complicate things. For a simple product or service that can be easily communicated, including props may actually over complicate the pitch.

4) Back everything up with numbers: I can’t emphasise this point enough. At the end of the day investors are looking to make a return on their investment for the most part. They are results driven and knowing your figures for sales, profits, costs etc is absolutely essential. There is nothing wrong with having a small page or record card with your figures on them. Pitching an idea is an extremely difficult task and if you feel that remembering all figures is too big a task don’t do it. The worst thing you can do is forget a certain figure, panic and then be thrown off for the entire presentation. Your projections in terms of profits, sales etc should be realistic. By all means aim high and be optimistic but he numbers must be backed up.

5) Learn from mistakes and rejection: Securing an investment is no easy task! Don’t be disheartened if you do not succeed. Take the advice on board and make the relevant changes. Think about which questions you could not answer or answered poorly. The more experience you have at pitching your business idea, the easier it becomes.

Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you that conducting a feasibility study is vital in that very first stage of developing a business. But if we’re honest, how many of us actually understand what a feasibility test really is? Not all entrepreneurs are experts on research and market analysis, so here is a quick guide to the importance of verifying the validity of your start-up.

A Business Feasibility Study is an integral part of the start-up stages of a new company. Without conducting a feasibility study you could be walking blind into a market with a product or concept that is just not commercially viable. According to Women in Business, Feasibility studies contain comprehensive, detailed information about your business structure, your products and services, the market, logistics of how you will actually deliver a product or service, the resources you need to make the business run efficiently, as well as other information about the business.

The reality of entrepreneurship is that some ideas just won’t work no matter how passionate you may be about it. Starting up a business means risk, and it is not advisable to walk into that risk without assessing the viability of your idea first. A feasibility study looks at the viability of a business, and really focuses in on any issues that present themselves. Can the issues be dealt with? Is there a place for this product in the market? Can I make my product/service stand out from the crowd? Is it logistically possible to build and maintain? These are all areas that need to be addressed, ideally before the start of product development, or in the deliberation stage.

To break it down, a feasibility study consists of different components, all vital in the success of new business. These generally are:
• Market feasibility which looks at the industry and consumer base
• Technical feasibility which predictably looks at the technical delivery etc
• Financial feasibility looks at return on investment, capital needed to begin, source of income.
• And Organizational feasibility which encompasses the entire structure of the business from corporate to legal to staff. This can also cover the skills present in the entrepreneur or founders as the grounding of the whole start-up concept.

Remember, the aim of a feasibility study is to find all the issues early on so they can be dealt with, so don’t shy away from acknowledging what your start-up lacks. This honesty early on could be the difference in the probability of success. Look at a feasibility study as a tool, not to be confused with a business plan, which is formulated only after positive feasibility results. The business plan will be drawn up based on the most positive scenario laid out by a feasibility study, and carry on into financial projections and more details on the business.

Enterprise Ireland offer feasibility research grants to those High Potential Start-Ups aimed at exporting. For this particular grant your start-up must be:
• Based on an innovative technology or service offering;
• Likely to achieve significant growth in three to four years (sales of €1m per annum and employment of 10 or more);
• Export orientated;
• Led by an experienced team, with a mixture of technical and commercial competencies.

A feasibility study can be as in-depth or as simple as you want it; but be mindful of the issues that can arise if this step is ignored. As well as finding potential tricky areas, a feasibility study will help you evaluate the most cost effective way to move forward, and if you’re thinking of looking for funding for you business, a feasibility study is an absolute must for credibility.

In this blog entry we will take a reflective look on how the digital revolution has impacted on what we know in marketing our products. The purpose of this entry is for you to get a better idea and education of how each of the 4 P’s have changed since digital became an integral part of business. Having been at recent conferences I’ve noticed that there is a few people out there that are unaware of how digital has affected marketing. Some seem to think Facebook’s/Twitter’s etc when the word ‘digital’ is thrown around and hopefully this post will make Start-ups think about the other areas digital can affect their business.

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Price:

The influence of the internet on global marketing strategies is principally seen in respect to price with the free movement of information from country to country. A large contributor to this is the advances in search technology and SEO/ SEM making prices easier to find online as well as the online irrelevance of previous competition issues such as location. This is also supported by the emergence of third party search engines which scan the international landscape for the best price: For example Skyscanner.com which searches for the most affordable flights between destinations. Previously national boundaries played an important role in the global marketing strategies whereby companies could exploit national differences in consumers’ price sensitivities by charging different prices across different national borders for the same product. Differential pricing strategies become more apparent and companies risk being exposed as exploiting customers in different countries.

These factors have all lead to greater transparency which results in a customer’s changing perception of value. The results of this, as is common in the legacy of Web 2.0’s is that the customer has increased control. Some companies have responded to this power shift by relinquishing further price control and allowing customers to haggle as seen on Enterpriseonline.com or EBay. Furthermore, pricing has become more dynamic and fluid as a result of the digital revolution. As successfully exploited by Ryanair pricing now has a significant response to Supply and demand which forces prices up and down with increasing speed. The only way companies will be able to stay ahead of the competition and keep up with the customer is to develop a flexible pricing structure that allows them to move with the dynamic digital pricing terrain.

Product:

However, the digital impact is not restricted to price. Products themselves have been altered as a result of digital’s imposing presence on the global marketing scene. Product strategies have been impacted by deconstruction whereby internet operations have become companies in their own right whereby the messenger has become more important than the message. It is difficult to imagine Ryanair without its internet offering. Similarly American Airlines internet wing “Sabre” is now worth twice that of the original business. American Airlines originally created its SABRE electronic ticketing system as a means of selling seats. Under legal and regulatory pressure, American Airlines was forced to partially spin off SABRE and operate it as an independent business. But this “navigator” business is now valued by the stock market at nearly twice the value of the airline it was originally created to support.

Mass customisation is also reshaping a company’s product strategy. Again, following Web 2.0’s placement of the customer at the centre of everything this now includes a customised product. Levi’s and Nike, two of the biggest mass producers ever, now have services for customers to have products customised specifically for them. Long gone are the days of Henry Ford’s “any colour as long as it’s black” to a specifically built personalised product. Customers are further invited into the production process as crowd sourcing becomes increasingly popular. A veritable global think tank is created by customers being invited to submit their ideas for t-shirts and (Threadless.com) to creating chocolate bars with new recipes to Cadbury’s.

Location Awareness technology has also reshaped product strategies. Facilitating layering of additional information based on location offering a heightened real time real place customer offering. Many products themselves have been altered through digitization with music mp3’s now being the common platform and books following suit. A company’s product strategy must be reviewed to see can production and cost saving opportunities be realised through digitization.

Place:

With the movement from physical offices to offices in the cloud, a company must review their distribution strategies almost annually at this stage. The digital revolution provides companies with the opportunity to augment traditional channels of distribution reshaping customers shopping habits. The Financial Times revealed a while back that Donatello’s Pizza orders are now 36% via mobile, online and social networking. The rapid development of app’s is facilitating this with Paddy Power similarly reporting 10% of their revenue comes via mobile, 50% of this number being attributed to the Paddy Power iPhone App.

Of course with the shifting boundaries of distribution channels becoming more streamlined this implies that some supply channel partners will fall victims to disintermediation. Ryanair and Dell are advocates of this removing travel agents and computer wholesalers alike via disintermediation and selling directly to the consumer.

Promotion:

Communication is central to the theme of Digital Media. The adoption rate of Social Media has seen a growth like no media before it. Facebook now has a global audience of 750m with 50% of users logging on every day and people spending over 700billion minutes per month on the site. This has dramatically changed the promotional strategies with 92% of businesses (2011 Social Media report) now employing a Facebook strategy, 84% on Twitter and 71% using ‘Linked In’ for digitally influenced promotional strategies. The rise of Geo-location promotional strategies is set to continue with companies now employing Facebook places and Foursquare to give Social Media promotion a real time, real place solution. Seth Godin, business guru, argues companies can no longer rely on “interruption media” to get a customer’s attention. Social Media has reframed the promotional landscape which implies permission needs to be sought to advertise to the customer. The customer can choose whether they receive a message which is the basis of Irish success Empathy Marketing company “Pigsback.com”.

However, companies’ promotional strategies must involve a contingency plan for to deal with the new voice that the consumer has and their new found power to amplify and broadcast their views. Social media has granted consumers power to dictate companies actions: P&G were recently embarrassed into recalling their Pampers Dry Max diapers due to mounting complaints over Twitter and Facebook. Social Media enables customers to communicate their anger, organise themselves more efficiently and recruit others to their cause however; similarly the digital media revolution has seen the implementation of derogatory websites. Sites such as Dell hell, Murderking and Mcspotlight have cast Dell, Burger King and McDonalds in a hugely unfavourable light demanding change to their operations.

Digital impact on Research:

As most start ups are aware the internet provides an efficient means of conducting market research. Now you can see what your competition is doing in just a click. But it doesn’t end there. Previously focus groups interviews and questionnaires need to be conducted to obtain such valuable research information but the internet has created communication links through emails and corporate websites facilitating collaboration with a range of customers from different national, regional or cross cultural backgrounds. The advantages of digital to the research sphere include increased cost effectiveness through online surveys, interviews and observational research. Digital media also allows greater access to secondary data online, CD ROMs and is more easily distributed if purchased or ordered. Consumers are giving out all kinds of information via Twitter, Facebook and Blogs if companies choose to listen to it.

The internet’s impact on the global marketing landscape has changed everything from companies’ relationships with their customers and even companies relationships with their competitors.

To conclude on a topical note former Global Media Giant Rupert Murdoch said

“The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.”

Digital has helped make so many Irish start-ups successful, understand it and embrace it!