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.

This is the second instalment of our advice on country selection. As we said last time when it comes to exporting it is always crucial to have done some homework before committing. The first part of the blog focused on the first two stages of the process of selecting relevant countries for export. If you missed that blog, don’t worry you can read it again here.

This week we will focus on the final three stages of the process. To refresh your mind here is the process again.

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At this point you should have carried out the first two stages and narrowed your target countries somewhat. You are most likely now in talks with EI or CEB’s about your potential to export and they are assisting or giving guidance. What can you do yourself though?

STAGE 3:      Examine the Industry Market Potential

The next stage for you is to examine the Industry Market Potential. In other words the total amount of ‘cake’ on offer by the given countries you have left remaining. When we say you are examining the market potential the reason for this is in order to estimate aggregate demand. So we look at market size as a factor. As mentioned in the previous blog in most developed countries, fairly accurate estimates for many products are available from public or private sources. In emerging markets data may not be available, and even when it is quality may be suspect so beware of this. Your agency should be supportive in this area with resources. You can calculate this using a number of techniques but we will focus on just four simple ones. They are as follows:

• Related Market Size Model
• Analogy Method
• Trade Audit
• Chain Ratio Method

1. Related Market Size

Related markets’ size and related environmental factors can help determine the size of the market you are looking at. You can try finding different statistics on each of your remaining countries and apply them accordingly.

Example:

In 2009, there were more than 1.9 million passenger cars in use in Ireland, up from less than 1.6 million in 2004. In Ireland we have 437 cars per 1,000 – the equivalent EU figure is 463 per 1,000 (2007 figures). If the population rises from 4.2m to 5m between now and 2021 and we reach EU car-ownership norms then we will have at least another 750,000 cars to add to our crammed roads.

2. Analogy Method

The best way of describing this method is where you start by picking a country at the same stage of economic development as the country of interest and for which the market size is known. The method is based on the premise that the relationship between the demand for a product and a particular indicator (e.g. the demand for a related product) is similar in both countries.

Example:

Let’s say Phillips/Sony wants to estimate the market size for DVD Players’ in Russia (r)

For the base country (relative country) we take another Central European country, say Bulgaria (b), for which we know the sales of DVD players. We also choose a proxy variable that correlates highly with the demand for DVD’s e.g. color flat screen TV sales.

In this example, we assume that the ratio of DVD Player ownership to color flat    screen TV ownership is roughly equivalent:

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Since we are interested in the demand for DVD’s in Russia, we can derive an estimate based on the following relationship:

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For this specific example the following information is available (from Euro Monitor 1999):

Fill in those numbers we get:

Estimate VCR Demand Russia

(Sales per ‘000 inhabitants) = ???

17.1(2.9/19.5) = 2.5

However, it is important to note that when using this technique you cannot, as with all techniques, assume it is gospel and that’s it job done. This technique in particular may produce misleading results under certain circumstances as consumption may not be comparable across countries due to cultural disparities, competition or trade barriers may interfere with sales figures and technological advances may allow use of product innovations in a country at an earlier stage of economic development (“leapfrogging” to Blue ray or latest technology).

3. Trade Audit

The trade audit is possibly the easiest to explain as it is simple math. The total market volume per year for a certain country / market can be calculated as:

However for many emerging markets (and even developed countries), such data is missing, outdated, or collected at a very aggregate level so make sure your data is up to date. As recommended Global edge, EI, GMID, Data monitor and CSO.ie are all great sources of this data.

4. Chain Ratio Method

The Chain Ration method is in simple terms an analysis of industrial growth patterns for various countries, to gain insight into relationship between consumption and industrial growth. This method starts with a very rough base-number as an estimate for the market size (e.g. the entire population of a country).

This base estimate is systematically fine-tuned by applying a string (“chain”) of percentages to come up with the most meaningful estimate for total market potential.

Example:

• Consider a firm that makes baby monitors and is considering expanding into China and/or India.
• Firm wishes to focus on urban areas (easier to access)
• As you can see below although China has a higher population and urbanization, India has a greater birth rate per 000’s making it a more valuable market.

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STAGE 4:      Examine Company Potential (I.E-Your Slice of that cake)

After you have examined each country you will now have a better idea of the markets available to you. You should then take the markets and examine the players operating in those markets already and their positions/power. This will give you an idea as to the level of investment and entry mode choice you will require. Say for example our India example above, as I can see the market is valued highly at 7.8m I should enter. Not necessarily. Perhaps Sony, Phillips and Samsung are in there already and already control 90% of the market. How many other small firms are there competing for that 10%?  Will it be worth my investment? It’s all about looking and estimating how much of that market you believe you can gain. Agencies should be able to help you with this and Enterprise-Ireland in particular has Market Advisors all around the globe who can inform you of the market shares and big players in certain markets to help your decision. You can then remove remaining countries that are not attractive.

STAGE 5:      Best Countries Remain

This is the final stage of the IMS process. Here you will have carried out all steps and your pool of countries will be limited. You select the best 2 or 3 depending on business plan to export and proceed with your plans.

Although this article covers a range of techniques we recommend you do not use it solely as your guide to export. For more advice you should speak with Enterprise-Ireland about your potential to export and ensure you have the plan in place and contacts in place abroad. This article should provide some help and education to those considering exporting. It may prove helpful to those wanting to apply for grants as it can show you have done market valuations.

Best of Luck with the exporting!

Robert McGonnell introdues his new recruitment business www.jobkey.ie

Company: Jobkey Ltd
Website: www.jobkey.ie
Founders: Robert McGonnell
Age: 28
Based: Unit 1/ Block C, M4 Business Park, Celbridge, Co. Kildare
Date started: 01/04/2011

Tell us what your business does?

I’m aware that applying for a new job can be a very exciting and sometimes stressful time. My website Jobkey.ie strives to aid candidates and employers through the recruitment process by offering a service which differs from conventional and often ineffective recruitment methods through the use of reliable and secure technology. Jobkey.ie offers candidate’s the opportunity to upload a 60 second Video Profile to accompany their CV application. Think Youtube for recruitment! This fresh approach to recruitment provides prospective employers & recruiters with an immediate online first impression of the candidate.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

It came from my experience working in recruitment and as a jobseeker myself. I identified that there was a big opportunity to streamline the approach to recruitment/ online recruitment advertising and reduce the amount of time, money and effort invested by all parties in the recruitment process.

Have you always wanted to run your own business?

Honestly? No. It would have had its appeal in the past but it wasn’t until a recent 1 Year working Visa spent in Australia that I decided that I wanted to work for myself. When I was in Australia I found the Australian people were really enterprising and had an eye for an opportunity. This got the cogs turning in my head and I was adamant that when I came home from Australia that I wanted to make Jobkey.ie a mainstream recruitment website in Ireland.

What planning did you do before you started up?

I had my laptop with me in Australia so I actually went back over my college material from the Michael Smurfit Business School, sometimes I regret not having spent that time on Bondi Beach but hopefully it will pay off in the near future. When I came back to Ireland I drew up a feasibility plan and business plan. This took a couple of draughts as it was my first time doing a business plan but the endeavour eventually paid off. I also went to the ‘County Kildare Leader Partnership’ which ran a short course on the basic essentials of running a business (accounts, cashflow, tax, marketing etc) for first time business start-ups. I also began researching website design companies; Jobkey.ie was eventually built around Parodia job board software by a company called Cactusoft in the UK.

Which entrepreneurs do you admire?

I know Ryanair gets a lot of stick but you have to admire the way they constantly re-approach and deconstruct the airline business model.
I’m a big fan of the Dragon’s Den, admittedly I know it puts a glamorous spin on business but it’s great television all the same. I recently read Duncan Bannatyne’s autobiography and found that inspiring, he started off with an ice-cream van and he’s now a multimillionaire with nothing more than an eye for an opportunity, honest graft and a sprinkle of lunatic risk taking!

What challenges have you faced how have you overcome them?

Employers & recruiters are sometimes reluctant to try a new recruitment advertising method. Once I get 5 minutes to talk them through the merits of Jobkey.ie they agree it’s a great idea with huge potential.
Jobkey.ie is a relatively low cost business start-up so I’m determined to fully fund it myself and not become dependent on bank loans. As a result I have to choose where I allocate expenditure very carefully.

How have you promoted your business?

Newspaper editorials and advertising, Radio segments, Direct mail, flyer distribution, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jobkeyireland , LinkedIn.

Have you received any support from Banks/ Government Agencies etc.?

No. Only through the Kildare Leader Partnership.

What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

Definitely do a well thought out and researched Business Plan. If you don’t have experience in a particular area e.g. accounts, marketing… ASK FOR HELP! People recognise that new business start-ups are key to getting Ireland firing on all cylinders again so are, for the most part; more than willing to give up some time and help out.

www.jobkey.ie

Thanks Robert – Best of Luck!

Introducing – The Beer Club, Ireland’s online Specialty, Craft & International beer store.

Company: The Beer Club
Website: www.thebeerclub.ie
Founders: Stephen Dillon
Age: 35
Based: Dublin
Staff Number: 10
Date started: April 2011

Tell us what your business does?

The beer club was founded in response to the growing demand and interest in Craft, Specialty & World Beers in Ireland. Our aim is to make practically every beer in Ireland available to anyone in Ireland, not just the lucky few with great independent off licences on their doorstep.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

I have two off licences one in Santry Dublin 9 and one in Kimmage Dublin 12. I noticed the growing demand for good craft and international beers in both shops. More and more people were asking me to get them one beer or another i.e I used to live in Australia/ Germany/ USA etc, can you get me Coopers Pale Ale/ Anchor IPA etc etc. I figured that these conversations were probably taking place all around the country and that there was a need for this service.

Have you always wanted to run your own business?

Oh Yeah!

What planning did you do before you started up?

I contacted all my suppliers to see what they thought of the idea, they were very enthusiastic about it and offered lots of help, promotional material, glasses etc.

What challenges have you faced how have you overcome them?

The main challenge was listing all the beers, I have about 200 on the site now with probably the same again to come.

How have you promoted your business?

Through shameless self promotion on the Startups.ie website , I am launching a PR campaign in the coming weeks and have set up a blog www.hopstarsblog.com to promote the site and keep club members informed of new beers and tasting events taking place at beer club HQ. I am in the process of building a purpose built tasting room in Beer Club HQ Kimmage, we will be able to seat about 40 members for beer talks, tastings and club events.

What has your growth been like?

Just Launched but lots of interest and initial orders have been placed by thirsty beer lovers around the country!

What’s the impact on your home life been like?

Home Life? Please explain what that is…

www.thebeerclub.ie

Dear readers of the Startups blog,
My name is Stefano Messori and I am the founder of Messori Marketing a new and independent strategy consultancy business based in Dublin.

First of all, I would like to thank Stephen for asking me to make a contribution to this blog. One of my hopes in writing this piece is that it will lead to the creation of a new facet to the STARTUPS’ blog, namely a strategy and innovation category. I hope also to generate an interest in the whole concept of strategic thinking.

If you have always dreamed of owning your own company, of being your own boss, now is the time to start. In fact, it has never been easier than now. The new frontiers of marketing allow you to spread your idea easily, quickly and at virtually no cost. Many of the old barriers that characterised an industrial economy have vanished.

A word of caution, though: do not ride the waves of marketing if you do not know the water you are surfing in. It is tempting, but it can be dangerous, too.

You may argue that you have your business plan; that you did your homework and filled in the blanks in the pre-prepared plan they provided you at the enterprise board. My question to you in that case is: Is business planning (in the way most companies implement it today) sufficient to enable you to compete in the post-Celtic Tiger era?

I’m sure that like me you’ve been noticing many businesses closing down from one day to the next over the last number of months (in some cases with staff showing up for work in the morning only to find the business was gone). Surely not all of these businesses failed because the management neglected to prepare a business plan!

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Actually, these difficult times could be a new beginning for Irish entrepreneurs. To succeed, however, companies must go beyond the traditional concepts of business planning and embrace a more advanced platform of strategic principles and tools that will allow them to build a more sustainable competitive advantage, founded on societal and collective values, aimed at generating positive competition amongst the various Irish businesses and creating a win-win environment.

For this reason, I have made available a few documents that should help you through the early steps in the development of a sustainable business strategy.

These documents can be found on the Messori Marketing website: http://www.messorimarketing.com/en/free-strategy-templates.

You can download these tools for free and I invite all of you to actively try them out in your own organisations. I firmly believe that Irish start-up businesses (and established businesses) can gain many useful insights from the use of these templates.

My hope is that, together with Startups.ie and others, we can create an interest in the new role that small and upcoming businesses play in the Irish economy.
Thanks for reading.

Stefano Messori

stefano@messorimarketing.com
Strategy consultants – Messori Marketing www.messorimarketing.com

Sophie Gleeson tells us about her business – Muse Events!

Company: Muse Events
Website: www.museevents.ie
Founders: Sophie Gleeson
Age: 24
Based: 5 Schoolhouse Lane E, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
Staff Number: 1 full time plus part-time promotional personnel
Date started: May 2010

Tell us what your business does?

Muse Events is a unique event management and promotional company based in Dublin city centre. For us here at Muse the essence of any event is that it should reflect the culture, soul and personality of the organisation. Our service is based around these principles and our ultimate goal is to surprise and delight each and every guest at each and every event. Muse Events can provide you with an effective promotional marketing team that you can count on. We take pride in creating an impressive yet practical brand activation campaign outlined to the specific needs of your product.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

I worked in the event industry for a number of years and always wanted to set up my own company. I believed that a recession was a perfect opportunity for a new business to grow. There is more of a competitive market now as people are looking around for the best possible price and service which gives the smaller business a fighting chance!

Have you always wanted to run your own business?

Yes I knew that working for myself and running a business was always my main goal. Event management is my passion; I love creating and designing new and unique concepts that reflect the culture, soul and personality of the organisation or individual which I am representing. My ultimate goal is to surprise and delight each and every guest at each and every event. Owning my own business gives me the freedom to create these designs for my clients.

What planning did you do before you started up?

I started by drafting a business plan, researching competitors, getting advice from other entrepreneurs and calculating the cost involved in setting up a business and renting office space and all in all making sure that it was worth the risk.

Which entrepreneurs do you admire?

My dad is a successful entrepreneur so he would probably be who I admire the most. To be honest I really believe that it is a difficult decision to open up a business and not have the constant security of a weekly or monthly pay check so I respect and admire anyone who gives it a go.

What challenges have you faced how have you overcome them?

The hardest part of establishing a company is building your brand name and maintaining a cash flow. I have overcome these challenge through hard work and long hours!

How have you promoted your business?

I have my own website www.museevents.ie and i have a Facebook page.
I sent brochures, emails and phone calls to potential clients, I have had articles in Confetti Bridal magazine and Steller magazine and many events occur through word of mouth.

Are you optimistic about 2011?

Absolutely it can only get better….

What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

Make sure you research thoroughly the area that you are thinking of embarking on and know who your competitors are. Talk to as many people as you can and get as much advice as possible from people who have successful businesses. Be confident that you have ample experience and that is the right time for you to take on a new adventure. Setting up a business can be tiring and stressful but at the same time extremely exciting and self fulfilling so make sure to enjoy every minute!

John Egan Managing Director of Archipelago talks to startups about the vision of this exciting new enterprise…

Company: Archipelago

Date started: April 2010

Tell us what your business does?

There are 3 different Archipelago companies: Concepts, Works & Epoch all with different functions, 1) Enterprise, 2) Leveraged Strategy, 3) Design, Arts & Culture all administered by Archipelago. To focus on Concepts; Concepts’ focus is the facilitation of young Enterprise in Ireland. To that end, we have created a service, Conceptum, which significantly reduces the costs incurred while starting a company while also making it much more time efficient. We have done this by securing discounts and preferential rates with high end service firms in Dublin and coupling it with our own in-house strategic services to create a complete start up solution, from registration to web-design.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

We felt enterprise in Ireland was massively inefficient and staggered. Start ups weren’t nearly as sophisticated as they needed to be to survive and it was principally because 1) cost of enterprise was too high, 2) Clear, concise guidelines with solutions weren’t readily available. 1,500 -2,000 companies start in Ireland every month and 75% of them will fail. In normal circumstances most of those failures will start again or go back to regular employment, but for people of our generation, in this climate it equates to forced emigration. We believed we could fundamentally change the way business was done in Ireland by imposing a level of sophistication and efficiency on Irish enterprise.

Have you always wanted to run your own business?

Yes, absolutely. We all feel a responsibility to justify ourselves and enterprise is the most efficient way of doing so.

What planning did you do before you started up?

A phenomenal amount. The unique and broad nature of our undertaking necessitated an almost academic amount of research. We needed to understand the system of enterprise in Ireland better than anyone else and how it worked from start to finish. We had to recruit service firms, some of which (for example Vodafone & AIB) were large corporates
who required a significant amount of formal due process. We had to build a process for each service we offered and build 3 completely bespoke business models.

Which entrepreneurs do you admire?

Branson because he’s the prototypical entrepreneur and he understands the positive role entrepreneurs can pay in society. Niklas Zenstrom & Janus Friis the founders of Skype for completely changing the telecoms industry with a simple idea and minimal costs. Per Andersn – the founder of Metro Newspaper for creating a newspaper that can actually work in this day and age, Tyler Brule (Founder of Monocle and Wallpaper magazines) for producing two of the worlds best quality magazines and succeeding by juxtaposing old and new business models. Bob Young founder of Lulu.com for creating an ingenious online model and an old school example: King C Gillette for coming up with the razor and blades model over 100 years ago and it’s still one of the most successful business models around.

What challenges have you faced how have you overcome them?

Too many to name. Trying to create something atypical means you’ll always stumble upon people who try force standard procedures on you. We believe as an entrepreneur you should constantly challenge convention, change the game instead of just keeping up.

How have you promoted your business?

Very quietly up until this point. We needed to put stress on the structures to see how they held up and what we needed to change. We’ve tried to keep business to a trickle until we were ready. Now we are.

Are you optimistic about 2011?

Extremely, Archipelago is a product of this economic environment, we feel very comfortable within it.

What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

Probably 3 things that might not mean anything to you until your faced with it, but….

1) Justify yourself: constantly challenge convention and peoples accepted norms. If your business is to be mediocre you’ll fail, sooner or later. Change the game.

2) Resourcefulness: Remember there’re are many alternative forms of currency – opportunity and sacrifice to name but 2 and when your starting out it’s probably all you have. Resourcefulness is the key characteristic of the entrepreneur; do your best to foster it.

3) Getting back on the horse: it sounds clichéd but enterprise is often lonely and often times it doesn’t take much to make you doubt yourself. If you can’t get back on the horse, enterprise isn’t for you.

http://www.archipelago.ie/

Running from the 25th – 27th February at NDRC, Startup Weekend is an intense 54 hour event which focuses on building a web or mobile application which could form the basis of a credible business.

The weekend brings together people with different skillsets – primarily software developers, graphics designers and business people – to build applications and develop a commercial case around them.

We are seeking developers, product managers, marketing gurus, interaction and graphic designers, start-up enthusiasts, and others to participate and form start-up teams through this 54 hour workshop.

With experience of running over 100 Startup Weekend events across the globe, a member of the core Startup Weekend team will be on hand to help teams build companies around web and mobile application ideas, with the aim of producing working systems over the course of this intensive weekend.

Last held in Dublin in May 2010, two ideas developed at Startup Weekend have gone on to launch their businesses with further investment and development support from NDRC’s LaunchPad programme: www.geodealio.com and www.bragbet.com

Feb 25-27, 2010
NDRC
Digital Hub, Dublin 8.
http://dublin.startupweekend.org/

I recently came across the site www.techstars.org and I must say I think it is super concept.

It is a hugely successful programme to promote entrepreneurship in the US. Basically hundreds of companies apply for the programme and the successful ones are taken on a three month bootcamp. During the three month programme they receive top class mentoring and advice from successful entrepreneurs and previous techstar students.

The website has a great section called techstarsTV which is like Dawsons Creek meets Dragons Den. It has a real American J1 buzz about it and watching a few episodes is the perfect antidote to a rainy Monday morning in Dublin…trust me try it….

www.techstars.org

Aliara.ie is the brainchild of Alison Cummins and Tara Lane. If you are looking to set up your own business but don’t know where to start this is definately worth a look…

Aliara is a new Irish company founded by Alison Cummins and Tara Lane to provide a “Ready To Go” business for people who might not have the knowledge, capital or know how to start up on their own.

Alison and Tara both have their own businesses and understand the difficulties in combining the set up of a business and a family life. They are passionate about business and have many years business experience between them in the wholesale, retail and internet based business sectors.

They have devised an original concept that supplies people with an Aliara ecommerce website that is fully loaded with products including handbags, jewellery and accessories. This enables the Aliara distributors to promote their own website and earn commission on the sales that come through their site while the sourcing, processing and dispatching of products is done in the Aliara central office. Party packs are also available for the distributors who wish to run parties or partake in gift or Christmas fairs. Promotional materials, support, mentoring and training are also available to those who might need a little help. The beauty about an Aliara business is that it can be run full time, part time or any time, what ever fits into your lifestyle. Here’s an opportunity to earn some extra money to put towards Christmas with very little capital outlay.

Find out more information on Aliara.ie or attend an Aliara open evening. There is one on Friday 10th September in Harmony Holistic Health in the Square, Maynooth, Co Kildare between 6 and 9pm. Handbags, scarves and jewellery from the Aliara range will also be on sale.

www.aliara.ie