Posts Tagged ‘start a business’
Yesterday I had an interesting experience in Heathrow airport that made me realize just how much everyone in your organisation needs to live your brand.
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Need 100k? No Problem! Just solve the national economic crisis…
www.yourcountryyourcall.com
Well points for effort I suppose, the idea is that there has to be one or two genius ideas out there that can save the nation from the mess that it is currently in. As the government is clearly devoid of any inspiration they have thrown the challenge back to us.
My 2 ideas are:
1) Sack the Government
2) Put Michael O’Leary in charge
I accept all major forms of cash as a government cheque would probably bounce….
The blurb goes as follows!
Your Country, Your Call is a competition to ignite imaginations and inspire thinking.
The goal is to pick two truly transformational proposals so big that, when implemented, could secure prosperity and jobs for Ireland. Proposals that could help change the way we do things, allow businesses to grow, employment to be created and prosperity to flourish
Your Country, Your Call gives you the chance to share your creativity to give life to new industry, revitalise or revolutionise an existing market, or even change the way we do business entirely. It’s not about creating new products. It’s about creating something that will make a long term positive impact on the future of Ireland, its people, and its economy.
Your Country, Your Call is all about Ireland. It’s about helping to create sustainable employment and prosperity, whilst at the same time generating hope, confidence, and positive thinking.
Your Country, Your Call is open for proposals.
Blanchardstown Area Partnership – start your own business courses
Anyone living in or around Dublin West should take note of the great value courses available from the Blanchadstown area partnership. For as little as €10 per person you can learn some key skills and gain valuable information on business essentials such as the Bookeeping and Vat Seminars outlined below.
Places are available for upcoming Bookkeeping seminar (on 26 Feb) & VAT seminar (on 5 Mar)
To book your place, simply reply or email: enterprise@bap.ie with your contact details.
(if you are already registered to attend, please ignore this email)
Both €10 per participant
Bookkeeping (10am to 1pm)
26 February
Why it is vital to keep the books straight
Recording data in a systematic manner in the books
Tailoring the record keeping to meet your needs
Bank reconciliation
How to use the information recorded
VAT (10am to 1pm)
5 March
Who must register for VAT and why
How to assemble data for VAT and how to completed the returns
What VAT is allowed and disallowed and why
How imports and exports are treated for VAT purposes
Why VAT is the most lethal of all the various taxes
To book your place, simply email: enterprise@bap.ie with your contact details.
There are many other upcoming seminars and courses.
More info @ http://www.bap.ie/bus_wshop_sched_2010.html
Market Research – 19 Feb
Bookeeping – 26 Feb
start UP – 1 Day Business Seminar – 10 Mar
How To Marketing Your Business On-Line – 12 Mar
A ‘How To’ Guide To Designing Effective Promotional Material – 18 Mar
Getting Your Message Across – Effective Communication – 26 Mar
Principles of Employment Law – 31 Mar
start UP – 1 Day Business Seminar – 14 Apr
Guerrilla Marketing – 16 Apr
What You Need To Know For Importing & Exporting – 28 Apr
Startups.ie road tests Sage’s Free Small Business Tools
There is no such thing as a free lunch or so they say!!. In an effort to save on accountancy costs and to have a greater understanding of my business I have decided to take a accountancy for small business course which is run by my local county enterprise board (a bargain at €100 for a 6 week course!).
With my newly acquired financial wizardery I should be filing my own VAT returns, pondering my own cashflow forecast reports and generating my own employee payslips in no time. At least that is the theory anyway!
Like most men embarking on a new hobby or interest the first thing I normally do is rush out and buy stuff, a room full of fishing gear will attest to this. However the clever people at Sage are offering their entry level accountancy and payroll software for free!. They have also developed some business planning software to help you map out your business. As your business grows you can upgrade to the more professional versions of the software.
Over the next few weeks I will be taking these products for a test drive to see if they are easy to use and will report back on the features available. The business that I will be testing the products on has 5 employees so it should be the right size for the basic TAS books and Quickpay packages.
If you want to check out these free downloads for yourself click on the link below, now I am off to play with my new toys!
Pierre Omidyar’s Success Story – Famous Entrepreneurs
“I never had it in mind that I would start a company one day and it would really be successful. I have just been motivated by working on interesting technology.”
Growing Up
Omidyar was born in Paris in 1967. He moved to Baltimore when his father began his term of residence at Johns Hopkins. Omidyar became captivated by computers while at high school and skipped his gym classes in order to use it. Noticing the boy’s keen interest, the principle gave him the job of creating a program that would produce catalog cards for the library. He was paid $6 an hour.
At Tufts University, Omidyar worked on a program to assist Macintosh programmers with computer memory problems. His request that users of this shareware file pay on the honour system did not bring many replies; the cheques that should have been going to fund his years as a computer science undergraduate went solely to paying for the post office box.
In 1991, Omidyar went to work with three friends to create pen-computing programs. Though Pen computing was a dismal failure, the e-commerce site (eShop) on the Web site that Omidyar introduced and operated enticed Microsoft to buy the company.
Starting The Business
Omidyar went to work with General Magic, a software company, in 1994 and made extra money designing Web pages on the side. The girl he was dating at the time, Pamela Wesley, who would later become his wife, collected Pez dispensers and often complained how difficult it was to meet others passionate about her hobby on the internet. Thoughtfully, Omidyar appended a small online auction to his personal website so Pamela would make contacts with other collectors as well as buy and sell.
eBay (electronic Bay, as in the San Francisco Bay area), as it was when it first appeared in 1995, operated merely as a forum for people to sell and bid on various items. Omidyar did not back goods, mediate conflicts, or get involved if there were accusations of dishonesty or abuse of the system. Almost immediately, collectors of Barbie dolls, Beanie babies and the like flocked to eBay.
Three months after its launch, Omidyar had to ask his friend Jeff Skoll, also a programmer, for help. In order to cover the new costs involved with the growth of the business, Omidyar began charging small change to list an item on the site and took a small commission if the item was bought.
Building An Empire
Omidyar was surpised by his continued success and had to hire someone to open the large number of cheques that were being sent in. He was also surprised that people were not simply using the site to buy and sell, but also as a meeting place where relationships were made over common interests.
After qutting his day job, Omidyar worked along with Skoll to improve eBay. They felt that if a sturdy framework was in place, business would generate by itself. After just under two years of operation, eBay was one of the most popular internet sites, 1,50000 users bidding on 794,000 items daily. And the company was now doubling every three months.
At such a rate of growth, Omidyar and Skoll sought venture capital assistance and a management team that would further move the company forward. Benchmark Capital gave the partners a $4.5 million cheque for 22% of the company. Benchmark also found a CEO for eBay, Margaret Whitham, an executive from Hasbro, and with her leadership, the business became a slick corporate entity. With a new look, better publicity, and greater organization, eBay went public on September 24, 1998. Within four months of trading, the stock, which started at $18 per share, was worth $300. Omidyar became a billionaire.
Now selling far more than just Pez dispensers, eBay has completely changed e-commerce. Despite increasing competition, eBay continues to grow. Omidyar recognized and seized the opportunity that essentially fell into his lap and revolutionized internet use.
Do your research, and get off the doorstep…a blog by Dr Peter Stafford
Many of us who listen to politicians mentioning what people “on the doorstep” are telling them, wonder which doorsteps they’re canvassing.
Politicians have a strange ability to pick doorsteps owned by people who want to tell them how great they are. Second hand reports from the doorsteps give politicians great ammunition when facing a hostile interviewer. How many times have we heard a cabinet minister say “actually, the issue of the missing money isn’t an issue, Pat/Miriam/Holy Father. The people on the doorstep are telling me that I’m doing all of the right things and they want me to keep on as minister.”
An unverifiable anecdote masquerading as fact is great when you’re a politician being interviewed on drive time radio but it’s no use at all for a start-up business person who wants to know if anyone likes his product. Politicians have incredibly selective hearing and it’s only by tuning out the sound of all of the doors which are slammed in their faces and by ignoring the angry constituents who vow never to vote for them that they’re left with a group of loyal fans whose welcoming doorsteps give them the self-belief to keep on working.
Many small businesses fall into the category of tuning out opposition and ignoring people who aren’t interested in their product. They think to themselves “actually, people aren’t saying that I’m flogging overpriced tat six months after the trend has moved on. The people on the doorstep are telling me that my product will change their lives and they’re willing to pay twice as much for it.” Survey sample? One person.
Good businesses need good research. They need proper analysis of the facts, not an unverifiable anecdote from a loyal supporter. Not only do businesses need to know who will buy their product and how much will they pay for it, but they need to know what external factors are likely to have an impact on sales. What’s government doing to regulate the field? What’s happening to the economic context in which you’re making a sale? Is there a societal consequence to your business?
Bill Clinton ran an election campaign on the simple statement that it’s the economy, stupid. The economy will dictate everything. The economy will decide how many clients you have and how much money they have to spend on your product. It will dictate how much the government will tax you on your product (and, if you’re lucky, any profits) and it will dictate whether competition from home or abroad will gobble up your business.
At the time of writing, the stockbrokers and financiers are beginning to make their economic forecasts for 2010. Ireland will, depending on whose forecast you read, emerge blinking into the sunlight of strong economic growth, or spend next year in the darkness of prolonged recession. GNP growth (% per annum) is not an abstract number, created by economists for the amusement of economists (although if you go for a pint with a group of economists, you’ll find it is) but it matters enormously to the start-up business Do you want to start your company in a recession? Is there merit in waiting? Will the forecast for the economy help you persuade the bank to finance your endeavour? Have you factored the tax implication of the change in the economy into your business plan?
Personal anecdotes from potential clients and customers will undoubtedly help you hone your business model into one which can maximise customer loyalty. Politicians, economists and stand-up comedians all use focus groups.
But the input of potential customers needs to be grounded in fact, and all start up companies should be spending time listening to the financiers and the economists talking about their projections for the economy. This doesn’t mean you necessarily need to read the Financial Times every day. Indeed, one of the great secrets of economics is that nobody really reads the Financial Times; they just look at the adverts for expensive watches and cry for their lost millions. The pink pages of the paper blot away the tears.) But using good, well-networked research support can help put some facts in place which will make an enormous difference to your business plans.
Why? Well, for one thing, the chances are you already have a better understanding of the macroeconomic context in which your enterprise takes place than anyone else. Donald Rumsfeld (who, as a politician, is probably guilty of using doorstep anecdotes in place of the Financial Times) said of the Iraq War in 2002 that there are “known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we do not know we don’t know.”
In six short, but bewildering sentences, Rumsfeld summarised the need for solid research, well presented. And that’s exactly what I’m trying to help Irish businesses do – find out what they know and what they don’t know, but also what they think they know, what they think they don’t know, and sort it, and fill in the gaps.
There are countless books about how to keep your home clutter-free. There are – dotted around different sections of the bookshop – more books about how to keep your mind, your career and your spirituality clutter-free. But there is a task to keep the flow of information in and out of your businesses clutter free. How do you compile and use all of the information you know about your business and how can you use it effectively? How do you summarise it into a report you can give to your bank manager, your PR Company or your shareholders? How can you fill in the gaps in your knowledge without becoming cluttered with more useless information?
The answer is by taking some time to find out what information your company lacks, and present what you do know convincingly. My aim is to look after all of that for Irish companies – streamline and maximise the usefulness of what you know, and present you with what you don’t know. Grounded in fact, stripped of clutter, presented clearly and convincingly, your company will be on better footing than any politician, blinking under the studio lights as he launches into another tale from the doorstep.
Dr Peter Stafford
peter.stafford@gmail.com
+353 (0)86 150 2891
twitter: @peterstafford
Is anyone else loving the Irish apprentice this year or is it just me? I have to say I am totally hooked, this is car crash TV at its best. I have noticed a growing trend among people who love reality TV all of a sudden but feel embarassed to admit it!. Between the X Factor on Saturday and Sunday and The Apprentice on Monday sitting in has never been so much fun.
Each week I find myself praying that the Breffmeister survives for another week, the show will just not be the same without him. I actually think that he is the funniest character on Irish TV since Ardal O’Hanlon’s Fr Dougal McGuire. This is the man who describes his background as rowing, has shocked the people of Cork by claiming to be one of them, speaks like Prince Charles illigitimate son and gets more likeable with each week.
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Last week saw Breff kick ass in the Cadburys chocolate challenge. He has had his ideas rejected and mocked before even though his gut instincts were proved to be on the money in previous tasks. Not this time! despite the clever attempts by Aoiffffe to cover all the bases by saying that she supports all ideas 100% and then 5 minutes later stating that she is totally opposed to the idea hence being able to pull either card out in the boardroom, the Breffmeister stood firm, hanging up on the patronising backstabbers and sticking to the task at hand.
Breff won the day and in the process his stock shot up. As an act of concession to the nose out of joint duo of Aoifffe and Ruth, Breff let Ruth present for the team, her robotic presentation (see below) and funeral parlouresque choice of entertainment nearly blew the Breffmeisters victory.
Expect no quarter to be given in future, go Breff go............
Startups Technology blog by John from www.complex.ie
Introduction
From 15k RAID 5 SCSI HDD’s to that all important 1920×1200 WUXGA Matte display, yes with rubbish bamboozling terms like that you might be tempted to put technology for your business way down the “todo” list. Well this is a big mistake. Your business needs to use IT from the very beginning to have any hope of even matching the competition. Yet if used correctly, technology can help any small business punch way way above their weight. Follow these few tips to have your business roaring like the God of thunder gargling with nails!
The Landline
Forget about phone land lines such as Eircom, you need what is known as a “VOIP” phone system. Get a fast internet connection, any VOIP phone handset and sign up for a www.blueface.ie account. This will give you 1) your all important land line number with the ability to take 5 calls at the same time, 2) Fax line and 3) it’s VOIP so you can move that landline number anywhere with an internet connection or even route calls to your mobile at your leisure. Don’t forget that’s only scratching the surface of a VOIP phone system’s capabilities.
The Mobile
A mobile phone is not just used for taking calls. Pick up a smart phone (such as blackberry) for instant access to email. Your phone’s calendar and contacts will also be linked into your main email system (Google Apps). Adding an entry to your calendar on the phone will sync it on all your computers automatically wirelessly over the air. Even your business partner or secretary can add in calendar reminders for you on their computers that sync to your phone automatically.
Domain Name
Register a domain name and try to get one with words related to your business in the name. If your business is called Contoso and you are wedding DJ, well www.contoso.com is of little no use, you need to try register www.weddingdj.ie and yes if your business is based only in Ireland, that needs to be a dot ie not dot com – Google.com will redirect most Irish searchers to Google.ie and Google.ie always gives higher ranking to sites ending with a dot ie. Registering a ie domains used to be expensive but www.Blacknight.com have fantastic deals.
Website
Before you run wild looking at designs creating a site, don’t forget the purpose. Sales and Marketing. You may have a pretty site but if people can’t find it well I’m sorry but let me whisper to you…..it’s useless… For a website to generate business you need to have it at the top of Google. There are three top spots in Google. 1) If you pay for Google adwords 2) Submit your business to Maps (these appear under adwords for any search that has a place in the search term e.g. wedding DJ Dublin) and finally 3) Google Organic listings.
For 1) Adwords, make sure your web development company has your site ranked at least 7/10 with Google – the higher the rank the cheaper the ads. Adwords is a bidding war but if you are not up on top it’s a waste of time and money. The worst is to be paying just that small amount under the competition and only appear on the side right panel. Increase the bids until you are at top.
Submit your business to maps for point 2) at www.google.com/local/add and please take time to fill in everything loading in as many keywords related to your business as you can.
Finally, to get to the top of Google organic listings, ask your web developers to optimise the website for search engines and install a wordpress blog. You must run a blog and make regular posts , at least once a week in the correct way -by this I mean ensure you have loaded up the title of your blog post with keywords “Wedding Music Service by Wedding DJ in Cavan” and follow this by adding keyword tags “Wedding DJ Dublin” “Wedding DJ Cavan” etc.
So as you can see, getting the website to the top is a job in itself but put in some hard work and it will become your entire sales team.
The Email
Less than 5 people? Google Apps. Google Apps. Google Apps. Nothing can beat this for a new small business. It acts like a central email server storing all your email, gives you SPAM and Virus free access over the internet, through Outlook, on your mobile phone. All email is synced too which gives full access to all email including sent items from anywhere. You can always move to a server running email software when you are a bigger company.
The Network
Again, with Less than five people do not buy a server. A real server will cost 3k to 5k – and please don’t even consider the cheap “fake” sub 1k servers that are nothing more than glorified PC’s. Use your own PC in the office to act as the server, sharing out files and keeping the files and folders in a central location with two USB external drives as backup. Swap the backups disks every Friday and bring one home for that all important off-site backup. There are other options too like www.dropbox.com and www.idrive.com if you trust having your files with a third party. Antivirus software is essential as is your office productivity software – Microsoft Office 2007 or Open Office are the typical choices.
Remote Access
A free option here is to use www.logmein.com or alternatively a firewall for your network will provide remote access with additional security features. Remote access will let you work on your office computer from anywhere as if you are sitting at your desk.
General Tips
Going that extra mile is absolutely essential to any new business starting up and IT is like the coach running along side shouting words of encouragement. Whether it’s the technology that allows you to take that vital call/answer that important email out of hours or perhaps finish that tender document remotely on the office computer from home on a Saturday morning. The extra mile turns into an extra 26 mile marathon with success at the finish line.
Great Blog John Thank You.
Contact John at www.complex.ie for great web design and IT Support
The Three Pillars Of Entrepreneurship
Whether you are starting a new business or already running an established one, there are three pillars of entrepreneurship that can make the difference between running a business that just pays the bills – or one that truly thrives. So what are they?
Research
While “research” may seem like a boring word – and can conjure up countless hours in the library or on the internet, or days poring over reports and financials – this should be the foundation for many decisions you make in business. While it may sound glamorous or impulsive to say that you act on gut feel – it’s even better to combine your natural instincts with robust research into the issue at hand.
Apart from talking to people about your business idea, you can conduct market research into whether your product or service will fly. If you have the funds to engage a market research company, that’s great. But, if not, you can still get useful feedback on an informal level. For example:
* Meet with people to gauge their interest in your product or service.
* Hold focus groups where you can discuss any issues associated with your idea.
* Conduct online surveys or polls. You can do this easily with tools such as Survey Monkey or Ask Database.
The results from your research may throw up a range of issues that may impact everything from how you structure your business, how your product is delivered, your pricing – or even whether your idea is feasible at all.
Action
After you’ve done the research, it’s time to take action. The good news is that if you’ve bothered to do the research in the first place – an act that requires some planning and organisation – you will probably have the impetus to take the next step and turn your business idea into reality.
The wheels actually usually fall off in the research stage. I meet so many would-be entrepreneurs who continually talk about their Great Business Idea but never do anything about it. That’s often because the research stage is not the sexy part. They want to go straight from Great Business Idea to an entrepreneur living The Four-Hour Work Week. It doesn’t work that way – and I don’t care what anyone says, you have to put in the hard yards if you want to experience the pay-off.
In order to motivate yourself into action, it’s useful to break down what you need to do into bite-sized chunks. The obstacles appears when we have an item on our “to do” list that looks like: “Research viability of muesli bars for children”. That’s way to big. Instead, sit down with a cup of coffee for an hour and break it down. So your task lists may look like this instead:
1. Visit Dunnes to note down all muesli bar brands.
2. Look up Yellow Pages to find manufacturers of muesli bars.
3. Do online research for manufacturers of muesli bars.
4. Make appointment with nutritionist specialising in children’s diets.
5. Develop list of “must haves” in muesli bars.
6. etc
Then diarise each of those tasks – which are all small enough to be “do-able” – and make a commitment to complete them.
Commitment and belief
If you can be bothered to research and take action, then the final pillar of entrepreneurship is an unswerving belief that you can achieve what you have set out to do. The reality is that this commitment may sometimes be rocked so it’s important to create a supportive environment to buoy you through these times. How can you do that on a practical level?
1. Minimise the time you spend with naysayers.
2. Surround yourself with other enthusiastic entrepreneurs.
3. Join a mastermind group of like-minded business owners.
4. Find yourself a business mentor.
5. Read inspirational business books where you can get ideas and motivation.
Entrepreneurship is a journey. It’s one that can be filled with challenges but can also be very rewarding. Whether you simply want to open a hair salon, transform the diets of children in Ireland (through your muesli bars) or change the behaviour of some of the country’s largest companies (through your consulting) – it can be done. Just remember: If you believe you can change the world – and you act on that conviction – then, chances are, you probably will.
Boom time is over and we are slap bang in the middle of hopefully the worst recession we will ever see.
So is it time for aspiring entrepreneurs to hunker down and wait for the sun to come back out before starting a business?
Not at all.
Recession does indicate a contracting economy but it doesn’t mean that businesses across the board are shrinking and dying. Many businesses and industries buck the trend by growing through the downturn.
You can increase your chances of running one of these businesses by starting a business in an industry that tends to remain resilient, or even prospers, in economic downturns.
So which types of business are good to start in a recession?
Start a business selling essential goods or services
Most businesses are discretionary, meaning that their products and services are non-essential.
Essential items tend to be bought in roughly the same quantities whatever the economic weather. Businesses dealing in food or shelter, two of life’s most fundamental needs, tend to be resilient in an economic dowturns.
There are stark exceptions, however.
Restaurants are enormously susceptible in a recession as the difference in cost compared to eating at home is huge, so meals out are often the first thing to go when people have less money in their pocket.
And the mortgage market can seize up in tough times, like at present, where there’s a squeeze on credit. However, people always need somewhere to live so the lettings market, by contrast tends to remain stable.
Other examples of businesses bracketed in the essential category are law firms, funeral parlours, healthcare businesses, law firms, schools and home maintenance businesses.
Start a business selling guilty pleasures
And yet, somewhat paradoxically, people often increase their spending on non-essentials too, on indulgencies.
For example, Cadbury’s announced a 28% jump in profits in July, and analysts suggest it was, to an extent, because of the recession rather than despite it. In gloomier times people often turn to comfort eating and buy chocolate, ice cream and other treats to make themselves feel better.
People do tend to be more price aware, however, so the emphasis is on affordable luxury. So they’re more likely to plump for Cadbury’s Dairy Milk than Hotel Chocolat truffles.
Start a business selling budget goods
Starting a business selling budget ranges are, unsurprisingly, more prosperous in lean times.
‘Everything for a pound’ shops tend to do well. And with the credit crunch making bank loans hard to come by, pawn shops and cheque cashing shops are enjoying a spike in custom.
In contrast to restaurants, retailers selling budget food ranges are very successful.
Start a business selling goods and services used by the over-50s
They’ve got equity in their property, and they’ve got savings so their earnings rise with interest rates: over 50s have more to spend than younger age groups and they’re also more resilient in a recession.
Buy a franchise
An established franchise will invariably stand a better chance of thriving than a start-up. Many franchise brands have come through previous recessions unscathed so you can be confident they’ll have the means and savvy to do it again.
When the economy contracts some businesses inevitably go under. With their time-honed, streamlined processes and systems, franchises are usually leaner and fitter than their rivals and much less likely to fall by the wayside.
“We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
Warren Buffett
