Posts Tagged ‘start up business ideas’
VAT – What’s The Deal! – Advice Starting a Business in Ireland
David Branigan has 15 years experience in practice and is accredited by the ACCA.
In the first of a series of Blogs for www.startups.ie David tackles the basics of VAT…..
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10 tips to consider before starting up a new business
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Warren Buffet – Great quotes to get you thinking when starting a business!
I am enjoying the autubiography of Warren Buffet at the moment (reviewed in our book review section). It tells the story of how he accumulated his fortune at a relentless pace.
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Company: MyChildcare.ie
Website: www.MyChildcare.ie
Founders: Adrian and Regina Graham
Age: 33
Based: Dublin
Staff Number: 1
Date started: March 2009
Tell us what your business does?
We help childcare providers in Ireland fill empty childcare spaces whilst saving them a fortune in advertising! We help parents find childcare all over Ireland in their area and give them advice on what childcare options are available, how to choose childcare and other parenting tips and advice.
Where did the idea for your business come from?
When looking for childcare for our 2 children we saw the need for such a website that allowed childcare providers showcase their business in an easy to use, one stop web site.
Have you always wanted to run your own business?
Yes
What planning did you do before you started up?
We investigated the market. As a user of the site we knew there was a need from our own experience and from the experiences of our friends. We called some childcare providers in our area and outlined what we had planned and the feedback was very good. We sized the market and pitched our pricing very low accordingly.
Which entrepreneurs do you admire?
Bill Cullen for his drive and success and now public profile. Micheal O’Leary for being the most entertaining yet one of the most successful business people in Ireland today.
What challenges have you faced how have you overcome them?
Getting the word of MyChildcare.ie out there was the biggest challenge. We realised that having a good idea and a good website was only the beginning, but if people didn’t know about it then how would it succeed? We spent money on Google AdWords and became advertising partners with MyHome.it who wanted childcare information for their users. We reached 100,000 visitors last year as a result, but the advertising spend as meant we put everything back in to keep promoting the website.
How have you promoted your business?
Oops, I probably asnwered this in the last question but mainly by means of press release, google AdWords, MyHome.ie and banner advertising. We also use Twitter, Facebook and Blogger.com where we now have hundreds of followers.
What has your growth been like?
We can measure our growth in 2 ways. Number of visitors and content. We started with 100 visitors per month a year ago and now average about 8,000 per month now. We started with only a handful of pages on the site and a few childcare providers to having over 160 childcare providers now and over 400 pages on our website.
What’s the impact on your home life been like?
having 2 kids is busy enough but having MyChildcare.ie has made things even busier! We spend alot of our free time updating and managing the website as well as promoting it to both parents and childcare providers a like.
Thanks Adrian…Best of luck with it…Startups.ie
Duncan Bannatyne one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs, grew up in Clydebank, in his early teens Duncan joined the Navy. At the age of 19 after having a disagreement with his commanding officer Duncan left the Navy.
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Sage Business Planning Software -help starting up a business
Getting started is often the hardest part of any task. When looking at taking the leap into setting up a new business it is essential to have a road map i.e a business plan to help you along the way. How can you lead if you don’t know where you are going is another way of putting it.
Sage the software people have launched a free business planning tool that is really user freindly and is perfect for helping you to get going. The programme which can be downloaded at www.sage.ie/sage-planning-for-business is as good as some of the business planning software that you normally have to pay for. I presume the logic behind offering the programme for free is that the planning software can integrate with the Sage accountancy packages when you have set up your business.
My only difficulty with this programme was downloading it in the first place, maybe my laptop is to blame but I had to jump through hoops to finally get the programme installed. This may not be Sage’s fault but I must admit it did try my patience a bit.
Features & Benefits
It’s easy to use:
Flexible input options tailored to your experience
Questionnaire helps you identify key tasks
Worked examples show you how things should look
It’s easy to manage your time:
Tasks grouped into logical business areas
Diary, tasks and planning tools to help make the best use of your time
Keep all your information in one place
Fill out your business plan as you go
Format your business plan using templates provided
It’s easy to manage your finances:
Understand and manage your cash flow
See how much you need to take to cover expenses and be in profit
Works with Sage Instant Accounts
