Startups.ie

[Startups.ie]

Welcome to www.startups.ie, we aim to help budding entrepreneurs by providing both information and inspiration. This is a new website so content will be added gradually over the coming weeks; please contact us if you are interested in contributing. We also provide a platform for new businesses to tell the real stories of what it was like for them when they got started, the triumphs and the disasters. Many people dream of setting up and owning their own business this site is dedicated to those who get up and get started...

[Stephen]

Would anyone like to share their story? We would like to hear from anyone who has recently started a business or is in the process of starting up.

[Cocopoppyhead]

Hello Stephen, great site so far.. and best wishes for its future success and growth..

I am near the end of my researching stage, I have compiled a very detailed business plan filled with stats from the cso, tourism ireland, bord failte, and so forth.. to get to this stage I needed to understand my potential business further so i contacted 110 similar businesses worldwide with a list comprising of 55 questions. My means of contact was most email, although I phoned some, and followed up with site visits in some cases. I recieved detailed replies from about 15 of them, and this layed the groundwork for what was to come, it provided me with a solid platform of what to expect and what the growth potential could be.

So fast forwarding a little, i have spoken to various state agencies informally, and many business people that i know on a personal level from college and life in general, I am bouncing off them with my ideas and thoughts, as im qualified in Business or finance.
I have visited many properties that i can base my business and have a few options developing on that front.

At present I am completing a small course on business startup, and completing my business plan (it requires some more facts, financial forecasting, and support i can recieve from government agencies, if there is support available at all). Then it will be time to gloss up the business plan and brochure and approach investors. This subsequently is where I need to increase my knowledge.

all in all, its been a fantastic knowledge gathering few months, and flirting with being an entrepreneur sure does change your mentality and how you see things in life. I often find myself looking for opportunities while walking down the street, mainly as my mind is focused on creating and understanding how to make a business successful.

[Stephen]

Hello Cocopoppyhead,

Many thanks for your posts and apologies for the delay in getting back to you, I am in the middle of a partnership dispute in one of my businesses at the moment and that is taking up most of my time...don't worry I will be posting a blog on the joys of partnerships soon on the back of my experiences!

Well done on your detailed research, it will definately stand to you. When your biz plan is finished you should consider sending a copy to first step finance www.firststep.ie they provide loans of up to 25K for startups but they will also give you great feedback on your bizplan. Accountants hungry for business will also vet your plan for you in the hopes of getting your business, this is a good way to suss out a good accountant also. Get your plan in front of as many people as possible you can not get enough feedback at this stage.

Keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on hopefully we can feature your story when you are up and running.

Kind regards,

Stephen

[greentree]

Hi, Great Site, good to have a forum like this where we can share experiances.

My Personal story - I am an IT specialist with expertise in building web systems connected to payment systems. I'm on my fourth business at the moment but am still looking for the big idea!!

BTW - Found this on business section on boards...

Michael

[Stephen]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for visiting Startups, I am happy with the way the site is coming along, it is really only restricted by the amount of time that I can put into it at the moment. Let me know if you are interested in putting up a blog on your area of expertise, I am sure online payment is an area of interest for lots of people,

Thanks again,

Stephen

[paulag]

hi all,

I am launching The Excel Club in March 2010. The Excel Club is an online excel tutor, written by an Accountant, focusing on intermediate to advanced excel skills for individuals, business owners, employees and professionals.
Unlike traditional classroom based courses, as a registered student you have unlimited access to the tutorials for 12 months, along with workbooks to download, access to a students forum, traceable progress and fulfil your CPE/CPD requirements.

7 Hours of core training videos with everyday examples such as dynamic reporting graphs, Lookup to build sales invoices, commission calculations, Sales reporting with pivot and other tables and so on.

Regular new video postings based on questions asked within the student’s forum
The syllabus covers

Basics refresh Relative and absolute cell references
Sum if/Sumifs/Average if…. Comparative operators
And/OR IF
Conditional formatting Text functions
Date and time functions Custom formatting
Array Formulas Tables
Advanced filter Pivot tables
Vlookup Index and Match
Other reference functions Financial Functions
What if Analysis Errors
Quick Tips

I have outsourced the building of the site to a company in California. Think I am learning from my mistakes already. They have already told me the site will be delayed, but I haven’t found out by how long. They were a fab company for communication prior to me paying a deposit, now it like extracting teeth.

I would like to see this forum up and running, looking forward to seeing what startups.ie is going to do in 2010 and being an active member. Although the business I am launching is training, by profession I am an accountant so if any one has any accounting or excel questions feel free to pm me.