The Startup Awards are all about recognising the very best of young Irish businesses and rewarding them for their innovation, endeavour, and graft.
By celebrating that entrepreneurial spirit, the Startup Awards seek to drive Ireland’s new business forward both in 2014 and beyond.
We are inviting entries from young Irish companies, partnerships, and sole traders in categories across all sectors of the economy.
One of the greatest motivations for starting your own business is independence. It can also be your greatest challenge. No one to answer to except for your commitments to get a new business off the ground. You may be the sole decision-maker. What many new business owners may underestimate is the pressure of so many competing demands.
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A lot of the necessary decisions will have already been made by the time you decide to go self-employed. You will know what sector you’re operating in, who your potential customers are and your business name. Here we provide a couple of tips for business startups that might not be so obvious. WHAT’S IN A NAME? You may have already chosen your business name, and hopefully it’s easy to say, memorable, and tells your customers what you do. Most businesses now have an online presence, which makes your name far more important. Businesses have a far greater reach than they once did. Your name will become a central part of your brand,
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Sudden extreme weather conditions can have you running for cover. But what does this mean for your business? Are you prepared for rain, snow, or hail as this will affect the running of your business? With so much at stake, such as computer assets that hold all your data, you need a disaster recovery plan. Being prepared at all times can mean the difference between surviving adverse weather and failure. While you may not be in immediate danger, it is always wise to prepare for a worst-case scenario. Here are five ways to keep your business going in adverse weather conditions. 1. Backing up and storing critical data Today businesses
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There are less than six months before new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) take effect in the European Union (EU). These aim to strengthen the rights and protection of consumers in the EU. This means that all businesses need to prepare for the impact of more stringent data collection and storage processes. GDPR starts May 25, 2018. This legislation affects all EU member states. Everyone will now have to follow the same laws for collecting, storing and using consumer’s personal data. Benefits of GDPR There are two key benefits to the GDPR: Its goal is to give EU residents control over their personal information. It simplifies the regulatory environment for
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It is still the first quarter of the year, so have you taken the time to take a good look at your business and to consider what you want to achieve in 2018. Here are 10 things you can do to start the year off on the right foot. 1. Review last year’s results Review your last year’s results. Do you know what your revenue was for the last year? How much profit did you make? What about your website traffic? What was the most shared content and your top performing keywords? Do you have the best people in the right positions? Put together a list of all these questions
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The Irish start-up scene is a rapidly growing space. Driven by entrepreneurs and supported by government organisations like Enterprise Ireland & local start-up groups around the country, the start-up community in Ireland is expanding year on year. While start-ups can have the skill, drive and the experience in their particular area to make it work, there is one area that many self-employed business owners, new and old, can find quite daunting – the complicated world of Irish tax returns. While PAYE workers usually have their tax deducted at source from their employer, if you are what is referred to as a ‘chargeable person’, you are responsible for ‘self assessing’ your
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Many businesses consider switching service providers on a regular basis – be it electricity provider, broadband, stationery provider – it’s natural to ensure that you are getting the best value for money service in the market place. One area where people are traditionally slow to make the move is with their accountant as they feel it can be very time consuming and lead to a lot of headaches. Getting the right accountant for your business is of paramount importance and if you are not satisfied with your current accountant you need to make the move! Below we look at some of the reasons businesses give for not making the move
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The past number of years has seen an exponential rise in the numbers of people abandoning traditional employment and going down the road of becoming a self-employed contractor. For many it is a very attractive option which allows them more control over their career and offers opportunities that may not present themselves in the traditional employer/employee scenario. Becoming a self-employed contractor is not without its pitfalls and below we consider the top 5 things that should be considered before making such a decision: 1. Job Security/Job Flexibility As an employee your rights are protected by a raft of employment law swhich ensures that your employer is obliged to comply with.
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This is a question that I have been frequently asked. When a new businesses is started it can be a common question, how can you access money in your businesses in other words you may be unsure how to get paid. In this Blog we will look at how you get paid from your business and the effects on your ability to pay your tax liability. The business has started but where are my wages? As a self employed person you don’t follow the same rules as an employee. An employee receives a wage each (week/month) gross wage less PRSI, USC, PAYE and a net wage is paid, and the
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Standing out from the crowd isn’t easy in the retail industry. You must come up with innovative ideas to manage and run your retail business. One of the easiest ways to gain a competitive advantage on your competitors is to get better with daily business operations and master them. If you can optimise, automate, and master everyday business processes, you’ll find yourself doing better than most of your competitors. Retailers struggle managing daily tasks. Master it to gain competitive advantage. If you just started a new retail business, using SAP Business One will help stand out from the crowd and get better with managing your business. This is, however, just
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