Emma Meehan, founder of Precision Sports Technology, was interviewed by irishtimes.com. Her start-up’s real-time analysis of fitness training removes the need for personal trainers to supervise client’s form during workouts.
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Tr3dent, the Galway-based tech company, is targeting $100 million in annual revenues within five years as part of a plan which involves an unusual element: a public listing on a Canadian stock market: businesspost.ie.
Matt Conlon and Conor Flannery are developing a system that would close the threat gap and streamline the workload for security teams swamped by the demands of manually reviewing thousands of weak spots in IT networks: irishtimes.com.
ProMotion Rewards is a consumer rewards startup that connects brands and shoppers. Founded by Bidemi Afolabi and Lauren O’Reilly, the company recently raised €725,000 in pre-seed investment. For this blog, we spoke to New Frontiers alumna Lauren about the journey so far. Lauren and Bidemi met while completing degrees in pharmacy. In fact, they had an idea for a different promotion startup before having the lightbulb moment that led to developing the ProMotion Rewards app. Because of their degrees, the founders were already immersed in research and gathering data. While working for a large retail pharmacy group, Lauren saw first-hand how retailers of all types need customer insights that they can turn into concrete business results. But are loyalty cards...
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The sunny southeast isn't just an idyllic holiday spot, it’s also an ideal place to live and work. Waterford – the country’s oldest city – has been voted the “best place to live in Ireland” and also boasts a vibrant network of business support agencies and organisations. The newly formed South East Technological University (SETU) delivers the New Frontiers programme at campuses in Waterford and Carlow. Today, we’re catching up with the New Frontiers Programme Manager at Waterford, Dr Eugene Crehan. He oversees all programmes at the Centre for Enterprise Development & Regional Economy (CEDRE) at South East Technological University (SETU), formerly Waterford Institute of Technology. New Frontiers Waterford past participants include the CEOs of Engage XR (the first New...
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An interview with Greta Dunne, founder of Marker Content, on businesspost.ie. Greta is an alumna of the programme at TUD’s Hothouse.
New platform connects budding tech entrepreneurs with potential collaborators, employees and investors. An interview on irishtimes.com.
As we hurtle into the final two months of 2022, you could be starting to wonder where this year has gone! Too many of those best laid plans we made back in January are still on the to-do board. Now it's nearly 2023, and we have to be ready to hit a whole new year's tasks and targets with a clear mind. But how?! Time waits for no one, which leaves you with two options in life: 1) become a slave to time, forever caught in a never-ending game of cat and mouse between you and the fleeting minutes, or, 2) learn how to manipulate old Father Time to your advantage. Entrepreneurs have no choice but to pick option two...
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Going for Growth, a programme jointly run by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG, assists ambitious women entrepreneurs to achieve their growth ambitions. An interview with Sonia Neary, CEO and co-founder of Wellola on thinkbusiness.ie.
A record number of entrepreneurs are setting up businesses with export potential in the Cork and Kerry region through the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers programme. Read more on echolive.ie.
The healthtech company, which has developed software to streamline staff rostering and internal communication for hospitals, is looking to further expand in the US in the absence of take-up here at home. Interview with Aimée Madden on businesspost.ie.
Pharmacists used their retail experience to develop an app that rewards consumers who share details on their shopping habits with brands. Interview with alumna Lauren O’Reilly and her co-founder Bidemi Afolabi on businesspost.ie.
New Frontiers features on thetimes.co.uk (paywall), “state-backed mentorship scheme helps budding start-up owners plot a course to success in business”.
Siblings Niamh and Ruairi Dooley have created a food supplement from the grains left over from the craft brewing industry. Their BiaSol Super Milled Grains is a zero-waste, nutritional supplement. Read more on irishtimes.com.
Irish start-up Snapfix, founded by Paul McCarthy, has received €1.75m in a funding round, backed by US investment group Sator Grove Holdings, to develop its building management platform. Paul was interviewed for siliconrepublic.com.
CitySwift has secured a one-year pilot deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to deploy its software across a handful of bus routes from February. Read more on irishtimes.com.
Alan Power decided to use his skills in engineering and mobile app development to create SizeWise, an AI-based sizing solution that allows parents to scan their child’s foot using a smartphone. Read more on irishtimes.com.
In this blog, former Programme Manager Martina Goss explains how to maximise the opportunities available to you on Phase 1 of New Frontiers. So you have the innovative business idea and received the good news that you have secured your place on Phase 1 of New Frontiers. Now the fun begins – it's time to start validating the commercial potential of your idea. But with so many things to do, how can you ensure that you maximise the use of your time on Phase 1 and ensure you are on the right track towards validating your idea to arrive at a go/no go decision? Here are some points to consider to help you stay focused on what matters most. ...
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Congratulations to Contego Sports, which was among 65 companies to receive funding of over €360 million via the first European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator, for which more than 2,700 applications were made.
A letter from a stranger proved to be the catalyst for Kerryman Darragh Lynch, who had worked as an executive for huge conglomerates in mining, oil, and gas across the Middle East and South America for most of his adult life. Darragh had grown accustomed to the big salary, the opportunities to travel across the world, and the high-end perks that came with his job. But after 21 years, the appeal of 'stuff' was wearing thin. Darragh wanted more fulfilment in his career. As a starting point, he pursued an MBA at the University of Western Australia and started consulting. Darragh explains that the MBA would help him to “burst through my own glass ceiling. I had about 13 different projects...
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Find out why Kerry is a great location for startups and what the Tom Crean Business Centre offers to New Frontiers participants!
A contract between Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) and University College Dublin (UCD) will see NovaUCD delivering New Frontiers in partnership with IADT Media Cube.
Paula Carroll is the New Frontiers National Programme Manager at Enterprise Ireland. She is the connection between Enterprise Ireland and the 18 locations that deliver the programme around Ireland. Her role is incredibly varied and on any given day she may be welcoming new participants on the programme via Zoom (at the moment), running a programme managers’ meeting, or promoting the programme on the radio or in press interviews. If you’ve been to any New Frontiers events, pre-Covid, you may well have met Paula as she makes a point of attending showcase events and launches across the country. I caught up with Paula to find out how the past 18 months have affected the programme and what plans she has...
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Dublin-based marketing solutions company, GladCloud, which counts Diageo among its clients, helps brands provide targeted local advertising. Founders Keith Curley and Tony Burke plan to hire 90 new staff over the next two years. Read more on businesspost.ie.
Stylist Shauna Cashell’s new business is designed to ‘make shopping easy’ by helping its visitors to make inspired fashion choices and spend their time and money wisely. Read an interview with Shauna on traleetoday.ie.
Nicole Baker of Biologit aims to help keep patients safe by simplifying the detection of adverse events from drug development to post-market by automating the task of monitoring scientific literature. Read more on siliconrepublic.com.
A big dream can grow from humble roots. It was a trip to India after graduating from college that started it all for Conor Grimes and Jayne Gavin. While exploring Asia, the young couple visited spice markets and saw locals using fresh herbs and spices as a way to help inflammation. It ignited a new passion that grew into Spoonful Botanical. “They were really promoting these natural foods and natural ingredients to combat inflammation,” Conor says. He started to think of home and his grandmother who was taking medication for arthritis at the time, which was particularly tough on her stomach. “So we decided to bring back home some of the spices to see if she could get any relief...
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Just one in two hundred people knows how to code. That’s a lot of people around the world relying on a small pool of programmers! This knowledge gap is something Derya and Osvaldo Sousa were intent on solving when they developed their no-code application platform, Kianda Technologies, in 2017. The dream to develop their own tech startup was 16 years in the making, but back then - as a young couple studying in Portugal - it was difficult to see how they could make it a reality. “It was a bit risky for us back then. There wasn’t a lot of support. We didn’t have great examples and so it just faded away,” Derya says. They moved to Ireland in...
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For hospitality expert Ivan Tuohy, it was a trip to Alcatraz that proved the key to unlocking the potential of a dream that had languished for years. “It really hit me that the challenges that I had in my own workplace in Ireland were actually the same challenges that many attractions and museums had all around the world,” says Ivan, founder and CEO of Great Visitor Experiences. A hotelier by trade, he was working as a general manager for one of the biggest tourist attractions in Ireland and had recently completed an MBA at the University of Limerick. It was 2018 and new innovations in technology were transforming user experiences across various sectors, but tourism operators were still relying on...
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It's human to make mistakes. We all do it. Early-stage entrepreneurs are juggling a lot of balls, so mistakes are bound to happen. The important thing is to not beat yourself up about it and instead invoke the wise adage of Samuel Beckett: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." Learning from your mistakes is what will make you successful. And you can even get a head-start by learning from the mistakes of entrepreneurs who have gone before! There are common mistakes that startups make, such as not listening to their customers, not pivoting when they should, or not getting their branding right. Today, though, I'm looking at four key mistakes that entrepreneurs often make...
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We are delighted to announce that NovaUCD will start to deliver the New Frontiers programme later this year, in partnership with IADT Media Cube. This five-year partnership will enable a total of 275 entrepreneurs, up to 55 annually, to develop their innovative business ideas with a view to building globally scalable businesses. Part of University College Dublin's Research and Innovation unit, NovaUCD is a purpose-built, state-of-the-art incubation facility for knowledge-intensive companies. The partnership with IADT, backed by €1.6 million in funding from Enterprise Ireland, means that there are now 17 locations across the country delivering this successful entrepreneur development programme. NovaUCD will help to meet the growing demand from emerging entrepreneurs based in the greater south Dublin area, incorporating South...
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Depression and anxiety have been on the rise in children. The HSE reports that almost 1 in 4 young people may experience depression before they are 19. The disruption this causes to their lives and education is significant. Project One Sky is a New Frontiers startup that is changing how we help young people develop their social, mental, and physical health. We talked to founder Dr Colm Fallon to find out more. First things first, what’s the elevator pitch for Project One Sky? Project One Sky is a human development and wellbeing programme designed to nurture resilience and to help students cope with and flourish in the modern world. Its aim is twofold – to teach students to look after...
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Dominic Mullan, former New Frontiers Programme Manager at the Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT), Dún Laoghaire, recently organised an event called Spilling the Beans, delivered by TU Dublin and IADT for food sector programme participants and alumni from across the country. In this article, he shares some of the insights from the event. ‘Sure, launching a start-up is so much easier these days, with all sorts of tech tools and open-source options drastically reducing upfront costs and time to market,’ or so they say! While that may be true of purely digital plays, the same can’t really be said for food ventures. A chat with any food founder will undoubtedly involve tales of the strife associated with raising...
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You may have a fantastic startup idea, but unless you can effectively communicate it to investors that is all it might ever be – an idea. The good news is that even the most terrible elevator pitches can be polished and honed until they sing. If you’re looking for secrets to pitching success, then it starts with knowing what not to do… 1. You’ve forgotten that you’re pitching to a human being This is a very common mistake entrepreneurs make when they first start pitching. Rather than recognising that investors can be persuaded to be as passionate and excited about your startup as you are, it is easy to fall into the trap of treating them like the inscrutable sphinx....
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Steve Fleming, founder of Voxxify, has been interviewed for businesspost.ie following a partnership deal with Dell. The startup helps large companies manage their IT spend.
New Frontiers alumnus, Dr. Barry Flannery, is the founder of Xerotech – a company that electrifies construction equipment, mining equipment, agricultural machinery, and other non-road mobile machinery. They are expanding their team to 70, with plans to build a European gigafactory in rural Galway. Read more on siliconrepublic.com.
ViClarity has announced that regulatory compliance consulting firm, PolicyWorks LLC, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, will rebrand under the ViClarity name. The rebrand will enable the organisations to drive growth globally through the combination of leading-edge technology and consulting expertise. Read more on irishbusinessfocus.ie.
Jolene Cox is the founder of One Yummy Mummy, a family cooking club promiting hassle-free, healthy food. Read the irishtimes.com interview.
Humans are creatures of habit. This might not be a ground-breaking revelation, but the extent to which we are controlled by our habits is remarkable. According to a study conducted by Duke University, over 40% of our decisions are habitually made rather than consciously decided. If our habits are bad, this could be pretty scary! But the good news is that we can, with effort, change our habits and even influence them to work in our favour. Aristotle famously said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”, and we agree. If business excellence is your goal, then we suggest practicing the following business habits. 1. Write your $10 million cheque In 1985,...
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Sonia Neary started the new year with a major new contract which sees her company Wellola partnering with Nutricia, the Danone-owned therapeutic food and clinical nutrition company, to provide care services remotely to nursing homes in Ireland. Read more on businesspost.ie.
Gina Oglesby was inspired to start Back To Work Connect by the number of well-qualified and experienced women she met who had either left or been forced out of the workforce. She was recently interviewed for irishtimes.com.
Founded by two first-year engineering students, Alice Shaughnessy and Jack O’Regan Kenny, Mirr is a device that lets users stream Netflix, listen to Spotify or check the weather while maintaining a reflective surface on screen space that’s not in use. Read their interview on siliconrepublic.com.
Cian O’Flaherty, CEO of the Convex Lens and founder of Safecility, has raised €110k in funding from the European Space Agency and EU Horizon 2020 to develop Safecility – a product designed to cut the cost of maintaining emergency lighting in buildings while upholding the high standards of compliance that are required. Congratulations!
Snapfix, founded by New Frontiers alumnus Paul McCarthy, has closed a €1.5 million funding round. Snapfix bills itself as “the world’s task management and teamwork platform” with clients in construction, airports, hotels, facilities and property management sectors. The company plans to raise a Series-A investment in 2021 as it seeks to become a billion-dollar business.
Crua Outdoors has staged an impressive seven successful rounds on Kickstarter. Founder Derek O’Sullivan was interviewed for kerryscitech.com about the experience of raising finance online.
Small business doesn’t have to mean small website. We’re starting this SEO blog with some gusto by telling you: You CAN rank on the first page of Google. Yes, with a bit of guidance, ranking high on Google is very much within your capabilities. The only issue is time. SEO can seem like a bit of a slog if it’s not your area of expertise, so before we dive into our tips for improving your website’s SEO ranking, we have some friendly advice to share. The key to SEO success for small business owners who just don’t have time for this is to set yourself achievable goals. Schedule SEO tweaks into your calendar just as you would anything else and...
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You’ve probably seen Emma before. If not on the internet then in real life; after all, Emma is what an office worker is predicted to look like after 20 years on the job. She’s not in great shape, poor Emma, with her bloodshot eyes, swollen limbs, varicose veins, and hunched back. Of course, we’re referring to that eerily realistic life-sized doll that went viral across social media last year. With data submitted by over 3,000 office workers in Germany, France and the UK, scientists created Emma to show exactly where our health is headed should we continue with our sedentary office lifestyles. Suffice to say, it’s not looking good! It was enough of a warning to kickstart us into conducting...
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Ensuring that remote workers stay engaged and productive while working off-site can be a challenge. While for some it means greater focus and a sense of empowerment, for others it is isolating and unmotivating. It can be difficult to maintain a work culture and promote teamwork when everyone is dispersed. However, research has shown that remote working can reduce employee stress as well as increase productivity - thanks to things like no commuting, a more 'relaxed' environment, and fewer distractions. Remote working really is a win/win situation for both employer and employee, at least when it’s done right! A common cause for concern is that remote workers can become disconnected from their employer due to the lack of face-to-face contact....
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In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, companies and individuals have acted fast to come up with innovative solutions to the many new challenges facing all areas of society. As one of the leading medtech hubs in the world, Ireland is certainly leading the charge. We look at various New Frontiers companies that have been playing their part. Darren Robb & Facteq Facteq, which brings innovation to workspaces, has been manufacturing sneeze guards and Perspex barriers for shop staff and health care workers. Their shop counter shields can come in any size and are made with “clean room” specification materials so are non-porous and wipeable. Facteq founder, Darren Robb, was a New Frontiers participant at Sligo and Letterkenny Institutes of Technology....
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Enterprise Ireland has launched the Action Plan For Women In Business, an ambitious and wide-reaching strategy to achieve greater representation of women in business and, particularly, in business leadership across Ireland. We spoke to Sheelagh Daly at Enterprise Ireland to find out more. Numerous studies prove that having women in executive positions and on boards leads to better outcomes for organisations – with better financial performance and higher employee engagement. Putting women in decision-making roles improves all kinds of business metrics, but we are still not seeing gender parity in business. An ongoing commitment to gender balance Focusing on gender balance in business is not new for Enterprise Ireland. There have been a number of initiatives over the past years...
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We're not pointing any fingers, but you know who we're talking about! When it comes to late-paying clients, there are always a few stragglers. Although it's not personal and usually just an indicator of clunky business processes, if you're a small business trying to grow it is hard to be sympathetic. However, if most of your late-paying clients also happen to be your biggest clients, your problem is a bit more of a challenge. According to ISME, the Irish SME Association, 55% of companies experience payment delays of two months or more (Q2, 2019). CEO Neil McDonnell points out that: “Smaller businesses do not have working capital to wait for payment as long as big businesses. 36% of multinationals are...
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When the new year rolls around, what kind of person are you? Do you roll your eyes at your peers’ overly ambitious attempts to abolish decades of deeply entrenched habits in the hope of metamorphosing into a new, glossier, 2.0 version of themselves? Or do you cheer them on while dusting yourself off from the overindulgence of the previous month and get busy picking your own shiny goals to hurtle towards? Whichever person you are, there are a few statistics we’d like to share with you because we think they’ll bring a bit of perspective to the setting of New Year’s resolutions and how you can make them more than just a passing fad at the beginning of the year....
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2020 is upon us and we STILL don't have flying cars. It’s a disappointing realisation that we are entering yet another futuristic-sounding year without even one DeLorean to have taken to the skies. Alas, we’ll have to curb our expectations for now and be content with cars simply driving themselves. Joking aside, 2020 is looking to be a very interesting year for business with great advancements and transformations happening in technology, the workplace, customer relationships, and more. If you’re craving some sharp insights into what kind of year 2020 is shaping up to be, then look no further! We’re going to share with you 4 business predictions we’re putting our bets on for 2020. Our top 4 business predictions for...
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Congratulations! If you’re thinking about expanding your workspace then you must be enjoying some startup success right now. You have secured enough customers to have the confidence to make the big move and you want to be fully prepared to take on any extra work. It’s an exciting time, but important decisions need to be made! With coworking spaces popping up all over Ireland, it is no longer a given that a startup should have its own private office. There are advantages and disadvantages to both scenarios and which work environment you should choose all depends on your specific needs and priorities. However, we can provide you with some helpful food for thought to guide you through your decision-making process....
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Making the first external hire is a big step for a startup. It's a significant commitment with all kinds of obligations and logistics to consider. In this blog, we'll take a look at some tactics to help you make recruitment less of a risk. Before you start, make sure you do really need to hire someone at this point. If you’re running a startup, it's a good guess that you’re run off your feet and wish you had a second you to make the workday less crazy. However, it's important to recognise whether this is just the typical whirlwind of getting a new business off the ground or whether the time has come to grow the team. The first step...
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In this blog, New Frontiers alumnus Pierce Dargan discusses his decision to pivot his business idea and what has gone into building a strong and successful startup. Pierce was careful to get extensive feedback from prospective customers and research his idea thoroughly before making his decision. When I started working on my own business, over four years ago, it was on a very different idea. Part of the entrepreneurship module for my masters at Trinity College was working on a startup idea. Mine was a marketplace for farmers to look for products and services in their area – such as feed, fencing and manure disposal services – so they could compare prices and make informed choices about suppliers. My background is...
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Over 350 guests attended the awards ceremony of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur 2019 last Sunday, 15th September, where 24 finalists competed in three separate categories as well as for the top award. Among the finalists were eight New Frontiers alumni. They had battled it out at local and regional level to reach the finals – this year there were over 1,600 applicants who were whittled down to 186 local winners and runners up, going on to 8 regional finals around Ireland. Getting into the final 24 is an amazing achievement in itself, and they are all winners in our eyes. The Best Young Entrepreneurs are #MakingItHappen IBYE is a competition celebrating the very best young entrepreneurial talent in the country. Funded...
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In 2018, Immersive VR Education became the first New Frontiers startup to be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange’s Enterprise Securities Market. Just four short years after it was founded, Sandra and David Whelan’s company went public with a valuation of around €21.6 million, the first Irish tech firm to be listed on the exchange since its inception. How did the company create an offering that has landed it clients such as the BBC, JESS Dubai, Oculus, and the University of Oxford? We spoke to Sandra Whelan, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, to discover what goes into building the team that drives a successful tech startup. Q1. Everyone has their own route to startup. Where did your business idea come...
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Are you an entrepreneur? Do you want to keep up to date with everything happening in the business landscape while also getting the chance to hone your skills, promote your startup and make some valuable contacts along the way? If the answer is yes, then you’ll be pleased to hear there are some fantastic startup events coming up in the next few months in, or close to, Dublin. Check out the list of events below and make sure to book your spot before it’s too late! One Day Entrepreneur's Retreat @ Kilkea Castle, Co. Kildare - 8th September They say beautiful spaces inspire and what better place to get motivated to build your empire than in a castle! On the...
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So, you think your startup is scalable. You’ve looked at your turnover, you’ve studied the market and you believe your business could handle a bigger piece of the pie. That’s great, but growing your business successfully requires not only a shift in operations but a change in mindset. With all the research and speculation that goes on in the business industry, you can be sure there are known habits and practices that successful entrepreneurs adopt to grow their business. We’re going to share a few of them with you to get you started on your road to success. Scale up your startup with these great business tips 1) Visualise success and set a deadline for it The first step to...
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‘When Frontline say we invest early, we mean it.’ At Frontline, 70% of our investments have been pre-revenue and 60% pre-product. At Pre-Seed and Seed, there is little to be learned from intensive quantitative analysis pre-investment (woo). That said, over the past year and a half at Frontline, I’ve built a qualitative framework, designed around four key questions, to help me quickly assess the companies I meet. Together, I believe that these four questions are critical in predicting success. 1. Can you convince me to quit my job? The first question I ask myself is, would I quit my job at the fund and work for these people on this problem? I know, it seems like a completely crazy idea, you...
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The latest cohort of entrepreneurs with innovative start-up ideas has commenced Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme delivered by GMIT at its Innovation Hubs in Galway and Mayo. Every year, New Frontiers supports entrepreneurs around the country with the development of their early-start businesses. Since 2012, it has supported hundreds of startups in a range of sectors including food & consumer products; information & communication technology; engineering & electronics; medical devices; biotechnology; pharma, digital media; cleantech/renewable energy and eligible internationally-traded services. There are two phases to New Frontiers; we recommend completing both phases but it's possible to do just one or the other. Phase 1 focuses on testing the business idea; it is part-time and allows participants to de-risk...
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Understanding and using trends to develop sound business opportunities can be a complex area. In the food sector, for example, there are numerous macro and micro trend reports published every year, but what does a start-up food company really need to consider, when determining whether an idea is actually commercially viable? Trends can mean different things to different people. It’s a much bandied about term, mainly used to describe things that are currently popular or that are predicted to become popular. Essentially, broad shifts in consumer behaviours, attitudes and values drive changes which become identifiable, marketable trends. Typically, trends are (or should be) the starting point for a good business idea. A way of quickly and inexpensively road-testing your idea...
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A software solution for visitor attractions, a wine with a distinctly Irish flavour, a company that grows Cannabis Sativa, and a company aimed at providing professional development to teachers were the big winners at the 2019 LIT New Frontiers Start-up Awards. A total of 14 new business leaders from the New Frontiers programme showcased their start-up companies at a ceremony in the Millennium Theatre at LIT, Moylish Campus on 15th May 2019. New Frontiers is delivered by LIT at the Hartnett Enterprise Acceleration Centre. Their programme is already accepting applications for Phase 2; to prepare for this a Phase 1 Bootcamp programme will take place in July, the closing date for applications is noon on Monday 8th July 2019. Vice...
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Growing your business beyond the startup phase means making some big changes with regard to how your company operates. In a startup, it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation for the close-knit team; communication is a breeze because the company isn’t a sprawling organisation yet and at any given moment you, the founder, can be found jumping between roles, keeping tight control over everything. However, as you scale up, it quickly becomes apparent that the advantages that made you a startup success could now be the very things that are holding you back. The small team needs to grow so you can keep up with demand and remain competitive, it’s no longer efficient for you to be the last one to sign off...
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At the beginning of 2019, the unemployment rate was the lowest it has been in 10 years, at 5.3%. This is good news, but it also means that Irish SMEs are struggling to attract and retain top talent. There is no denying that a high salary has a reliably magnetic effect, but it is far from the only reason why people choose to work where they do and how long they stay with a company. FDI companies are enjoying a large slice of the talent pie with 229,057 people currently employed in the sector, making competition fierce for smaller indigenous businesses. For Irish SMEs wanting to attract the right people with the right skills, it is vital to tap into...
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This year's New Frontiers national networking event (held in March) featured - for the first time ever - a pitching competition sponsored by AIB. Each New Frontiers location put forward their strongest candidate, selected by their peers, who went head to head with 11 other entrepreneurs from across the country. The overall winner of this inaugural competition was Magda Rzepkowska. We spoke to Magda about her journey so far, her startup, and her plans for the future. Madga, tell us a bit about yourself. Today, it seems like my previous career in the casino industry was from a different lifetime! It was steady and rewarding; until it wasn't. In 2016, the time had come to part ways with the company I worked...
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Make sure the money coming in is more than the money going out - that’s the crux of accounting, right? Well, that’s not bad advice, but it’s not exactly helpful either. The day-to-day, month-to-month monitoring of a company’s finances requires a more detailed approach if you aim to make a profit, identify new opportunities and grow your business. If you want your company to thrive beyond the shaky startup phase, past the inevitable “bad year” and towards a stable and profitable future, then you need to ensure your company is financially healthy. What does that mean? A financially healthy company has the appropriate strategies in place to maintain regular cash flow, be protected during rainy days, secure profits, invest wisely...
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Get your calendar at the ready! We’re going to keep you busy in 2019 with some fantastic events that will sharpen your professional skills, strengthen your network and inspire your imagination. Let’s go… Women's Empowerment Summit, 13th April With the Women’s Empowerment Summit just around the corner, you’ll have to act quickly if you want to secure your ticket! This fantastic event is all about bringing like-minded women together to support and learn from each other. This is not an event for shoptalk, but rather it is about helping women reach their full potential in every aspect of their life. With the odds too often stacked against women on their path to personal and professional success, it is as important...
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The buzz around automation is only intensifying as companies continue to discover new ways technology can make businesses smarter and more efficient. The human element of work is evolving as we get better at using technology to our advantage, allowing us to give more time to the areas that need our attention the most. In fact, our relationship with technology has become so symbiotic that leading tech entrepreneur Elon Musk believes we are already cyborgs! The definition of a cyborg accord to Oxford Dictionaries is: “A fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.” Your smartphone may not be directly wired up to your brain just yet (watch...
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On 23rd January 2019, TU Dublin and IADT New Frontiers participants were invited to showcase their businesses in front of over 100 start-up stakeholders. The event, hosted by William Fry, was attended by Minister for Business, Enterprise & Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD. The highlight of the event was, of course, the awards. This year, Daniel Nugent of Ambr Eyewear was given the title ‘Lead Entrepreneur’, having impressed the venture capitalists on the judging panel with their success. Attracting customers in over 60 countries and with retailer Brown Thomas stocking their Blue Light Blocking Glasses, they are focusing on growing their distribution to the rest of the Selfridges network this year. Lead Entrepreneur Award winner, Daniel Nugent, with Minister Heather Humphreys Daniel, who...
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In early December 2018, we held a showcase for the 13 graduates of our most recent New Frontiers Phase 2 programme. Showcase Day, as the name suggests, is an opportunity for the entrepreneurs to present their businesses to an invited audience and also marked the completion of the Synergy 2018 Phase 2 programme. To add to the excitement and get the adrenaline flowing, the morning kicked off early with a closed pitch competition to an independent panel for two prizes with a combined value of €12,000. These prizes were kindly sponsored by Philip Lee and AIB. After the pitch competition was completed, and while the panel was still deliberating on the prize winners, the participants attended their stands and started explaining...
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There’s nothing quite as exhilarating as seeing your startup idea come together and take the shape of a deliverable service or product. But now there’s a fresh challenge waiting for you – winning those invaluable first customers. Not beta testers, not friends and family. Real, paying customers. We spoke to Nicky Bowman, an experienced sales coach and Enterprise Ireland mentor, about how startup founders can develop their sales strategy and find those crucial first customers. Presumably, if a founder has built an amazing product or service, getting sales should be fairly easy? As a startup founder, you probably have years of industry experience behind you that’s been invaluable for getting you to this point. But suddenly you have to think...
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Bruce Hannah, (Irish National Space Centre), Ian Kiely, Peter Downey and Keith Tracey (Drone Consultants Ireland) at the Galileo Masters A huge congratulations to New Frontiers participant, Ian Kiely, and his team at Drone Consultants Ireland on being announced as the winner of the 2018 European Satellite Navigation Competition (aka the ‘Space Oscars’). A Media Cube (IADT) company, Drone Consultants Ireland offers a range of aerial solutions and develops UAV ideas for companies looking to improve efficiency and safety. The company also runs Drone & Tech Expo in the RDS. The European finals of the competition took place in Marseille as part of European Space Week. Drone Consultants Ireland’s entry, Jack in the Box, is used for UAV Persistent Surveillance. Self-contained, tethered, and aircraft-deployable, the system provides...
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If you are unsure about what product-market fit is, ask yourself are customers banging down the door? Instead of manufacturing demand for a product or service and relying on the hard sell, product-market fit is when you have found a sweet spot in the market and customers’ needs mirror the unique value you offer. A Qualified Executive Coach and regular Enterprise Ireland and New Frontiers trainer, Emer O’Donnell has spent 15 years helping companies to locate their sweet spot and grow. I sat down with her to find out more about this business strategy which turns build it and they will come on its head and puts customer needs in the driving seat. Let’s start off with the obvious...
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Drone Consultants Ireland (DCI) was announced by An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, as the winner of the Ireland Regional Competition of the 2018 European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) awards. DCI won the regional competition with its Jack-In-The-Box concept and will represent Ireland as they proceed to the European Finals which take place in Marseille at the ‘Space Oscars’ during European Space Week on the 4th December 2018. Jack-In-The-Box is a self-sustaining, aircraft-deployable drone system that can be parachuted to remote and inaccessible locations, enabling it to gather critical data where natural disasters occur. This technology has the potential to assist rescue services in saving lives and calculating the safe and efficient deployment of resources. DCI is based at the Media Cube in...
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September 2018 marks an exciting milestone for 14 new start-up businesses in Cork, as they embark on a full time six-month intensive development programme to support their business growth. New Frontiers - The National Programme For Developing Entrepreneurs is delivered locally at the Rubicon Centre in Cork Institute of Technology. These 14 participants follow in the footsteps of 97 other start-up founders who have completed the programme at CIT, which has supported over 1,000 entrepreneurs nationally. 14 innovative startup ideas The 2018 cohort reflects a wide variety of sectors: Christina O Dwyer who is developing a new ostomy baseplate and bag to provide users with a reliable, ergonomic appliance. Daniel Mulcahy who is providing a cost-effective way for airline passengers...
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The New Frontiers Class of 2018 Showcase and Awards took place at Waterford Institute of Technology recently. Members of the southeast start-up community were in attendance to meet the New Frontiers Class of 2018. The founders of four of the Southeast’s best start-ups in 2018 were honoured for their entrepreneurial spirit in developing innovative business solutions for international markets. These entrepreneurs have developed solutions for markets such as software for the marine and motor industries, algorithms to predict product lifespans, applications to harvest scientific data into games for families and those who love the outdoors, a solution to help engineers navigate their way around oil rigs, and an innovative range of cosmetics for men. Showcase award winners The Most Innovation...
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As an entrepreneur, deciding to apply for programmes such as New Frontiers will have a significant effect on the development of your business, but it's important to thoroughly asses both your motivations and chances of success. In this blog, New Frontiers Programme Manager at IT Blanchardstown, Colm Ó Maolmhuire, looks at five key questions you should ask yourself. One of the techniques all entrepreneurs and managers need to use, in drilling down into and analysing their business proposition, is the ‘5 Whys’ format. In my experience, any founder needs to take stock and do some serious analysis after Phase 1, for their critical ‘Go/No Go’ decision, and that included deciding whether or not to apply for Phase 2. The alternative is...
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Originally published in 2011, The Lean Startup by Eric Reiss was an important moment in the history of startups. The book sets out a clear approach to developing new products and services that has established itself as the standard framework that startups now use to turn ideas into companies. At its core, The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses proposes that startups use a build, measure, learn framework in an iterative product development cycle that places the customer at the heart of the process. With each iteration, the lean startup method brings the company closer to achieving product-market fit by developing a product that serves a real customer need. Get out of the building...
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Young companies tend to be perfect micro-cultures for the development of novel approaches to common problems. Enterprise Ireland manages a national pre-commercial procurement programme, Small Business Innovation Research Ireland (SBIR), designed to tap into this well of innovation. Does your start-up have the drive and vision to come up with a workable prototype to overcome a societal problem? If yes, keep reading to find out what is involved in this great public-private partnership! Public-private partnership through SBIR SBIR is a global innovative pre-commercial procurement initiative. It aims to address public sector needs and more generally benefit citizens, through engagement with the private sector. The public sector body (or challenge owner) in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, identifies an unmet need or...
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12 ambitious entrepreneurs with innovative startup ideas have made it through a competitive selection process for Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme in Galway, funded by Enterprise Ireland and delivered by Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. The future business leaders started the programme yesterday, which is delivered by GMIT at its Innovation Hubs in Galway and Mayo. For the next six months, they will dedicate themselves full-time to the development of their early-start companies - receiving support in the form of training, mentoring, networking, R&D input, office space and more. A stipend of €15,000 is paid to each participant, subject to satisfactory performance and development reviews. These 12 participants follow in the footsteps of 83 other startup founders to complete the...
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Nine new business leaders showcased their start-ups at the LIT New Frontiers Start-up Awards 2018 ceremony in the Millennium Theatre at LIT's Moylish Campus. The nine have all just graduated from the New Frontiers programme delivered at LIT's Hartnett Enterprise Acceleration Centre in collaboration with the Nexus Innovation Centre. The event, which was organized by LIT and Enterprise Ireland, recognises different aspects of entrepreneurship through awards for Startup of the Year, Best Business Opportunity, Best Innovation and One to Watch. LIT, the Limerick Local Enterprise Office, HOMS Solicitors and Bridgewater Management have come together to provide prizes for each award and give the entrepreneurs a boost on their way to fame and fortune. Professor Vincent Cunnane, President of LIT, welcomed...
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Negotiating is like going into a church or temple. It’s different. There are different rules and etiquette. People behave differently once they are there. Like a church, negotiation has a special purpose that makes it different from ordinary, humdrum conversations. Its purpose is to reach an agreement. But to leave it at that would be like saying that a church’s purpose is to keep out the rain. There’s more to it than that. Done properly, negotiation can deliver a rewarding and enriching experience as well as a good agreement. You can learn more about yourself by reflecting on a negotiation. You can find out more about others in the negotiation and deepen your relationships with them. Negotiation can provide space...
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New Frontiers Programme Manager at IT Blanchardstown, Colm Ó Maolmhuire, says goodbye to the latest Phase 2 cohort. 10 entrepreneurs developed their early-stage business ideas during the six-month programme, with support and training from industry experts and the staff at the Learning and Innovation Centre (LINC). When we started on this challenging full-time programme in the cold days of November 2017, it was the energy and enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs that reminded me we were heading into the bright days of early summer 2018. Those days have now arrived and I am delighted that 10 strong, committed entrepreneurs are leaving us – in a good way! As any startup entrepreneur knows by now, it’s chiefly yourself who will be putting in...
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Former New Frontiers participant company, Immersive VR Education, was recently listed on the Irish Stock Exchange’s Enterprise Securities Market. The Waterford-based technology firm raised €6.7 million before expenses through listings on Dublin's Enterprise Securities Market (ESM) and the AIM in London. The placing of 60,000,000 shares of 10p each implied a valuation of £19.3 million (around €21.6 million) on admission and the deal was oversubscribed. Immersive VR Education is a virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) software company dedicated to transforming how educational content is delivered and consumed globally. Their virtual reality teaching platform for schools, universities and businesses allows people to create a virtual classroom to bring together teachers and learners from anywhere in the world. The company...
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What is the secret to success? Orlaith Carmody, Irish businesswoman and author of Perform as a Leader, says it stems directly from authenticity. Entrepreneurs don’t succeed just because their idea is perfect, but rather it is down to their own unique blend of background, interests and passions. Orlaith Carmody Orlaith’s own background as a news reporter and working on the board of RTÉ before diving into the world of serial entrepreneurship, lends well to the leadership and communication skills necessary for building start-ups from scratch. But Orlaith recognises that the transition isn’t easy. In her book, she highlights how being an entrepreneur can be a lonely journey, especially if you were previously employed. The camaraderie, support and teamwork are suddenly...
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Showcase events are a significant milestone for New Frontiers participants. It’s a chance to bring their startup to the attention of local business people, and potentially benefit from the added exposure that comes from winning one of the awards on offer. The Rubicon Centre (Cork Institute of Technology) held its showcase on Tuesday, 24th April at the Millennium Hall, City Hall, Cork. Joining the 13 New Frontiers graduates were Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Fergal Dennehy; Martin Corkery, Regional Director Enterprise Ireland; Dr Barry O’Connor, President of CIT; Liam Fitzgerald, New Frontiers Programme Manager, Rubicon Centre; and Maria Gavin, Programme Manager, Enterprise Ireland. Also present were guest speaker, Tomás O'Leary (former Munster, Ireland and Grand Slam winning rugby player), and an...
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Donncha Hughes, New Frontiers mentor and trainer, shares tips and insights about crowdfunding, including a video of a recent conversation with New Frontiers alumnus Derek O'Sullivan. I recently met up with Derek O’Sullivan of Crua Outdoors in the Tom Crean Centre, IT Tralee, for a chat about crowdfunding. This article will highlight some of the key takeaways from the conversation. We spoke about what they have learned during their Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns and how they raised significant equity funding using Seedrs Crua Outdoors: A Kerry and New Frontiers startup success story I first met Derek O’Sullivan several years ago when delivering training on the New Frontiers programme in IT Tralee, and I have kept an eye on their progress...
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Joe Healy, (Divisional Manager, High Potential Start-ups, EI) - Minister Heather Humphreys TD, Minister for Business Enterprise and Innovation - Maria Gavin (Programme Manager New Frontiers, EI) Of all the feedback received from entrepreneurs over the years, one key benefit of the New Frontiers programme stands out consistently: how crucial networking and peer support has been for their entrepreneurial journey. New Frontiers participants get a wide range of supports on the programme. For some, learning sales and marketing skills, or successfully pivoting their idea, or preparing for export are the difference between success and failure. But another characteristic of the programme is that it’s cyclical, and all entrepreneurs (typically, around a dozen at each location) start at the same time...
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Are you a start-up based outside of County Dublin? The latest call for Competitive Start Funding (CSF) is currently open and offering ten startups up to €50,000 each in equity funding. In support of regional enterprise development and job creation, this call is specifically for all regional entrepreneurs with global ambition. Enterprise Ireland's CSF is for the startup that is ready move up a gear and bring value to Ireland on an international scale. Does your product or service have overseas market potential? CSF can accelerate the growth of your early stage company, so you can reach internal and external milestones with a sustainable business. Call closes: Tuesday, 13th March at 3pm It is time to think big! CSF welcomes...
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Testing your product is the most important activity your company will undertake. It validates that there is a market for your product and helps you iterate the product for that market. Here is a breakdown of the most common mistakes when product testing and how best to avoid them. The mistake of testing without a hypothesis One of the fundamental mistakes is testing your product with consumers as quickly as possible without a hypothesis - i.e. a grounded assumption of the product’s purpose/goal for a defined customer. Product testing is simply an experiment to test your hypothesis or assumptions. Based on the results of the experiment, the hypothesis is either proved or disproved; without a hypothesis, testing your product is...
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If you’re anything like me, you’ll find Dragons’ Den on RTÉ compulsive viewing. It’s amazing to see the varied and imaginative solutions people have come up with – often to problems you didn’t even know existed. Listening to the Dragon’s questions gives a lot of insight into the thought process and approach of experienced entrepreneurs. I always take notes that I apply to my own business, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. So, it was with great excitement that I learnt an interview had been set up with Gavin Duffy – the only Dragon to guard the Den since the show started in 2009. Gavin was already a successful businessman by the age of 17, and has gone...
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Trade shows and exhibitions are an invaluable opportunity that's often underused by early-stage startups. However, it's a mistake to view them solely as a sales tactic. In this blog, Richard Mc Manus looks at other reasons to exhibit at shows and fairs, the lessons he has learnt from attending some 40 events with his startup, and gives us a 25-step checklist for exhibition excellence! You must be mad! Unless you are selling food for the hungry or hurley sticks at the Ploughing, you do not make money at exhibitions. Since graduating from the New Frontiers programme in 2015 my start-up, Cara Mara luxury seaweed baths, has participated in around 40 exhibition events. I hope that many business owners and managers, especially...
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David Craig is the founder of Dublin Design Studio and inventor of Scriba, a new generation of stylus for mobile devices. David wrote an article for New Frontiers over two years ago, recalling his journey through the early-stage development of Scriba, up to its highly successful Kickstarter campaign in August 2015. We thought it would be a good idea to catch up with David, as he prepares to send out the first batch of Scribas to his Kickstarter backers. It’s been a longer production period than expected, but the product has undergone a few significant improvements, which David hopes will make it worth the wait. Let’s get back to summer 2015. The team had already experienced the trials and tribulations...
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So you’ve completed your market research and analysis. You’ve found a great opportunity to exploit. The solution you have will give you an edge over other approaches and will offer real value to the client. You’ve spent the last couple of months building out the team of advisors and have some friends who’ve agreed to help you with branding, marketing, helping to write a business plan or to get the financials together... Everything looks great – you’ll definitely need 10 people on board within the next few years to support the €1 million turnover you’ve set as your year three target, especially as you’ll enter foreign markets towards the end of year two. Sound familiar? But have you created your...
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Recent UK Government statistics found that nearly half of all UK businesses suffered a cyber breach or attack in the past 12 months. Firms holding personal data and processing money are top targets. With an average cost to the business of £3,000 for medium business and £19,000 for larger ones, the most common attacks were fraudulent emails, followed by viruses and malware. Cybersecurity: challenge your assumptions The survey also revealed that nearly seven in ten large businesses identified a breach or attack, with the average cost to large businesses of all breaches over the period being £20,000 and in some cases reaching millions. Medium and large companies tend to be better prepared to deal with cyber security (although is not always...
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A single bead of sweat rolled down my forehead as I mustered up the courage to say the words. We had been coming to this coffee shop for years. We had argued over football scores, TV programmes and politics as we sipped our coffee and took in the world passing outside the large window. I was telling my best friend I was gay that day. Of course, he didn’t care and soon enough we were back arguing over football, TV and politics. Six years later in the same seats, he would tell me he was having his first baby. Same seat, same coffee, same place. My local coffee shop doesn’t just sell coffee My local coffee shop doesn’t just sell...
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We all know that setting up a new business is almost always an uncertain journey, one that can bring enormous swings, from exhilaration one day to doubt and fear the next. There are many reasons why we subject ourselves to this stress - creating a job for ourselves, escaping dull or unsuitable work, a bad boss, or just the simple desire for increased wealth. After all, who would not wish to achieve financial independence? The entrepreneurial rollercoaster The chance to create something from nothing, to see an idea in your head develop and work, either in the form of a new service or new product, is incredibly motivating and, when successful, enormously satisfying. “I did it my way” as the song...
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My business was set up to help those who might be suffering from social isolation, and yet that is exactly what happened to me in the first 12 months of my startup. Since identifying it and talking to others, I have found that this is an issue that can and does affect a lot of business owners, especially those in the startup stage. I want to share with you how it happened to me, but more importantly how I identified it and managed to overcome it, just before I threw in the towel. The unsuccessful success Like most startups, money was limited when I began planning my business venture. Therefore, working from home was the perfect and only solution. I...
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Dmbook Pro is a Dublin-based company providing ICT solutions for hotels. With over 10 years in hotel management, Bruno Lanvin recognised flaws in the traditional spreadsheets, paper and email communication network used in hotels all across Europe. It was this initial observation that lead to the creation of Dmbook Pro. Bruno has worked in the hospitality industry in France, Scotland and Ireland, but he didn't initially plan on transforming hotel communication networks. But as Front of House Manager, once having identified a problem, it was in his interest to form a solution. Hotels are an old establishment, but like every business they rely on the need for effective communication between personnel, “I had this pain of trying to make sure...
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New Frontiers participant, Donal Kerr, examines why companies are continuing to fall victim to cyber attacks despite increased awareness of such threats, and gives us some proactive steps companies can take to avoid such security breaches. Why informed companies continue to get hacked Recent UK Government statistics found that nearly half of all UK businesses suffered a cyber breach or attack in the past 12 months. Firms holding personal data and processing money are top targets. With an average cost to a business being £1,380, the most common attacks were fraudulent emails, followed by viruses and malware. So, why do companies continue to get hacked, despite massive media coverage and widespread usage of commercial security products? Some reasons would be:...
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If you're a New Frontiers startup in manufacturing or internationally traded services including internet, games, apps, mobile, SaaS, cloud computing, enterprise software, lifesciences, food, cleantech and industrial products, then the latest call for Competitive Start Fund applications could be the funding opportunity you were looking for! What is on offer? A total of €1.5 million in startup funding will be available from Enterprise Ireland when two Competitive Start Funds (CSF) open for applications on Wednesday 21 June 2017. Up to 30 successful applicants will receive high-level business development support and an investment of up to €50,000 each through the Regional Entrepreneurship and Fintech CSFs. Startups located outside of County Dublin are invited to apply to the €1m Regional Entrepreneurship CSF...
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As the global economy continues to expand, the challenge of meeting the increasing demand for products and services means that most businesses have adopted growth strategies that are not sustainable long-term. But there is an alternative to the traditional open-ended economy, and many startups are adopting these business models to build profitable companies with a lower environmental impact. The circular economy Over the past number of years, the circular economy has grown in popularity. In some cases this is out of necessity, in others it stems from the realisation that as a society we have created unsustainable practices - and within this problem lie significant business opportunities for those who wish to provide sustainable solutions to ensure the stability of business in the future....
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Some fantastic New Frontiers startups have appeared on RTE One’s Dragons’ Den. The programme is addictive viewing for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, investment and business, with founders from every industry squaring up to face the Dragons' tough questions. We decided to catch up with two alumni who secured investment during the latest season of Dragons’ Den. What made them step into the Den? What’s it like to pitch to such a formidable panel? What, if anything, would they do differently? Art McArdle – Heat Hero Art and Adrienne McArdle founded Heat Hero in 2015. Their product is an innovative solution to improve the efficiency of solid fuel heating systems. The manifold can be retro-fitted onto any system, and because it...
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Are you an Irish SME looking for help with research and innovation? Have you a product or service that requires expertise currently outside of your existing R&D capacity? The Technology Gateway Network, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland Innovation Vouchers, can help! Technology Gateways The Technology Gateway Network is composed of 15 specialist gateways, situated within 11 Institutes of Technology around Ireland. We focus on key technology areas which are aligned to industry needs in areas such as polymers, photonics, mobile, coatings, industrial design, mechatronics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, wireless technologies and precision engineering. Each centre works in conjunction with industry to aid the research and development of innovative products and services through a dedicated team of specialised engineers. Technology Gateway Clusters To boost the...
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While there are various traits that can help to equip a startup founder, there is no magic formula or template. I’ve met lots and lots of founders over the years, including people of all personalities, backgrounds, shapes, sizes, ages, etc. There have been lots of great people whose ventures haven’t worked out; and a few dark horses along the way who have entirely flipped any initially negative impressions. I have worked closely with startups since 2000, most recently as Enterprise Manager at IADT, where I managed the New Frontiers programme and the Media Cube Incubation Centre. Previous roles spanned stints of employment and self-employment, working with organisations like InterTradeIreland, Local Enterprise Offices, County Partnerships, DIT, Enterprise Northern Ireland and various consultancy practices....
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Any new technologies can face a certain degree of hype. Gartner, a US-based IT research firm, developed the hype cycle - a graphical representation of the maturity, adoption and application of specific technologies. Such hype cycles can drive both venture capital and media attention towards the great potential, or lack thereof, of new technologies. Attention is also given to ‘experts’ predicting that a given technology is the future, or the contrary. In actual fact, it takes many years of testing technologies and evaluating them for different use cases before they’re ready for mainstream use. Standards must also be proposed or adopted in real time, before technology can achieve mainstream adoption to enterprise or consumer level. Driverless cars and a mushroom analogy Consider...
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According to Sir Richard Branson, "The ideas for the best businesses tend to come from personal experience. There are many great ideas that have arisen by other means… but when you are generating ideas for a business, first-hand experience is essential." This certainly resonates with me and reflects the inspiration behind my company, Itchy Little Monkeys. My startup offers solutions for kids with eczema. Our products are designed to remove the stress eczema can cause both children and their parents, which is something that I have experienced first hand. Let's examine why Richard Branson feels personal experience is important and what that means for my business. 1. "Personal connection equals commitment" My daughter Sienna is the inspiration behind setting up the...
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Diamonds, foreign exchange and property – not the easiest topics to convey in a pitch battle in front of an audience of 100 top VCs and other VIPs. So, how did our alumni do in making their business case and who scooped the all-important €10,000 prize money? This year’s PwC Docklands Enterprise Award was won by Jacob Claflin of Cambrist, a fintech start-up from our recent Phase 2 New Frontiers Programme - and a top pitcher. He was presented his award by the Minister for Employment & Small Business, Pat Breen TD, and PwC’s Managing Partner, Fergal O’Rourke. The runners-up were Jonathan Eves of Eco-nomic Innovations, a diamond mining start-up, and Lucinda Kelly of Popertee, a pop-up shop platform. Each...
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Years ago, when the internet was in its infancy, I was part of a study group that developed a business plan for Intergift, an online shop that would sell books, CDs and other 'gifts', complete with reminders for birthdays, anniversaries. Sounds familiar? A year later, Jeff Bezos would start a company called Amazon in his garage. The point is that loads of people have a great idea. It's the people who make a decision to prioritise and act on the idea - and then stay with it - who reap the rewards. We did actually set up a company and made some attempts to get something off the ground. However, looking back, what prevented us delivering on a great idea was...
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BriteBiz is a Galway-based technology company that specialises in end-to-end business management software. The company's CEO, Eamon Crosby, took part in the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers programme in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. Since qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with PwC 12 years ago, Eamon Crosby has been involved in founding and managing a number of different companies, mainly in the service and events industry. "I had been involved first hand in managing and scaling various companies. We constantly came up against roadblocks with the amount of administration load involved and continually sought ways to streamline processes. Although we were always using modern management tools such as Salesforce and Quickbooks, there was no efficient way to integrate them and create a streamlined,...
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As I travel back from SaaStr 2017 - an annual orgy of all that is SaaS, bringing together thousands of founders and execs for a three-day event in San Francisco - I’m musing on what I’ve heard from the founders of leading companies like Facebook, Domo and Zendesk. The level of ambition amongst US startups is on a totally different scale to that of Irish ones. By the time the typical US startup has raised $30m, they’re only getting started; many Irish companies, on the other hand, would sell their entire company for that much. Is it that US companies have access to more capital, or is it that their technology is just so super-innovative, or is it that they have...
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Cast your mind into the future and imagine that your ‘start-up’ is employing more than 1,000 people in 22 offices around the globe, has clients such as Boeing and has just been acquired for more than $160m. Then imagine that the investment bank handling the sale goes belly-up, taking with it all the proceeds of the sale. That’s the doomsday scenario which Irish tech legend, Dr Chris Horn, avoided by a mere 48 hours in 2008. 48 hours from disaster Dr Chris Horn Speaking at the recent 2016 Showcase of the DIT/IADT New Frontiers Programme, Chris recalled a Friday afternoon in September 2008 when he received a call from Lehman Bros to advise that the sale of Iona Technologies to...
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Aidan started his career as top level amateur cyclist in Ireland, going on to race in France for over six years. When he returned to Ireland, he naturally started working in the cycle industry, initially in retail and then moving into distribution. The early beginnings of Fifty One, Aidan’s startup, can be traced back to a trip he took to some of the most reputable bicycle manufacturing facilities in Italy and Germany. Despite their reputations, Aidan came away somewhat underwhelmed by the standards he saw in the processes and finishing involved. Despite the lack of manufacturing facilities in Ireland, Aidan was convinced that he could do better. With his solid industry background - Aidan had already established one of the...
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2016 marked the fifth year that the New Frontiers programme has been helping early-stage entrepreneurs to develop their Irish startups. Here's a quick look at our successes and developments from last year. 2016: a great year for Irish startups! The programme During the course of 2016, 1,529 people expressed an interest in the programme via this website - an increase of 36% on the previous year. 160 entrepreneurs were accepted to Phase 2 of the programme - delivered at 16 locations around the country, Phase 2 is a six-month, full-time course offering intensive support to the startup entrepreneur. There has been great engagement from the New Frontiers community on social media. At the time of writing, our Twitter account has 2,747...
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Any small company that has tried to expand will tell you that it's a tricky business! Expansion - whether it’s increasing the number of staff, adding new product lines or more retail locations - brings an array of potential problems and headaches. The risks of scaling your business are real, and they are as problematic for young startups as they are for large, established companies. But, in identifying the risks, you can work out solutions, learn from others who have faced the same challenges, and become more confident in forging on with your business expansion plans and strategies. For my own startup, the Irish Biltong Company, our expansion plans are continually growing as new markets present themselves to us. I've found that the key...
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"All roads lead to Damascus." Someone very close to me once said these words when I was having one of my mental blocks, and it has come to be a bit of a mantra I tend to use on this roller-coaster entrepreneurial journey. Believe and Do! The belief part of this equation is at times difficult, and we can all have periods of doubt, questioning and “what the hell am I doing?" moments, but it is the inaction that stifles any startup and I am convinced that it is the latter part of this equation that separates the winners and losers in business. We can all read and buy into a lot of the self help books and entrepreneurial success stories out there...
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John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa stood for human rights and better life and living. So too have Padraig Pearse, Michael Collins, John Redmond, as well as thousands of other people who will never be acknowledged or achieve fame. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, what religion you are or if you are of no religion, what political party you support, what football club you follow, what pop star you worship, what music you like, what clothes you wear or what beer you drink. However, it does matter that, as an adult, you stand for something. When you become an adult, you acquire extra legal responsibilities and social responsibilities. Everybody has moral...
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For new businesses, raising brand awareness is the key to building a community of fans and driving sales. A good way to do this is to highlight the expertise of the founder or co-founders with public appearances and authoritative content. When I started Mummy Cooks, there was no such thing as a ‘weaning expert’ in Ireland. By virtue of being the first person to start talking about this topic, I became the weaning and feeding expert - initially for Eumom and then for MummyPages. I also became the weaning expert for the Pregnancy & Baby fair; talking at events in Dublin, Belfast and Cork. In order to promote my fledgling business, I started to work on my PR. I have...
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For me, the idea of networking conjures up images of sharp shooting business professionals bedecked with a ready smile and the catchy opener: So, what do you do? They ‘listen’ as you tell your story, nodding their head robotically; interjecting with the occasional Ah ha..., Very interesting... and I see... You, knowing full well that within 20 seconds they had made up their minds whether or not you were 'of interest’ and if not were already scanning the room over your shoulder for their next target. But good networking, effective networking, should never be like this. It’s about being in the right room, with the right people, at the right time. It’s about listening and being listened to, and of course finding...
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Corporate health and well-being has been around as a concept for a long time. Longer than you might think, in fact. Companies in the USA introduced initiatives to promote health in the workplace as far back as the 1880s. Companies such as The Pullman Company and National Cash Register started with the establishment of an athletic association for employees, and meeting employees before work to go on horseback rides. These companies went on to implement twice-daily exercise breaks, and building on-site gyms and recreation parks for their employees by the early 1900s. After World War ll, things become more mainstream - with such companies as Texas Instruments, Rockwell and Xerox implementing employee fitness programs. The 1950s saw the emergence in the USA of the Employee Assistance...
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We’ve all seen Eamonn Quinn on Dragons’ Den, but what’s it really like to listen to a pitch and decide to invest? What does it take to be a successful investor and help young companies to mature and take on the world? Eamonn’s father, Fergal Quinn, was the founder of Superquinn. Eamonn recall helping out at the supermarket chain from the age of 10, and by the time of its sale in 2005 he was Marketing Director and Deputy Chairman. After the sale, the Quinns set up a family office to run their investment portfolio, with interests in the food retail sector, green energies, and private equity funds. They’ve invested in lots of businesses over the past decade, some of...
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We're all familiar with the internet of computers - we can access the world wide web through our computers, tablets and mobile phones. These devices are connected to the internet through fixed line, Wi-Fi or mobile broadband. They allow us to interface with all the features, facilities and information the web has to offer. However, this fantastic resource also has limitations - much of the world all around us is not yet connected to the internet, so it is out of reach. That's where the Internet of Things (IoT) comes in. The aim of the Internet of Things is to facilitate access to this 'out of reach' world, and this connection is very different to what we are familiar with to...
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Video is undoubtedly the future of content marketing; we have all seen the rise and rise of video online. Currently, a third of all online activity is spent watching video. Video is a great way to attract new customers, set your business apart from the competition, announce new products or services, or as a recruitment and training aid. Video can also help to educate customers by demonstrating how to use your product or service. The growth of video marketing According to a recent survey on global internet traffic forecasts, conducted by Cisco Systems, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic by 2017. Video on demand (VOD) traffic alone will have increased threefold at this point. Furthermore, video traffic will increase from 64% in...
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For a startup, the task of hiring your first employee can be a daunting prospect. There is a vast amount of legislation surrounding the employment relationship, which can be difficult for an employer to contend with while also trying to run a business. In this article, I will focus on contracts of employment and answer some of the key questions employers have when it comes to this topic. What are the different types of contract? Firstly, it is important for the employer to decide on the type of employment contract that will best fit the needs of the company. An employer can provide a contract of indefinite duration (i.e. a contract with no end date) or a fixed term/specified purpose contract. I...
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Tim Arits is an ex-Google, ex-chicken-breeding drummer from the Netherlands who is about to change the way we share our contact information with our networks. Tim and his co-founder, Javier Mey, joined the New Frontiers programme in 2015 to work on their contact app, Bundly. The idea was simple – when you change something like an address or phone number, why should it be up to your contacts to update your information? Why can’t you be responsible for keeping that information up to date, and allow it to sync with your entire network without them having to do anything? That was the inspiration behind Bundly. Both Tim and Javier had previous experience at global names such as Google and Santander,...
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Pricing is one of the most difficult issues for new businesses, but it is also one of the most critical. While there are some general principles that should be applied by all businesses, there is no one size fits all model for setting prices. Creating the right image through pricing Pricing affects profit, but it also plays a major role in forming your brand's image. Set your prices too high and you will be perceived as not offering good value for money, set prices too low and you may be perceived as cheap. The basic starting point for setting prices is an understanding of costs - you cannot sell your goods or services for less than the cost of production, at...
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Here are my top tips for the promoter and team that have been shortlisted for a Phase 2 interview for one of the New Frontiers programmes. It will focus on how to prepare your slidedeck and pitch to the Enterprise Ireland panel. Enterprise Ireland panel: the criteria Enterprise Ireland invests significant resources in the New Frontiers programme to facilitate the development of businesses with international potential. The first step in preparing your pitch is to understand what they are looking for. What are the criteria? In the FAQ section of the New Frontiers site, it says: ...in its first year, New Frontiers supported 150 entrepreneurs in the establishment of their new businesses. Within six months of those programme completing, many of the participating early-stage...
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Wild Irish Seaweed is a great example of an Irish company combining a heritage product with modern-day business practices. Originally founded in 2009 by Gerard and Eileen Talty, the family business has grown from strength to strength - its food and health products can be found on sale nationwide, but it also has a presence in overseas markets. All four of Gerard and Eileen’s children are involved in the business, including Evan, a New Frontiers alumnus. “We started out with two products in 2008. Back then we were just supplying to local stores. The actual idea for the business came from working with my grandfather in the summer. He had a history in seaweed harvesting, and the family would go...
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Understanding the health of your SaaS (Software as a Service) business is crucial, but you need to be looking at the right metrics to accurately measure it. This article brings together some of the excellent online (re)sources that are available to the startup software entrepreneur looking to deepen their knowledge of this area. This is my quick reference guide to the battle-hardened experts who’ve earned their scars in the SaaS trenches, and who wanted to make it easier for SaaS entrepreneurs like you and me as we follow intrepidly in their footsteps. Where did I find these awesome resources? Most of the resources I have come across were from experts I follow on Twitter - either blog posts they wrote themselves, or others...
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It doesn’t take a genius to realise that social media marketing is becoming almost as important as, if not more important than, the traditional marketing tactics that most businesses are accustomed to. In today’s world, competition is fierce, so how do you get your voice heard and your brand noticed? Yes, your business needs social media marketing! It simply isn’t enough these days to have some physical collateral and a website for your business – your storefront must also extend to social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Pinterest. Why? Because that is where your potential clients are spending their time! In fact, over a quarter of the time spent online is passed on social media sites. If you're not there...
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The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office examining access to credit for small and medium sized businesses reveal how reliant Irish firms are on bank lending. It is by far the most popular form of financing for SMEs around the country. Bank loans are not an option for every business, however. One in five Irish SMEs are finding their applications for loans rejected by banks, with no reason given. Alternatives to bank loans for business finance do exist, however, and are growing in popularity. Here is a run through of some alternatives you might like to try if your startup has been turned down for a bank loan. Peer-to-peer business loans Peer-to-peer business lending involves an online marketplace which...
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Hiring an intern can be a great way of bootstrapping a particular source of expertise into your startup during early-stage, when you may not have the resources to support hiring a fully fledged employee. It is really important, however, to note that interns should not be viewed as ‘free hired help’ or ‘personal slaves’ for the hiring entrepreneur. If this is what your idea of hiring interns is, then you can guarantee that the person will more than likely walk out after a few days and hey, who would blame them! Only hire an intern if you are willing to commit some time to helping them grow and develop in return for them offering their skills to help your startup grow...
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Enterprise Ireland offers a range of blended supports to assist companies of various sizes through the different stages of their development. For early-stage startups, such supports would include the New Frontiers programme, Competitive Feasibility Grants and Innovations Vouchers – but it isn’t necessary to be an Enterprise Ireland ‘client’ to be eligible for such assistance. For startups that have moved past early-stage and become Enterprise Ireland client companies, special HPSU supports are available. HPSU (High Potential Startup) companies are young businesses with the potential to develop an innovative product or service that will be traded in international markets and have the potential to create >10 jobs and €1 million in sales within four years. Generally speaking, HPSUs are viewed as...
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The New Frontiers ‘Internet of Things (IoT) Summit’ at GMIT was held on 26th February and proved to be a major success with hundreds of delegates from across the country in attendance to hear about internet-connected objects and opportunities for new businesses and new business applications. GMIT New Frontiers start-up BriteBiz won ‘Best Emerging Business Award’ in the pitching competition which ran as part of the overall conference. Entrepreneur Eamon Crosby of BriteBiz was presented with a €10,000 prize fund from sponsor KPMG. BriteBiz provides an end to end SaaS Business Management Software Platform for companies in service based industries. It is designed to integrate and streamline processes from lead generation to sales and marketing automation, booking management to client...
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A question we often ask ourselves is: Where do we want to be in five years time? What sort of life do we want to lead? As we only have one spin on this merry-go-round of life, it’s critical that we do what’s important to us individually. There really is no point looking back in five years time and regretting that we didn’t choose the path we wanted to pursue. Being an entrepreneur is increasingly a path Irish people want to take, and this is a significant shift. The rise of entrepreneurship in Ireland According to business information specialist, Vision-net, 14,757 new companies were formed in Ireland in 2011. By the end of last year this figure has jumped 32% to 19,472. Locally there was...
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Business leaders, owners and investors turned out in force last Thursday evening in the Regional Development Centre (Dundalk Institute of Technology) to witness the head to head final of the New Frontiers Programme Pitch Competition. The competition brought to an end the 2015 New Frontiers Programme which is a national programme funded by Enterprise Ireland and delivered in the North East by DkIT in collaboration with DCU. The competition was judged by Patrick Joy (EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2013), John Phelan (Halo Business Angels Network) Michael Farrell (PKF-FPM), Amanda Murphy (AIB) and Aidan Browne (RDC) with a prize of €15,000 for the winner. The eight finalists are all early-stage startups, many of whom gave up employment within the past 12 months...
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Happy New Year to all our website visitors and programme alumni! I thought I would take this opportunity to look back at 2015, and to outline a few of the changes that will be coming to the programme in 2016. 2015: our best year yet! The programme 2015 was a great year for the Enterprise Ireland team that oversees the New Frontiers programme. It was the fourth year the programme has been delivered across Ireland. So, not only were we able to discover the exciting new startups being created, but we also witnessed the amazing progress made by the entrepreneurs we have supported in previous years. During the course of 2015, 1,121 people expressed an interest in the programme via...
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The United Kingdom represents Ireland’s single largest export market, providing significant opportunities for ambitious and growth-focused companies. The UK market is a natural overseas destination for Irish businesses looking to expand and is viewed by the Irish Government as a key export region for our economic recovery. Not only is the UK one of Ireland’s most important trade partners, but its geographical proximity and cultural similarities make expansion into the UK easier for Irish businesses... on paper, anyway. There is no doubting that both regions share common characteristics. However, the strategic and operational approach that needs to be adopted in, say, Dublin versus Manchester, or marketing and selling to the public sector in the UK versus that of Ireland differs...
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Getting paid on time is a never-ending concern for small businesses. An SFA surveys show that, on average, it takes 62 days to get paid, even though the majority of payment terms are 30 days. This causes serious cash flow problems, requires firms to extend overdraft facilities, and consumes a great deal of management time. The European Payment Report 2015 found that half of Irish companies say that late payments threaten their survival. So, what can you do to get paid on time? How can you protect your company against the scourge of late payers and bad debts? Dealing with late payments is a question of the policies and practices of individual businesses, but also of the broader payments culture in...
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Those who attended last year's inaugural Innovation Showcase will be pleased to know that it's back again this year and looks set to be even better than last time! It's organised by Enterprise Ireland, in cooperation with IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) on behalf of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The Innovation Showcase is on 8th December at the Convention Centre Dublin. Registration required. What is the Innovation Showcase? The Innovation Showcase is the place to find all the innovation supports available to businesses under one roof. The aim of the event is to achieve significant economic impacts through increased engagement between the public research system and industry. If you want to know how you can access the innovation supports to...
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International growth is not the same as getting beta customers in your home market – to sell overseas, you’ll need to be able to scale your sales acquisition, and service and manage all the possible agents and resellers in the market. This article will illustrate the major points your startup should be aware of and how you can best position yourself for international growth The international growth ‘toolkit’ Startups today have to think in terms of international growth pretty much from day one. However, it involves a very different set of skills than the one it takes to achieve the first beta customer in your own market – skills more aligned to scaling growth, and managing customers and intermediaries at...
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We can measure nearly anything these days. Analytics are everywhere... and we are increasingly becoming swamped with data as more and more is produced. But what does this mean for businesses, and for startups in particular? The world has fundamentally changed. Each morning, I no longer look out of the window to see if it is raining or whether I should wear an extra jumper. I simply open my yr.no app and check the temperature range for the day and the likelihood of rain (especially during my cycle to and from the office). I can do this all from the comfort of my bed, even before the curtains have been pulled back. This shows the power of data to improve even...
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As a startup, making hires is an important decision that can have a huge impact on your finances, as well as on your productivity and growth. As an entrepreneur, you may not have any previous experience of recruitment, and you're unlikely to have an HR Department to take care of this for you. Putting in place a successful recruitment strategy will require you to learn new skills and processes. Here are my tips for getting started. Recruitment is the action of employing someone for one of two scenarios: to either fill a role that has been vacated, or to fill a role which has been created because of increased demand or business expansion. If you're a startup, it's most likely that you are recruiting for...
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With the number of high-profile exhibitions and trade shows increasing, how can we be sure that participating isn't simply a costly and time-consuming exercise, with no guarantee of success? Trade exhibitions can be very profitable for your business and the secret to success lies in good planning. Determining whether trade fairs are to be part of your marketing strategy is not a decision to be taken at the last moment. You should allow time to research which shows to attend, assign a trade show budget, and identify and purchase the necessary promotional materials. Deciding to exhibit at the last minute may result in increased costs and inconclusive or poor results. Who is organising the event? The success of the show depends primarily on the footfall...
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It had always been at the back of my mind to start a business. A group of us had been a lifetime in education, working in international schools. We knew what we were doing. Teaching and learning was at the centre of what we did – and now we were going to practise what we preached at school and try something new as lifelong learners. For me personally - at the end of another six year contract and after more than 30 years in international education - it was a good time to stop and use my knowledge in a different way. An industry we knew The new business we set up was to serve an industry we knew well. It wasn’t quite clear at first...
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I recently delivered a one day workshop as part of IT Tralee’s New Frontiers Phase 2 programme entitled, ‘Goals & Milestones for Growth-Focused Businesses’. The aim of the session was to discuss goals for each of the participant business and to help them identify milestones to be prioritized among the many competing demands for their time and attention. Sessions such as this assist participants to communicate both their progress to date and the potential of their business to Enterprise Ireland and other potential investors. These are some of the key points we covered. Starting point: hitting milestones is extremely important for early-stage investors The calibre of the team driving a new business is very important in determining an investment decision. This...
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There are some basic mistakes often made by applicants to Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme. Here are my tips on how entrepreneurs can craft a compelling argument and avoid the most common pitfalls when it comes to preparing their applications. Entrepreneurs are positive, energetic and driven people; they believe they can do anything they set out to do. But if they come across someone who doesn't believe in their idea the way they do, it can lead to doubt and uncertainty. Applying for Phase 2 can be one of those times when these two perspectives collide. You know all the good things about your business proposition – why can’t they just agree with you?! Having been a business person and...
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Vision is a picture of the future; it’s how you imagine your startup, where it will be in the years to come and the values it will hold. Vision provides direction and acts as a constant reminder of what you have set out to achieve. If you can learn to share that vision, you’ll be able to grow support for your budding enterprise. Starting out, we wanted to convey of our vision for how people might interact differently with mobile devices. However, during this early stage of shaping the idea, the actual process can make this difficult, especially when you are being advised to protect your intellectual property (IP) and open up at the same time. Once we had lodged...
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When my wife, Martha, and I decided to launch our digital startup, we also knew that the time had come to move away from Dublin and settle somewhere we could achieve a higher quality of life. We moved to Sligo last year and started StoryLab. This is our New Frontiers story. I’d seen an advertisement about the New Frontiers programme in the Irish Independent, the paper where I was associate editor and news and features executive for eight years. Martha and I had an idea for a media company that provided big brands with engaging, expertly-edited, readable and visual stories about their businesses, for traditional forums as well as for social and digital. I could see the whole focus in...
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Around 30 Phase 2 participants from around the country joined us at Enterprise Ireland on Thursday for a special workshop that looked at how to find customers and the sales pipeline. This is the first time New Frontiers participants from different locations have come together for a training session, so it was also an opportunity to meet and network with entrepreneurs from other Institutes. How to find customers Finding and retaining customers was the subject of Thursday's workshop, which was facilitated by Alan Costello of Ruby Consulting, a strategy- and innovation-focused boutique consultancy. Alan has worked with numerous small/early-stage/HPSU companies, and as a founder himself has great insight into the reality of startup life. Alan's workshop looked at the different sales cycles that...
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We thought we would speak to one of Ireland’s leading businessmen to see what tips and insights he has for Irish startup entrepreneurs in 2015. Teeling is known for his straightforward approach and boundless energy. Despite a punishing schedule, he found the time to speak to me from his offices in Clontarf, giving me a hint of the openness and positivity he so clearly brings to everything he does. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past few decades, John Teeling is the intellectual, globe-trotting founder of Cooley Whiskey and the man who has had more companies listed on the London Stock Exchange than anyone else from Ireland. With current interests predominantly in energy and mining, he’s...
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I've been watching a lot of pitches recently - at Wayra, Ryan Academy, NDRC and the Web Summit, to name a few. I've also pitched plenty of times myself. I've pitched at UCD's Innovation Academy and the Digital Skills Academy, I've pitched to all kinds of decision makers in business as well as to public stakeholders (ministers, TDs, local politicians, residents, planners) when I was launching and promoting GAP. I've worn the various hats when it comes to the elevator pitch: journalist, entrepreneur, judge... Many were good, others less so. Some common mistakes, though they seem obvious, keep popping up. The basic rules are the same, no matter what you're pitching. So, here are some tips that will enhance your chances of success: What problem are you solving? Tell us early and...
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A major part of success in business is being opportunistic: recognising a window of opportunity and being bold enough to go after it with both hands. I've embarked on several opportunistic endeavours in my business life. This is the story of how they came about. Be open to opportunities The first one came while I was working as a roofer at my uncle’s company, GFM Systems, which was the second largest in Ireland at the time and employed 70 people. I was 21, and looking around me during those Celtic Tiger years, I saw people build up immense amounts of wealth from property. I sought out advice from someone I was fortunate enough to know who owned over 100 properties. I asked...
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Innovation Vouchers are an excellent way for companies to tap into leading research expertise in order to develop a solution or product at the pre-commercial stage. The scheme allows businesses to improve their innovation capability and builds links between Ireland’s public sector knowledge providers and the SME community. Innovation Vouchers were launched by Enterprise Ireland seven years ago and have proved phenomenally successful. Some 1,400 applications are received every year, around 70% of which are successful. Innovation Vouchers offer Irish SMEs the chance to connect with knowledge providers around the country in order to develop a solution or product. Vouchers are worth €5,000, valid for 12 months and can be redeemed at one of the 38 registered centres that provide...
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I founded my visual effects startup, Glue, in 2013 and was looking for a dedicated startup programme that would complement my industry experience with the business knowledge and structure I required. In 2014, I participated in Phase 1 of New Frontiers, and subsequently went on to Phase 2 later in the year. I learned a huge amount on the programme and Glue is gaining momentum; we've been able to grow our team and develop custom systems to improve our processes. Looking back, I've identified seven areas that were key to my startup journey. Building on an idea New Frontiers was my first major step in starting up the business. Personally, I found it extremely helpful and challenging in so many...
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For most start-ups, seeking out and gaining access to established entrepreneurs and senior industry leaders is a difficult and time-consuming process. Identifying the experience and expertise you would like in a business mentor, finding such a person, approaching them and then pitching you and your business in order to hook them is a real challenge. You need to be clear about the mentor experience and expertise that will most benefit your business at this time. Understanding this will drive the choice you make. Be familiar with your industry The more familiar you are with your industry, the more likely you are to understand the major players and the industry drivers. You may wish to be mentored by someone who has...
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Raising capital is never easy, but it's also essential for growing a successful startup. The hunt for investment is highly competitive and there is no guarantee of success, so knowing how and where to solicit funds is crucial. As always in business, preparation is the key! To start with, it's important to understand that in fundraising you are effectively “selling” yourself and your business opportunity. It takes a lot of work, and a little bit of luck, to find an investor who's the right fit for your company. In simple terms, you need a plan so that you can: assess the financing options available; decide on the correct course of action; agree a timeline; and ensure the internal resources, commitment...
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Generating sales leads is key to starting a business, but what's the best way to connect with and convert potential customers who are not aware of your company? For most start-ups the priorities are: Confirming that someone will buy your product or service; Building the first version of your product or service; Getting your first paying customer; Raising funding, or making enough sales to self-fund. Every one of these priorities, even building your product, depends on acquiring customers. And you need to acquire customers in a repeatable way, so you know which inputs will generate more outputs (i.e. more customers). Your goal should be to build a process for acquiring customers that is predictable, scaleable and automatable. There are two...
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There are some terrible expressions in daily use in the business world. It seems to me that whoever is writing content for companies (generally an employee rather than a professional copywriter) looks at a few similar websites and then picks out what they think are the best expressions. But those sites probably didn't use a copywriter either. And so the circle begins. Now that you’ve set up your new business, you are probably in the process of creating your website and writing for Requests For Proposals (RFPs), documentation or brochures. Like a lot of things happening right now, this is something you probably haven’t done too much of before. Be careful not to use all those buzzwords you see around....
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Marketing is based on the notion that if people really understood what you do - what you are really good at - they would want to buy from you. The trouble is that getting them to give up their personal time to try to understand you and what you’re good at. Most businesses make their prospects do far too much work in understanding them. They forget how busy, impatient and indifferent they can be. Cutting through bland, clunky business jargon is often boring, usually underwhelming and at times exhausting. Nonetheless, your business solution or product is aimed at customers whose lives you can make much easier. So how do prospects get to understand you before they have worked with you? How...
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Competitive Start Fund (CSF) is an Enterprise Ireland support aimed at accelerating the growth of High Potential Startups (HPSUs). It offers €50,000 (matched with €5,000 from the company or other private investor) for a 10% ordinary equity stake in the company. CSF investment enables successful applicants to reach key milestones in their business, eg: Researching the viability of export opportunities Securing a reference customer that will lend credibility to the product Building product prototypes Securing partnerships or key strategic alliances Identifying channels to international markets Securing third-party investment (VCs, angels, etc.) There are regular calls to the CSF throughout the year (there were six calls in 2014), which are open to all sectors or for specific business types such as...
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I had only ever worked in the hedge fund industry before launching my technology startup. The programme management solution I built, Gecko, was designed to help me run my consultancy firm by enabling me to manage dozens of client projects from a single user dashboard. I hadn’t planned for it to be a business in its own right, so I was fairly clueless about what running a tech firm was all about! How the journey started It was a chance encounter with the head of the DKIT Regional Development Centre, at the Digital Dundalk startup forum last February, that gave me the confidence to apply for a place on Phase 1 of the New Frontiers programme. It’s hard to believe that was less than a...
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Muhammad Ali summed up his boxing style with the now famous phrase, “Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” This perfectly captured Ali's ability to glide around the boxing ring yet unleash a mighty punch when required. This phrase has stuck with me and for many years now and it is something I purposefully remember every time a prospective entrepreneur walks into the office or sends in a programme application form. For me, it forms a sort of yardstick that I always use to gauge an application: will this business idea float and does the promoter have a sting in the tail? This yardstick is particularly useful during Phase 1 of the New Frontiers Programme. Often, nobody -...
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Stephen Slattery was a New Frontiers participant at Cork IT (Rubicon Centre) from 2012 to 2013. His company, Zeto, offers an integrated cloud-based and hardware solution that allows retail outlets to monitor and control all their commercial refrigeration equipment from a single platform. Stephen has a degree in electronic and computer engineering from NUI Galway and had worked in London for four years, building SaaS (Software as a Service) systems for HR departments in large multinationals. He returned to Ireland in 2009 to set up his own company and had first approached the Rubicon Centre in 2010 to discuss his idea, although he had no working prototype at this stage. Stephen started Zeto with his father and co-founder, Michael. Michael...
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The Enterprise Ireland Market Research Centre is located at our offices at East Point Business Park, Dublin. Client companies can access the most up-to-date information on a vast range of markets, sectors, companies and countries, either in Dublin or at our regional locations. What is market research? Neil Armstrong defined research as a “means to investigate something you do not know or understand.” This definition can also be applied to the more specific area of market research. There are two types of market research: primary and secondary. Primary market research involves collecting data from its source (e.g. by surveying customers). This type of research is usually used by the company itself. The other type of research is called secondary research (or “desk research”)...
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These are some of the best pieces of advice I can give based on 12 years' experience of bringing ideas to reality as an entrepreneur and innovator. Imagine your business start up is a new bus. You are the driver. You are about to begin a very long road journey on a totally new route in a place you have never been to before. You need to know where you are going and directions to get to your destination. You need to stock up on resources for the upcoming journey: Find and follow your passion Do what you love doing. Watch the doors open and you will enjoy the journey even more. Believe in yourself & your idea Believe in you first. Believe you can. Believe you are...
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Someone in this world calls me Mummy (well not quite yet, she is only one year old). Being Rosie's Mummy is the most wonderful and most important role of my life. And the toughest. I also have a business - a new business. People refer to it as my other baby, and they’re right. Becoming a parent and starting a business are similar experiences. 1. Sleepless nights It is a given that when you become a mother, you are never going to sleep again. Never, ever. The same thing happens when you start a business. They both need your attention, your time, your patience... and, of course, you worry about them at all times. People ask me if I sleep when...
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Dorothy Creaven was a 2012 New Frontiers participant at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. Dorothy has a degree in Electronic Engineering and worked at Google and Abbott before co-founding Element Software, an award-winning developer of mobile engagement software. Dorothy and co-founder, James Harkin, created Element Software in 2011. The company began life as a mobile app development services provider, with clients such as Ericsson and Sage. However, Dorothy and James soon realised that a major failing in the industry lay in client engagement – lots of apps are downloaded, but very few are successful in terms of longevity of use, which means that companies are missing opportunities to build relationships with their users: We wanted to come up with a solution...
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"To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy" said Sun Tzu, in the Art of War. Sometimes, competing for business can seem like a battle - with the odds stacked against you and the chances of success slim at best. However, all is not lost. Competitive Intelligence (CI) is a key weapon that will level the battle field and allow you to compete with the advantage of knowledge on your side. Competitive Intelligence is the ethical gathering and analysis of competitor, customer and market information from open sources. This analysis is used by organisations to make better strategic decisions. It is the difference between competing and winning. Why should I care about CI? Your organisational survival may well depend...
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As entrepreneurs, it can be tempting to take every piece of work or contract we are offered. It's exciting to see sales growing and growing each month, or week; but sometimes this can be a bad thing. Often, companies that are experiencing rapid growth can be at risk of overtrading. Before I started my own company, I spent five years dealing with businesses in financial difficulty. There were a few successful turnarounds, but more often than not I saw promising business in the position of having taken on far too much work that they just couldn’t handle. In spite everyone's best efforts, they usually ended up in liquidation. Overtrading means carrying out too large a volume of trading in relation...
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Creating a successful business is a complex process, which involves lot of hard work and determination. Continuous support from all the stakeholders is required throughout the life-cycle of the business; however the initial phase is perhaps the most critical. Events in the initial stages usually shape and drive the short and medium-term strategy of a company. In the following paragraphs I will try to highlight the importance of early support in general and the help we received from Enterprise Ireland at the very early stages of our business; and how that helped us to define a roadmap and determine our future direction. Ask for help from the beginning When I initially thought about setting up Tuition Desk, I was looking...
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The reality of business is that you have to make money. If you’re in it for giving back to the community, helping others or world peace, then you’re just not a business person. Making money is the first thing on every entrepreneur's mind. What they do with it and where they spend it is up to the successful entrepreneur. But first, you have to generate revenue to be a successful entrepreneur. Becoming an entrepreneur looks easy from the outside. I mean, how hard can it really be? At the end of the day, surely it just comes down to: have a good idea; people will want to buy it; make money and give back to the community! Easy, right? WRONG!...
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Startups need cash to keep going – it’s a simple case of having money so that you can make money. Most entrepreneurs get preoccupied with finding sources for large scale funding, rather than concentrating on how to make the money they have go as far as possible. By accurately identifying how your money can best be utilised, you can plan how much funding you actually need and improve your chances of raising capital. Money is the lifeblood of any bootstrapping entrepreneur and usually the thing in shortest supply when starting up. In fact, many startup failures can be attributed to poor cashflow, so getting your financial planning and management right is crucial to success. Thinking ahead is the way to...
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A Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is extremely important for every startup business. It is the answer to the question: What is it that makes your product or service different, unique and most importantly will persuade people to buy from you? The problem for early-stage promoters is defining the essence of their solution and communicating it concisely. This article will outline a process for crafting your Value Proposition and outline some examples from participants on New Frontiers programmes. UVP is a critical component of any marketing strategy A strong value proposition is the first step in deciding how a business is going to market its solution. It goes to the heart of what the business does (or does not do) and why...
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Mentorship is offered as part of the New Frontiers Programme to aid entrepreneurs through their startup journey. If used correctly, such a support mechanism can significantly accelerate this journey. Monitoring support, when incorporated within a business startup programme, can represent an efficient and effective supporting device that enhances the development, learning and performance of an entrepreneur. In simple terms, mentoring means ‘showing the ropes’ – a term derived from seafaring. The mentor, an experienced sailor, guides a new crew until they develop an understanding of how to work the complex system of raising and lowering sails in response to various weather conditions. This complex system can be equated to setting up a business, where the entrepreneur must respond to external...
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Emma-Jane Power was a New Frontiers participant at Waterford IT in 2012. She started a business that offers a way for brands to connect with the media by putting high-quality imagery in an easy-to-use hub for journalists. Emma-Jane joined the programme after seeing an advert in a local Waterford newspaper. Her business was already trading at the time, with a few clients on board, but she needed help to bring it to the next level. “I had completed some Enterprise Board courses, but they were fairly basic and I had heard great things about New Frontiers”. I met with Emma-Jane several months before she joined Phase 1 of New Frontiers. During our first meeting, I recognised from my own industry...
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Because New Frontiers is a nationwide programme open to entrepreneurs from a wide variety of sectors, it’s often difficult to answer the question “Am I eligible?” with a simple yes or no. Here are some factors you should consider if you're thinking of applying to the programme. 1: Applications are accepted at different times, so applicants should contact their preferred Institute of Technology directly to find out when the next round of applications should be submitted. 2: The first port of call for prospective participants is to get in touch with the incubator at their local Institute of Technology and talk to the local Programme Manager. He or she will be able to give you concrete feedback on whether or not New Frontiers...
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