New Frontiers blog Archives

Dec 18

Founder Perspectives: Lessons From Building Businesses In Sustainability

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Building a sustainable business means solving two problems at once: the environmental issue you’re tackling, and the commercial reality of making it work. We spoke to three founders about the challenges that shaped their businesses, how they balance making money with their environmental commitments, their approach to changing customer behaviour, and where they see the sector heading.

The founders are Meg Brennan of Polliknow (technology to measure biodiversity data at scale), Paul McGoldrick of Slíglas (producing high quality biochar to lock away carbon for millennia), and Shana Chu of Tailr (combating inconsistent sizing and garment waste in the fashion industry).

Question 1: What was the biggest challenge you faced in launching and growing your sustainable business, and how did you overcome it?

Meg: The biggest challenge has been balancing technical development with commercial traction in a completely new market category. Biodiversity monitoring is an emerging area, more regulation is coming in and consumers are putting pressure on big brands to restore and improve nature. This field has always relied on manual surveys so we’re building something that needs to work alongside those traditional methods while pushing the industry forward. It’s a completely evolving space which is exciting but also means we’re constantly adapting. We’ve overcome this by running trials across different habitats and with different types of customers, from small to large rewilding projects. These early partnerships have been invaluable for refining our technology and understanding what the market actually needs.

Paul: Launching a sustainable business focused on biochar generation for carbon dioxide removal requires significant investment to conduct R&D and progress through to production readiness. Slíglas has managed to minimise prototyping costs by simulating reactor performance to refine design and approach. A second challenge has been establishing trust and transparency. Pursing pre-certification and putting in place a plan to meet the rigorous standards required of a CDR business has resulted in strong credibility.

Shana: One of the biggest challenges was reframing how the industry thinks about sustainability. Most people immediately jump to materials, recycling or consumer behaviour. But the environmental cost of inconsistent fabric performance is enormous, every mis-cut garment, failed sample and avoidable return has a material, energy and labour footprint. Convincing brands that sustainability starts with stability was not simple. We overcame this by proving it with data. Once we could demonstrate, at fabric-batch level, how shrinkage, stretch, and colour variation lead directly to waste, the conversation changed. Instead of talking about sustainability in abstract terms, we showed the measurable impact of getting fabric performance right at the source. That shift unlocked buy-in from brands who were looking for practical, upstream solutions rather than another downstream fix.

Question 2: How do you balance profitability with sustainability, and what strategies have you found effective in aligning these goals?

Meg: We lease our devices rather than requiring a big capital purchase upfront, which makes it more accessible for customers while creating recurring revenue for us. The key is demonstrating value beyond just “doing good for nature.” We focus on showing how our service improves efficiencies, provides more data, cuts costs or solves operational problems. If you can help companies achieve business goals while meeting sustainability targets – especially if it helps them comply with new frameworks like CSRD or TNFD – that’s where profitability and sustainability align naturally. It’s important to continually adapt to new regulations and market demands.

Paul: For Slíglas, profitability and sustainability are complimentary, not opposed. The Slíglas business model is entirely reliant on the fact that sustainability is good for business. Forward thinking companies, who purchase removals, realise that the world is moving to a place where many customers, governments, and investors care deeply about net zero and leaving no impact on the environment. Companies who act on climate today can massively boost their reputation and establish a clear competitive advantage over peers. A strong sustainable image also inspires employees, positively influences culture, and drives innovation.

Shana: For us, sustainability and profitability are the same goal. Every return, recut, defective batch and failed sample is both a cost centre and a source of preventable waste. Fixing these issues at the start of the product lifecycle gives brands immediate financial benefit while reducing their environmental impact. Our strategy has been to focus on prevention rather than offsetting. By helping brands predict fabric behaviour before production, and ensuring consistency from batch to batch, we reduce sampling, rework and overproduction. In our recent proof of concept with a global luxury brand, this approach translated into a potential annual saving of €21 million in fabric waste and associated production inefficiencies. When brands see that kind of result, sustainability stops being a trade-off and becomes a driver of efficiency.

Question 3: How do you engage with and educate your customers and prospects about the importance of sustainability?

Meg: We don’t really talk about sustainability in the abstract. Instead, we show companies exactly what’s living on their land – real data about the species present and the potential their site has if they continue restoration efforts. Our approach is to demonstrate value through concrete information: species-level data, reports aligned with CSRD and TNFD frameworks, so customers can see both the ecological story and the business case for monitoring nature on their sites.

Paul: Education starts by going back to the basics. People understand that fossil fuel extraction is bad. At its core, biochar for carbon dioxide removal is that exact process just in reverse. Instead of taking black carbon out of the ground, Slíglas puts black carbon back into the ground. Unfortunately, if a prospect needs to be educated, it’s unlikely that they will become an immediate customer. While Slíglas is always happy to educate, it is prudent to concentrate on potential partners who are already engaged and informed. This approach allows for immediate impact and a shorter potential sales cycle.

Shana: We try to make sustainability tangible, not theoretical. Most of our engagement starts with showing brands what is already happening inside their supply chain: where fabric inconsistencies occur, how they impact fit, and how much waste is generated long before garments ever reach the customer. We also use storytelling that brings the issue to life. For example, two rolls of the “same” fabric can behave like two different materials. That small upstream variation ripples into massive downstream waste. When brands see sustainability through the lens of accuracy, consistency and prevention, it becomes something achievable, not an overwhelming responsibility. Education, for us, is about giving teams clarity and control.

Question 4: What future trends in sustainability are you most excited about, and how do you plan to incorporate them into your business?

Meg: Biodiversity credit markets are genuinely exciting. Just like carbon credits created financial incentives for emissions reductions, biodiversity credits could unlock massive investment in nature restoration, but only with credible verification. We’re positioning ourselves to become an accredited monitoring tool for biodiversity credit certification schemes, which would create entirely new revenue opportunities in impact verification. I’m also excited about the convergence of AI and ecological science, as our dataset grows, our models get more accurate and we can identify additional species groups. Long term, we see Polliknow as part of a broader ecosystem of nature intelligence tools.

Paul: Slíglas is particularly excited about the rising momentum for regulated carbon markets. A great example is the planned integration of removals into emission trading schemes around the world. As these plans become reality, removal solutions will become more relevant, more bankable, and more scalable. Slíglas is also passionate about circularity, transforming low-value residue streams into high-value biochar products for better outcomes when used as a soil additive in agriculture.

Shana: I’m excited about the shift towards measurable, upstream sustainability, where brands are expected to prove the environmental impact of their decisions with real data, not marketing language. With new regulations coming into force in Europe, especially around durability, digital product passports and environmental scoring, fabric-level performance data will become essential. Tailr is already preparing for this by integrating fabric consistency metrics, laboratory test results and production-level traceability into one system. As regulations tighten and brands move towards more transparent supply chains, we plan to expand our predictive models and support lifecycle assessments using real-world performance data. The next era of sustainability will reward accuracy, and that’s exactly where our platform is strongest.

Our thanks to these trailblazing founders for their candid thoughts and insights. Find out more about their businesses at polliknow.com, sliglas.com, and tailr.ai.

Tech Startups In The Age Of AI: Alumnus Paul Savage On Speed, Quality & Risk

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Paul Savage has been a software engineer since the mid-90s. After working in one of Ireland’s early tech successes, Aldiscon – which created the world’s first commercial short messaging product, Telepath SMSC – he started his own business in 2000 and has been involved in 17 businesses since. The most successful of these was NearForm, builder of the COVID Tracker app in Ireland. Today at his new company, Brightbeam, Paul’s focus is on the Age of AI.

We spoke to Paul to get his insights on building with AI and what founders can do to avoid the hype and ensure they deliver real value.

Paul, you’ve been working in software for a long time. What are you doing now that’s different?

Paul Savage BrightBeam New Frontiers alumnus

Paul Savage, COO of BrightBeam and New Frontiers alumnus

Brightbeam is service company helping enterprises get advantage from AI, particularly the newer generative AI tools. We’re just over two years old, founded specifically to use generative AI capability, which we see as the first step towards our vision of being The Integrator of Digital Intelligence. The biggest thing that sets us apart is we deliver business value by bringing ideas into production, not simply to prototype stage.

To give you some examples, we built an AI solution that scans outpatient receipts for a health insurer and then interprets the receipt, validates the information, and helps users fill out the form – resulting in faster reimbursements. We built an internal knowledge management tool for an ERP company to un-silo information and make it accessible using natural language. We helped a charity with a large volunteer base match service users with volunteers based on criteria such as location and shared interests.

Everyone’s talking about how AI accelerates development. What are the pros and cons of that acceleration?

Yes, AI is enabling people who’ve never coded before to build software and it’s accelerating what experienced developers can do as well. We’re seeing a massive reduction in the cost of getting a software product to market that is genuinely transformative.

But there’s a serious pitfall. A junior developer can now use something like Claude Code and spin out a system with 80,000 lines of code. Historically, we ensured quality by having one developer write the code and another review it. But you simply can’t review 80,000 lines of code, so it gets deployed as-is.

In the rush to get features built, you end up with a huge codebase and don’t realise how low quality the code actually is until it’s in production. Then you have security issues, it’s difficult to modify, and it becomes brittle very fast because things are connected internally that shouldn’t be. In a compliance environment, you’re in real trouble.

If the code quality improves, will that solve the problem?

You may previously have considered your software IP as a barrier to competition, but it’s probably not a barrier anymore. The moat around SaaS is gone in that way. I would argue that market position is the only thing that protects a product anyway, but that’s further exacerbated now because products can be replicated so quickly.

The tools are getting better all the time – this year there was a major Claude release that makes it a serious tool for developers, and it’s going to improve continuously. But that just accelerates the replication problem.

There must be a temptation to add AI to whatever solution you’re building so that it feels new and relevant?

There is a tendency to think that if you have a good business idea and you’ve built a platform, but there’s no AI in it, you could just sprinkle a bit of ‘AI sugar’ on top. But my question would always be ‘Why?’ What specifically is the AI doing? Is there an experience lift? Are you bringing in natural language? Is it dealing with unstructured data in a way that makes things easier? Is it predicting something useful or generating content that adds value?

Scaling businesses (like those on track to become Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Ups – HPSUs) obviously want to be building where there’s momentum. Historically that was the dot-com boom, then mobile internet, smartphones, the cloud, containerisation. AI is a tsunami compared to those. But that doesn’t mean you jump on it just because it’s there. It shouldn’t be a default. I see too many people thinking ‘I have a problem; I’m going to throw AI at it’. That’s not the right approach. There should be a reason to choose it as a technology.

If you do decide AI makes sense for your product, what does it take to use it well?

Domain knowledge is crucial. When you know what you want, you can make AI jump through the hoops exactly the way you want it. That’s powerful and enables you to move faster. But it depends on what you’re trying to do.

When we write, for example, code to summarise 60,000 phone calls a week, every millisecond counts. You have to sculpt the code very carefully. Realistically, AI-generated code is still too blunt a tool to do that. So you need experts in the mix. They ask AI to set up the system – generate the skeleton and solve the blank page problem – and then they tell it exactly what they want.

What’s the biggest difference when you’re building with AI versus traditional software?

The amount of iteration after you get the features complete has changed. Let’s take that simple example of summarising a phone call. The system grabs the transcript, runs it through an LLM, and summarises it for you very quickly. If you want it to work well in a specific context – maybe you want to remove personally identifiable information or you want the summary to always include the product model discussed – you have to iterate the solution to get it to do exactly that really well.

With old software development, by the time you built your features that was 80% of the effort in and 80% of the budget gone. With modern AI systems, you get your features complete by the time you’re just 20% in. The question is no longer ‘will it do something’ but ‘how well will it do it’. Think about whether it gives you the same quality result every time, and build proper testing around that.

Once you have something working well, what do you need to watch out for?

When you use ChatGPT, you put your data in and, depending on your model, they can store it or use it for training. You couldn’t have a highly sensitive use case in an open model like that.

When we deploy systems, we use models that are solely for the specific use case and blocked off from the world completely. None of the data is used for training or stored. You take the data, interact with the LLM, then the data goes away. Most companies we work with have had data governance in place for some time and newer factors like the AI Act are adding security layers on top of that.

But there are absolutely people using AI in ways that share too much information. Everyone should get to know the configurations for every tool they’re using. Turn off what you don’t want. If you have high-risk sensitive data, deploy your own model. If your data is very high risk, look at using local inference applications, which are literally air-gapped so the data isn’t even connected to the internet.

What should founders be doing about the use of AI in their own companies?

You have to get specific. Think about the data in your business and product and decide where you want it to flow. Get familiar with the terms and conditions of the tools you use. Configure them accordingly – like keeping data processing within the GDPR zone, for example.

The challenge every business has is that this is a genie out of the bottle. Everyone uses AI to some extent, for a wide variety of uses. It’s clearly a help in a business setting, so if you don’t set up a secure system for people to use, they’re probably going to use insecure public systems.

If you don’t have an education programme in your company, people won’t know how to use these tools securely. AI training is going to become mainstream, just like cyber training did. Enterprise Ireland and the IDA are rolling out education and supports in this area, so make sure you’re educated. We can expect some new ISO numbers to come along specifically around AI too, building on the recently added ISO42001 standard.

What are the limits here? Where should we not rely on AI?

Large language models are prediction engines. Think of it like a five-year-old. If you ask a five-year-old a question and they know the answer, they’ll answer to show off, to impress you. If you ask a question they don’t know the answer to, they make something up because they don’t like admitting they don’t know things. They aren’t built to say ‘I don’t know’. If they have enough information, they’ll back the answer up and it might sound plausible. LLMs are exactly the same.

We divide use cases into discriminative and extrapolation. Discriminative is where you take a body of text and summarise it down. At that level, LLMs don’t make many mistakes and hallucinations are low. Extrapolative is when you’re asking questions it doesn’t have data for. It will have a go because it’s built to generate text whether based in reality or not. So it will be very credible, but it may still be wrong.

Where you’re asking for a lot of extrapolation – such as writing marketing content – put a human in the loop and make sure the result has been validated and makes sense. A point worth making here is that things do keep evolving and improving. Every 90 days the tools and models are improving and some of these things are becoming less of a problem in some ways. The only thing we know for sure is that in the next year this will keep evolving and improving. Which is why education and learning are essential.

There are lots of AI gurus online giving out all kinds of advice. Who should founders listen to?

It’s a problem. There’s a certain amount of hype and pure nonsense being spoken, and definitive statements being made that just aren’t true in practice. One example is the idea that data has to be very clean and well-structured to get value from AI. Whilst you can get MORE value from AI if your data is clean, the reality of generative AI is that you can use unstructured data and get value from it today. What was true in the world of machine learning (ML) doesn’t necessarily hold true now. Even better, when correctly implemented, Gen AI tools can clean an organisation’s data over time.

Another idea is that pretrained models aren’t good enough and you should train your own. But what we’ve seen is you can get a head start using something like ChatGPT and then go back and train your own models to get even more value in terms of higher control and more accuracy. ChatGPT is pretrained so it does things out of the box. With models you host yourself, you’d have to train them. But you don’t have to choose one approach forever.

You can see there’s quite a lot of stuff people are saying that could be true in their context but won’t be in yours. That’s why I would never give anybody casual or generic advice about AI. Data varies so much from business to business, and the data changes the behaviour of the system, so there’s no single approach. Get specific, understand your business and your data first. It’s the only way to cut through the noise.

Learn more about Paul on LinkedIn and his company at brightbeam.com.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Scarlet Bierman is a content consultant, commissioned by Enterprise Ireland to fulfil the role of Editor of the New Frontiers website. She is an expert in designing and executing ethical marketing strategies and passionate about helping businesses to develop a quality online presence.

Fourteen Startup Founders Graduate From Phase 2 Of New Frontiers In Tallaght

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Fourteen early-stage founders have successfully completed Phase 2 of Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) – Tallaght Campus. Their collective goal is to raise €6 million in funding and create at least 35 jobs in 2026.

The Phase 2 Graduation Showcase on 5th December marked the culmination of six months of intensive work by 14 entrepreneurs, celebrating their achievements and future ambitions. It provided a vibrant and celebratory platform for founders to showcase their progress and connect with fellow entrepreneurs, industry leaders, mentors, and potential investors.

This year’s cohort, based in the Synergy Centre in Tallaght, represents a diverse range of sectors from AI-powered education platforms to sparkling electrolyte drinks to biotechnology advancing equine genetic biotech to design-ready sustainable composites to premium men’s haircare (read about each startup below).

Founders competed in two flagship competitions, with winners announced during the ceremony: the ‘Most Engaged Entrepreneur Stand’ competition, sponsored by TU Dublin, and a high stakes investment pitch before an expert judging panel chaired by Majella Murphy, Head of Acceleration at Furthr. The panel selected recipients for three prestigious awards, sponsored by Philip Lee, Resolve Partners, and LEO South Dublin.

The ‘Most Engaged Entrepreneur Stand’ prize was awarded to Owen Murray of URhired. Anna Malsam of Hytropics was the winner of the South Dublin Local Enterprise Office €1,000 cash award, presented by Peter Connolly, Acting Head of Enterprise with South Dublin LEO. The Resolve Partners winner was Conor Fay of Forest Living, who will receive ‘Funding prep’ mentoring sessions. The Philip Lee ‘Invest Start’ award, announced by Hugo Grattirola, Partner at Philip Lee, was presented to Manmeet Abroll for his venture, The Source.

Over the past six months, the founders have reached milestones such as successful product launches, securing B2B customers, and generating significant revenue (one company surpassing €150,000). Several brands gained national media attention. Others completed IP roadmaps, built production-ready prototypes, and tested products with over 150 players, while advancing go-to-market strategies. Partnerships and traction were evident, with pilot schemes established, strategic collaborations signed across Europe and North America, and listings secured with leading retailers like Wholefoods Ireland.

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 9

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 15

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 14

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 13

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 12

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 11

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 8

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 7

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 1

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 6

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 5

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 16

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 17

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 18

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 19

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 10

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 2

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 4

Founders Graduate From Phase 2 New Frontiers Tallaght Laura Enache 3

New Frontiers cohort in Tallaght

Speaking after the event, Programme Manager Laura Enache said, “This is the best group I have ever worked with, and the key to their success is teamwork. From day one, they have acted as a team and supported each other, and this commitment is clearly reflected in the outstanding results this cohort has achieved.”

This year’s graduating founders in Tallaght are:

Anna Malsam of Hytropics

Irish-made sparkling electrolyte drink with B vitamins and ginseng, offering zero sugar, zero calories, and natural fruit flavours for clean, refreshing energy and focus.

Carl Stainthorpe of Madra World

Irish brand crafting premium, hands-free dog leashes for urban life—designed by dog owners to combine style, control, and convenience with functional innovation and Irish craftsmanship for stress-free city walks.

Christina von Schmieder of Marbelo

Large Irish-made table game for up to six players—fast, competitive, and fun, combining the best of table football and air hockey with strategic marble
shooting.

Conor Fay of Forest Living

Circular materials company transforming sawdust into durable, design-ready composites—replacing fossil resins with bio-binders for healthier interiors, reduced waste, and scalable local supply chains.

Emer Spain Butterly of Lara Wellness

Developing innovative, evidence-based solutions that empower families during pregnancy and early parenthood—starting with a supplement to combat
morning sickness, and addressing overlooked stress points with practical, measurable improvements in wellbeing.

Gavin Doyle of Examinaite

AI-powered adaptive learning platform for secondary students and teachers—offering curriculum-aligned content, personalized learning, instant feedback, and AI grading to reduce stress and free teachers’ time.

Gavin Hefferon of Poseidon Hair

Men’s haircare brand delivering premium styling products backed by real education—combining barbering expertise and viral online tutorials to make great hair effortless with high-performance formulas and step-by-step guidance.

Graham Ó Maonaigh of Tuarity

AI-powered platform giving managers instant, reliable HR and compliance answers—blending structured knowledge with ready-to-use documents to turn complex tasks into simple, confident decisions.

Manmeet Abroll of The Source

AI-powered platform that transforms complex business planning into a seamless, investor-ready process—offering intelligent templates, automated forecasting, real-time insights, trusted mentorship, and funding connections to drive scalable growth.

Mark Harkin of Vox Talk AI

AI-powered Voice and Vision technology for the security industry—enabling Alarm Receiving Centres to handle high-volume alerts, analyse CCTV footage, and scale operations efficiently with faster responses and lower costs.

Nicola Gillespie of Equigenesis

Developing Ireland’s first commercial equine biotechnology and reproductive science centre—specialising in advanced techniques like ICSI and embryo biopsy to drive genetic excellence and sustainable, science-led breeding solutions.

Owen Murray of URhired

Personalized e-learning platform acting as an Interview Co-Pilot—helping neurodivergent job seekers turn interviews into job offers with tailored guidance and practical tools.

Phuong Vu of Talexa

Turning complex skills data into actionable business intelligence—helping companies see, plan, and grow their workforce with precision through AI-powered upskilling, hiring, and workforce planning.

Piush Vaish of Kojable

Making SMBs the first choice in AI-driven search—unlocking a fresh stream of leads by ensuring customers find them first.

Best of luck to these founders as they take the next steps with their businesses!

Calling startup founders near Tallaght

The New Frontiers Programme Manager in Tallaght is Laura Enache. Learn more about Laura’s approach to running the programme, about Laura’s background, about our Tallaght location, or see our upcoming application deadlines.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Eleven Founders Graduate From New Frontiers In The Border Mid-East Region

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Early in November, 11 founders graduated from Phase 2 of the dual-location New Frontiers programme in Dundalk (DkIT) and Dublin (DCU). The theme of this year’s graduation event was ‘You are not Alone’ and the day included a pitch competition as well as an alumni panel discussion that explored funding.

The event was an opportunity to welcome back inspiring New Frontiers alumni for a panel chaired by Maria Johnston, Director of Business Development, Humanities & Social Sciences at DCU:Innovate. Emma Duffy of My Forever Tooth Fairy; Myles McCorry of Galibier Cycle Clothing; and Sinead Crowther and Denise Lauaki of Soothing Solutions explored the funding routes they pursued, from bootstrapping to customer sales to Enterprise Ireland PSSF and HPSU funding. They shared their journeys since completing New Frontiers and how the skills and knowledge gained during the programme helped to shape their success, reflecting on how they’ve continued to grow and stay connected with the entrepreneurial community.

The graduating founders also took part in an exciting pitch competition, presenting their ventures to panel of judges and demonstrating the innovation and passion that defines this year’s cohort. Congratulations to Hugh Staunton of Aura Sports Cream, winner of the pitch competition sponsored by Regional Development Centre (RDC) client company, Overhaul. Hugh received his prize from Overhauls’ Chief of Staff, VP Maryellen Kelledy.

Speaking about the event, Programme Manager Dara Duffy – who has been standing in for April McCrave since May – commented that it “marked the culmination of an exciting six-month acceleration journey, celebrating the achievements of our 2025 Phase 2 founders who have shown incredible drive, creativity, and commitment in building their start-ups. A huge congratulations to all our graduates — the day was a true celebration of your hard work, dedication, and progress over the past six months. Wishing you every success in the next chapter of your entrepreneurial journey!”

group photo 2 graduation New frontiers Dundalk November 2025

Maria Johnston Dara Duffy Shane Holohan Garrett Duffy P2 graduation New frontiers Dundalk November 2025

Maria Johnston Dara Duffy Fiona Finucane Garrett Duffy P2 graduation New frontiers Dundalk November 2025

Maria Johnston Dara Duffy Ankur Bassi Garrett Duffy P2 graduation New frontiers Dundalk November 2025

Maria Johnston Dara Duffy Lisa Gilmartin Garrett Duffy P2 graduation New frontiers Dundalk November 2025

Maria Johnston Dara Duffy Brain O'Farrell Garrett Duffy P2 graduation New frontiers Dundalk November 2025

Hugh Staunton MaryEllen Kelledy P2 graduation New frontiers Dundalk November 2025

New Frontiers cohort in the border mid-east region

The graduates from this year’s Phase 2 programme in Dundalk and Dublin are:

Shane Holohan of Culture Underground

Culture Underground is a digital platform offering immersive, self-guided cultural experiences via smartphones. It connects culture lovers with the vibrant work of local artists, writers, musicians, and performers through geolocated multimedia content.

Sharon Malone of Finerty Data

Finerty provides an open finance portal for consumers to control and share financial data with their advisors in real time.

Dearbhla Lynch of Align Care Focus

Align Care Focus is a digital platform that supports families and care teams by creating personalised care plans, simplifying coordination for older adults and people with disabilities.

Allen O’Donoghue of Face Painted Kids (FPK)

Face Painted Kids is a SaaS company dedicated to building AI-powered, adaptive solutions that improve education and therapy for neurodiverse individuals. FPK operates with a dual-product approach, focusing on both education and therapy and behavioural support, through flagship products, FPK University, CNS App, and FPK AI Dynamic Solutions.

Brian O’Farrell of Divot Pivot

A subscription-based platform where golfers connect to hosts and are hosted at clubs, increasing accessibility and community engagement in golf. The platform will ultimately include features such as golfer matchmaking, a credit-based system for tiered access, and a dedicated section for beginners to connect with teaching professionals.

Hugh Staunton of Aura Sports Cream

Aura Sports Cream is a natural, strong, pain relieving cream intended for young athletes and those dissatisfied with the current available options. Aura helps them to continue to perform and live their lives, by creating a deep, lasting heating sensation unlike other conventional options such as Voltarol.

Hugh Duggan of Mojo Health

A healthcare service platform that supports therapists set up in part-time independent practice (validation, bookings, payments, tax, and medical notes) to increase capacity and provides a single, free, integrated platform for clients (patients, carers, GPs, charities, etc.) so they can find, book, and pay for care.

Ankur Bassi of TopDog Store

The TopDog Store is the largest manufacturer and global exporter of innovative and unique drag lure and wireless timer machines that are used for training canines, raptors, equines and human athletes for competition and general fitness.

David Scullion of DavidScullion.com

DavidScullion.com is an online wellness platform that empowers individuals and organisations globally by providing accessible, expertly created yoga and meditation content that enhances overall wellbeing and fosters personal and professional growth.

Fiona Finucane of Finperiti

Finperiti is a workflow app uniquely embedded in Microsoft 365 to enable the collection and storage of client confidential data (onboarding), engrained in the firm’s BAU and existing architecture at a low-cost price point.

Lisa Gilmartin of Snugz

Snugz creates emotionally supportive products for families, helping them foster children’s emotional development through play.

Best of luck to these founders as they take the next steps with their businesses! Congratulations to the five participants who will now progress to Phase 3 of New Frontiers: Brian O’Farrell of Divot Pivot, Fiona Finucane of Finperiti, Lisa Gilmartin of Snugz, Shane Holohan of Culture Underground, and Sharon Malone of Finerty Data.

Calling startup founders near Dundalk

The RDC (Regional Development Centre) in Dundalk and DCU:Innovate in Dublin jointly deliver the New Frontiers programme in the Border mid-east region. This partnership between Dundalk Institute of Technology and Dublin City University means that New Frontiers participants have access to the expertise, facilities, and resources of both locations. The New Frontiers Programme Manager for this dual location is April McCrave. Learn more about April and the locations (Dundalk and Dublin) or see our upcoming application deadlines.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Laying The Right Groundwork Helps Startups Prepare For Export Success

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Ireland punches well above its weight when it comes to exporting, reflecting our long-standing emphasis on openness, innovation, and outward-looking ambition. But companies don’t just stumble into international markets on a whim. Successful exporters build the foundations for growth across their business first, then focus on enhancing their export capabilities and skills to tap into their export potential when the time is right.

If you run a business in Ireland that’s starting to gain traction (or is focused) domestically, export could still feel a long way off. There’s enough to deal with at home. But waiting until you need to export means you’ve already lost years of potential and possibly made decisions that will require time and effort to reverse. In this blog, we look at why exporting is an important consideration for Irish companies and how the Get Exporting programme could help you get export-ready.

We also spoke to someone who has been through the Get Exporting programme, New Frontiers alumna Dr Wendy Oke of TeachKloud. Wendy’s near-term goal is to establish India as a key growth market for TeachKloud’s comprehensive childcare management software, targeting Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities where there is strong demand for affordable, technology-driven childcare solutions. Longer term, she sees India as a gateway to wider Asian markets, building on the exporting capability developed through the Get Exporting programme.

At what point will you outgrow the domestic market?

Ireland represents just 0.06% of the global population, or 1 in every 1,500 people on Earth. Even a company that dominates their niche domestically faces structural constraints in Ireland that simply don’t exist in larger markets. In some cases, there may not even be a market domestically.

Selling to the EU, for example, allows you to reach a population that’s 81 times larger than Ireland’s. A bigger market also creates fundamentally different growth dynamics; it doesn’t just have ‘more customers’ but deeper verticals, more niches that can sustain a business, and buyer segments that don’t exist here.

Other markets may also expose you to different use cases and requirements. An international client’s bespoke request might reveal a product gap you didn’t encounter domestically, driving innovation that then strengthens your offering everywhere.

Why being export-ready matters

Building with export in mind doesn’t mean selling internationally tomorrow. It means making choices today that open you up to the potential in export markets.

Risk mitigation

Ireland’s economy is strong but concentrated. Regulatory changes, sector-specific shocks, or a dominant competitor entering your space can crater your domestic business overnight. Companies with revenue distributed across markets survive shocks that kill single-geography players.

Race to the top

Export markets can often deliver better margins than domestic sales. This is in part because of economies of scale but also because many mature economies have customer segments that recognise and pay for quality. Where value-based purchasing is normalised and price wars aren’t the default, you won’t need to compete purely on price.

Funding and valuations

When you export, you prove to potential investors that your model travels. It shows you’ve solved harder problems such as cross-border payments, multi-jurisdiction compliance, culturally adapted messaging, or distributed support. Businesses with operating leverage beyond one small economy have a significant advantage.

Product architecture

If your pricing, contracts, or product roadmap is designed solely for your current domestic clients, you risk creating technical debt. Reworking these later to meet the needs of international clients (or to follow a multinational into new markets) can be costly and delay growth. Designing with future markets in mind makes scaling smoother and more efficient.

Operational foundation

Key ops considerations like production capacity, supply chain and logistics, compliance frameworks, or customer support structures either work across jurisdictions or will require expensive parallel systems. Companies that build clean, portable operations from the start avoid the rebuild tax.

Fast-track your export journey with the Get Exporting programme

If your business has the ambition to export but does not know how and where to start, the Get Exporting programme is for you. It’s delivered in partnership with Enterprise Ireland (EI), Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), InterTradeIreland, and Údarás na Gaeltachta, and will start in early 2026.

The programme is for companies that have a deep understanding of their sector and the ambition to export. They have proven the business domestically or can demonstrate that their product/service meets a clear market need, backed by buyer feedback or confirmed by key opinion leaders.

Get Exporting helps companies to test their proposition in international markets, exploring whether what works domestically will stack up in other markets as well as which market to look for. There are various steps on the pathway, which can be grouped into three key phases:

A free readiness assessment – in the form of a one-to-one online call with an advisor – will assess how ready you are to export. If you are eligible for the programme, you’ll move on to the second phase. If you aren’t yet ready, you will be given a clear action plan to work on with your relevant agency advisor.
When on the programme, you will start working on your export fundamentals. The pathway includes pre-recorded webinars, tools, templates, and one-to-ones with an experienced export advisor.
Areas you will look at include market research, pricing and profitability, distribution channels, and value propositions. The result of this is the analysis and selection of an optimal target market based on the resources available to the business. You will work with a market specialist to get feedback on your proposition in the market(s) and establish if there is a real and accessible opportunity there worth progressing.
If a clear market opportunity is identified, you advance to the next phase. This involves in-person and online workshops that focus on key sales and marketing skills you’ll need such as lead generation, selling and pitching, negotiating, plus overall resource and finance planning.
Having developed an export action plan, an experienced market specialist will help you test it, providing introductions to further validate the interest in your product in the export market.

For Wendy, there were three key benefits from the Get Exporting programme. “My experience was extremely positive. It provided a broad strategic overview and detailed, actionable insights. The most beneficial elements for TeachKloud were the workshops (which helped us refine our approach to assessing international childcare software demand); the Export Plan fundamentals (which gave us a clear structure for mapping our India market entry strategy); and the 1:1 mentoring sessions (where we applied the frameworks directly to our business and test assumptions around pricing, regulation, and positioning in the Indian market). These mentoring sessions, with my amazing mentor Mouna, were invaluable and made a significant difference to our progress, thus far.”

Learn more about the programme, including eligibility criteria such as current export revenue thresholds, on the Enterprise Ireland site.

Prepare for international markets

If you aren’t ready to export, but believe in being prepared, there are things you can do now to ensure you’re in the best shape to start further down the line.

Build market intelligence through continuous monitoring. Subscribe to sector-specific publications and newsletters from target markets. Attend events in your sector (in-person or virtually). Track how competitors position themselves internationally and what regulatory or industry shifts are happening elsewhere. This research costs almost nothing but builds a foundational understanding of how your space operates beyond Ireland.
Test your assumptions early rather than waiting until you’re ready to sell. Talk to customers with international operations, advisors who know target markets, or prospects in those geographies. Validate whether your approach translates into other markets. Run small experiments such as targeted LinkedIn outreach, test ad campaigns, or exploratory sales conversations and keep collecting evidence about whether your proposition works as-is or needs adaptation while changes are still cheap to make.
Design for portability by not baking in assumptions about how your home market works -currency defaults, regulatory references, labelling or formulations standards, distribution models, tax structures. Build systems that accept variability rather than hardwiring one country’s norms. Structure supplier agreements, product features, and operational processes to accommodate different jurisdictions without requiring ground-up rebuilds.
Build compliance layering by remembering that compliance is a framework you build on, not a checkbox you tick. Document your data handling, privacy controls, and security practices in frameworks that map across jurisdictions (GDPR, SOC 2, ISO standards, US state privacy laws, etc.). Meeting one rigorous standard often gets you a good way towards meeting others.

Learning from those who have gone before

Preparation doesn’t require massive investment, but it does mean saying no to shortcuts that feel efficient now but lock you into the Irish market. The Irish companies that have built Ireland’s export track record didn’t export because they got lucky; they made choices early that kept exporting a viable option. When the time came, they moved ahead instead of spending two years preparing.

Now that Wendy has had time to start executing her export plans, what have been her biggest learnings? “The biggest insight has been the importance of localisation beyond translation. Exporting educational technology isn’t just about moving the same product into a new region – it requires understanding cultural differences, regulatory requirements, and trust-building with childcare providers and parents. In the case of India, we realised that factors such as device accessibility, price sensitivity, and compliance with local childcare regulations are as important as core product features. Another learning has been the need to develop partnerships with local stakeholders (such as publishers and training providers) to accelerate adoption. I have also learned that the roadmap will take much longer than previously anticipated and so, patience will be key to sustained growth.”

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Startup In Dublin: Learn More About New Frontiers On TU Dublin’s Grangegorman Campus

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

In Grangegorman, Programme Manager Diane Hurley leads one of the three New Frontiers programmes at TU Dublin (the other two being Blanchardstown and Tallaght). In this blog, we’ll learn more about the Grangegorman programme and Diane’s background.

Diane Hurley brings a wealth of experience to the role of New Frontiers Programme Manager. She previously founded a small enterprise, co-founded a European startup, and managed chapters of the founder network Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) across 15 cities in Europe. Before joining TU Dublin’s Enterprise Engagement team in 2017, she lived and worked internationally across EMEA and Asia, spending time in Spain, Japan, and Germany.

Diane Hurley, New Frontiers in Grangegorman

She first worked for New Frontiers as a Consultant for Blanchardstown in 2017 and joined New Frontiers Grangegorman full-time in 2021. Diane has now worked with over 50 high potential startup companies through the programme. She leads with a strong focus on founder development, ensuring there is support for them in the areas they need the most.

“We really get behind our founders. Our journey with startups through all the programmes we deliver here (not just New Frontiers but initiatives such as ivenTUre or TrailblazHER™) is about developing the person. From my EO background I have a keen interest in strategy, goal setting and metrics, and go-to-market strategy. That’s because of my own experience in a startup and because the founders I work with are also focused on this.”

One university, three programmes

The three campuses of Tallaght, Blanchardstown, and Grangegorman run their own programmes but with a high degree of collaboration and alignment of best practice. Start dates for phases are staggered across the year.

The programmes run at full capacity including Grangegorman which has a strong pipeline of new high potential ventures. Although New Frontiers is open to most sectors, there has been a notable uplift in AI-driven businesses and by extension higher expectations of producing a finely polished MVP early in the game. Diane’s approach is therefore to frontload the six-month full-time Phase 2.

“We dive straight into the main tools and resources. That means a deep dive into business model fundamentals, assumption testing, and early customer validation methods. Founders build plans based on tested assumptions rather than guesswork, so they are ready to engage customers with something solid, which we encourage as early as possible. Other areas I bring in are design thinking, prototyping, and MVP readiness. Parallel to the customer engagement and market validation which is ongoing, reviews are about supporting the startup identify gaps to build strategy around to move the startup forward. We aim to offer ad hoc support later in the programme customised to meeting the startup where it is.”

Diane also works with industry expert and serial entrepreneurs to facilitate the programme training. She aims to find trainers who are as passionate about seeing the founders progress their businesses. She looks for people who have a similar approach and mindset to the team. Another aspect to the programme is to draw on the alumni startups to deliver the programme.

“I brought in the Blueprints and Breakthrough series, which is in its third year now. It is an online session tailored to mirror the programme content for real world insights into the founder’s journey. Founders who have come through the programme return to share on their experiences of GTM strategy, raising finance and sales. It has proven to be very successful.”

A deep understanding of the startup journey

It’s clear that Diane’s approach is guided by a deep understanding of the ecosystem and a relentless focus on what moves founders forward. Her commitment to lifelong learning says it all: an MBA from TU Dublin with a Capstone based on the ‘Effectiveness of Tax Relief Incentives for Irish Start-ups’ and international study trips to Montreal for the John Molson MBA International Case Competition as well as Silicon Valley; a Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Thinking, Innovation & Entrepreneurship from Trinity College Dublin; an Advanced Certificate in Corporate Governance & Ethics from the London School of Business & Finance; and a BA in Applied Languages & Intercultural Studies from Dublin City University.

Drawing inspiration from leading accelerators such as Y Combinator and Techstars, and applying frameworks such as Rockefeller Habits or Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up methodology, she continues to evolve the programme to deliver what founders need as they respond to the ever-changing business landscape. One example was moving the intellectual property workshop to Phase 1 instead of delivering it during Phase 2. The rise of AI and changing VC/market expectations mean MVPs are being launched earlier than ever and founders need the right protections in place.

“Another aspect to the programme, that we think works well, is the three programmes including Grangegorman have introduced an investor pitch panel competition, parallel to the new frontiers regular schedule content and supports. It provides an opportunity for the group to practise pitching , and gives them early exposure to investor questions. Practice pitch panels take place throughout the programme, but the competition introduces real stakes and feedback that closely mirror actual fundraising scenarios. It has elevated the quality of their pitch decks and pitching skills to an entirely new level.”

Continuing support and connections

Mindful of the cliff-edge that startups can experience when they transition from a high-support environment to independence, Diane maintains strong relationships within the ecosystem. From corporate sponsors like PwC and Philip Lee to the coal-face support offered by FR Kelly or Furthr, the programme provides a network that extends beyond the curriculum. Some alumni will apply to Enterprise Ireland’s Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) during or after the programme and potentially then go on to HPSU status, while others will become clients of the Local Enterprise Office.

“From beginning to end, we reinforce to need to lead with a customer-driven approach. And encourage continuous testing of t the market and stickiness of the product or service. We support startups who plan to raise capital or those who are planning to commercialise and drive sales.”

TU Dublin’s Greenway Hub

The programme is located in TU Dublin’s Greenway Hub. The Grangegorman campus spans 75 acres of Dublin’s city centre and the €21 million incubator offers training space, hot desks, own-door offices, and state-of-the-art labs. Client companies in the Greenway Hub include programme alumni, spin outs from the university, research-driven companies, and commercialisation fund companies.

The Greenway Hub

“A benefit of our programmes is access to a range of researchers across different sectors through the faculties of TU Dublin Innovation Vouchers are approved a lot quicker these days, than in previous years. Our startups have had a lot of success identifying IP around algorithms and other technology, build wireframes, or develop robust planning around AI architecture. We also work to connect founders with university interns. At times the School of Marketing may offer 4th year students support to research the startups markets and marketing strategy We currently have one founder working with four interns on market research which would prove expensive as hired support.”

Another benefit is that New Frontiers Phase 2 participants can enrol as students of TU Dublin, gaining access to a wide range of student discounts across Dublin. The grounds offer something for everyone: football pitches, a newly finished academic library, yoga classes, a gym, and meeting rooms.

Previous participants from Grangegorman

Having delivered New Frontiers for well over a decade, Grangegorman has quite the list of notable alumni. One example is Phorest, the well-known salon management and scheduling platform. 10 years on from the programme, it has achieved around €50 million in annual revenues, selling to 150, 000 clients globally.

It’s a case study Diane references regularly: a company using its continuous customer-driven approach as its competitive advantage – demonstrating the value of continuous customer engagement when developing tech. She works closely with serial entrepreneurs who encourage the founders to get out and test the market in whatever way they can, running various campaigns to understand their buyer personas and early adopters.

Recent success stories from Grangegorman include Joel Olympio of Focus Co (enhancing and protecting focus), Deirdre Schroeder of GoodBrew (creamy cold brew coffee), Stephen O’Dwyer of Trojan Track (AI analysis of horse movement), Nipun Kathuria of Smile Genius (dental practice management), and Jason O’Gorman of Roamr (corporate travel disruptor).

Learn more about the programme in Grangegorman, about Diane, and about Enterprise Engagement at TU Dublin.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Michael Furey On The Success Of Ronspot: “The Most Important Thing Is Research”

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Michael Furey is a New Frontiers alumnus and the founder of Ronspot, a booking solution for enterprise-level companies. In just seven years, the company has grown from a bespoke tool created for a single customer to a global platform serving clients in 40 countries. We sat down with Michael to learn more.

How did the idea for Ronspot come about and how did New Frontiers help you develop that early idea?

I have a background in software and had previously started and sold a business. I started some other businesses subsequently and was also doing some technical consulting work. The business I had going into New Frontiers – which was back in 2015 – was totally different, but the Programme Manager Tony O’Kelly always told us to be open to pivots and not wedded to our business idea. The programme helps you understand the mechanics of running a company, however what I found most helpful was the high focus on research.

Michael Furey, founder of Ronspot

I left the New Frontiers still with the same software idea in mind. A little later I was approached by a pharma company I was consulting with to come up with a solution for their employee parking. They had 300 employees and a 50-space carpark plus overspill parking somewhere else. Their spreadsheet solution wasn’t working for them, and they had a very clear idea about what they wanted instead.

I took that brief and was able to develop and deliver the solution very quickly. That was in 2018, and we went from there. New Frontiers had taught me that things change and that is where the opportunities are. The feedback for Ronspot was very positive. Even with the years invested in my previous ideas, I was more open to leaving them behind and focusing on this business instead.

You subsequently raised funding and expanded the platform. What was the impact on the business?

Covid changed everything. Carparks were empty and despite some annual contracts we had in place there was the real question of whether we still had a business there. I believed there was an opportunity to expand into areas like hot desking and meeting rooms to support hybrid working. We had been bootstrapping to that point, but this was something that would take investment. I looked for angel investment through HBAN and was able to quickly put funding together. We have done two seed rounds to date totalling €1.7 million, both through HBAN and with backing from Enterprise Ireland.

On New Frontiers, you talk a lot about fundraising and whether you will bootstrap and grow organically or raise funding. I initially thought I would never want to give up part of the business to grow. Today, I see it very differently. If you’re at that early stage in a new market that’s hungry for what you’ve built, you could grow organically. However, we wouldn’t be where we are today without the funding we raised.

It made all the difference because we went from subsisting to being able to plan with confidence. Even though we are doing well and growing, I imagine we will go for funding again. Every time you earn, you spend more (the market is shifting, the competition is evolving, or some other event that requires your focus); being able to raise money so that you can plan the next two to three years is very important. Without the funding I believe we would still be here, but we would be a small team of a few people serving a tiny market.

So where is Ronspot today and how are you evolving?

Today, we have a team of around 15 in Ireland and 30 in India. We have 450 customers around the world – a large proportion are in Ireland, the UK, and Europe but we also have clients in North and South America and the Far East. They are organisations like American Express, Novartis, and the Central Bank of Ireland. The business is a success, but we still think hard about what problem we are solving, whether we are still solving the problem we were solving before, and what problems we’ll need to solve in two years’ time.

I often refer back to my experience on New Frontiers and how we learned to be ready to change, to pivot, to evolve if necessary. To keep a business running there’s a requirement to constantly think about what can change. You have to be a bit clairvoyant. Take us as an example: the explosion in hybrid working was a great opportunity, but it also meant there was an explosion in competitor solutions. At one point we were simply a booking solution, and now Ronspot is evolving into a whole workplace management platform.

What advice would you give other founders looking to build a successful and sustainable startup?

The most important thing you can do for your startup is your research. We all love our product, and we get very focused on what we’re building. However, the focus should really be on What is the problem? What is the market? What is the competitive landscape? Tony O’Kelly used to tell us to keep five things in mind: product, market, solution, team, and business model. Those five pillars are absolutely crucial to a successful business. It’s difficult for someone who wants to dive in and make something and start selling it. You may develop something great, but the question remains will people pay for it? Research before you start anything.

Also, you need to be an opportunist to some degree. Keep your finger on the pulse and understand the way the world is going. When we first built our solution, carparks were full every day. Then Covid came and being quick to react proved to be super important because sometimes opportunity just arrives, and you have to be ready to go for it. Which is why going for funding was one of my best decisions. If you have cash available, it’s much easier to make quick decisions that will hopefully benefit the business.

You hear a lot of criticism of state agencies but our experiences with them (we’ve been supported by the likes of HBAN, Furthr, and Enterprise Ireland) have always been very good. They really work hard for you. So, I’d advise other founders to take the help that is out there. I found the New Frontiers programme fantastic, particularly how the facilitators challenge you, how they change your mindset. Even with the experience I already had, I learned so much.

About Ronspot

Ronspot is a leading workplace management platform that gives workplace leaders the data and tools to make confident decisions about their office. The platform streamlines hybrid operations- desk, meeting room, and parking management while delivering real-time insights that drive smarter space planning. Know exactly how your workplace is being used, eliminate wasted costs, and design an office that employees actually want to work in. Trusted by global enterprises and ISO 27001-certified, Ronspot transforms workplace complexity into clarity, efficiency, and exceptional employee experiences.

Learn more about the business at ronspotflexwork.com.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Showcase Day Celebrates Twelve Ambitious Founders In County Dublin (IADT & NovaUCD)

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

On 26th September, a new cohort of founders graduated from the New Frontiers programme in Co. Dublin. These early-stage entrepreneurs have startups in AI, medtech, automation, gaming, and the circular economy, and have spent the past six months on Phase 2 of the programme developing their founder toolkit.

Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme supports over 500 participants every year across 18 locations nationwide. It helps founders move their business from concept to market and includes a €15,000 tax-free allowance. The programme in Co. Dublin is led by the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dún Laoghaire (IADT) in partnership with NovaUCD.

Also attending the showcase event were members of the startup ecosystem such as Ciara Concannon, National Programme Manager at Enterprise Ireland; Liam Cronin, Director of Innovation at University College Dublin; Lisa Brown, Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown; and Rachel Gallagher, Enterprise and Innovation Manager at the Media Cube (IADT). The keynote was given by programme alumnus Pierce Dargan of Equine Medirecord. The ceremony also rewarded four standout participants from the programme, as follows:

Best Pitch award: Daniel Bergin-Holly of Biscuit Factory Games
One to Watch award: Phuong Vu of Data Buckets
Most Likely to Scale award: Ming Zhao of Datamnis
Most Likely to Succeed award: Jo Cheng of Earth Visio

Speaking at the event, Rachel Gallagher remarked on the success of the programme and the partnership with NovaUCD, concluding, “It’s really successful from the point of view of the founder, and watching a founder grow from incubation all the way through to prototype, a real solution to a real world problem that they can market and commercialise and succeed on the global stage.”

New Frontiers IADT Sep 2025 Award winners

New Frontiers IADT Sep 2025 Pierce Dargan Equine Medirecord Keynote

New Frontiers IADT Sep 2025 Dan BH Biscuit Factory Games

New Frontiers IADT Sep 2025 One Watch Liam Cronin Phung Vu

New Frontiers IADT Sep 2025 Most Likely Scale Rachel Gallager Ming Zhao

New Frontiers IADT Sep 2025 Most likely succeed Lisa Brown LEO Jo Cheng

New Frontiers IADT Sep 2025 Best Pitch Rachel Gallagher Dan Bergin Holly

Ciara Concannon, National Programme Manager, highlighted that “New Frontiers is incredibly important to Enterprise Ireland, it supports individuals to become entrepreneurs, to take a fledging business idea, and get a really supportive environment around them to help them stand it up as a start-up business concept and grow from there.”

The New Frontiers cohort in Co. Dublin

The graduates from IADT/NovaUCD are:

Alwin Stephen of Neuramodal

Built for enterprise decision-makers, EDGE empowers leaders to make smarter, faster, and compliant decisions across every function.

Kevin Collins of Echofold

LumaHue is an all-in-one health hub that gives GPs and patients clear, actionable health insights – transforming proactive care into something as effortless as checking your phone.

Ming Zhao of Datamnis

Manufacturing process optimisation using advanced analytics and AI to solve problems and optimise processes for sustainable manufacturing.

Phuong Lan Vu of Databuckets

The world’s first AI agent data analytics solution for large-scale mobile apps and games, accelerating the transformation from raw data to actionable insights thousands of times faster.

Sadhbh Wood of Bean Around

Bean Around is a coffee repurposing company that transforms used coffee grounds into innovative and high-value products.

Anthony Fildes of Nixerly

A B2B platform connecting construction professionals with businesses. It offers a searchable database of verified workers and paid job postings, streamlining hiring in the industry.

Jo Cheng of EarthVisio

Google maps for the underground utilities.

Dan Bergin-Holly of Biscuit Factory Games

High-quality, short-session videogames for the PC and handheld console market, with a focus on high-return game genres at competitive price points.

Daniel Smyth of Innerbloom, t/a Tendr

Tendr connects Ireland’s construction industry, empowering contractors, consultants, and clients to build together.

Darragh O’Regan of LifePath Solutions

An online platform to help people with disabilities and their service providers to identify support needs, create support plans, and track progress.

Irial O’Farrell of RoDi HR

An innovative approach to performance management, designing out many of the flaws of the current standard approaches with a more nuanced rating system, clarity on good performance, and a mechanism to keep objectives front-of-mind.

Vaibhav Gupta of Appfend

A B2B SaaS platform to train engineers in secure development practices through browser-based interactive labs.

Calling startup founders County Dublin

The New Frontiers programme in Co. Dublin is based in Media Cube in Dún Laoghaire and NovaUCD in Dublin. The Programme Manager for the IADT/NovaUCD programme is Susanne L’Estrange. “New Frontiers provides entrepreneurs with the time, structure and support they need to refine their vision. At the start of the programme, participants often arrive with early-stage ideas in need of validation. By the end, they leave equipped with a clear plan, a defined direction, and the confidence to move their business forward.” Find out more about Susanne and see our upcoming application deadlines (there’s still time to apply to their upcoming Phase 1) or register your interest in the programme.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Scientist Turned Founder Margaret Rae Is Building A Prevention System For The Aquaculture Sector

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

While most entrepreneurs wait for the right moment to launch their startup, scientist Margaret Rae chose the middle of a global pandemic to turn her attention to one of aquaculture’s most persistent problems: sea lice.

CTO Michael Flynn and Margaret Rae Konree Innovation

Michael Flynn, CTO, and Margaret Rae

For Margaret, this was an opportunity that couldn’t wait. Salmon production means keeping fish in densities that are easily exploited by parasites like sea lice, which are naturally present in the water. In a farming environment they can spread rapidly, and a bad infestation could mean culling the entire stock. While numerous treatments are available, they are not as effective in the longer term as producers or regulators would like.

“I was doing some consultancy work at the time. In fact, that was the business I had when I joined Phase 1 of New Frontiers. Out of it I had the possibility of putting some initial cash behind this idea and in 2021 I decided to go for it and founded Konree Innovation.”

The solution Margaret has been working on is a preventative approach targeting parasite loads in the water rather than waiting for the sea lice to attach themselves to the fish. The sustainable, deep-tech solution combines hardware and software, using machine vision, machine learning, and AI to address this expensive problem at its source.

Something this innovative and complex needs significant investment. Covid had created what Margaret describes as “backlog of companies” that needed funding, making an already competitive landscape even more crowded. Instead of jumping straight into fundraising, she worked through a series of support programmes that would take her from concept to prototype.

After completing Phase 1 of New Frontiers, Margaret joined BIM Aquaculture Innovation Studio run by Hatch Blue, which gave her crucial insight into aquaculture’s global scale and helped her further develop her business plan. After that, the EU-funded Empower Start (Empower Cumasú) programme in Galway helped her refine her business model and prepare for investor pitches.

At the end of 2021, Margaret rejoined the New Frontiers programme, completing Phase 2 and being accepted onto Phase 3 in 2022. “All this time I was working on the science, but also refining the messaging, the opportunity, and the pitch. Coming out of these programmes you have all this material you can pitch – in different ways depending on the circumstances – to find a cofounder, to find your team, to investors, or to stakeholders who could offer support. And you can also put all of that into grant applications, which I did.”

In 2022, the pilot Women TechEU programme awarded grants to support 50 women-led startups involved in cutting-edge and disruptive innovations. Margaret was one of these 50 women, and one of only three women from Ireland to receive a sizeable cheque with no dilution.

“This was a game-changer. It enabled milestones like website development, technology advancement, and decisive in-person meetings at Norwegian trade shows. Norway is a crucial location for Konree Innovation as it represents 50% of the total market and is the key industry influencer globally.”

After securing funding that included Enterprise Ireland’s Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) in May 2023, Margaret was able to hire two R&D biologists. Focusing on the biology of both parasite and fish, they built a huge biological digital image library for the machine vision, machine learning, and AI model development. An organic Irish salmon producer also came on board for a sampling programme.

In this year’s Aquatech Ireland Pavilion at the world’s largest aquaculture technology event, Aqua Nor, Konree Innovation’s image quality caught the attention of researchers from across the industry. “It was very validating, because our imagery really is amazing compared to what else is out there. Our images are very clear; you can even see incredible detail in the larvae and their appendages. And it’s in colour!”

Margaret’s journey also illustrates the brutal economics facing deep-tech hardware startups. “It’s very difficult – increasingly difficult – to raise money. A lot of investors just don’t want to invest in hardware, plus the AI bubble has skewed attention and capital. For deep-tech companies, the ‘de minimis’ limit of €300,000 in any three-year period is insufficient. There should be another criterion used there as these companies have to gather a skilled team at the forefront of technology and build physical prototypes and that is all very expensive.”

Throughout 2023 and into 2024, Margaret pitched for investment. Coupled with the angel investment she was able to secure, two more funding awards came into play as she continued to develop her solution, the Marine Institute Industry-Led Awards 2024 and the Circular Economy Innovation Fund 2024. That funding enabled a successful Enterprise Ireland HPSU application this year. It’s a step-by-step process where you keep building on your progress.

Today, the Konree Innovation team has grown to seven people, including engineers, biologists, and an aquaculture operations specialist. Margaret’s hiring strategy reflects a deep understanding of her market: “The salmon world is a very small world. Globally there are around 140 companies farming salmon and everyone knows everyone. While it’s a small volume, it’s very high value market.”

This intimacy demands careful navigation. “You have to proceed very carefully and ultimately you must be certain your technology works before venturing out. You have to meet the producers yourself and build trust with them first. There is a lot of misinformation about salmon farming and about lice in the public domain, so you need to demonstrate that you aren’t in that misinformation space and that what you’re doing is a good, realisable thing and you aren’t just some boffin selling a dream.”

Through the ATU Innovation Hubs, where the company is based, comes access to the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs). Their programme came with a small amount of funding earlier this year. Integrating with ESA is also a strategic move for future use cases of Konree’s technology platform. Although currently focused on sea lice, it has broader applications for ocean health monitoring.

Another benefit is satellites. “Through the ESA, we’ll be able to access satellites. Salmon production is carried out in remote areas where connectivity with mobile networks can be poor. To get data from a salmon pen to us and our customer will sometimes require satellite connection. In the future, we see thousands of our units worldwide and the best way to conduct those firmware and software updates all at once will be via satellite. From both a cost and sustainability perspective, this makes a lot more sense than sending engineers to countless sites.”

Margaret is appreciative of the support given by agencies like EI and Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM). Being invited to exhibit in the Irish pavilion at Aqua Nor is one example where they were able to get real visibility at an important trade expo and start conversations with producers from countries like Norway, Scotland, Chile, and Canada that will prove hugely valuable for the business.

“At all points, having the right people and connections is vital and will help you get to your next stage, whatever that is. It can make your journey a lot smoother.” Her future funding goals will combine investment, paid trials, and grants (as with previous grant applications, these will always be carefully chosen to align with business objectives).

The transition from scientist to founder has yielded some hard-won insights. The legal aspects of investment, for instance, require founders to factor extended timelines into their planning. Having keen investors identified before forming the company would have helped Konree Innovation, although Covid meant this would have been particularly challenging.

Margaret also discovered that gender bias continues to be more pervasive than she expected. “I didn’t recognise how much things are stacked against you. You form a company, and you assume it’s a level playing field. But it really isn’t. That was actually quite shocking.” The ‘de minimis’ cap for startup companies that are still in R&D is another limiting factor. To compete at a global level, she feels strongly that supports should reflect the scale of investment required.

Margaret Rae’s methodical progression from idea to implementation proves that execution is everything. Deep-tech founders must be builders in every sense – of technology, of teams, and of the relationships that sustain both. Her approach offers a template for other founders willing to navigate these complexities, but turning the tide on sea parasites will ultimately come down to her persistence and precision.

Learn more about Konree Innovation on their website.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

I Left You A Note Turns Negatives Into Positives For Hotels

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Good customer experience is the foundation of any sustainable business. It fosters loyalty, justifies pricing, and differentiates you in competitive markets. Conversely, a poor experience damages your reputation and ultimately costs you money. Stephen O’Sullivan saw an opportunity to improve customer experience through better engagement and created I Left You A Note, which is currently delighting hotels and their guests across the country. We spoke to Stephen to learn more.

The service recovery paradox

There’s a phenomenon called the service recovery paradox, where a customer thinks more highly of a company after it has corrected a service failure than if the failure had never happened at all. But what happens when you don’t know you’re failing a customer in the first place? They may say nothing about it to you but go on to complain loudly online once it’s too late for you to do anything.

For businesses in the service industry, this may be an all too familiar pattern. And in the hotel sector, it can be a very expensive cycle. Stephen has crunched the numbers and calculated that one bad review could cost a 70-bed hotel between €15,000 and €20,000 the following month. It’s a loss that’s difficult to spot by nature, but it’s very real. And often avoidable.

The original idea for I Left You A Note was simple. A QR code displayed prominently in hotels and restaurants allows guests to quickly send a message to the front desk or front of house if there’s something not right. Stephen already had experience working on an app project – he had worked with a developer to create an app that helps runners find people to run with – so he was keen to jump in and get hands-on with this new project.

Client discovery and a change in focus

The New Frontiers programme was recommended to Stephen, and he joined Phase 1 in Cork in May 2024. Two major factors shaped the development of his platform: AI and customer discovery.

“The client discovery was so valuable. We spoke to about 80 restaurants and 40 hotels and did a handful of pilots. What we learned was that restaurants did value the tool but that its benefit was much higher in a hotel. The breakdown of communications in that environment has a bigger impact. This showed us that there were other areas the platform could evolve into. The core part is the same, but it has changed from being something very simple to something very complex.”

I Left You A Note turns negatives into positives for the hotels. It supports the whole guest journey (pre-stay, in-stay, and post-stay) by giving them easy communication channels and fast resolution of questions or issues. A digital concierge is tailored with a knowledge bank specific to each hotel so that it can answer common questions about things such as parking, pets, or pool opening times (it currently handles up to 85% of standard recurring queries, freeing up around 0.8% FTE for the front desk). Once guests are checked in, messages can be sent about timely information such as the day’s specials in the restaurant. After checking out, the guest receives a short questionnaire about their stay. If they answer positively, they can then be prompted to leave a rating on one of the review websites.

Actionable insights for hotels

Stephen spent 25 years working as an actuary, so it’s not surprising to learn he is truly passionate about data and statistics. Hotels, he explains, are sitting on treasure-troves of data that go mostly unexplored. By harnessing AI, he has developed the platform to analyse all this information and feed it back in a digestible format that the hotel can action. A sentiment analysis is produced each week and there are reports such as a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) that go deeper for informed decision-making.

“We were building the first version of I Left You A Note as the AI boom was happening. We were lucky in that regard – if we had been building it a year earlier, we would have had to essentially start again to bring the AI capability into the platform. Our competitors have the advantage of being established in the market, but retrofitting AI into their solutions is not proving easy for them.”

After Phase 1 of New Frontiers, Stephen joined the Phase 2 programme in Limerick and was later accepted onto their Phase 3. In the past year, he has built out the functionality of the platform, onboarded a range of hotel clients across Ireland, put together his panel of business advisors, and prepared to raise funding. The team’s focus has shifted from platform development to building awareness, generating sales, business development, and backend support for clients.

Using AI to work smarter

AI hasn’t just been integrated into the platform; Stephen uses it to help him work on the business too. He has created GPTs specialising in programming, sales, marketing, and other functions that he uses on a daily basis. By embracing these capabilities, he has been able to grow the business faster and spare himself the huge challenge of funding substantial staffing costs so early on. He advises other founders to do the same.

“If you’re not sure what these AI platforms can do or if you’re doing it ‘right’, ask them. You have to work at it – it’s like learning a language – but just start trying things out. It’s incredible intuitive once you do a bit with it. You’ll find your way and learn what to expect and what the limitations are. If you can use AI to unlock data or information or services, the money and effort you’ll put in are very small compared to what you’ll get back. The return on investment for AI is through the roof, so don’t let the data sit there wasted but find ways to tap it!”

With this combination of hard work, data-centric product development, and AI support, Stephen has been able to develop a complex platform with customisable intelligence in record time. He has taken I Left You A Note beyond a mere engagement platform to something that integrates seamlessly into the daily realities of hotel management and delivers tangible value. It liberates staff from mundane tasks so that they can get out and do what they trained for – helping people to have an enjoyable and memorable stay. Stephen went on to win the Best Business Innovation award at the showcase event that marks the end of Phase 2 of New Frontiers. He says he has loved every minute of the startup journey so far.

“I can’t put a price on the satisfaction I get from doing this. We’ve gone from “maybe this could be a handy thing” to now hotels using and loving the platform and being happy to pay for it. It’s just phenomenal. When hotels send us customer testimonials, it gives me pure joy. I have only positive things to say about New Frontiers and the support it offered along the way. ‘Game-changer’ doesn’t do it justice. Being part of a cohort, all in the same boat as you, is part of that. We still have a Monday morning huddle – kind of like an accountability session – even though Phase 2 is over. It’s been great.”

Learn more about I Left You A Note.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Extend Your Startup’s R&D Capability With Enterprise Ireland Innovation Vouchers

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Irish startups looking for help with research and innovation can now access expertise worth up to €40,000 (part of which must be co-funded) thanks to Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Vouchers. The vouchers allow you to develop a product, service, or solution that requires expertise currently outside of your existing R&D capacity.

Innovation Vouchers are used to explore a challenge or opportunity with a registered knowledge provider across the island of Ireland. Technology Gateways are among those knowledge providers and to date have worked with over 4,900 Irish companies, completing more than 7,700 innovation projects.

The Technology Gateway network

The Technology Gateway network is composed of 17 specialist centres based at five Technological Universities and DKIT. Each one focusses on a key technology area aligned to industry needs, for example polymers, photonics, mobile, coatings, industrial design, mechatronics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, wireless technologies, or precision engineering. Each centre works with industry to aid the research and development of innovative products and services through a dedicated team of specialised engineers.

To further boost the level of collaboration within the Technology Gateway Network, three industry-focused research & development clusters specialise in the Internet of Things (Applied IoT), engineering, materials & design (EMD), and food & beverage technologies (Irish Food Tech). All three clusters work to consolidate the considerable amount of expertise and technologies available throughout the network and deliver market-led innovation solutions in a collaborative and responsive manner.

Enterprise Ireland Innovation Vouchers

The Innovation Voucher programme helps SMEs to build connections with publicly funded knowledge providers – higher education institutes and public research bodies – in Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is open to SMEs that are CRO-registered in Ireland, with fewer than 250 employees and not exceeding an annual turnover of €50 million.

Standard vouchers give the company €10,000 worth of time with an expert, third-level researcher to explore business problems, uncover opportunities, or develop an idea or product. In addition, a 50-50 co-funded voucher covers project costs of up to €20,000. Innovation Vouchers are exclusive of VAT, meaning you will be charged VAT by the knowledge provider and must settle this cost separately.

The programme is open for applications all year round. A company can apply for up to four vouchers (3 standard vouchers and 1 co-funded voucher) but can have only one active voucher at a time.

For standard vouchers, which are valid for 12 months from the date of issue, you don’t need to identify your knowledge provider in advance. For co-funded vouchers, the company and the knowledge provider jointly agree on the work programme for the project in advance of the application.

Any intellectual property (IP) developed as a result of an Innovation Voucher project belongs to the company unless the company and the knowledge provider have agreed otherwise.

How can Technology Gateways and Innovation Vouchers help your company?

For a complete overview of this programme, including the full list of registered knowledge providers (including contact details), visit the Enterprise Ireland website.

Technology Gateways have been collaborating with SMEs on Innovation Voucher projects since 2013 and can help with the application process too. If you’re considering an Innovation Voucher to address a need within your business, you can reach out to Gráinne Foley, the Network Marketing Manager, for an initial chat at gfoley@technologygateway.ie or via technologygateway.ie.

New Frontiers and Innovation Vouchers

Many New Frontiers founders have availed of Innovation Vouchers to work on R&D projects, receiving valuable support in areas such as prototype production, business model development, process optimisation, customer interface, technical specification, new service development, and technology audits. Below are just three such examples.

Case study: Bánór

Bánór was co-founded by New Frontiers alumna Nicola Lyons. The company manufactures natural body care products using Tipperary sheep milk, which has nourishing and revitalising properties. Bánór collaborated with CABR (formerly Shannon ABC) to perform antioxidant and anti-aging testing of their products to scientifically validate their efficacy and differentiate them from competitors The results of this study provided vital scientific data to Bánór regarding the positive impact of their sheep milk-based products on skin health, including increased collagen production and skin barrier protection, which could similarly benefit consumers.

“We were professionally guided through the process and would recommend CABR’s expertise to any business looking to scientifically validate their offering. The team at CABR provided invaluable expertise and support, making the entire experience seamless and rewarding.”

Case study: Hibra Design

Founded by alumnus Mike Keane, Hibra Design is an automotive engineering development company that delivers sustainable and bespoke vehicle solutions. The company approached the Nimbus Gateway to access their 3D scanning and editing expertise for a pilot exercise involving a tractor engine cavity supplied to them by Bord na Móna. The result of this project was a complete 3D model of the tractor chassis, an animation of which is used on the company’s website. In addition, the company featured on the RTE science programme Heated, giving them great exposure and recognition.

“This project was such a success in so many ways. We got serious exposure from it underpinned by a quality job delivered by the excellent Nimbus Gateway. We will be back.”

Case study: Offset Fashion

Founded by alumna Jenny Thornton, Offset Fashion is a sustainable, circular, and ethical fashion startup aspiring to discourage the throw away culture of fast fashion. It needed a more seamless way to manage the clothing for sale through its preloved marketplace. Offset Fashion approached Walton Institute to provide a technical roadmap of applications and solutions capable of non-contact, real-time clothing measurement, matching the size of clothing to clients. The project involved a technical roadmap to explore the use of Lidar solutions and technology that could be deployed; access to expertise in mobile application development and AI; and investigation of the market and application requirements to ensure a sign-posted path for development.

“[Walton Institute’s] expertise and insights not only streamlined our processes but also sparked innovation within our organisation. The roadmap they crafted has provided a clear path forward, aligning our technological advancements seamlessly with our business objectives. Thanks to the Walton Institute, we are now equipped with the tools and strategies to stay ahead in an ever-evolving industry.”

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

A Cohort Of Fifteen Founders Graduates From New Frontiers In Grangegorman

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Fifteen startup founders recently graduated from Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) – Grangegorman Campus. After six months of intensive work, guided by Programme Manager Diane Hurley, the founders were awarded their certificates of completion and invited to pitch to an expert panel for the chance to win one of three prizes.

This year’s panel of judges was composed of Hugo Grattirola, Partner at Philip Lee LLP; Mariead Roche, Investment Associate at ACT Venture Capital; Angela Duffy, Director of Resolve Ventures; and Paul Berry, Business Advisor at Dublin City Local Enterprise Office. They heard five-minute pitches from each founder, followed by a five-minute Q&A, before retiring to deliberate and select the prize-winners.

The audience also heard from TU Dublin’s Head of Enterprise, Claire Mac Namee, and Michael O’Dea, Senior Client Advisor at Enterprise Ireland. Ambiance was provided by pianist Mickey Tomas and harpist Eimear Mac Donagh, musical students at the university.

Congratulations to the Investor Pitch Competition 2025 winners, who were:

Daragh Jordan of Magnate – winner of the Most Investible Startup (€1,000 prize, sponsored by Resolve Partners)
Xiao Zhang of Alto Health – winner of the Philip Lee Award (€10,000 service voucher)
Ruairí McLoughlin of Anaula – winner of the Impact Award (€1,000 prize, sponsored by LEO Dublin City)

Speaking after the event, Programme Manager Diane Hurley commented, “We had a diverse group of founders with innovative startups join the Grangegorman programme this year, working in sectors ranging from sustainable consumer products to agritech, healthtech, fintech, and B2B SaaS. Several are working towards Pre-Seed Start Funding (PSSF), while others are leaving New Frontiers with a robust plan to drive sales. We hope the programme provided these courageous early-stage entrepreneurs with a foundation to navigate uncertainties and to move the business forward with a defined roadmap to shape their own version of success. Our advice would be to keep talking to customers.”

New Frontiers graduates from Grangegorman

Graduating from the programme at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) – Grangegorman Campus are:

Siobhan Dunphy of Bon+Berg

Bon+Berg is a sustainable lingerie brand turning beach trees into the world’s most comfortable intimates.

Daragh Jordan of Magnate

Magnate is software which helps agency leaders manage messaging and tasks more efficiently. By prioritising communications, turning messages into tasks, and using automation, it saves time and helps teams stay focused.

Emily O’ Gorman of Fendr

Fendr is a content moderator platform which protects content creators from online hate in real time.

Seamus Cummins of Aerobeam

Aerobeam is a deeptech startup that is merging drone technology with laser cleaning.

Emma Lynch and Gavin Beirne of Q2Med

Q2Med is developing smart medication procurement software tailored for community pharmacists.

Xiao Zhang of Alto Health

Alto Health is building an AI clinic co-pilot for specialist clinics, starting with referral processing and patient onboarding workflow automation.

Nicole Bonamici of Timbi EU

Timbi EU helps European organisations to access funding and secure European funding.

Judy Ehiguese of SkynCap

SkynCap is a sustainable wig, hair, and styling brand which supports wig wearers of all kinds, from those experiencing hair loss to onstage performers.

Ruairí McLoughlin of Anaula

Anaula is pioneering a circular biotech solution to achieve net zero fertilizers and feed. The startup partners with whiskey distilleries, transforming their nutrient rich water into a powerful medium for algae.

Sean Farmar of CloudLoq

CloudLoq is a cloud-based biometric access solution for large construction sites.

Gavin O’Duffy of Vox Medical AI

Vox Medical AI is posed to transform the way clinical professionals learn, engage, and communicate – improving both patient care and job satisfaction.

Ciara Hoban of Ciara Emilie

Ciara Emilie is a sustainable sea swimwear brand for female sea swimmers who have a need for better-fitting swimwear.

Shane Fleming of PropGen Platform

PropGen Platform is a property development startup on a mission to transform how people buy and sell homes.

Magda Targosz of Mind Compass AI

Mind Compass AI is a scalable edtech SaaS platform revolutionising workforce development for Irish SMEs.

Best of luck to these founders as they take the next steps with their businesses!

Phase 3 selection announced

The programme has also announced the founders who will go on to Phase 3 of New Frontiers, which offers three months of follow-on support that can include an additional tax-free allowance (for eligible participants). The Phase 3 cohort this year is: Seamus Cummins of Aerobeam, Nicole Bonamici of Timbi, Daragh Jordan of Magnate, Ruairi Mc Loughlin of Anaula, and Emma Lynch of Q2Med.

Calling startup founders in Dublin

The New Frontiers programme in Dublin 7 is based in TU Dublin’s newly redeveloped Greenway Hub, a state-of-the-art facility for research and innovation. The New Frontiers Programme Manager in Grangegorman is Diane Hurley. Find out more about Diane and our Grangegorman location or see our upcoming application deadlines (applications for the next Phase 2 in Grangegorman close in November 2025).

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Routes To Capital: Top Sources Of Funding & Support For Early-Stage Irish Startups

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Whether you’re still validating your idea or gearing up for launch, knowing what funding and supports are out there can save you time, stress, and dead ends. The challenge is less about availability, and more about figuring out what’s worth your energy, and when.

It’s a good idea to start your research early and map out all the organisations and supports that could help you on your journey. Planning in advance is crucial, as accepting public funding can sometimes affect your eligibility for other supports (for example, you cannot be in receipt of Enterprise Ireland Pre-Seed Startup Fund (PSSF) and Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Feasibility Funding at the same time).

Many New Frontiers participants will go on to other programmes after they graduate from Phase 2 or complete Phase 3. This isn’t a case of learning the same things over again, but of deepening your knowledge, exposing yourself to new perspectives, and growing your networks. In addition, you’ll benefit from having a cohort of founders around you and access to support, advice, and (in some cases) funding.

Beyond state supports, Ireland has a large ecosystem of private investors, angel networks, and VC funds. This route typically requires giving up equity but can provide larger funding amounts and valuable business expertise. Many successful companies combine state funding with private investment to maximise their resources.

Growing through retained earnings and customer revenue remains a viable option that allows you to maintain full control and ownership. While potentially slower, this approach avoids dilution and debt obligations, and many successful Irish companies have grown this way before seeking external funding for expansion.

The below sources of support are just some of the doors you could potentially knock on. Some offer funding and some will help you prepare to raise funding elsewhere. This list is meant as a starting point only; further research based on the age of your company, sector, market, and business goals is vital.

Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher

Innovation Vouchers provide €5,000 towards R&D to explore a business opportunity, problem, or solution with a registered knowledge provider (such as a Technology Gateway) anywhere in Ireland and Northern Ireland. A business can apply for a maximum of four vouchers (three standard vouchers of €5,000 each) and one 50-50 co-funded (up to €10,00 matched funding). Vouchers have been used for a wide variety of projects as knowledge providers specialise in areas as diverse as bioscience research, design, civil engineering, food processing, and gamification.

New Frontiers Phase 3

Phase 2 participants may be able to apply for the limited number of spots on Phase 3 of New Frontiers. This follow-on support, with three additional months of allowance, will help you prepare to raise funding and provides introductions to government and private investment support opportunities. Many founders use the extra runway provided by Phase 3 to prepare their application for Enterprise Ireland Pre-Seed Start Fund.

Enterprise Ireland Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF)

The natural next step after New Frontiers, PSSF offers €50,000 or €100,000 (in two €50,000 tranches), plus access to a Client Advisor and supports such as 10 sessions with a mentor from the Enterprise Ireland panel. PSSF is open for applications all year round and is suited to companies with a minimum viable product (MVP) or Beta that are ready to push forward towards a seed round within 18 months.

Other supports from Enterprise Ireland

If you become an Enterprise Ireland client, a wide range of additional supports becomes available. What you qualify for depends on your sector and the goals of the business, which is why each company is given tailored advice on the supports to apply for. Popular supports from EI include:

Business Financial Planning Grant
Digital Marketing Capability
Mentor Grant
Market Discovery Fund
LeanStart
HPSU Feasibility Grant

Local Enterprise Office (LEO) supports

Local Enterprise Offices offer a range of supports, including grants, to help you start and grow a business. Many New Frontiers graduates will be focused on export potential, which will bring them under the remit of Enterprise Ireland. However, in the early days, LEO support is particularly pertinent and can provide a real boost.

Popular LEO grants for early-stage startups include Priming Grants (available within the first 18 months), Feasibility Grants for market research, and Business Expansion Grants (after the first 18 months). LEOs host webinars that cover the different grants available and workshops to help you with the grant application process (they also help with Microfinance Ireland loan applications).

LEOs have many ways to help, so it is worth exploring their full offering and calling them for an initial chat if you have questions. As well as the Start Your Own Business programme, which will introduce you to the mechanics of running a company, they host short workshops on topics ranging from patents to VAT to Instagram. This is a great way to level-up your business skillset. The full list of training programmes is available on the site of your local LEO.

National Digital Research Centre (NDRC)

NDRC is an accelerator funded by government and run by a consortium of Dogpatch Labs (Dublin), PorterShed (Galway), RDI Hub (Killorglin), and Republic of Work (Cork). The four hubs offer programmes, mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and investors, facilities and office spaces, and warm introductions to investors and global partners.

Hosted at Dogpatch Labs, the NDRC Accelerator is a six-month programme for early-stage globally scalable tech, digital media, and consumer product startups that helps founders build their businesses and raise funding. NDRC invests €100,000 per startup using a founder-friendly, uncapped Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE). The combination of funding, mentorship, office space, and network access makes this a great stepping stone after New Frontiers Phase 2, but only 13 startups participate each year.

(N.B. The NDRC will be wrapped up in 2026, to be replaced by the Enterprise Ireland-run National Accelerator Platform with a new range of supports to meet the evolving needs of founders.)

Business Innovation Centres (BICs)

BICs help start-up and scaling enterprise to access funding, mentorship, and specialised resources regionally:

AxisBIC: Clare, Cork, Kelly and Limerick
Furthr: Cavan, Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, and Wicklow
Propelor: Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, and Wexford
WestBIC: Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, and Westmeath

Your BIC can help you identify the best sources of financing and support with investor readiness, pitch deck preparation, and pitching to investors. They facilitate initial introductions with select investor entities, including angel investors, VCs, and international (including EU-based) investors.

You can get support with financial modelling to help secure the right type and level of funding. BICs run investment-readiness programmes to prepare applications to Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF), Innovative High-Potential Start-UP (iHPSU), and Prep4Seed. They also provide affordable office space and host a range of events to help you grow your network and connect with industry experts.

Regional agencies and hubs

You may also be able to find support locally from organisations such as:

InterTrade Ireland

InterTrade Ireland helps small businesses in Ireland and Northern Ireland explore cross-border markets. They support businesses in developing new products, processes, and services. They also support businesses with funding and by helping them become investor-ready. Their Acumen programme, for example, funds up to €21,562 towards the salary cost of a full-time sales employee for one year.

Údarás na Gaeltachta

Údarás na Gaeltachta offers support to businesses from a range of sectors to start up and expand in Gaeltacht regions. This includes providing grants (Feasibility Study, Priming Grant, etc.) and advice and mentoring, as well as support for finding business premises in Gaeltacht areas.

Atlantic Economic Corridor

The Atlantic Economic Corridor aims to attract investment and create jobs along the Irish western seaboard, from Kerry to Donegal. They provide free advice, support, and mentoring, plus networking opportunities for entrepreneurs starting or growing their businesses in this region.

Local hubs and networks

There are countless other groups, hubs, and clusters that support founders, providing co-working space, events, peer-to-peer learning, advice and mentorship, and generally helping to make connections and open doors. From local enterprise centres or innovation centres to business associations, chambers of commerce, and more, the supports they offer will vary and some may be backed by public funding through an agency like Enterprise Ireland while others will be private. To give you a sense of what’s out there, here are just a few examples.

SportsTech Ireland: The SportsTech Ireland cluster – backed by Limerick City & County Council, the IDA, and Enterprise Ireland – is a geographic concentration in Europe of companies, institutions, and individuals working in the sports technology industry. It’s a dynamic and innovative ecosystem that fosters collaboration, innovation, and growth.
Hatch Blue: The Hatch Blue & BIM Aquatech Innovation Studio (supported by Bord Iasagh Mhara (BIM)) is a high-impact innovation studio designed to help early-stage aquatech companies turn innovative ideas into scalable, market-ready solutions.
AgTechUCD: The 12-week AgTechUCD Agccelerator Programme helps startups (agtech, agrifood, veterinary or equine sectors) to grow and scale on the national and international stage. As well as investor-readiness training, you can get support to develop your grant strategy (non-dilutive EU funding) and work on proposal writing.
Health Innovation Hub Ireland: HIHI works across the health sector with Irish businesses to creatively solve problems and improve patient care. They can independently assess your idea for commercial potential and healthcare impact, and provide feedback and advice on next steps and funding options.
Food Works: Food Works is an accelerator programme for globally scalable innovative food and drink startups. Run by Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia, and Teagasc, it supports high-potential businesses to launch and scale rapidly. The programme helps founders validate their product, access research and development expertise, scale and be ready for export, and produce an investor-ready business plan.
LaunchBox: Trinity College Dublin’s student accelerator is a summer programme open to early-stage startups. The structured programme offers access to investors and mentors and on-campus co-working space.
The Yield Lab Europe: Yield Lab Europe is a specialist venture capital fund that invests in early-stage companies that positively impact the food and agriculture value chain. It helps disruptive, impact-driven innovations go to market and help shape sustainable agrifood systems.

The Skillnet Innovation Exchange

The Innovation Exchange connects large businesses facing innovation challenges with ambitious startups and SMEs that can help them solve these challenges through a structured, fully managed programme. This allows scaling technology companies to unlock an instant sales pipeline and gain access to key decision makers, market intelligence, and the capability to sell to large corporates.

Social Entrepreneurs Ireland

Supporting social entrepreneurs in Ireland, this organisation provides funding, mentorship, and training to social entrepreneurs who are addressing social problems and creating positive change. They don’t limit the sectors they support, but some projects they have supported in the past include education and learning, children and young people, mental health, diversity and inclusion, housing, and the environment.

Social Entrepreneurs Ireland runs a range of programmes every year, including the Impact Programme, which supports social entrepreneurs to strengthen their foundations and scale their solution for long-term impact and the Transform Programme, for founders ready to meaningfully and fundamentally change the social problem they are tackling at a national level.

Going For Growth

Co-funded by Enterprise Ireland, Going For Growth is for ambitious female founders (owner-managers of the business) with significant aspiration for growth. It uses a peer-led approach based on the shared experiences of both a Lead Entrepreneur and other participants facing common challenges. Typically, but not always, the business should have been trading for over two years. While it doesn’t provide funding, it will help you build the skills to take your business to the next level.

Accelerating the Creation Of Rural Nascent Start-ups (ACORNS)

The ACORNS programme supports early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland (they specify you must have or intended to have a new business located outside the city boundaries of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford). Like the Going For Growth programme, participants take part in interactive round table sessions with female entrepreneurs who have successfully started and grown their own businesses. This free programme is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

If you have a business idea, the New Frontiers programme will equip you with the right connections, the right skills, and the right route to capital to build a successful and sustainable startup business. Register your interest today!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Eight Innovative Startups Graduate From New Frontiers In Waterford

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

At the end of June, eight founders graduated from Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme in Waterford, where our Programme Manager is Dr Eugene Crehan. The showcase event marks the end of an intensive six months for the startup founders, during which they receive a number of supports (including mentoring and a tax-free allowance of €15,000) while they build a solid foundation for their business.

Showcase day is also an opportunity to recognise the stand-out participants from the programme. This year, the Most Innovative Business Idea award (for the concept that is most innovative or uses innovative technology) went to Tom Weldon of Lagertha; the Best Business Opportunity award (for the concept that has best prospect for early adoption in the market and strong growth potential) went to Brian Cusack of Supp Genie AI; and the Best Business Plan award (for the best researched business plan with a credible go-to-market strategy) went to Clare Mansfield of Flowering Fertility Support.

The event at South East Technological University (SETU) – Waterford Campus was attended by various stakeholders from the startup community including Dr Patricia Bowe, Head of Department of Management and Organisation at SETU; Dr Thomas O’Toole, Dean of Faculty of Business at SETU; and Ciara Concannon, National New Frontiers Programme Manager at Enterprise Ireland.

In his address, Dr Thomas O’Toole remarked, “SETU is more than a place of learning; we are an anchor university for the South East, working to ensure our region is vibrant, competitive, and forward-looking. The New Frontiers programme is a leading example of how SETU delivers on this vision. Through New Frontiers programme, SETU is building the skills, confidence, and networks that founders need to succeed, and in doing so is directly supporting Enterprise Ireland’s strategy to increase the number of new start-ups and scaling businesses in line with their Strategic Plan 2025-2029.”

Eight Innovative Startups Graduate From New Frontiers In Waterford

Speaking at the event, Programme Manager Dr Eugene Crehan praised the cohort for their engagement throughout the programme. “I would like to commend you on your dedication in staying focused on the market opportunity, increasing your knowledge of your market and developing solutions for your target market customers. I hope that you can continue on your growth trajectories and that several of you will follow in the footsteps of former Waterford New Frontiers participants who scaled their businesses securing investments and Enterprise Ireland’s PSSF and HPSU funding.”

New Frontiers cohort in Waterford

The graduates from the programme in Waterford are:

Joseph Casey of Water Wall

Water Wall is an entirely new approach in the pretreatment of seawater prior to its use in a desalination facility. The innovative solar-powered desalination solution ensures a more contaminate free and cost-effective process.

Brian Cusack of Supp Genie AI

Supp Genie is an AI-driven platform that drastically reduces supplement research time for freelance formulators, ensuring compliance, accuracy, and synergy.

Jennifer O’Connell of ReMe Wellness

ReMe Wellness is on a mission to deliver science-led, hormone-free nutraceutical and digital solutions for men and women navigating menopause, andropause, cancer recovery, and autoimmune challenges – beginning with cognition and brain health.

Thomas Weldon of Lagertha

Lagertha creates autonomous drones that safely detect and neutralise landmines, restoring land and saving lives with precision satellite-linked AI.

Clare Mansfield of Flowering – Fertility Support Services

Flowering Fertility Support helps people emotionally and practically on their path to parenthood.

Deirdre McCarthy of AllSkills Tech

FLIT Financial Literacy is an AI-backed, personalised software platform which identifies financial opportunities and supports for different lifestages and circumstances.

Dave Minogue of HyperConnect

HyperConnect is a modular platform combining smart ticketing, geo-triggered content, and real-time CMS for mid-sized events and festivals.

Denis Queally of Awaken Botanical

Awaken Botanical crafts fully natural, synergistic herbal supplements – personalised through Dúlra, a revolutionary AI wellness guide – empowering ethical, science-backed, holistic self-healing.

Best of luck to these founders as they take the next steps with their businesses!

Keynote speaker: Paul Savage

The audience was also invited to hear insights from speaker Paul Savage, a programme alumnus and COO of Brightbeam. Paul – an experienced technology entrepreneur who has led a range of early-stage startups through significant growth – shared his perspectives on leveraging agile thinking and action to identify and overcome challenges. He encouraged New Frontiers founders to engage with their target market to understand the lived experiences of prospective customers. He also discussed the capabilities of AI and gave advice on how early-stage businesses can harness it to, for example, analyse customer insights, iterate product design, test product-market fit, and manage resources.

Phase 3 selection announced

National Programme Manager Ciara Concannon also announced the Phase 2 graduates who have been selected to join Phase 3 of New Frontiers, which provides follow-on support, a monthly stipend, and guidance to prepare for raising investment. The Phase 3 participants this year are: Brian Cusack of Supp Genie AI, Tom Weldon of Lagertha, Dave Minogue of HyperConnect, and Denis Queally of Awaken Botanical.

Calling startup founders near Waterford

The New Frontiers programme in Waterford is based in the ArcLabs Research & Innovation Centre, located on the grounds of the South East Technological University (SETU) West Campus in Waterford. Learn more about New Frontiers Programme Manager Dr Eugene Crehan, the programme in Waterford, and if you have a business idea and are considering applying to New Frontiers, keep an eye on our upcoming application deadlines.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Gráinne Mullins Is Redefining Luxury Chocolate, One Edible Masterpiece At A Time

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

In the village of Kilchreest, County Galway, Gráinne Mullins has built something remarkable from the ground up. What began as childhood memories of family cooking has evolved into Grá Chocolates, a business that exemplifies the potential of Irish artisan food production.

Gráinne took an unconventional route to startup life. She left a science degree to work in France, spending two years at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Aix-en-Provence. Back in Ireland, she worked her way through leading pastry kitchens and won the Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year in 2019. In 2020, she launched Grá Chocolates from the family home.

The business model is deliberately intensive. Each chocolate requires three days to create, produced in small batches with hand-polished moulds and hand-painted decoration. The ingredient list reads like a luxury goods manifest: ethically sourced Valrhona chocolate, Casa Luker cocoa butter, and Irish dairy products. Seasonal ingredients drawn from Ireland’s native larder ensure the product remains connected to place and time.

This is manufacturing with significant labour input, where production speed is secondary to finished product. It’s a business approach that knows customers will pay for the difference. Gráinne’s long-term ambition for Grá Chocolates is to be recognised as the number one luxury chocolate brand in the world.

Interview with New Frontiers alumna Gráinne Mullins

How did the idea for Grá Chocolates come about?

I’d been working as a pastry chef for around 10 years, in fine dining restaurants. During the Covid lockdown, while I was keeping busy and figuring out what to do next, I started making hand-painted Easter eggs as gifts for friends and family. When I posted about them on social media, people reached out to ask where they could buy them. There was a lot of engagement because people found the product genuinely unusual.

The response made me realise there was a market for what I was doing, and it inspired me to consider starting my own business. I decided to approach it properly, and that meant taking courses and learning how to run a business. I had nothing to lose by researching the idea thoroughly and seeing whether there was a viable business there.

What support did you get during those early stages?

I reached out to the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) very early on and they gave good guidance on which courses to look at and which steps to take. They were very supportive. I heard about the New Frontiers programme at one of the ‘lunch and learns’ I was attending. As restaurants stayed shut and I was still off work, it felt like an ideal opportunity to delve deeper into the business, even though I had already launched at that point.

The bonds I formed with other participants on the programme is something I’m very thankful for. In those early stages, you’re dealing with countless issues every day, and having people to share the challenges and victories with made an enormous difference.

What did the early days of Grá Chocolates look like?

The demand came quickly, which was encouraging. What worked well with customers was the attention to detail and making people feel special – thinking outside the box and focusing on the customer experience from the very beginning. We have a strong base of repeat customers, while new ones came mainly through social media and word of mouth. Because the products are often bought as gifts, recipients frequently become customers themselves.

I’m always looking at new markets and how to tap into them. With social media, I’m always analysing what works well and trying to improve wherever possible. Initially it was just me handling everything, but last year I brought someone on specifically for marketing.

How important is storytelling and social media to the business?

If you have a direct-to-customer product, it’s really important to share the story of the day-to-day of the business. Otherwise, you won’t get that traction, which is essentially free advertising. I know so much about my business that nobody else knows, and I think the trick is getting that information out and educating people about what we do.

Originally, I just documented our day-to-day. The simple behind-the-scenes action. Imagine yourself as the viewer – what would you be interested in? Often that’s the small things, the nuance. Now we have a marketing person who digs into what works and makes sure that the new content reflects that. I have less hands-on involvement, but I always make time to be available for the parts I’m needed for.

As your the team has grown, how have you maintained your company culture?

Growing a team will always present challenges because you want them to embrace what you do with the same passion you have, and to want the business to grow as much as you do. It’s important to establish that expectation from day one, but equally important to ensure you’re being the kind of person you want them to look up to and emulate.

The team follows a seasonal employment pattern. There is a core team of 10 or 11 people which goes up to around 18 people during the Christmas period. One priority at the moment is streamlining operations within the business, ensuring everyone understands their responsibilities and standardising our processes so we’re prepared for significant growth. We know we can experience viral moments and demand spikes, and we want to handle those well.

So where can readers buy their Grá Chocolates today?

We operate across multiple channels – our website, retail partnerships, and social media. Through our e-commerce site, we ship across Europe, the UK, and the US. On the retail side, we’ve grown from starting with Brown Thomas to working with 55 premium retailers, including Avoca, Donnybrook Fair, and Fallon & Byrne. We also handle corporate sales and we’re now exploring export opportunities.

What would you tell someone starting out on their own founder journey?

I’d say take every opportunity that comes your way. Learn from everyone you possibly can; absorb and embrace it all. Even if you think something isn’t relevant or doesn’t apply to you at the time, it might prove valuable later. Listen, learn, and communicate with as many people as possible. Believe in your story, but be very clear about where you want to be and how you see yourself getting there. You’ll work long hours, but if you don’t see it as work – if you enjoy it and embrace both the great moments and the challenges – that makes all the difference. Try to be solution-focused in everything you do.

Learn more and shop the chocolates at grachocolates.com.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Paperwork? Done. Open Forest Gets Founders Registered, Compliant & Ready To Launch

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

From the day you incorporate your new business in Ireland, you’re signing up for a host of filings, deadlines, and decisions throughout the year. Corporate paperwork can be a nightmare, but making it seamless, quick, and centralised in one place is a dream that one founder hopes to make a reality.

We sat down with Stuart Connolly, experienced corporate lawyer and co-founder of Open Forest – a one-stop platform that helps startup founders navigate hundreds of legal, tax, and accounting considerations and deadlines with ease.

The first idea and the pivot

Stuart was keen to leverage the AI boom and flex his entrepreneurial muscles at the same time. He had an idea for a solution aimed at big law firms and, late in 2022, applied for a place on Phase 1 of New Frontiers. However, while on the programme, he realised that the market niche he was targeting was incredibly hard to break into.

At the same time, Stuart was helping his fellow programme participants with various legal and compliance tasks that came up for them as founders. “Half of the cohort were offering to pay us for help. My co-founder, Pourya Saber, and I were asking ourselves, ‘Why are we banging our heads against the wall trying to talk to these big law firms where there is a problem right in front of us that needs a solution?’.”

The co-founders pivoted to building the Open Forest platform and hit immediate traction. The legal service work Stuart delivered paid the bills while they scoped out their technology to work for early-stage founders. Open Forest is like a ‘company compliance operating system’. From incorporation onwards, it guides company directors through tasks such as company registration, tax registrations, and generating legal agreements. It also flags all the filing deadlines coming up, like the crucial Annual Return deadline that thousands of businesses miss every year (an expensive mistake!).

Solving real founder headaches

For those who aren’t lawyers, incorporation can be confusing and multi-faceted, so most of us will opt for a default limited company set up by an accountant or legal firm. Stuart explains that this means founders could be starting out with some fundamental flaws in the company structure that cause them issues later on.

“For example, every company that incorporates in Ireland must specify its ‘authorised share capital’, which is the total number of shares it is legally allowed to issue. Many founders set this number very low – maybe 100 or 1,000 shares – essentially not creating enough ‘headroom’ for future investment. If you decide to go for funding such as Enterprise Ireland’s PSSF, they will need plenty of shares to convert their loan note into. If you only authorised 1,000 shares total and the founders already own most of them, there aren’t enough shares available for the investor to take their required equity stake. And that’s a couple of thousand euros to put right.”

Stuart believes the key to Open Forest’s success will be in doing compliance work at scale, because law firms and accounting firms – charging by the hour – can’t compete. Across legal, tax, and accounting, there are hundreds of rules and options but no central place to go for fast, cost-effective solutions. If you don’t spend thousands a year outsourcing this, you can try to figure it all out for yourself. But Stuart warns founders who focus on governance and accounting in an effort to save cash that this is time spent away from their business and simply does it a disservice.

Building with a co-founder

It took Stuart months to find the right co-founder. Although he has some experience in programming, Stuart is the non-technical founder while Pourya – a software engineer with 20 years’ experience – handles product development. Stuart is based in Dublin and Pourya in London, and they cross over for everything.

“When you’re looking for a co-founder, you’re trying to convince another person to spend all their time, for no money, on something that’s still in your head. It’s crazy in a way, I’m amazed that anyone says yes. When we had our initial discussions, Pourya sent a questionnaire for me to fill out. It seemed a bit formal at the time but now I think it was a really good idea. Being co-founders is a kind of marriage; if all goes well, you’ll be working together for five or 10 years. Two years on, I can say that even if we have disagreements, which is natural, it smooths out and it’s been an awesome journey so far.”

The hardest part about developing Open Forest has been its complexity. With legal, compliance, tax, and accounting in one place, there are lots of intertwined compliance-related issues. Changing something in one area will have a knock-on impact in another. Stuart and Pourya have taken it slowly and, now that the product has been validated, they recently hired their first founding engineer to help speed up production.

Support and funding so far

After three MVP phases, Open Forest has been in full production for the past year. Having paying customers from day one allowed them to develop their product based on real customer needs and feedback. Stuart completed Phase 1 of New Frontiers in Blanchardstown and then Phases 2 and 3 in Tallaght. “New Frontiers was my introduction to running a business, so I feel really grateful for that. The best part of the programme is the group of peers you are with. All 18 of us are still in a WhatsApp group together; we still talk to each other and help each other out wherever we can.”

After New Frontiers, the company received €100,000 in Enterprise Ireland Pre-Seed Start Funding (PSSF). This year, Open Forest got a place on the NDRC Accelerator Programme – which provides an additional €100,000 in funding – and they received a similar amount from a private angel investor.

“In early-stage, revenue is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s amazing that people are giving you money for something you made. But on the other, when you’re presenting your business to New Frontiers or the Local Enterprise Office or Enterprise Ireland, you need to keep demonstrating that what you’re building is a tech company and not a service business. We have to explain that the service element of our business was to bootstrap this part of the business and that we’ve transitioned into a tech product company that automates the legal service.”

Advice to fellow startup founders

With upcoming milestones such as the release of bookkeeping features and bank account integration, Open Forest will use its recent investment pot to hire developers as well as activities such as marketing. They are also completing the process of becoming an authorised company formation service in the UK.

Reflecting on the journey so far, Stuart fixes on early validation as vital for founders. “I came from a sector which is notorious for its long hours to doing even longer hours and never being able to disconnect from the business. It’s not for the faint of heart. You’re lucky if you’re working round the clock, because that means the business is going in the right direction.

“Like they say on New Frontiers, always validate your idea. Before anything, speak to potential customers – it will stop you going down a wrong path and then having to turn around at the end. Don’t worry about holding your idea close to your chest because execution is everything. Be sure you have a valid idea, because if you spend six or 12 months on a dead-end idea, you’ll be exhausted by the time you do find the idea that’s right. Get it right as early as possible. Yes, you can learn from failure. But if you can avoid it, you should!”

You can learn more about Open Forest at openforest.co.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Caraldine Nolan’s Startup Is Making Food Transparency The Norm

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Are you eating as healthily as you could? With our busy lifestyles, endless takeaway options, opaque product labels, and trend-hopping social influencers, thinking about our nutritional intake can be a headache. And yet taking control of your diet has never been more important.

The impact of your diet on you overall wellness is profound. Obesity, for example, brings with it significant risk of cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal disorders like osteoarthritis, and some cancers. Then there is the amazing bi-directional connection between your gut and neurological diseases (a concept known as the microbiota-gut-brain axis).

You are what you eat. But what are you eating? We spoke to New Frontiers alumna Caraldine Nolan about her business Weighless Wonders and her app NutraVerse. Caraldine is on a mission to make sure we all understand the food choices we make. As she says during our interview, “Our mission is making food transparency the norm.”

Interview with Caraldine Nolan, founder of Weighless Wonders

Caraldine, tell us a bit more about the idea behind Weighless Wonders. How did this business come about?

Caraldine Nolan

I was a weight loss consultant with WeightWatchers, and I launched my own weight loss company at the beginning of 2022 when WW pulled out of the Irish market. I have a rare gut condition called median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) and I’m a parent of a child with health issues, so I was very conscious of diet and started researching how I could help myself and my gut through food.

For example, I was really interested in the Nutri-Score system in France where every food item has a score from A to E depending on its nutritional value. I was thinking about my business – what was happening in the sector generally and what I could bring to the business – to see what was lacking. That’s when I realised a big problem was that I couldn’t see what people were eating!

It was a conversation at a Local Enterprise Office event one day that really got this started. Someone asked what I was doing next, and I said, “I want to build a food tracker.” I went away and built a first version, but then realised that what I really needed to do was build out an app. That’s what led me to the New Frontiers programme in Tallaght.

You’ve been on all three phases of New Frontiers while developing the business. What kind of milestones were you able to reach?

It was really excellent. I wouldn’t say I was very business savvy, so Phase 1 was a bit like starting all over again – even though I had already run a business by that time. We went in wanting to develop the app, which I was bootstrapping, but during Phase 1 I realised I could white label the technology I had already developed to companies in the health and wellness industry. So, I set up another business to generate income that would pay for developing the app.

There was a lot of work involved because we were doing everything involved in setting up this white label business (Gemtech Membership Systems) and at the same time developing the business model and minimum viable product (MVP) for the food tracking app, NutraVerse.

I got onto Phase 2 of New Frontiers and applied for an Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher so we could work with Maynooth University to get the app ready for testing by July 2024. 197 people gave us amazing, honest feedback – the good, the bad, and the ugly! Based on that feedback, we got stuck in and built out the app so that it could be soft launched at the beginning of September.

Around that same time, I received a Priming Grant from my Local Enterprise Office and was accepted onto Phase 3 of New Frontiers. So, the white label business provides recurring revenue while I work on my real passion, the app. We’ve already had three health companies approach us to white label the app for their own websites once it’s ready.

That’s a lot of work in a short period of time! Tell us more about the app and what it does.

We’ve developed a technology that started off being about weight loss but has become more about transforming someone’s health. Whether you are dealing with an underling condition, trying to lose weight, or simply wanting to be fitter, you can use NutraVerse (Apple or Android).

Like a calorie counter app, you can create a recipe, scan a product, and keep a food diary. This app also gives users a holistic picture with a Nutri-Score (how healthy the food is), a Nova-Score (how processed the food is), and an Eco-Score (how sustainable the product is). Calories alone give an incomplete picture because calories for one person aren’t the same for another.

All our members are finding that their metabolic systems (like muscle and fat percentages) are changing because they are eating foods that are healthier. They understand that 300 calories of junk food are different to 300 calories of healthy food because it’s all about the nutrient density of what you eat.

It sounds like this is a real passion for you and not just a business. Tell us more.

Yes, I am obsessed with learning and connecting the dots when it comes to food and health. I completed a diploma in food and nutrition and I’m currently studying for two masters’ from UCD – in Food Science and Green Care Policy. I’m looking at nutrition and consumer trends as well as sustainability related nutrition and healthy eating, and also human eating behaviour.

I have done a massive amount of research in this area. One of the things I’m thinking about is the differences between the generations and what they want from a weight management app, so we can respond to their needs. I’ve also had an obesity clinic approach me to partner with them to study how effective a French-style Nutri-Score system would be in Ireland.

There is still another stage of development I want to bring to the app – developing the contextual feedback the app can give using AI. For example, if I had high cholesterol, NutraVerse would be warning me that my sugar intake that day was higher than it should be. I want it to give intelligent advice to the user and even help with things like ordering groceries.

You’re looking to change our collective behaviour when it comes to food and health. How do you get the message out?

Yes, this isn’t simply a health tracker like MyFitnessPal (which doesn’t even use European metrics). NutraVerse is tackling obesity head-on and helping people make healthier choices generally. For example, six months ago, only a few people were talking about problems like ultra processed foods (UPFs); but our Nova-Score helps people avoid ultra-processed items that have no nutritional value.

A lot of the marketing we do is educational. Social media is a big part of that, but I make sure I’m doing my messaging properly because in this area it’s so important to not start doing clickbait content the way some influencers do. I want people to learn about food and nutrition. Friday is my marketing day; I record and edit the content and through New Frontiers I was put in touch with a TU Dublin student who helps with scheduling and other jobs.

As the founder, you have to work at raising your profile, so I spend a lot of time on that. For example, applying for awards (we have won the SFA National Small Business Awards – Emerging New Business category and the Family Business Awards – Rising Star category). We’ve also been awarded Guaranteed Irish status and I’m the president of Network Ireland’s Dublin branch.

I’ve been on a lot of podcasts – like Conall Ó Móráin’s That Great Business Show in January. All of this raises your profile bit by bit. You can’t think you’ll be a megastar in six weeks or even six months. It takes time, but you do see the effect on the business.

What’s your biggest challenge and how do you overcome it?

As a business owner in a new startup, I find the hardest thing is just to keep going. I’m a mother and a carer as well, so there’s a tendency to think it’s always greener on the other side.

I was very sick last year, and it took me a while to get my passion for the business back. I’ve learned that I excel on accelerators, and I think that’s because I’m there with other people. I am that person; I’m no good on my own! Every time I’m on an accelerator I get this huge boost of inspiration and a fire in my belly. Since New Frontiers, I have joined the Starting Strong programme from Growing for Growth and the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre startup accelerator.

We’re in eight countries already and right now I’m planning to apply for Enterprise Ireland’s PSSF so that we can work on the next evolution of the app and launch it at the end of the summer. The work that needs doing on the app will be quite fast, but it costs money. We’ve already soft-launched into Belfast and the next big step is to take our food programmes and the app into the UK.

Finally, what advice would you give to other people starting out with a new business?

Doing this, I’ve learned that nothing is guaranteed. My big piece of advice is to never take no for an answer. No doesn’t mean no, it just means not yet.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Taoiseach Micheál Martin Attends The New Frontiers Phase 2 Showcase In Cork

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

On Monday 7th of April, 15 founders graduated from Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme in Cork. Taoiseach Micheál Martin joined invitees including staff from the Rubicon Centre, MTU faculty heads, and representatives of Enterprise Ireland, Local Enterprise Offices, and Axis BIC for a showcase event at Munster Technological University (MTU).

New Frontiers is a critically important element of Enterprise Ireland’s regional economic development strategy. The programme supports over 500 participants every year, promoting entrepreneurship and startups across 18 locations nationwide.

Highlighting the crucial role of innovative startups in driving Ireland’s economic growth, the Taoiseach stated that, “The New Frontiers programme plays a pivotal role in equipping business founders with the skills, knowledge, and support they need to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.”

The showcase event marks the end of the six-month, full-time Phase 2, during which founders receive a number of supports that include mentoring and a tax-free allowance of €15,000 while they build a solid foundation for their business. This year’s cohort of 15 founders includes seven women founders.

This milestone event allows founders to present their businesses to an audience of around 100 attendees, discussing their vision for the future as well as their journey so far. The ceremony also rewards two standout participants – in this case Dr Sinéad Mellett, who received the Best Business Opportunity Award from An Taoiseach, and Marc O’Donovan Wyatt, who received the Peer Excellence Award from Professor Maggie Cussack, President of MTU.

New Frontiers 2024 cohort in Cork

Several of the startups have already won significant contracts and/or sales. The graduates from Cork are:

Aoife Goulding of Kookease (FMCG)

Kookease is a range of single serve cookie dough bites tailor-made to cook from frozen in the air fryer. This brings the idea of a sweet treat to the home and widely available even when the going gets tough.

Diarmuid Duggan of Triple Edge Energy (energy and sustainability)

Triple Edge Energy helps you earn money by adjusting energy use when the grid system needs it most.

Iarla Crewe and Diego Navarro of Quartz Pay (financial services)

Quartz Pay enables cryptocurrency holders to spend their crypto without selling the crypto assets and creating multiple tax events. The transactions take place through bank transfers and a self-custody credit card ensuring the security of the crypto asset.

Lavanya Bhandari of EcoRoots (packaging)

EcoRoots provides innovative, sustainable packaging and insulation solutions made from mycelium, the root structure of fungi. Products are designed to replace traditional, environmentally harmful materials like polystyrene and plastics.

Mairead Maher of Boots2Base (software for market intelligence)

80% of frontline intelligence is lost every year. Boots2Base captures and curates real-time market insights from employees on the ground, so your business can make faster, data-backed decisions and stay ahead of the competition.

Marc O’Donovan Wyatt of Genni (software for hospitality)

Genni enables owners/managers of FMCG businesses to directly convert and retain customers who want a similar good or service in their area. Genni also connects people together and to offers based on shared availability, location, and preference, whilst allowing their employers to automate their expense process for what they purchase.

Michael Noonan of Noonan’s Control Method (software for manufacturing)

Noonan’s Control Method has higher accuracy, lower vibration, and is less susceptible to inertial problems than the existing PID system used in CNC milling, thus increasing speed and accuracy and reducing waste.

Paul Murphy of Mindful Maker (consumer goods)

Mindful Maker designs and makes sustainably handcrafted heritage-led furniture, homeware, and gifts from storm-felled native timbers such as Irish oak, ash, and elm, as well as spalted beech.

Reece Hogan of A.Chara (software for dementia care)

A.Chara enables family members caring for loved ones with dementia to monitor, document, and share key behavioural and health insights to reduce the guess work and support.

Lucy Lehane of Allyouknead.ie (sustainability and edtech)

Allyouknead.ie is a food delivery service that offers locally sourced, pre-weighed ingredients delivered to schools for practical lessons, enhancing the cookery practical experience. It promotes food literacy by making nutritious cooking accessible and enjoyable, with each delivery including resources for hands-on learning.

Robin Thomas of Tower Watch (energy)

Tower Watch is an automated ESG & sustainability tracking platform with real time building management system data. It provides one-click regulatory compliance reports aligned with GRI, SASB, and TCFD standards and enables businesses to monetise sustainability efforts

Sadhbh Cosgrave of The Alternative Christmas Pudding (food)

The Alternative Christmas Pudding provides the home chef with a luxury chocolate biscuit alternative to the traditional Christmas pudding. The company has expanded to offer Easter eggs and is working on product extensions in a number of categories.

Sam O’Neill of RowTeic (sports tech)

RowTeic democratises high-performance sport by relaying rowing boat performance to the athlete and coaching team to increase training efficiency and improve results.

Dr Sinead Mellett of The Natural Vet Co. (FMCG/holistic veterinary medicine)

The Natural Vet Co. combines veterinary medicinal with western herbal remedies to treat the whole animal patient.

Zuhri Ajibola of Zhy Biotechnologies (biotech)

Zhy Biotechnologies produces algae-derived bioactive peptides to enable cosmeceutical and personal care brands to create effective, high-quality, and sustainable skincare solutions.

Best of luck to these founders as they take the next steps with their businesses!

Calling startup founders near Cork

The New Frontiers programme in Cork is based in the Rubicon Centre, Munster Technological University’s on-campus incubator in Cork supporting entrepreneurs and startups with innovative product, service or technology ideas. The Rubicon Centre has been funded under the Enterprise Ireland campus incubation programme and provides a range of supports to help companies start, accelerate, and grow their businesses. The New Frontiers Programme Manager in Cork at is Aoife McInerney. Find out more about Aoife and our Cork location or see our upcoming application deadlines.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

13 Founders Graduate From Phase 2 Of The New Frontiers Programme In Limerick

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

On 1st April, 13 founders from Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme in the Midwest region were celebrated at the TUS Startup Awards, hosted by TUS Hartnett Enterprise Accelelaration Centre in collaboration with University of Limerick’s Nexus Innovation Centre.

The awards event is an important milestone for founders as they finish up the six-month, full-time programme which helps entrepreneurs develop their capacities as founders while they validate their business proposition and move towards generating revenue.

With an attendee list that included members of the local and regional startup ecosystem (including key colleagues from TUS and UL, Local Enterprise Offices, BICs, etc.), this was a day to champion innovation in counties Limerick, Clare, and Tipperary.

Ciara Concannon, National New Frontiers Programme Manager at Enterprise Ireland, praised the new alumni. “I warmly congratulate the entrepreneurs that have completed this year’s programme at TUS and wish them every success in achieving their ambitions to grow the success stories of the future […] Many of the entrepreneurs we support through New Frontiers have gone on to start and grow valuable businesses that have created employment and have made a significant contribution to regional and national prosperity.”

Award winners at New Frontiers in Limerick

This year’s event recognised four standout founders from the cohort of 13:

(Joint winners) Best Innovation: David O’Keeffe of SeeGap and Stephen O’Sullivan of I Left You A Note.
One to Watch: Jon Harrison of StatrDraft
Overall Startup of the Year: Cathal D’Arcy of Bergo

Professor Vincent Cunnane, President of TUS, highlighted the broader importance of the startups celebrated, saying, “Today’s event showcases the strength of entrepreneurial ambition in our region, and the value of supporting that ambition through New Frontiers […] It’s particularly encouraging to see innovation emerging in areas of national importance, such as housing and energy — areas where fresh thinking and practical tools can help support broader societal goals.”

The New Frontiers Programme Manager in Limerick is Mary Casey. Speaking at the event, she note that, “New Frontiers is a demanding programme – but that’s exactly why it delivers. The programme gives them the structure, accountability, and network to move faster and further than they could on their own. They’re developing business models, piloting with customers, validating their markets, and in many cases, preparing for or actively raising investment.” Learn more about Mary Casey and our Limerick location or see our upcoming application deadlines.

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New Frontiers 2024 cohort in Limerick

New Frontiers accepts applications from a wide range of sectors. These founders had business ideas that spanned sectors ranging from climate tech to digital health to consumer insights. The alumni of the 2024 cohort are:

Cathal D’Arcy of Bergo (specialist BER assessment software)

The platform equips Building Energy Rating (BER) assessors with digital tools to create digital floor plans, automate calculations, improve accuracy, and streamline compliance – addressing a critical step in how homes and buildings are evaluated for energy performance (used for home sales, rentals, public grants, national energy reporting, and discounted mortgage rates).

Dave Gilligan of Reminisce (digital platform)

Reminisce helps families preserve and share the heartfelt stories of their loved ones, creating a lasting legacy through a beautifully designed digital platform and artisan-crafted memorial products. Unlike traditional memorial services, Reminisce is an interactive experience which aids in story creation and enables collaborative storytelling, allowing families to contribute memories, reflect on their shared history, and keep their connections alive across generations.

David O’Keeffe of SeeGap

SeeGap helps consumer brands build a more loyal and profitable customer base, by optimising their packaging using QR codes.

Ger Tobin of SparkSeeds (edtech platform)

Sparkseeds helps parents and teachers of neurodivergent children aged 12 and under. The platform helps develop social and emotional skills, literacy, speech, and language through nature-based activities using gamified storytelling.

Jon Harrison of StatrDraft (sports platform)

StatrDraft is a next-generation fantasy football platform that redefines how fans engage with the sport. Unlike traditional fantasy games, StatrDraft introduces exclusive draft-style gameplay (turn-based), ensuring every team is unique, and every player’s performance matters. The platform integrates both the English Premier League (EPL) and Women’s Super League (WSL), making fantasy football more inclusive, engaging, and strategic. It also eliminates the hassle of manual cash collection by providing seamless in-platform payment processing for private leagues.

Keith O’Leary of ScanSafe (digital platform)

Scan Safe is a comprehensive digital solution for the construction industry, designed to elevate safety and streamline operations. Their goal is to transform traditional safety management by replacing cumbersome paperwork with an intuitive digital system, thereby reducing workload and enhancing compliance.

Kevin Mounsey of FarmFlow Solutions (agritech)

FarmFlow Solutions is transforming the animal feed supply chain through a comprehensive platform that connects farmers, feed mills, co-ops, and delivery drivers, enabling real-time feed ordering, inventory tracking, and delivery coordination. It provides co-ops and farmers with advanced forecasting solutions for bulk deliveries, such as meal and fertiliser, through tailored mobile applications.

Michael Maul of Subtimize (management platform)

Subtimize is a SaaS license management platform that helps businesses reduce software waste, optimize costs, and prevent renewal issues by providing automated tracking, usage insights, and centralized control over subscriptions – cutting unnecessary SaaS costs by up to 30%. Unlike complex enterprise tools or manual spreadsheets, Subtimize is simple, efficient, and built with the needs of growing SMEs in mind.

Stephen O’Sullivan of I Left You A Note (SaaS platform)

I Left You A Note works with hotels to protect their reputation and revenue through guest feedback and guest communications. With more private feedback from guests during their stay, issues can be identified and resolved in real-time, leading to better satisfaction, better loyalty, better public reviews, and better revenue.

Tania O’Halloran of Abstrakta (digital platform)

A compliance and knowledge management platform for universities, Abstrakta unlocks unpublished cancer research, ensuring failed experiments and hidden findings are structured, compliant, and actionable. The AI-driven platform prevents redundant studies and accelerates breakthroughs.

Annemarie Gillman of Totpots (food)

Healthy snacking for little ones just got an upgrade! Totpots offers nutrient-packed jellies designed for busy parents and growing kids. With pre-biotic fiber, essential vitamins, and a fun, mess-free format, Totpots makes healthy eating effortless.

Andra Lupea of Planex360 (management platform)

Planex360 is puting an end to scheduling nightmares – transforming employee and fleet management with a unified platform designed to streamline operations, reduce staff dependency, and cut costs.

Sean Dzokesayi of Abbantu (gaming)

Abbantu is transforming gaming accessories with modular controllers that allow players to replace buttons and joysticks instead of the whole controller – saving money and reducing waste.

Calling new founders in the Midwest!

Do you have an innovative business idea? Are you thinking of founding a startup in the Midwest? Discover what you can expect from the New Frontiers programme in Limerick in our interview with New Frontiers Programme Manager Mary Casey and Gillian Barry, TUS Head of Innovation & Enterprise.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

A Cohort Of Innovative Startups Graduates From New Frontiers In The Northwest

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Eleven participants of Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) – Sligo & Donegal Letterkenny Campuses – were showcased at a ceremony on 14th March.

The recent alumni pitched their businesses with the chance to win one of two cash prizes. The Most Investable StartUp award (sponsored by Growing Capital) went to Kostya Gorsky of hirehire and the One to Watch award (sponsored by ATU) went to Paul McGoldrick of Slíglas.

The guest speaker at the ceremony was New Frontiers alumna Clare Ryan, co-founder of ITUS Secure Technologies. Her startup – a cybersecurity solutions provider – helps small businesses to understand and mitigate their cyber risks, empowering them to stay safe online. A participant on the programme in 2018, Clare gave insights into the challenges she has faced, the funding landscape, building a tech product as a non-tech founder, and how to manage ‘founder fuel’ for the journey ahead.

The event was also attended by Dr Orla Flynn, President of ATU; Paul Hannigan, Head of College ATU Donegal; and Meabh Conaghan, Regional Director of Enterprise Ireland.

In her speech, Dr Orla Flynn noted, “The embedding of Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme within ATU is critical to balanced regional development. Participants of the programme are playing a significant role in the indigenous business community – driving the region’s economy forward. We know that many of you have benefited from engaging with the wider ATU community during your time on the programme, accessing the knowledge and assistance from the academic staff and students to help you on your development phase. We hope that you will continue to link in with the services of the university after you leave the programme to help drive your businesses forward.”

Sligo Letterkenny Showcase Phase 2 New Frontiers 2025

Speaking after the event, Programme Manager Geraldine Beirne expressed pride in the outgoing cohort. “From the participants’ presentations today, the audience could clearly see the strength and ambition of the founders. Their internal drive and resilience as well as the peer-to-peer support they get from each other, bode well for their futures and for the region’s growth.”

New Frontiers 2024 cohort in the northwest

The graduates from the programme in Sligo and Letterkenny are:

Aoibheann Walsh of SashSó

A dual-purpose utility tool for hairdressers, make-up artists, and costume/set designers with a detachable brush cleaner.

Aoibhín O’Dea of Cácaí Aoibhín

A range of ready-to-bake from frozen home bakery items targeting both foodservice and retail channels.

Brian McGeehin of Blue Eye Highway

Specialising in the development of an advanced road safety device, the primary product is a patented black ice-detecting cat’s eye, a novel solution in the market aimed at preventing accidents due to icy conditions.

Emer Shovlin of Cassan

A marine planning applications platform.

Hannah Joyce of Flexera

Foldable reformer Pilates machines and an online app with classes.

John Duffy of Wild & Co

A minimally processed, high-protein (venison) meat-based food product for people on the go.

Karen Kearney of Soak

A wellness range that harnesses the healing power of the Atlantic Ocean and home-grown organic herbs to help with sleep, anxieties, mood, and stress.

Paul Dockery of BlackLayer

Manufacturing grass maintenance machinery for the worldwide sports turf industry.

Sarah-Jane Harte of Neula

A digital tool for people with ADHD to track symptoms, challenges, and treatments for personalised care.

Kostya Gorsky of hirehire

An AI co-pilot aimed at recruiters and designed to save them time and improve the quality of candidate interviews.

Paul McGoldrick of Slíglas

A biochar-focused carbon dioxide removal business using biomass residues from sawmills and forestry. Slíglas will sell carbon credits and biochar for use in farms and other sectors.

Calling startup founders in the northwest

The New Frontiers programme in the northwest is a joint initiative between the incubators at two campuses of Atlantic Technological University (ATU) – CoLab in Letterkenny and the Innovation Centre in Sligo. The New Frontiers Programme Manager in the northwest is Geraldine Beirne. Read more about Geraldine and the dual-location programme she runs in the northwest or see our upcoming application deadlines.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

South East Technological University Celebrates New Frontiers Graduates In Carlow

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

On 21st February, a new cohort of founders graduated from Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme in Carlow and delivered their four-minute pitches to a platform of judges and potential investors.

The event at South East Technological University’s Carlow Campus was attended by a range of stakeholders from the startup ecosystem including Professor Marie Claire Van Hout, Vice President of Research Innovation and Impact at SETU; Colin Hayes, Managing Director of Netwatch Ireland and UK; and Ciara Concannon, National New Frontiers Programme Manager at Enterprise Ireland. Alumna Audrey Vance of Activity Time (a previous Best Pitch winner) talked about her experience of the programme and her progress since finishing New Frontiers 12 months ago.

Two awards were given following the pitches: Best Pitch went to Ciara Herit of HurlingKeeper.ie and Most Innovative Business went to Kevin Barrett of Genotrial.

Ciara Concannon shared that “It was a difficult decision for the judging panel, but I am incredibly proud of all the groups for their achievements and the progress they have made over the past six months. New Frontiers provides unparalleled support to founders, helping them expand their networks, build confidence, and secure capital. The €40,000 support package plays a crucial role in this, enabling them to focus entirely on growing their business.”

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New Frontiers 2024 cohort in Carlow

The latest cohort of graduates from Carlow are:

Ciara Herity of HurlingKeeper.ie

An online platform offering specialised coaching resources and training programmes to develop hurling and camogie goalkeepers through real-game scenarios and expert insights.

Rob Brown of Hourglass

A social networking platform aiming to make scrolling less mindless.

Peter O’Hare of Eirguard

Innovative cyber security governance and compliance products for non-corporate organisations.

Keith Tracey of Benefeet

An in-house manufacturing solution for podiatrists streamlining the 3D scanning and printing of insoles.

James Byrne of Grab and Grow

High-protein, low-calorie iced coffee beverages, combining the benefits of coffee and protein shakes for health-conscious consumers.

Caroline Gethings of Anú Heritage

Consultancy services focused on conserving and recording Ireland’s cultural heritage through a holistic and research-based approach.

Kevin Barrett of Genotrial

Using AI to analyse patient health records and genomic data, rapidly matching patients with suitable clinical trials to streamline the recruitment process.

Fergus Gleeson of Fostering Connect

A GDPR-compliant and streamlined communication tool for foster carers and agencies.

Following graduation, four founders have been accepted onto Phase 3 of New Frontiers, which will provide follow-on support and guidance: Ciara Herity, Fergus Gleeson, Keith Tracey, and Kevin Barett. Best of luck to all the graduates as they take the next steps with their businesses!

Calling startup founders near Carlow

The New Frontiers programme in Carlow is delivered by South East Technological University (SETU) and the New Frontiers Programme Manager is Gemma Purcell. Find out more about Gemma and our Carlow location or see our upcoming application deadlines.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Inspiration & Insights At The 2025 New Frontiers Networking Event

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Every year, the most recent Phase 2 cohorts from around the country are invited to a National Networking event. This year, 170 recent graduates from 18 locations around the country converged in Mullingar for a celebration of their achievements and some wise words to guide their next steps.

Opening remarks came from Kevin Sherry, Executive Director of Enterprise Ireland, who commented:

“New Frontiers is an extremely important and valuable element of our efforts to foster and nurture ambitious, scalable startups across the whole country. It is part of a wider ecosystem through which your startup can continue to secure support, advice, and connections as you continue to grow your business – with support from the partners including the LEOs, the BICs, Enterprise Ireland, and the mentor community.”

The impact of the New Frontiers programme is significant. In the 12 years since it started, over 6,000 individuals have gone through the programme and developed their skills, confidence, and networks. In a recent review of the programme, 75% of respondents stated that New Frontiers met or exceeded their expectations.

It’s a testament to the connections forged on the programme that so many alumni give up their time to talk at workshops, masterclasses, and events like this one. Our thanks to the alumni and other stakeholders who agreed to speak at this important event, and to our MC, Conor Carmody.

Ambition in Action – believe in your vision

Stephen O’Dwyer of Trojan Track
Margaret Rae of Konree Innovation
Adrienne Magnier of Zarasyl

Go Global – market strategies & winning your first sales

Emily Gallen, Senior Executive at Enterprise Ireland
Louise Leonard Grey, Strategic marketing consultant
Ed Hendrick of Sonru

Trailblazers’ Fireside

Heidi Davis of Peri (EI HPSU Founder of the Year 2024)

Thriving in the startup ecosystem

Conor O’Donovan, Head of Startups & Entrepreneurship at Enterprise Ireland

Funding the Future

John Brennan, CEO of WestBIC
Orla Martin, Head of Enterprise at Offaly Local Enterprise Office
Brian Mc Nally, Senior Investment Adviser at Enterprise Ireland
Saurabh Kumar, Principal of Sure Valley Ventures

Throughout the day, there were opportunities to network with fellow participants as well as key contacts from the ecosystem.

We were delighted to have a visit from Peter Burke T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Tourism, and Employment, who gave the keynote closing address at the end of a packed day.

“Fostering and nurturing entrepreneurship and ambitious startups is critical to the future security and health of the Irish economy. Irish startups from humble beginnings and ideation can, with the right support, flourish and grow into significant providers of valuable employment and regional prosperity and prospects.

“[…] I would like to congratulate the 170 founders of the 2024/2025 programme who are here today. Starting a new business is an exciting and brave prospect – all of you are at the beginning of an exciting, challenging and very important journey. I have no doubt that many of you will follow the footsteps of those alumni who have gone before you and go on to build successful businesses and, in many cases, go on to achieve global business success.”

Beyond networking, benefits of Phase 2 include expert-led workshops, mentoring, incubation space, access to R&D capabilities, and a tax-free allowance. New Frontiers is for early-stage founders who have yet to successfully scale a startup and most sectors are eligible. Read more about the features of the programme and eligibility criteria.

Follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with news from the programme and our current and past participants (you can also subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter).

[Featured image, our first panel: (l-r) Adrienne Magnier of Zarasyl, Stephen O’Dwyer of Trojan Track, and Margaret Rae of Konree Innovation]

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

A No-Nonsense Guide To Business Plans – Your Essential Startup Roadmap

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

One of the jobs least relished by early-stage founders is the business plan. This essential document is the roadmap for the coming three to five years; but sometimes bringing it all together can feel like an insurmountable task.

In this blog, we’ll break down the elements of your business plan and show you why it’s easier to create than you might think.

A plan of two interconnected halves

A business plan has two distinct but complementary elements: the forecasts (your quantitative elements) and the narrative (your qualitative elements). The first is mostly composed of tables and graphs, the second is where you will explain your thinking.

The forecasts portion typically includes:

Financial projections (3-5 years)
Cash flow analysis
Funding requirements
Key metrics and milestones
Market size calculations

The narrative portion covers topics such as:

Your value proposition and market opportunity (including export potential)
Business model and go-to-market strategy
Team capabilities and structure
Competitive analysis (both domestic Irish competition and international players)
Marketing strategy
Operations and scalability plans

How to prepare the financial projections part of your plan

You don’t need to be a financial expert to create credible forecasts. Begin with what you can control – your costs – as these are typically more predictable and concrete than revenue projections.

Calculate your costs

List predictable, fixed costs like office rent, employee salaries, software subscriptions, and insurance. Then consider your variable costs – those that are going to change based on your business activity. For a product business, this might be manufacturing and shipping costs per unit. For a service business, it could be contractor rates or commission structures.

Don’t forget to account for the one-off startup costs that you’ll need to get going – everything from initial equipment to legal services to your first marketing campaign. This exercise helps you understand how much investment you’ll need before you even make your first sale.

Calculate your revenues

Revenue projections are a little trickier, but don’t simply pick a number out of thin air (x percent of the market, for example). Smart founders work backwards more methodically. Start by researching your total addressable market size, then build realistic scenarios for how much of that market you could capture.

Break this down month by month for the first year, considering factors like seasonality and the decision-making process. Then project forward annually, creating conservative, moderate, and optimistic scenarios. Each figure should be backed by clear assumptions that you can explain and defend. Why do you expect to acquire 100 customers in month three? How did you arrive at your pricing structure? What drives your assumption about customer retention rates?

Remember that projections are, by definition, guesses. You’re predicting the future here, so your goal is to demonstrate thoughtful, logical planning rather than clairvoyance. To help you arrive at realistic projections, consider working with a financial expert who has knowledge of your business model and sector. You can find your own accountant or fractional CFO for this or get some time with a Local Enterprise Office mentor.

Identify metrics and milestones

As you build out the revenue and cost projections, important milestones and metrics will naturally emerge from your planning process. When you map out your customer growth, you’ll see at what point revenue will cover your monthly costs. That’s your break-even milestone.

As you calculate your marketing spend and expected customer sign-ups, you’ll uncover your customer acquisition cost. While forecasting revenue, patterns in customer behaviour will help you estimate lifetime value and churn rates. Your hiring plan will reveal key moments when you need to expand the team, while your market expansion timeline will highlight when you need additional funding.

These metrics and milestones aren’t arbitrary targets – they’re the story of your business growth told through numbers and will emerge organically as you think about how your business will evolve.

How to prepare the narrative part of your plan

It’s now time to write the narrative part of your business plan. Before you run for the hills, remember that all you’re trying to do is tell the story of your business in a structured way. By this point, you’ve prepared your projections and you’ve done your research (business model, competitor analysis, market validation, etc.) so it is simply a matter of getting this information written down.

You can start with a template like this one offered by the LEO to give you a sense of what to include – although you may need to add sections or move things around. That’s fine, because there is no right or wrong way to structure your narrative.

The writing process

The biggest mistake new founders make is to let this writing process stretch out indefinitely, agonising over every word and punctuation mark as though they are writing a novel. Don’t get too bogged down in the detail – your mission here is to paint the broad brushstrokes of the business and make it clear that you have thought through your decisions rather than detail every tiny task you anticipate.

Give yourself two days to complete this task – one day to get your thoughts down on the page and one day to tidy it up and ensure there is nothing missing. Block these two days off in your calendar (with a short reflection time between them) and don’t allow any meetings or distractions to interrupt your flow.

There are a couple of reasons not to let your writing time run into the weeks or months. The first is that a business plan not static but a living document – one you should refer to regularly and update as your business evolves. The second is that every funding organisation or support agency you work with will have their own template for you to use – meaning your carefully crafted plan will need to be regularly reworked into a variety of formats.

What to include in your plan

The narrative should clearly articulate your vision, the problem you’re solving, and why your solution is compelling. This is essential for potential investors or partners but also for your own clarity, ensuring that every decision aligns with your core purpose. Discuss the market opportunity, demonstrating a solid understanding of industry trends, customer needs, and how your business is positioned to succeed. A strong market analysis demonstrates that you understand your industry, target customers, and competitors, showing where your business fits and how it can gain traction.

Your business model and operational strategy should outline how you will create, deliver, and capture value. This includes revenue streams, pricing strategies, and the logistics of running your business day to day. A well-developed marketing and sales strategy will explain how you intend to attract, convert, and retain customers, covering everything from brand positioning to distribution channels. You should also define your team structure, key roles, and any expertise gaps you need to fill.

While financials are covered in your projections, your narrative should provide context by explaining the rationale behind your funding needs and how investment will drive business growth. For instance, if your projections include €30,000 allocated to marketing, your narrative should explain why this amount is needed and how it will be used to drive growth (how the sum breaks down into actions and what results you expect).

What not to include in your plan

A business plan must be easily digestible. Don’t include unnecessary fluff or overly detailed explanations that won’t add strategic value. Avoid generic statements about industry potential without linking them to your specific opportunity. Company histories or personal backgrounds should be kept to the elements that directly impact the business strategy. You also don’t need excessive technical detail – stay focused on how you solve the problem, rather than getting lost in minor specifications.

Complex financial projections or deep accounting breakdowns belong in your financial section, not the narrative. Similarly, operational details that are too granular (like day-to-day task lists or minor logistics) can be left out unless they’re critical to your business model. You should also avoid rigid long-term plans that assume nothing will change; flexibility is key for a startup!

Depending on the complexity of the business and the level of detail required, 1,500 to 3,000 words is enough for a standard plan. Don’t pad the document with jargon, buzzwords, or unnecessary appendices – stay sharp, concise, and actionable. It can take around 20 minutes to read 3,000 words, so keeping your plan under control is a way to respect your reader’s time and ensure they retain the key information you want to communicate.

If you can see your business plan as an incredibly useful tool rather than an obstacle to overcome, you’ll be more likely to revisit, refine, and use it to guide your decisions, keep your strategy on track, and secure the support you need to grow your business.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

New Frontiers Accelerate: A Residential Programme To Fast-Track Startups

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Launched in 2024, New Frontiers Accelerate is a brand-new residential programme for busy would-be founders. Aimed at those with a high-potential business idea who can’t yet commit to our full-time six-month Phase 2 programme, last year’s pilot took place over four weekends between June and November.

What is New Frontiers Accelerate?

Fully funded by Enterprise Ireland, this free programme helps founders build their business model, create a market entry plan, and then prepare for funding. There are three immersive weekends (mentorship, food, and accommodation are all included too) followed by a demo day (also held at the weekend), where participants pitch to key players from the start-up ecosystem.

As well as the tools, resources, and knowledge founders gain during the residential weekends, they receive wrap-around supports such as a dedicated programme manager, one-to-one mentoring, and webinars. The programme aims to give founders:

High-impact support and intensive personal development
A chance to work on resilience and leadership skills
Coaching and mentoring between residential weekends
Workshops and masterclasses with experienced entrepreneurs
An online community of peers for learning, sharing, and collaborating

A boost for potential founders

Anna-Marie Turley, Manager of Entrepreneurship & HPSU Operations at Enterprise Ireland, explained the thinking behind this residential programme.

“There are many experienced individuals in full-time employment with great business ideas who would benefit from some dedicated time to flesh out their ideas and derisk them before leaving the security of their jobs and transitioning into full-time entrepreneurship.

“The pilot New Frontiers Accelerate programme was designed to give people the safety to explore these ideas while remaining in employment. It is all about giving people the flexibility and breathing space to decide what is right for them and to make informed decisions about their entrepreneurial journey.

“New Frontiers is ideal for founders who want to build their startup toolkit, learn about the Irish startup ecosystem, and grow their professional network. This pilot reached those founders who may not have otherwise been able to participate in a full-time programme, offering them a valuable chance to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions.”

This first Accelerate programme was managed by TU Dublin and overseen by Programme Manager Kilian Duignan. Reflecting on the experience, Kilian shared:

“The applicants we saw were experienced professionals with a high-potential, internationally scalable business proposition. They were looking for a support programme to wrap around their busy schedule. There were a number of products being developed and a couple of platforms (mostly SaaS offerings). There were some major pivots as the programme progresses, but a common theme was innovation and technology that leveraged AI.

“I can attest to the significant progress that every participant made in developing their business idea, specifically in clearly defining the problem they are trying to solve, crafting a meaningful value proposition, understanding the potential size of their market and devising an entry point into that market, building a business model, and thinking about how to fund the next steps in the process.

“Some of the participants will hopefully become Enterprise Ireland clients and others will find alternate paths to scaling. All of them moved the dial in a meaningful way towards their personal end goals.”

Impact of the Accelerate programme

The programme culminated in a demo day, during which participants had the opportunity to pitch to key players from the start-up ecosystem and hone their networking skills.

The feedback from the participants of our inaugural programme has been very positive, and many of our participants are already onboarding clients and generating revenue. Some have gone on to win awards at events such as the National Startup Awards. If you’d like to know more about this programme, head over to our Accelerate page; you can also register your interest below.

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We gained valuable insights into business growth, refined our product-market fit, and established key industry connections. The programme provided focused knowledge on scaling operations, marketing strategies, and improving the customer experience, enhancing our approach to delivering convenience and accessibility.

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The programme has been instrumental in helping me create more structure in my business. The mentorship I received was invaluable, particularly in refining my pricing model and understanding distribution strategies. The networking opportunities were fantastic and allowed me to connect with inspiring individuals while providing the tools and confidence to reach out to new potential customers. I’m thrilled to share that I’ve recently acquired my first wholesale client which is an exciting milestone for my business! This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the skills and insights gained during the programme.

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The New Frontiers Accelerate programme team and mentor provided me with valuable insights into applying lean principles to business and offered honest, constructive feedback to refine my business proposal.

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Accelerate assisted us in preparing to begin our investment journey, helping us to craft and refine our customer value proposition. As a result, we are now in a stronger position to successfully secure investment in the next 12 months. For us, the mentorship element was critical, the programme enables entrepreneurs to expand their network, work with mentors and get real advice and input from seasoned entrepreneurs. We have just got word from the European Space Agency that we were successful in an application to tender – which means we will be developing and manufacturing a V-Band LNA for Satellites in Space, an order worth €900,000. And we have been nominated for ‘Start Up of the Year’ by the Tech Industry Alliance and will be attending the awards ceremony in Killarney.

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Participation in New Frontiers Accelerate means we will launch in Q1 2025, confident in our ability to demonstrate the value our product will bring to our prospective customers and confident in the direction we intend to bring our business over the coming year.

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Even more important than all the knowledge and experience that I'd gathered on how to start a business, I found a group of people that have been honest and fair to make me realize if we were going in the right direction, and that at the end of this path I found the belief that this can be done, that I'm not crazy, and are putting me in the right direction and showing me the next steps. I would even go further and say that you're showing me that you believe in this more than I did at the beginning.

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I started the journey with a good product / solution idea but without any real understanding as to how to turn a good idea into a real and scalable business. Participating in the New Frontiers Accelerate programme has been invaluable. The hands-on workshop approach, expertly led by trainers and supported by Tu Dublin and the entire Enterprise Ireland team, has brought to life the challenges in building a successful business.

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The programme has transformed me from an engineer to entrepreneur, from a solution crafter to a problem finder.

Interested in the Accelerate programme?

For now, there are no dates scheduled for the next Accelerate programme. We recommend you follow New Frontiers on LinkedIn, where share all programme-related news and will link to the application form once it is in place.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

RedOrange AI Makes It Easier To Manage Data Protection And Compliance

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Amit Dash, the founder of RedOrange AI, has been taking part in the 2024 New Frontiers Accelerate programme. This is a brand new residential programme offering support to founders that are unable to take part in our full-time six-month Phase 2. We spoke to Amit about his journey so far growing a new startup.

Amit is a seasoned leader in the tech and cloud security landscape, bringing over 14 years of expertise to his latest venture. Known for his work in DevOps, DevSecOps, and cloud security and engineering, Amit has built a career solving security challenges for some of the most sensitive sectors, including finance, shipping, and SaaS.

Amit has been taking part in the 2024 New Frontiers Accelerate programme. Before RedOrange AI, he founded CaretCloud, a consulting firm dedicated to cloud security, where he helped clients navigate complex cybersecurity landscapes, creating solutions that kept sensitive data safe in an increasingly digital world.

With RedOrange AI, Amit applies his philosophy of intelligent automation to compliance management. He believes compliance should be a streamlined, proactive process that leverages technology to reduce human error and help businesses navigate regulation without disruption. So, how will RedOrange AI help businesses keep up with the pace and complexity of today’s regulatory environment?

Protecting sensitive data across business types

Data protection and compliance have gone from back-office details to mission-critical operations for businesses of every size. For SMEs, protecting data could involve securing employee tax IDs, bank details, client contracts, and other essential records. These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet – they represent livelihoods, reputations, and customer trust. For larger corporations, the complexity increases. Massive databases filled with employee records, client account details, and sensitive consumer information such as health records or addresses are subject to stringent regulations.

Without a robust system, handling these types of sensitive information can be an operational nightmare, especially as businesses scale. RedOrange AI automates the gathering and securing of this data so that companies, regardless of size, can ensure it is protected and meets all compliance requirements. This isn’t just about data management; it’s about giving businesses the confidence that their operations and relationships are secure.

The complex world of compliance made manageable

When people hear the word “compliance,” they might be unclear what this entails beyond a general notion of rules and regulations. The business reality of compliance involves strict adherence to laws that govern data capture, use, handling, and storage. This is especially true in Europe, where General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets some high standards in how companies collect and protect people’s personal data, requiring businesses to keep meticulous records and secure customer consent for data use.

Failing to comply isn’t just a legal risk but a financial one, with heavy penalties, potential shutdowns, and reputational damage at stake. RedOrange AI takes the guesswork out of this process by creating tools like its AI-Powered Compliance Wizard, which guides businesses in meeting requirements like GDPR as well as frameworks such as NIS 2, DORA, and SOC2. For the companies subject to such regulations, this means peace of mind and a much simpler, automated path to compliance.

Moving away from labour-intensive compliance processes

For too many organisations, compliance is a hands-on, resource-draining task. Teams often rely on spreadsheets, pieced-together records, and siloed systems to keep up with audits. With information spread across departments, tracking down evidence of compliance can take days, even weeks, of sifting through paper trails, emails, and isolated data.

In a healthcare setting, for example, staff might manually track each patient record’s compliance to ensure it meets HIPAA requirements – a time-consuming process prone to error. Finance departments face similar challenges, spending hours matching transactions to complex audit standards. A platform that centralises these tasks, automating evidence collection and compliance checks, will help businesses to prepare for audits in a fraction of the time, free from the manual errors that spreadsheets are known for and avoiding endless documentation hunting.

A solution based on real-world experience

The idea for RedOrange AI emerged from a data breach that Amit witnessed at the accounting firm that supported his company. The incident exposed major vulnerabilities, leading to fines, reputational damage, and months spent regaining client trust. As Amit and his team researched the root cause of the breach, evidencenced through scattered records, it became clear that traditional, manual compliance methods couldn’t keep up with growing regulatory demands.

This experience became the foundation for RedOrange AI. Amit saw an opportunity to develop a smarter, automated solution to simplify and strengthen compliance across different industries. The cloud-native tool will keep businesses secure, compliant, and prepared for any regulatory challenge without the headaches that come with manual compliance management.

Support from the Irish startup ecosystem

Amit’s startup journey has included support from the country’s vibrant startup ecosystem. As a highly technical founder with limited experience in scaling a startup, the tools and supports available to him have been more than welcome. In addition, the local tech community in Dublin has proved an invaluable resource for collaboration and networking opportunities.

Amit feels that Ireland is an ideal location for starting a business. Having previously worked with startups in the Bay Area, he finds that Ireland offers a similar environment for founders, making it an attractive place for innovation and growth. This supportive landscape has been instrumental for Amit. As he builds his team in Dublin, he remains committed to leveraging this supportive landscape to drive RedOrange AI’s growth and innovation.

What’s next for Amit and his startup?

The startup is currently looking for €600,000 in investment from angels or pre-seed venture capital firms. RedOrange AI will be partnering with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), as they specialise in understanding the compliance and security needs of their clients. By integrating a compliance platform into their offerings, these providers can enhance their service value, making compliance management more accessible to their clients. With the MVP live, Amit is currently onboarding the first clients. He will be actively growing the Dublin team, supporting and scaling the platform with sales and marketing professionals as well as adding to the engineering team.

On the product side, the team is enhancing the platform’s AI capabilities and developing powerful integrations to make compliance even more seamless. The ultimate goal is to create a self-learning compliance engine that adapts to evolving regulations, keeping clients ahead of the curve. By continuously refining the product, RedOrange AI is setting itself up to be a long-term partner for businesses, enabling them to confidently navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

To learn more about the company, visit redorange.ai.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Gclinics Is Streamlining Access To Genetic Testing And Counselling

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

New Frontiers alumna Auindrila Das is the founder of Gclinics, a solution that aims to democratise our access to genetic testing and genetic counselling – vital elements of personalised healthcare. We spoke to Auindrila about her journey so far and plans for the future.

A genetic engineer and scientist by profession, Auindrila spent a decade at the cutting edge of genomics and healthcare before founding Gclinics. Initially focused on academic research, her work involved close collaboration with genetic clinics and genetic counsellors, particularly those working with patients suffering from genetic conditions such as thalassaemia.

It was during this time that Auindrila recognised a crucial gap – while medical technologies such as genetic sequencing and testing were evolving rapidly, integrating these advances into clinical practice remained a challenge. This gap became the driving force behind Gclinics. The company is a collaboration of scientists, healthcare professionals, and technology leaders, all with a shared vision of advancing precision medicine and bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and patient care.

“Genomics is at the heart of personalised healthcare. The idea behind the business is to bring scientific expertise into the clinical setting. The problem is that there are currently around 130,000 genetic tests available (a number that is constantly growing) but only 8,000 genetic counsellors globally to act as the mediators between genetics and healthcare.”

Genetic counsellors have a complex role. They are part of the entire diagnostic lifecycle of a patient – deciding which tests to run in the first place and then interpreting the results in a clinical context so that they can convey this back to the patient and consultant in a way that allows them to make informed decisions.

But there are far too few of them. In reproductive health, which is the area of care that Gclinics is focused on for now, the diagnostic timeline currently stretches into years. Globally, 17.6% of the population experiences infertility. One in six couples trying to have a baby are facing a problem, which in 50% of cases will lead back to genetics. Genetic testing is a standard step when looking for a cause, and mandatary in many healthcare systems today.

Partnering with clinics, the platform will ensure people have access to vital genetic information that can help them better understand their options. Auindrila’s vision is to make genetic counselling more accessible, streamlining what can often be a complicated and expensive process. Given how far she has brought the startup, it’s incredible that things only got started last year.

“I joined Phase 1 of New Frontiers last year. Coming from a scientific background, I didn’t know a lot about building a company or how to build a product. But I told this group of people my idea and the response was, ‘OK, there are rough edges but you have identified a real problem that exists at a global scale and this can become a global company.’ That’s when I thought, ‘Yes, let’s go for it!’ I left my job and went into this full-time.”

The journey has been fast and intense. Auindrila and her team use an iterative process to develop the platform. They already have an MVP in place and have recently secured their first clinical partnership – with one of the largest IVF clinics in Ireland. The strategy is to get feedback from the clinic and the end users so they can keep refining the product.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is part of the Gclinics ecosystem. It’s capacity to streamline the diagnostic process, assist in the interpretation of genetic test results, and build models to assess patient risks make it an important ingredient. AI will also play a crucial role in the development of Gclinic’s interactive genetic counselling tools, helping both professionals and patients better navigate the complexities of genomics.

“I’m confident that AI can further reduce costs and enhance the personalised delivery of healthcare support. The technology has the potential to drastically reduce the time it takes for a diagnosis—from years to mere months. We’re also exploring opportunity for AI in imaging technologies.”

Auindrila completed all three phases of New Frontiers as well as participating in the NDRC Pre-Accelerator. Moreover, the company was selected as one of only three startups across Europe to join the FCAT Fellowship, run by the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology. Gclinics recently secured €100,000 in Pre-Seed Startup Funding (PSSF) from Enterprise Ireland.

It’s evident that these successes owe a lot to Auindrila’s drive and proactive approach. While she had a lot of experience in areas such as regulatory strategy and market launches, moving from the scientific world into entrepreneurship presented its own challenges. She remained open to refining her approach and learning new skills and tools such as identifying market fit and how to productise the solution.

“We are still very early in this journey, and I know there is a lot left to learn. However, if I could give my former self some advice, I think it would be to take the jump sooner. I hesitated for a long time before deciding to build this solution – the passion and vision were always there but I wish I had acted on them sooner rather than waiting for the perfect moment.”

Where will Gclinics go from here? The global market for genetic testing is currently valued at around $44 billion, and Gclinics is preparing to seize its share. Auindrila is currently working on raising seed funding, which will be used to hit technical and commercial milestones over the next 18 months.

The goal now is to reach one million women and empower them to make informed decisions that ultimately lead to a healthy birth. Although initially focussing on reproductive health, Gclinics will expand into other areas such as oncology and cardiovascular health. Long-term, Auindrila’s ambition is to become the preferred partner for all genetic testing labs and diagnostic companies. She sees Gclinics as the backbone of genomic solutions globally.

“The support from Enterprise Ireland and the rest of the ecosystem has been great, but in addition I am very disciplined. I made sure to go to all the events and knock on all the doors. My advice to other founders is to seek support early, take advantage of programmes like New Frontiers, and never be afraid to ask questions. The Irish startup ecosystem is one where support is readily available—but it’s up to you to actively engage, participate, and learn.”

With a strong foundation in place, an ambitious vision, and cutting-edge technology at its core, Gclinics is poised to revolutionise the future of genetic counselling, starting in Ireland and reaching far beyond.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Start Up In Tallaght, With Programme Manager Laura Enache

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

New Frontiers is Enterprise Ireland’s national programme to support startup founders – delivered at 18 different locations around the country. TU Dublin delivers the programme at three different campuses. The Programme Manager at the Tallaght Campus is Laura Enache. We sat down with Laura to learn more about her process and methodology.

Laura Enache - Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers TU Dublin Tallaght Campus

Laura Enache, Programme Manager at TU Dublin – Tallaght Campus

Laura’s approach to running the programme is influenced by her deep focus on fostering communication, collaboration, and personal growth. As a programme alumna herself, Laura knows firsthand the challenges that entrepreneurs face, and her experience as a marketer, businesswoman, and now a programme manager, shines through in every aspect of her work.

From the outset, Laura introduces programme participants to the importance of community. One of her core beliefs is that teamwork and networking are pivotal to success, which she emphasises from day one. She helps participants build meaningful connections through peer-to-peer coaching and group discussions, encouraging them to help each other tackle the business challenges they face. Using the GROW coaching model (Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward), she creates small groups of participants to share insights and find solutions collaboratively.

One challenge Laura noticed early on in her role was that participants often struggled with monthly reporting, an essential part of tracking their progress through the programme. To address this, she leveraged the peer-to-peer model, asking participants who excelled at completing reports to share their best practices with the group. This learning approach helps ease the burden on those who find the task challenging and fosters a greater sense of community, with participants stepping in to support one another. It’s another example of how Laura prioritises collaborative problem-solving and learning from within the group.

Creating a cohesive group dynamic is a priority for Laura. At the start of the programme, she introduces participants to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, a tool she finds invaluable for improving communication and collaboration. Each participant completes the questionnaire and then shares their results with their cohort, so that everyone is familiar with each other’s behaviour preferences. Many past participants have found this exercise to be transformative, not only improving their teamwork during the programme but also going on to apply the insights within their own businesses when building teams or resolving internal conflicts.

Laura incorporates team-building exercises and training from the beginning of the programme – with activities to help break the ice and encourage participants to get to know each other on a deeper level. By fostering early connections, she ensures that participants feel comfortable collaborating and sharing knowledge from the outset. An Excel file allows participants to list their strengths and areas where they need support, helping to build a solid foundation of trust and mutual aid. Throughout the programme, founders with expertise in a particular area (for example, marketing, using Figma, branding, etc.) are given the opportunity to teach those skills to the rest of the group. The results are clear: participants report stronger relationships and a greater willingness to offer and receive help throughout the programme, making the environment not only educational but supportive.

But Laura’s commitment to feedback doesn’t stop there. She actively listens to participants and refines the programme based on their input. From introducing workshops around sustainability, mindful leadership, and balance and boundaries for startups through to appointing a spokesperson to streamline feedback, Laura’s adjustments ensure that the programme remains relevant and practical.

The Phase 2 New Frontiers programme at Tallaght is front-loaded, meaning that the majority of activities, workshops, and other learning experiences are concentrated in the first three months of the programme. This ensures that participants establish solid foundations early on, setting them up for success as they move into the second half of the programme, when they focus on putting their newly acquired toolkit to work in the business.

New Frontiers in Tallaght is delivered at the Synergy Centre, a state-of-the-art business incubator located on-campus. TU Dublin’s size, breadth, and focus on practical, industry-aligned education, combined with strong entrepreneurial support, give founders countless opportunities for networking and growth. TU Dublin is very active in this space, with initiatives such as ivenTUre (a student entrepreneur programme) and TrailblazHER (a community with a shared commitment to advancing gender equality). Participants can also engage in Pitch Perfect, organised in partnership with the Local Enterprise Offices, or connect with students through the TU Dublin Immerse internship programme, expanding their business networks even further.

The logistics and facilities of the Tallaght campus offer a further advantage to New Frontiers participants. Situated conveniently near major transport links, the site also features extensive outdoor spaces and wildlife areas, giving participants the opportunity to recharge and find balance. Practicalities such as hot desks and private offices make it easier for participants to focus on their work. Programme alumni make up 30% of the clients in the space, adding to the supportive atmosphere.

Laura has taken lessons from her own time as an entrepreneur and embedded them into her management style, helping participants feel supported and connected throughout the programme while always stressing the importance of validation and market research. Her background has influenced her approach in many subtle ways, while her passion for self-improvement – including training as a hypnotherapist – makes her an intuitive and supportive programme manager. Throughout our conversation, Laura’s focus was clear: empowering participants to build strong networks, grow their confidence, and continuously evolve their businesses.

If you’re interested in applying to the New Frontiers programme in Tallaght, you can head over to the Tallaght Campus location page to learn more about what’s on offer and keep an eye on their upcoming application deadlines on our calendar page. You can also visit the TU Dublin website for more information about how they support entrepreneurship and innovation.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Design Focus: How ADHD Sparked Joel Olympio’s Award-Winning Innovation

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

For many entrepreneurs, the journey starts with a problem they know intimately. For industrial designer Joel Olympio, the spark came from his own experience with ADHD and the challenge of working in environments that weren’t designed for neurodiverse individuals. He channelled this into a unique solution, which has led to an award-winning product and a burgeoning startup.

An interview with New Frontiers alumnus and Chapter co-founder Joel Olympio

How did your journey towards founding your startup, Chapter, begin?

It started with my undergraduate thesis at the University of Limerick. I was really interested in how different environments affect adults with ADHD, mainly because of my own experiences with it. I wanted to explore solutions that allowed people to adapt their environments to their needs, rather than stuggling to adapt themselves to environments that weren’t designed for them.

One of the biggest challenges I kept coming across was how poorly suited learning and work environments are for neurodiverse adults. A lot of spaces are not designed with ADHD in mind, and it can make focusing extremely difficult. It wasn’t just about finding quiet spaces or reducing distractions; it was about creating something that would allow people to work in any space without excluding themselves.

So, after you identified this challenge, what solution did you come up with?

I developed a pair of glasses – Oasis – that help create a sense of a closed space, enhancing attention by dimming peripheral vision. This is especially helpful for people who are sensitive to peripheral distractions. The glasses use technology that allows you to adjust the level of dimming or turn it off entirely, depending on what’s needed at the time.

Oasis Glasses with adjustable peripheral dimming

The design won a James Dyson Award, which was a huge motivation to turn it into a business. I teamed up with two friends, and we launched Chapter. At the time, I was working at Dolmen Design & Innovation in Dublin, but I didn’t want to split my focus between that and the startup, so I applied for Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme.

What was your experience of New Frontiers like?

The New Frontiers programme has been great. It allowed me to go full-time into the startup and really explore what I was doing. It also introduced me to the startup ecosystem in Ireland. I finished Phase 2 in June and was accepted onto Phase 3, so I’ve been in ‘funding mode’ ever since.

What’s your funding goal at this stage?

We’re aiming to raise €750k in pre-seed funding. This would allow us to get the product into production, with sales through our ecommerce platform. We’re looking for funding in Ireland, the UK, and the US – reaching out to angel investors and venture capitalists who are aligned with our mission. We’re also connected with key players in the Irish ecosystem, such as Enterprise Ireland.

We’re looking for investors with the expertise and passion to help us execute our strategy. It’s important to talk to investors who understand the challenges we face as a hardware company – people who understand the model and know what metrics and indicatiors to look for when evaluating the business.

What kind of challenges have you faced when raising funding?

As I already touched on, one of the main challenges is that we’re developing a physical product. Like they say, “Hardware is hard.” It’s also harder to show traction when you’re still in the product development phase. One investor from the US asked, “How scrappy can you get?” That really stuck with me.

I realised that we had to be creative in demonstrating product-market fit and showing demand for our product. Unlike software startups, we can’t just get early adopters using it and model our potential on that. We decided to 3D print early versions of the product and sell them online as well as sending them to people to get feedback. This gave us something tangible to show investors, proving that we had customers willing to buy the product.

Oasis Explorer 3D Printed Demo Prototypes

How have you found pitching to potential investors?

Pitching has been quite difficult, especially at first. My mind can be quite scattered, and when you’re up against tight deadlines, it’s hard to deliver a refined pitch. I relied on scripts at the start because it helped me get the message across clearly. Some people advised me to be more spontaneous and just go through the deck naturally, but that didn’t feel comfortable for me.

Over time, I’ve become more comfortable with the material, so I don’t need to rely on the script as much. One thing I’ve learned is that framing the pitch for each investor is really important. Every investor has their own perspective, and you need to think about what they’re looking for and how best to communicate your message to them.

What advice would you give to fellow entrepreneurs preparing to pitch?

We try not to be afraid of rejection. Pitching is a constant process, and the pitch deck itself is always evolving. We reach out to investors regularly, not just for investment but for advice and feedback. This helps us refine our pitch, and we keep potential investors updated on our progress every few months.

Practice, a lot! There’s no secret method or hack to pitching well. Getting confident and competent in your pitch just comes with time and experience. The more you pitch, the more you develop your personal style, and you learn how to keep people engaged. It’s a process, but it’s essential to gaining the trust of investors.

Find out more about Chapter and Oasis glasses at chapter.technology.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Organic Skincare With A Purpose: Ixis Santos’s Mission To Heal And Empower

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Over one in five people globally is affected by a skin condition. Often dismissed medically because they are not life threatening, the long-term impact of skin diseases on someone’s quality of life and psychosocial health is both profound and well-documented. We interviewed Ixis Santos, founder of Forest Mist Skincare, about how her organic skincare range will help people overcome such challenges.

Welcoming a new child to the family is usually a period of joy and excitement. For Ixis, however, it heralded a flare-up of the skin sensitivities and allergies that she had struggled with all her life. Admitted to hospital, and unable to tolerate even the gentlest of products, she found herself at a crossroads. “I was covered in a rash,” she recalls. “There nothing I could put on my skin, so I started experimenting – one ingredient at a time – to find something that could help me.”

It wasn’t a quick fix. What began as an urgent need to heal her own skin transformed into a journey of discovery. Ixis dived into research and enrolled in a Diploma in Cosmetic Science, immersing herself in the magic and method behind skincare formulations. It wasn’t just about mixing creams – it was about decoding what her body needed, finding balance through diet, stress management, and of course, the right skincare.

Other people noticed the transformation her creations were having on her skin. “My friends started asking if they could buy the products. They loved them.” It was at this point that Ixis wondered if it was time to turn her personal solution into something bigger. But creating a business was a whole new challenge, one that required skills beyond product development. Ixis applied to Phase 1 of the New Frontiers programme in Limerick and Forest Mist Skincare was born.

“It was the best experience. Being with other people who were in the same boat, figuring out how to bring an idea to life, was exactly what I needed. When I shared my idea with the group, everyone recognised the need for these products. They all knew someone with this kind of issue. That was a real boost for me and Phase 1 gave me the confidence to continue.”

Keen to take the next step, Ixis applied for the full-time Phase 2, where she delved deeper into the complexities of running a business, benefitting from the different workshops with experienced entrepreneurs and experts as well as insights from her cohort. The financial side, in particular, was an eye-opener.

“So many of these elements are important – legalities, procurement, marketing. But the one thing that’s essential to learn is financial management. Phase 2 made me think about factors like the hidden costs in a business and understand how to price my products. For me, if you don’t know the financial side of things, you don’t really have a business. There’s more to launching a product than just creating it.”

Skincare is a heavily regulated industry and products must comply with EU regulations, one of which is that they are assessed by a cosmetic chemist. A huge amount of paperwork needs to be submitted to the EU portal for approval before a product can be sold. In addition, products that make specific health claims must provide scientific evidence through efficacy testing conducted by independent laboratories.

“It’s not enough to say it works, you need data to back it up. Anyone can ask a manufacturer to produce a skincare product, and they don’t even need to be involved in the formulation. But I’ve been through this; these are solutions I created because I needed them. I want to be able to make real claims about my products – not just because I know they work for me, but because we have the proof to show they work for others too.”

Having been accepted onto Phase 3 of New Frontiers, Ixis is currently focused on efficacy testing in partnership with the Centre for Applied Bioscience Research (CABR) Technology Gateway, proving that her carefully crafted products do exactly what they claim to do. Her two flagship products – a Vitamin C skin serum and a hair and scalp serum – are already selling locally and on the startup’s ecommerce shop.

In an crowded marketplace, Ixis faces the challenge of maintaining her meticulous standards once she moves to an outsourced production facility in order to scale. It’s a necessary step as demand grows, but she knows that the quality of the ingredients will be key. Later on, she has plans to add a cleanser and other products to the Forest Mist Skincare range.

It’s not unusual for a startup to emerge from one person’s critical need. Ixis clearly has a passion for what she is doing, but her path to this point was far from linear. Born in Honduras, she took a break from her engineering degree to gain work experience in Italy, where she settled and pursued a career in healthcare before she and her Irish husband decided to make County Limerick their home.

Forest Mist Skincare isn’t just about selling products; it’s about offering solutions born from real need, backed by science, and inspired by the belief that we can all overcome the challenges we face. As the health claim testing comes to a close, Ixis will focus on her marketing strategy to broadcast her message as wide as possible – building her organic skincare empire one bottle at a time.

“I’ve always struggled with self-doubt. Leaving home and moving countries can make you feel like you don’t belong. Having problematic skin just made things harder. I’ve dealt with eczema, acne, dermatitis, and sensitivities all my life. My eczema was on my face, so you can imagine how that affected me. Skin conditions really impact our confidence. But you can heal if you give your body what it needs. Skincare is part of that, and when we take care of ourselves, we can challenge our insecurities and achieve more.”

You can learn more about Forest Mist products at forestmistskin.com.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

The 2024 National Startup Awards Celebrates Ireland’s Best And Brightest Startups

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

The National Startup Awards are back for their 13th year and officially open for entries! This prestigious event, backed by Enterprise Ireland, is a cornerstone of the Irish startup ecosystem, offering a fantastic opportunity for early-stage businesses to gain both national and international recognition.

The competition is a significant event in the Irish startup calendar, shining a spotlight on the dedication, resilience, and innovation of entrepreneurs contributing to the nation’s economy. From AI-focused ventures to food and drink startups, the awards celebrate the success of companies that have been operational for up to five years. Startups at any stage of development are encouraged to apply.

Introducing the New Frontiers special category

This year, the National Startup Awards has introduced a new category aimed at participants of New Frontiers. The ‘Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers Startup’ category is open to any founder who completed Phase 2 of the programme in either 2023 or 2024. This award category will recognise the outstanding achievements of New Frontiers alumni who have demonstrated significant progress in their entrepreneurial journey.

The judging criteria for this category are as follows:

Innovation (grade of innovation, disruption, and originality)
Business model (organisational structure, sales strategy, strength of team, vision, and strategic plan)
Customer value proposition (why a customer would buy or use the product or service)
Scalability and market reach (pathway to growth, market size, and export potential)
Social impact (jobs generated, diversity policy, and social inclusion)

Founders who have completed Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme are encouraged to apply, highlighting the innovative ideas and business accomplishments that set them apart. Leo Clancy, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, has this about the awards:

“Enterprise Ireland is delighted to partner with the National Startup Awards, reinforcing our unwavering commitment to fostering innovative, export-focused start-ups. A key priority for Enterprise Ireland is to enhance Ireland’s profile as a premier location for starting and scaling businesses. The National Startup Awards offers emerging companies a valuable platform to showcase the energy and innovation driving our start-up sector. We are particularly excited that this year’s awards will feature a special prize recognising participants from the New Frontiers accelerator programme, highlighting the exceptional talent nurtured through this initiative. We look forward to engaging with the outstanding enterprises nominated, as we continue to champion innovation and entrepreneurial excellence.”

Other categories of recognition

The National Startup Awards encompasses 11 categories designed to highlight the diverse range of talent within Ireland’s startup ecosystem. The other categories for 2024 are as follows:

EmergeTech Startup
Early Stage Startup
Fintech Startup
AI Focused Startup
Food & Drink Startup
Social / Sustainable Startup
Product & Manufacturing Startup
eCommerce & Retail Startup
Tech Startup
Medtech Startup

The awards will also feature a Grand Prix Winner chosen from the winners of the individual categories, offering extra recognition for a standout entrant. A Startup Hero will be chosen by a separate panel of judges.

How to enter the National Startup Awards

The competition is open to sole traders, partnerships, and companies across all sectors that have been operational for up to five years as of 16th October 2024. The entry process is straightforward, and you can enter up to three relevant categories. While you can duplicate the application at the time of submission, we do advise that you tailor each one to the category you are entering.

As well as basic information about the company – including a short description and details such as employee count and turnover – you will be asked to submit supporting material in either written or video format. For the New Frontiers category, in particular, think about how you articulate the problem you’re solving and the traction you have gained.

The online application form is just step one; the second phase of the judging consists of in-person interviews held in Dublin after entries close. To enter or nominate someone for a National Startup Award, visit startupawards.ie and submit your application by 17th October 2024 at 11.59 pm.

The judging process

The judging committee is composed of representatives from Enterprise Ireland (EI), Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), Business Innovation Centres (BICs), and leading entrepreneurs from various sectors. The judging process will involve shortlisting entries by region before moving on to a national level.

The panel of judges for the National Startup Awards features an impressive line-up of industry experts, including:

Jamie Heaslip – Ireland Strategic Growth Lead at Stripe
Anna-Marie Turley – Head of Entrepreneurship & HPSU Operations at Enterprise Ireland
Des McCarthy – CEO of Microfinance Ireland
Dr Ros Beere – Consultant at Furthr
Gary Fox – Host of The Entrepreneur Experiment
Paula Egan – Head of Sales at Sage
Kmla Sharma – Technical Lead at HubSpot
Michael O’Dea – Senior Development Advisor HPSU at Enterprise Ireland

This diverse panel ensures that all entries will be judged fairly and rigorously, spotlighting those startups that truly exemplify innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.

“We are delighted and proud to launch the 2024 National Startup Awards! Over the years, we have seen some incredible companies come through this programme, which is now recognised as the leading awards event for early-stage businesses in Ireland. The National Startup Awards represent a fantastic opportunity for companies to showcase their businesses and gain valuable national and international exposure. We look forward to meeting this year’s entrants and wish all startups the very best of luck.”

– Stephen Dillon, Founder of Startups.ie

Entries close 17th October

The National Startup Awards not only honour outstanding startups but also provide a vital platform for new businesses to gain recognition and support within the thriving Irish entrepreneurial landscape. Whether you’re a startup founder or know someone who is, this is an unmissable opportunity to be part of an inspiring celebration of innovation and hard work.

The national awards ceremony will be held at Dublin City Hall on 21st November 2024.

For more information and to submit your application, visit startupawards.ie. Don’t miss your chance to shine on this prestigious stage!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

My Moves Matter: Richelle Flanagan’s Startup Is Redefining Life With Parkinson’s

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Did you know that neurological care costs European countries more than cancer, diabetes, and heart disease care combined? Neurological diseases are also the biggest cause of disability worldwide. Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world (an estimated 11.8 million people are living with the disease today).

Although traditionally thought of as an “old man’s illness”, 40% of people living with Parkinson’s are women, up to 30% of whom are under the age of 60. Another disturbing fact about Parkinson’s is that, by the time you are diagnosed, you have probably already lost 60% to 70% of your dopamine-producing neurons.

Richelle Flanagan is the co-founder of My Moves Matter, a startup on a mission “to empower people with neurological conditions to live their best lives”. A dietician for the past 20 years, Richelle has become a passionate advocate for Parkinson’s Disease care, better brain health, medical research, and patient and female empowerment.

We interviewed Richelle about her inspiring work and vision for the future of neurological care.

Originally working in sales and marketing, Richelle first became interested in nutrition when her sister was diagnosed with cancer. She completed a Masters in Human Nutrition and Dietetics at University of Ulster, Coleraine, and has worked as a registered dietitian ever since. She was also the president and first CEO of her professional body, the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute (INDI). In the past, she was a board member of the Coeliac Society of Ireland (CSI) and chair of their Clinical Advisory Board.

Richelle first detected symptoms associated with Parkinson’s while pregnant with her second child. Writing notes for a follow-up consultation with a client, she noticed that her handwriting was much smaller than it had been previously, and she couldn’t make it any larger. Micrographia, as it is known, was one of a few physical clues that eventually led to a diagnosis of Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease (YOPD) after her child was born.

: Richelle Flanagan

: Richelle Flanagan with Co-founder & CTO Rene Reinbacher

“I hid my diagnosis for the first couple of years because of the stigma around brain diseases. But then I thought about how I had advocated for my patients and around diseases such as Coeliac (which I have) and I decided it was time to start meeting other people with Parkinson’s. I attended the World Parkinson’s Congress and started doing more research into the disease. I realised there was very little study into the connection with diet or of women with Parkinson’s. I applied to be an ambassador at the next world congress, which was in Barcelona last year.”

Richelle co-founded the Women’s Parkinson’s Project, a platform for raising awareness and getting better treatments and research for women with PD. One of the actions they took was to put together a survey asking women about the impact of hormones on their symptoms – something Richelle had noticed in herself and heard her counterparts mention. 80% of respondents found their symptoms worsened before their menstrual bleed, 50% found they worsened during, and a few found they were worse afterwards. The survey also revealed that symptoms became more erratic during perimenopause. 40% of respondents said their symptoms were worse during perimenopause.

Richelle co-authored a research paper entitled Unmet Needs of Women Living with Parkinson’s Disease: Gaps and Controversies, which concluded that there needed to be a way for women’s experiences of PD to be validated. She was subsequently invited by Maria Teresa Ferretti, CTO of the non-profit organisation Women’s Brain Project, to take part in a two-week Hackathon in Switzerland, with the goal being to develop an app that would track women’s PD symptoms across their menstrual cycle.

“It was all remote because of the pandemic, but it was really exciting to get that initial prototype together. I actually met my co-founder and CTO, Rene Reinbacher, during the Hackathon. He has a data science background and could really see the potential for technology to bring great benefits to people living with the challenges of PD. We went on to win the Hackathon, which is when I discovered that there was also prize of 5,000 CHF [roughly €5,100]. Incredibly, the organisers decided to triple the prize money because they wanted to see the project realised. That’s when I decided to go to the Local Enterprise Office and ask them for support. They were able to match the prize money from the Hackathon with Feasibility Funding.

“Because I had previously completed Phase 1 of New Frontiers with a different project, I decided to apply again and completed all three phases while we brought the app to market. New Frontiers is amazing for anyone starting out with an initial idea – especially because you can test your idea and weigh the possibility of giving up your day job. The allowance on Phase 2 was a huge plus for me, as well. Phase 3 was also fantastic for follow-on support.

“I think there’s a tangible benefit to being in a cohort that spans different industries. We each have our different backgrounds and skills that means we can really help each other. Our Programme Manager, Laura Enache, is great. She pushed us a lot and there were lots of deliverables, but these were all things the business needed to have in place anyway. The support, mentoring, and tools are second to none. After the programme, Laura keeps us all in the loop and sends us information and invitations to events. That’s so helpful when you’re a startup and mostly working away on your own.”

The My Moves Matter app was launched last July. It’s free for anyone with Parkinson’s and available for Apple or Android, with currently 1,100 users. It helps people track their diet, medication times, exercise, sleep, and hormonal fluctuations – all of which affect how well someone can live with Parkinson’s Disease. In addition, the app supports the input of clinical trial IDs, which means it is helping to fill that critical research gap. Right now, My Moves Matter is working with the University of Cork on a global pilot study (where women at different hormonal life stages track their PD symptoms over four months) and with France Parkinson’s (a trial in four neurological centres for French women tracking their symptoms across the menstrual cycle).

“Trials are very important. The research with France Parkinson’s is being led by Prof Elena Moro of the European Academy of Neurology and Department of Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurological Rehabilitation of CHU Grenoble in France who has just become the President of the European Academy of Neurology. She has been a great advocate. We worked on the trial protocol together and applied for the funding, and a small part of that went into translating the app into French. We’ve been doing a lot of work on the backend of the app and now it’s now easy to see where there are correlations in the data – for example, differences between men and women.”

My Moves Matter recently won Pre-Seed Startup Funding from Enterprise Ireland. This will enable them to start working on the impact of diet on PD as well as other neurological conditions. Diet has a big part to play in managing symptoms as well as slowing the progression of neurological diseases. We’re still learning about the complex and bi-directional connection between the gut and the brain – researchers are currently exploring the idea that conditions like PD may start in either place and subsequently travel via the Vagus Nerve. It’s believed that our gut microbiome influences inflammation, which in turn affects brain health and the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

“85% of people with Parkinson’s don’t have access to dietetic care, but we know that the gut plays a big role neurological disease. The PSSF funding will go into setting up dietetic telehealth. Few dietitians are trained in PD, so we are addressing that gap and developing online nutrition programmes that can be delivered through our platform. My vision is that when someone is diagnosed, they will be immediately prescribed a dietetic programme that bridges the gap between neurology consultations.”

Using remote dietitians and leveraging the power of machine learning and generative AI, My Moves Matter will be able to provide this crucial support as part of their wider care package. Richelle sees this as being a universal service that could be licenced by any health service anywhere in the world. Supporting and facilitating research helps to ensure there is evidence of the positive health outcomes and better quality of life that My Moves Matter is delivering. And while the current focus is Parkinson’s, the platform will come to support other neurological illnesses as well, becoming the largest provider of dietetic care for people with neurological conditions globally.

[featured image: Professor Aideen Sullivan and Dr Lucy Collins Stack with Richelle Flanagan (centre) at the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience in UCC]

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Enterprise Ireland’s Start-Up Day Celebrates New Frontiers Alumni

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Last week, Enterprise Ireland hosted the largest annual event on Ireland’s startup calendar, welcoming over 600 people and celebrated Irish companies from sectors such as ICT, life sciences, fintech, food, and sustainability.

The first edition of Start-Up Day at Dublin Castle celebrated Enterprise Ireland’s ‘Class of 2023’ and brought together the wider start-up ecosystem which supports the development of these businesses, including investors, state agencies, and accelerators.

On the day, 10 investor-ready ventures participated in the Big Ideas competition and pitched their pioneering innovations to a panel of judges in front of a live audience consisting of representatives from the Irish start-up ecosystem, including founders, VCs and other funders, state support agencies and professional and financial services.

Big Ideas gives ventures emerging from higher education institutes the opportunity to showcase their innovations and pitch their solutions. They also receive support with meeting and networking with potential investors, partners, and advisors. LaNua Medical won the overall Big Ideas Award and will go on to represent Ireland at the Pegasus Start-Up World Cup in San Francisco later this year.

New Frontiers alumni shine at Start-up Day 2024

Amongst the invitees at Start-Up Day were a number of the 2023 funded New Frontiers Phase 3 recipients, who had the opportunity to network with representatives from the Irish startup ecosystem. We’re delighted that 11 of the companies awarded HPSU investment in 2023 are alumni of the New Frontiers programme.

They are:

Andrew Farrell of Block Angel Ltd (2017 New Frontiers participant in Tallaght)
Gerry McCauley of OmniSpirant (2017 New Frontiers participant in Waterford)
Shana Chu of Style Wrapped (2019 New Frontiers participant in Waterford)
Jennifer O’Brien of Plantruption (2020 New Frontiers participant in Dublin/Dún Laoghaire)
Niamh Dooley of Lurgan Foods Limited t/a/ Biasol (2020 New Frontiers participant in Athlone/Maynooth)
Gavin Duffy of Trigr (2020 New Frontiers participant in Limerick)
Marie Toft of Emotionise (2020 New Frontiers participant in Limerick)
Kim O’Callaghan of EventzSavvy (2020 New Frontiers participant in Blanchardstown)
Heidi Davis of Identify Her (2021 New Frontiers participant in Blanchardstown)
Matthew Conlon of Cytidel (Overwatchr) (2021 New Frontiers participant in Galway-Mayo)
Emma Meehan of Precision Sports Technology (2021 New Frontiers participant in Galway-Mayo)

In addition, a number of other New Frontiers alumni were panellists on the day – Ciaran Crean of Micks Garage and more recently WaveOMS; Sinead Crowther of Soothing Solutions, who spoke about the power and importance of networking; and Rory O’Connor from Scurri, who spoke about his scaling journey.

Enterprise Ireland backs Irish startups

In 2023, Enterprise Ireland invested €24 million in Irish startups and supported a total of 156 startup companies through its High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) and Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) programmes. Of those, over 55% are based outside of Dublin and 45 (31%) are led by women.

Speaking to RTE Morning Ireland, Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy commended the “ambition and capability” of Ireland’s startups and spoke of the “calibre of talent and innovation” demonstrated by the 85 high potential startups and 71 early-stage businesses from across the country.

Start-Up Day is a wonderful opportunity for people from the ecosystem to connect, share, network, inspire, and learn. We’re already looking forward to next year’s event!

[Featured image: (l-r), Leo Clancy, Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Ireland; Dara Calleary TD, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation; and New Frontiers alumna Emma Meehan of Precision Sports Technology]

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

A Startup Survivor’s Expert Guide To Building Better Resilience

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

The startup journey is exhilarating, full of unexpected twists and turns, but it’s also fraught with challenges, setbacks, and uncertainties that test even the most seasoned entrepreneur. New Frontiers alumnus John Barron explores how resilience, grit, and a growth mindset can help you flourish in your startup.

It’s been said that launching a startup is like embarking on a rollercoaster ride through uncharted territory. In this high-stakes game, resilience – the ability to bounce back from adversity – emerges as a defining trait separating the triumphant from the defeated. While resilience may seem like an innate quality, emerging research shows that it can be cultivated through regular exercise.

“Resilience is essentially an emotional muscle, but our research shows that stressing our physical muscles by exercise is one of the best ways to increase our capacity to cope with daily stress.”
Elissa Epel, Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Five ways to become a better founder by developing resilience

Let’s explore how incorporating physical activity like a walk or a run into your busy day is no longer viewed as self-indulgent but seen as business critical in fuelling and maintaining your startup’s key asset: YOU.

1. Stress-proofing your mind and body

There’s no such thing as a stress-free life. The key is we want to experience manageable stressors so that we can develop stress resilience and not react with a big stress response every time something unexpected happens.

Exercise is proven to be a powerful stress-buster for both the body and mind. Physical activity triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural mood elevators, which help alleviate stress, anxiety, and symptoms of depression.

By incorporating exercise into your daily routine, you equip yourself with what my co-founder at GoChallenge, Dr Caitríona Mooney, compares to putting on a suit of armour that helps you deal with the inevitable stressors that your busy life throws at you, fortifying your mental resilience in the process.

2. Enhancing cognitive function

The link between physical fitness and cognitive function is well-documented, with regular exercise shown to improve memory, concentration, and decision-making abilities. As an entrepreneur, these cognitive enhancements are invaluable, enabling you to think more clearly, adapt to changing circumstances, and devise creative solutions to complex problems.

By sharpening your mental acuity through exercise, you cultivate the resilience needed to tackle the myriad challenges of start-up life with positivity and clarity. Dr Chucks Hillman’s famous brain scan below of a sedentary person versus a person that has re-ignited their brain function by simply going for a walk for twenty minutes.

3. Building grit

I’ve always loved the movie the Princess Bride. If you haven’t seen it, I would highly recommend it. Great family viewing. In the movie, there’s a great line, “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”

The road to entrepreneurial success is paved with painful setbacks, rejections, and failures. However, it’s not the obstacles themselves but your response to them that ultimately determines your fate. Regular exercise fosters GRIT – the unwavering resolve to persevere in the face of adversity.

Whether you’re pushing through the final mile of a five mile walk or grinding out one more rep in the gym, each workout serves as a testament to your resilience, building the mental toughness needed to weather the storms of entrepreneurship.

4. Fostering a growth mindset

At the core of resilience lies a ‘growth mindset’ – the belief that all challenges are opportunities for growth and learning. Exercise cultivates this mindset by pushing you outside your comfort zone, challenging your limits, and fostering a sense of self-efficacy, positivity and mastery.

Whether you’re setting a new personal streak of walking five days in a row or training for a marathon, each achievement reinforces your belief in your ability to overcome obstacles and emerge stronger on the other side. If you haven’t read the James Clear book, Atomic Habits, you should. It’s a must for getting a better understanding of the importance of a growth mindset.

5. Promoting emotional well-being

Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster ride of emotions, with highs of triumph and lows of despair. Regular exercise acts as a natural mood stabiliser, helping to regulate emotions, reduce anxiety, and promote a sense of well-being and positivity.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) concentrates on changing unhelpful habitual responses and reinforcing positive behaviours. Combining the two is especially effective, given the human cycle of thoughts that lead to emotions. So a positive intervention in your day, like going for a 30-minute walk, has the impact of creating positive thoughts, leading to positive behaviours, which reinforce those thoughts and emotions.

By nurturing your emotional health through physical activity, you develop the resilience needed to navigate the emotional highs and lows of start-up life with grace and resilience.

Face challenges with confidence, fortitude, and positivity

In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, resilience isn’t just a desirable trait. It’s a survival skill. There’s not much we can control in life, but we can control our attitude. The key to this is staying consistent, even when times get tough. By incorporating exercise into your daily routine, you empower yourself to face the challenges of startup life with confidence, fortitude, and positivity. So, lace up your sneakers, get outside, go for a run, bring your dog for a walk, and embrace the transformative power of exercise to elevate your resilience levels and unlock your full potential as an entrepreneur. Your mind, body, and business will thank you for it.

About the author

Johnn Barron

John Barron is the founder of GoChallenge and a past participant of the New Frontiers programme. GoChallenge is a health-focused employee experience platform. Its mission is to reconnect and re-energise the workplace by making movement and self-care part of everyone’s working day – fostering a thriving culture and prioritising a healthy employee experience no matter where the work happens.

Founders Flourish In The Entrepreneurial Landscape Of Ireland’s Northwest

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme is delivered at 18 locations around the country. Geraldine Beirne is our Programme Manager in the beautiful and vibrant northwest of Ireland, where she runs a dual location programme. We talked to Geraldine about what applicants can expect from New Frontiers in Letterkenny and Sligo.

Geraldine Beirne New Frontiers Programme Manager Sligo

New Frontiers Programme Manager, Geraldine Beirne

Hello, Geraldine. Can you share a bit about your background and what drew you to your current role?

Of course. I started my career in export sales, working at the Magee clothing factory in Donegal, selling into European markets such as France and Germany. Later, I worked at Boston Scientific in Galway, where I gained valuable insights into multinational operations and regulatory affairs. Following a stint in product development in London, I was drawn back to the northwest, where I pursued opportunities in marketing and digital media. My diverse background and understanding of both business operations and academic environments led me to my current role, where I leverage my experiences to support aspiring entrepreneurs in the region.

That’s quite a journey! Tell us more about the New Frontiers programme in the northwest and what sets it apart?

The New Frontiers programme in the northwest is a joint initiative between the incubators at two campuses of Atlantic Technological University (ATU) – CoLab in Letterkenny and the Innovation Centre in Sligo. We cover a large catchment area spanning six counties, from Malin Head to Inishowen into Roscommon, Leitrim, and Mayo. This opens up unique opportunities for engagement with the university campuses for student placements and projects, as there is a vibrant ecosystem for student entrepreneurship at ATU. We also collaborate closely with our local Technology Gateways, PEM in Sligo and WiSAR in Letterkenny.

ATU is the widest-spread university in Ireland, geographically speaking. Each campus has unique focus areas and resources. Our campuses include ATU Donegal Killybegs (specialising in culinary arts, hospitality management, and tourism), ATU St Angela’s (specialising in nursing, health sciences and disability studies, home economics, and education), ATU Connemara (the National Centre for Excellence in Furniture Design and Technology), ATU Mountbellew (specialising in rural enterprise, agribusiness, agriculture, and environmental management).

Inter-campus connections are strong. We work hard to facilitate seamless collaboration and knowledge exchange, which further enriches the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the northwest. Collaboration is at the heart of our efforts. I work closely with Tony O’Kelly, who is Programme Manager for New Frontiers in Galway and Mayo, also ATU campuses. We host joint sessions and facilitate cross-campus networking opportunities, fostering a sense of community and connectivity.

The northwest region appeals to founders thanks to factors like lifestyle and access to natural resources. Can you elaborate on how these elements contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region?

The northwest boasts stunning natural landscapes and a vibrant community spirit, making it an attractive destination for those seeking a high quality of life. For example, Bundoran offers some of the best surfing in Europe. This lifestyle appeal, coupled with the abundance of natural resources like seafood and agricultural produce, presents unique opportunities for entrepreneurs. Whether it’s crafting artisanal products or developing sustainable business models, entrepreneurs in the area are harnessing these regional resources to create innovative ventures that resonate with consumers locally and globally. For example, one of our founders is developing a pickled oyster product and another is producing fresh pasta from local ingredients including seaweed.

Since the pandemic, we’re seeing people moving back to the northwest from abroad or from Dublin. The agencies here are working hard to make the northwest the best place to do business, as well as a great place to live. The Northwest Regional Enterprise Plan is helping us to all pull in the right direction (assisted by agencies like the Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland, Western Development Commission (WDC), IDA Ireland, and Údarás na Gaeltachta). Part of this regional focus is supporting business to move away from traditional sectors. Remote working is a great driver of this, so we have lots of co-working hubs in the region.

There’s a rising number of female founders in the northwest and initiatives like Empower and Ambition supporting their entrepreneurial journey. Can you share more about the impact of these initiatives?

Empower and Ambition play a crucial role in fostering a supportive ecosystem for female founders in the northwest. By providing tailored support, networking opportunities, and access to resources, these initiatives empower women to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions with confidence. Gender diversity is not only a matter of equity but also a driver of innovation and economic growth.

By amplifying the voices and perspectives of women founders, we can unlock new opportunities, drive sustainable development, and build a more inclusive entrepreneurial landscape in the northwest and beyond. Our partnerships with local agencies like the Local Enterprise Offices and initiatives like SheGenerate and Acorns propel our commitment to empowering women founders and fostering a diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem. I’m proud that some of our recent cohorts have, in fact, had a higher representation of women compared to men.

You mentioned some innovative new startups drawing on the unique characteristics of the northwest. Who are some notable alumni from the programme and what is the future of entrepreneurship in the northwest?

We’ve had some remarkable success stories, with alumni like David Gildea of CloudRanger, who sold his startup to Druva Inc (for an undisclosed sum). Linda Hegarty of Slick+ is making significant strides in her field. Other notable alumni include Kieran Supple of Reap Interactive, Catherine Devine of PumpSkynz, and Maria Hall of Hub Planning. These individuals exemplify the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that you can expect from the northwest.

Like I said before, our programme has two locations. CoLab, in Letterkenny, is the larger of the two incubation centres but you can choose which one you want to be based in (being on Phase 2 and 3 or New Frontiers means free co-working space). Our group learning events happen in both centres, which means participants have lots of opportunities to interact with the whole cohort and not just those based in the same building. There are of course social areas in both centres, and we hold networking events that our alumni also come to.

The alumni network is very important, and we now hold an annual alumni event to keep us all connected. I truly believe in the network effect, and I am always looking to promote and amplify collaboration opportunities or synergies amongst participants. I often say that I feel like a part-time employee in all these businesses! I love that this role is so hands-on, and I learn as much from the participants as they learn from the programme. I make sure to keep paying it forward to the next cohort.

If you have a business idea that you want to get off the ground, New Frontiers will equip you with the right connections, the right skills, and the right route to capital to build a successful and sustainable startup business. Learn more about New Frontiers in Sligo and Letterkenny and read more about Geraldine’s background. Feel like this is the right time? Register your interest in New Frontiers today!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Empowering Women In Business Requires A Mix Of Strategy, Adaptation, And Leadership

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Sinead Lonergan has been the Women in Business Manager at Enterprise Ireland since early 2023. Her job is to guide the state agency’s five-year strategy to increase the number of women who opt for entrepreneurship and the participation of women in leadership. We spoke to Sinead about her work so far and the journey ahead.

The Enterprise Ireland action plan was published just before the pandemic in 2020. It recognised that diversity in leadership is vital in reflecting the modern and globalised society of today as well as in delivering a more sustainable and inclusive economy. More specifically, it anticipated that increasing gender diversity during the stages of founding, leading, and growing enterprises will result in stronger businesses and faster economic growth.

Sinead Lonergan, Women in Business Manager at Enterprise Ireland

Through a number of programmes, initiatives, and collaborations, Enterprise Ireland has set the following goals:

Increase the number of women-led companies growing internationally.
Increase the number of women in middle and senior management as well as leadership roles in Irish companies.
Increase the number of women becoming entrepreneurs.
Increase the number of women-led high growth potential startups.

“Although a strategy had been created, that didn’t mean the work was fixed. During my first few months in the role, I met with lots of the people in the business ecosystem and listened to what challenges and opportunities they were dealing with. The plan was always to adapt our approach as things changed and to focus wherever the need was strongest.”

One of the activities Sinead mentioned was a workshop held on International IP Day that aimed to equip female entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools to safeguard their intellectual property rights – a key component of fundraising and growth. This is a vital step for people navigating the competitive landscape of innovation, yet women only represent around 16% of IP applications worldwide.

“Local Enterprise Offices, Network Ireland, Business Innovation Centres, Scale Ireland, and the NDRC are some of our partners in this strategy, and they have fantastic initiatives aimed at women. Stakeholder engagement is the cornerstone of the endeavour towards gender equality, and that includes advocating for equity and decision-making through a gender lens. It takes concerted effort to address systemic barriers and foster an environment of inclusivity across industries.”

An innovative initiative resulting from these efforts was taking a group of women from the construction industry to the Toyota facility in Wales. Toyota has a world-class lean management course, so this trip aimed to raise the group’s capability in this area plus hone their leadership skills. It was also a chance to profile these women, who hold leadership roles in an industry that is overwhelmingly male.

“Enterprise Ireland has certain objectives around the number of female founders we support. So, towards the end of 2023, I focused a lot on female founders and how we can help them keep up the momentum of starting a business and develop their capabilities in areas such as raising capital.”

Through partnerships with organisations like the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA), Sinead and her colleagues have facilitated webinars, masterclasses, and coaching sessions aimed at demystifying the venture capital landscape. These initiatives have equipped female founders with the knowledge and resources needed to navigate the complexities of fundraising and take their ventures to new heights.

“We’re also looking at what larger companies can do to achieve gender balance. As reporting on the gender pay gap is brought in for smaller businesses, the hope is that they will be able to learn from the changes and programmes that were successful in enterprise. We want to understand the best ways to engage with client companies so that their talent pipelines are diverse. We’re always looking at how to help bring forward a diverse group of talent to support the emmergence of scalable startups and the international growth of our client base.”

Sinead receives guidance from a steering group within Enterprise Ireland, composed of colleagues from across the organisation who meet on a regular basis to inform the strategy with insights from their day-to-day contact with industry. They help to pinpoint which sectors or issues to focus on. Enterprise Ireland’s annual survey of client businesses also provides valuable data around topics such as leadership representation, sales growth, export growth, etc.

“Change starts at first- and second-level education. These are fundamental issues, but we need to show young girls that there are exciting and viable alternative career paths and then back this up by embedding entrepreneurship into third-level education. There is much more still to do, but I am optimistic.”

The issue of gender equality in Ireland extends far beyond the business. It permeates across society, including education, politics, healthcare, and family. Fostering a culture of inclusivity and respect, promoting work-life balance, and providing support for caregiving responsibilities will contribute to a more equitable society. As Sinead points out, the importance of male allies in promoting gender equality both at home and in the workplace cannot be overemphasised.

“Always at the back of my mind is working towards better representation of women-led companies trading internationally. That is my bellwether. That is how we’ll know we are having significant impact. Through our international office network, we continue to help female founders and leaders develop their global networks and build their profile.

“A big piece of this puzzle is funding. In Europe, only 2% of venture capital funding currently goes to women, and that is unacceptable on so many levels. We need more women taking up senior positions in the VC industry, as well as the broader investment sector. It’s important for women founders to be financially fluent and equip themselves with this knowledge. If I could wave a magic wand, this the first thing I would change.”

To learn more about Women in Business, visit the Enterprise Ireland website. If you are just starting out in entrepreneurship, the New Frontiers programme offers a highly supportive environment for early-stage female founders. We are very proud of our track record supporting women as well as our gender-balanced Programme Manager team. In 2023, 39% of Phase 2 participants and 37% of Phase 3 participants across the country were women. In addition, five of the seven New Frontiers alumni to be awarded HPSU between 2021 and 2023 were female.

Read about four of our recent alumnae and the women-focused businesses they run in our blog Four Female Founders With Game-Changing Startups Targeting The Female Market.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Start Up In The Midlands! Learn What’s On Offer From Programme Manager Nick Allen

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

The New Frontiers programme is delivered at 18 locations nationwide. In the Midlands, it is delivered jointly by Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) – Athlone Campus and Maynooth University. The Programme Manager is Nick Allen, a veteran consultant and trainer who has been in the role since 2015. We talked to Nick to learn more about his approach and what founders can expect from the programme in Athlone and Maynooth.

Nick Allen, Programme Manager in Athlone and Maynooth

Nick’s journey into entrepreneurship began at University College Dublin (UCD), where he developed a passion for innovation and enterprise. Over the years, his academic pursuits intertwined seamlessly with his practical experiences as he moved from training development to management consulting to entrepreneurship. It’s no surprise that one of Nick’s main strengths lies in leveraging strategy and process to solve complex business problems. Working as a visiting lecturer with UCD Innovation Academy introduced him to the startup ecosystem and ultimately led the way to New Frontiers.

“My experience and skills to date seemed to come together in the New Frontiers model, which is unique. There are two ways this impacts what I do. The first is how I use my background in management consulting to help individuals solve problems in a corporate setting. The second is context – by which I mean asking questions such as what is the business problem, customer problem, or client problem that needs solving.”

A pragmatic and holistic approach to entrepreneurship

What makes Nick’s approach so valuable is that in the early stages of startup he doesn’t differentiate between the person and the business. Through his work in career and personal development, Nick has come to consider that the personal development of the individual is as much a factor of success as the mechanics of the business model. He develops close working relationships with founders in order to support this transformation.

Nick emphasises the symbiotic relationship between personal and professional evolution, where belief in oneself is a vital ingredient for success. He references the quote often attributed to Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” This philosophy underpins his interactions with programme participants, where empathy and understanding form the cornerstone of his mentorship.

“The New Frontiers programme isn’t a panacea, and it’s not an oracle. In any early-stage startup, the founder is the driver of success. Her attitude and mindset are the main reasons it will succeed. I’ve seen this play out countless times. We’ve had very strong ideas with the right business model that have not taken off – sometimes because the founder decides that entrepreneurship isn’t for them and sometimes because they just don’t have the belief that they will succeed.”

Nick takes the view that if a founder has made it through the rigorous selection process of New Frontiers Phase 2, the onus is on him to believe in them and help them as much as he can. As long as they keep believing in themselves. He still gives honest and thoughtful feedback but says there’s nothing to be gained from his advice being prescriptive or directive.

“I’d say we’re always fair. If founders do decide it’s not for them, that’s a personal choice and not something I would ask them. I’m guiding them on the path to making good decisions, whatever they may be. That’s my platform or philosophy for the programme. Push everyone forward as much as you can.”

What can you expect from New Frontiers in Athlone?

Cohorts in the midlands are fairly large, with 12 to 14 founders on any Phase 2 programme. Nick favours high-impact group sessions and keeps them to around one and a half days per week. It’s in these settings that you will experience learning opportunities such as workshops, brainstorming, pitching practice, or business model working. It’s then up to you to implement these skills and ideas in your startup.

“In these early stages of the business, I encourage founders to place a lot of emphasis on customer validation and market validation. If you’re going out and making huge assumptions about your customers while you develop your product or service (and spending a lot of money doing so), we’ll let you know because you should be careful about bringing something to market without validation. We encourage people to bootstrap their way through development, because too often I see people spending money before they are ready, especially when it comes to tech development.”

Nick’s relationship with New Frontiers participants will often start well before Phase 1. He sometimes has several meetings with a founder before they are ready to apply, putting a lot of emphasis on his special brand of ‘on the spot consulting’ where he openly shares his experience. This also gives him a good sense of the applicant’s strengths, as well as their readiness and ambition for startup.

“Some people are still playing around with the idea and aren’t ready to dive into a structured programme. Other people are so focused on the future stages of the business that they haven’t acknowledged the huge amount of work required to get there. Startup is a series of mini steps, what I call ‘learning loops’. If you can go out and make multiple, tiny mistakes with just a fraction of your market segment, you’ll gather fantastic information at very low cost. You learn from these and feed them back into the business in a continuous cycle.”

What are the practical benefits of the Athlone-Maynooth programme?

Athlone delivers the New Frontiers programme in partnership is with Maynooth University. You can choose to be based at the Midlands Innovation and Research Centre (MIRC) on the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Athlone Campus or opt for the MaynoothWorks incubation space in Maynooth, located in the state-of-the-art Eolas Technology Building. Most of the group sessions will take place in Athlone, where Nick is based.

Because this is a joint programme, founders can access the facilities at either university. For example, you could avail of Enterprise Ireland Innovation Vouchers to collaborate with an expert, third-level researcher while developing an idea or product or solving a business or technical challenge. Vouchers are a low-cost way to work with the nationwide Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateway Network.

In Athlone, one of the gateways is COMAND, which specialises in interactive media technologies (cross-platform applications, mobile media cloud, 3D sensing, and IoT interoperability). Nick also mentions the fantastic video suite at MaynoothWorks, which is professionally rigged out with multiple cameras, screens, and backdrops and available for founders to use.

One of the universal benefits of New Frontiers is the access to mentors from the Enterprise Ireland panel. Beyond this, though, Nick draws on his huge professional network to make introductions or ignite collaborations wherever he can. He also actively maintains relationships with past participants and continues to support them after the programme, including keeping an eye on possible funding opportunities.

“Here in the Midlands, the startup and business communities are really important. I’ve built strong connections with members of the ecosystem, particularly our Local Enterprise Offices. We work together to make sure every founder is getting the right support at the right time. At the end of the day, the founder is the most important person in all this, and we want them to succeed. Whether it’s New Frontiers, the Local Enterprise Office, or somewhere else, our doors are always open.”

If you have a business idea that you want to get off the ground, this could be the right time to start. New Frontiers will equip you with the right connections, the right skills, and the right route to capital to build a successful and sustainable startup business. Learn more about New Frontiers in Athlone, read more about Nick’s background, or register your interest in the programme.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Pitch Perfect: Battle Of The Start-Ups Event At TU Dublin

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Pitch Perfect is a competition run as part of the Local Enterprise Week in association with TU Dublin and the four Dublin area Local Enterprise Offices (Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin).

This is the second year of the competition, which features a first prize of €5,000 and 12 months of free office space (in a TU Dublin campus incubator in either Blanchardstown, Grangegorman, or Tallaght) along with a number of other cash and hotdesk prizes.

This year the event was held on 8th March in TU Dublin’s city campus at Grangegorman. Over 60 founders entered the competition and were shortlisted down to just six finalists. These lucky six pitched to a panel of judges composed of Alison Cowzer (co-founder of East Coast Biscuits), Dr Richard Fernandes (award-winning entrepreneur and innovator), and Professor David Fitzpatrick (President of TU Dublin).

Each founder had five minutes to pitch their business. After this presentation, there was a question and answer session with the panel. Each of the finalists was asked additional questions and also given some great advice from the judges.

It was great to see that five out of the six finalists were alumni from the New Frontiers programme! The six finalists were:

Auindrila Das of gClincs
Rajat Maheshwari of Finedeeds
Sarah O’Farrell of Barbaras Bone
Richelle Flanagan of My Moves Matter
Colin Deering of Anyscor
Ben Moran of ProactivePaths

Each of the presentations were extremely professional and engaging. You could tell that the founders had put a huge amount of work into their preparation. The judges had a difficult task to pick the overall winner, but a very worthy founder was selected – Richelle Flanagan of My Move Matters. Richelle’s startup has developed a digital support platform for people with Parkinson’s disease, delivering personalised therapeutics. The Audiences Choice prize went to Ben Moran of ProactivePaths, with the other finalists each receiving runner-up prizes.

If you’re thinking of taking part in Pitch Perfect next year, the competition is open to startups/founders who meet one of the following eligibility criteria:

Is a registered TU Dublin student
Is currently completing, or has previously completed, an entrepreneurship programme with TU Dublin (for example, the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers programme)
Is a limited company registered with Companies Registration Office (CRO) and based in the Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, or South Dublin local authority areas
Is registered as a client with a Local Enterprise Office in Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, or South Dublin local authority areas
Is based in the Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, or South Dublin local authority areas and not registered with any other Local Enterprise Office

Other terms and conditions apply, for more information visit the TU Dublin website.

Insights And Synergies At The Annual New Frontiers Networking Event

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

New Frontiers Phase 2 is an extensive six-month programme that requires a full-time commitment. The New Frontiers National Networking event is our way of celebrating those who make it through to the end. Individuals from organisations all across Ireland joined us to celebrate this year’s 170 graduates from across 18 locations. Passing through the tough selection process and then proceeding to excel through the programme, these graduates deserve to be celebrated.

This year, the event was held in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Athlone. The graduates had a day packed with insights – there were three panels hosted by our MC, Conor Carmody, as well as breakout sessions where the founders could discuss and analyse the challenges they may face in their business. There was also, of course, time for the participants to mingle and meet all those that took the same terrifying but riveting step in their start up journey.

Our thanks to the following alumni and supporters of the programme for agreeing to be on our panels:

New Frontiers – alumni panel

Emma Meehan, Precision Sports Technology
Nipun Katharua, Smile Genius Dental
Shana Chu, Tailr

The Funding Horizon – panel discussion

Anna-Marie Turley, Enterprise Ireland
Christine Charleton, Local Enterprise Offices
Gianni Matera, Growing Capital
Rosemary Gallagher, HBAN

Building Scale – fireside chat

John Killian, Greyscout
Sinead Crowther, Soothing Solutions

New Frontiers National Networking event 2024

The annual networking event is a regular feature of the programme. Recent graduates from every programme around the country are invited to a day of informative insights and – importantly – opportunities to network with alumni from other locations.

The New Frontiers programme is delivered at 18 locations nationwide. Beyond networking, benefits of the programme include expert-led workshops, mentoring, incubation space, access to R&D capabilities, and a tax-free allowance during Phase 2. It’s the ideal programme for early-stage founders who have yet to successfully scale a startup and most sectors are eligible. Read more about the features of the programme and eligibility criteria.

Follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with news from the programme and our current and past participants. You can also subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter.

About the author

Ishita Gupta

Ishita is studying Marketing, Innovation and Technology at Dublin City University. She currently works as an Intern in Enterprise Ireland's Entrepreneurship & HPSU Operations Department. As part of her role of supporting the New Frontiers National Programme Manager, Paula Carroll, she was part of the team that organised this year's fantastic national networking event.

How To Supercharge Your New Frontiers Experience: 10 Top Tips

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme has been supporting early-stage startup founders for over a decade. Phase 1 is a part-time programme aimed at validating the business idea. On Phase 2 – which runs over six months full-time – founders develop a wide range of skills that will enable them to turn their idea into a revenue-generating business.

The benefits of New Frontiers are wide and varied. But what can you, as the founder, do to ensure you get the most benefit from the programme? We put this question to our Programme Managers in an attempt to distil the most relevant and important tips into a single blog that will supercharge your time on the programme and help you become the best founder you can be. This is by no means the only advice your Programme Managers will have for you, but it’s a good place to start!

In no particular order, here are tips from 10 of our Programme Managers.

Paula Carroll, National Programme Manager at Enterprise Ireland

“If I was to give only one piece of advice (which is very hard), I would say use the time whilst you are on the programme to network! It is really important to get known within the startup ecosystem, and the best way to do that is to use the connections you will have access to whilst on the New Frontiers programme. Network with your fellow participants, with other entrepreneurs within the incubation centres, with the facilitators and mentors, and also get out to events to meet potential customers and funders.”

Tony O’Kelly, Programme Manager at ATU – Galway City + Mayo Campuses

“Prioritising market intelligence is crucial, as it serves as a compass for navigating the complex terrain of business establishment and growth. This involves a thorough understanding of your target market, including customer needs, preferences, and behaviours, as well as staying abreast of competitors’ strategies and industry trends. Such insight not only informs product development and marketing strategies but also shapes investment decisions and operational adjustments. By placing a strong emphasis on market intelligence, founders can make well-informed decisions, anticipate market shifts, and adapt their business models accordingly, enhancing the likelihood of long-term success and sustainability in a competitive environment.”

Orla Reynolds, Programme Manager at Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dún Laoghaire

“My recommendation to founders is to really understand the problem you’re solving and know your customer. Develop milestones and timelines: slowly is the only way to get somewhere quickly. Take time to methodically think through your options; look at where you are today, think about what you want the company to become, and begin to plot the steps necessary to achieve your goal. Everything will take longer than you think, and people will take a very long time to reply. Don’t stop moving forward. Even if it feels like you are going around in circles, that’s OK as long as you are spiralling up! Take time for yourself, too. Remove your self-worth from the success or failure of the business.”

Nick Allen, Programme Manager at TUS – Athlone Campus

“For founders, learning how to acquire and retain customers is paramount. Steve Blank’s insight, often encapsulated in the simple yet profound model of ‘Get, Keep, and Grow’ customers, is a cornerstone in this area. For the early-stage business, the initial goal is to secure the first customer. This ‘Concierge’ customer, so named for their significance in representing the entire business at this stage, requires an unparalleled level of personal attention and service, a level that is challenging to maintain at scale. As the business grows, strategies to acquire and retain multiple customers need to be more streamlined, incorporating tools like CRM systems, sales teams, and efficient communication channels. However, the key takeaway for start-ups is to avoid getting bogged down in elaborate marketing strategies prematurely. Instead, the focus should be on the essentials: acquiring that first crucial customer, providing exceptional service to keep them, and finding ways to grow their value over time. This approach ensures a solid foundation upon which a business can build its future marketing and operational strategies.”

Gemma Purcell, Programme Manager at SETU – Carlow Campus

“A valuable aspect of New Frontiers is group learning and peer interaction. The group brings together a blend of different skills, experience, and backgrounds. The peer-to-peer support is invaluable, as is the unique contribution each participant brings to the workshops. Being open and sharing expertise in the workshops is encouraged and is then reciprocated by peers in other workshops.”

Mary Casey, Programme Manager at TUS – Limerick Campus

“I would advise participants to approach the programme with a curious mind. Be curious, ask questions, listen intently and probe further so that you – as the leader – can make knowledge-powered decisions. This is the opportunity to investigate the business idea further, ensure you are creating an offering that people want and that they will pay for, making it commercially viable. Don’t be opposed to challenging your early assumptions. New Frontiers gives you the time to step back, carry out in-depth customer discovery by talking to customers to understand their needs, how they are fulfilling this right now, their challenges, their budgets, how they will benefit and achieve value from your offering. Continue being curious as you develop the first version of your product offering and your first business model. Be adaptable to change as you listen to your users’ feedback. New Frontiers opens a wide network to participants from facilitators, mentors, past participants, as well as other entrepreneurs, research centres, and agencies… Ask questions of them, seek advice, and leverage the wonderful startup ecosystem that surrounds you!”

Geraldine Beirne, Programme Manager at ATU – Donegal Letterkenny and Sligo Campuses

“Maximising the peer-to-peer network is a highly under-estimated benefit of participating in Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme. It is so important to get to know your fellow entrepreneurs – exchange insights, share your challenges and solutions. Over the six months of the programme, you will get to know each other very well as you navigate the journey together. The learnings that the programme provides through the workshops and mentoring are, of course, invaluable in helping to make your business a success. But your peer-to-peer network adds another layer and can open doors to new opportunities. Leverage the diverse perspectives and experiences within your group – they will have a wide range of areas of expertise from marketing to finance, sector specific knowledge and a wide network of contacts that you can tap in to.”

Dr Eugene Crehan, Programme Manager at SETU – Waterford Campus

“Continuously refining your business plan and pitch deck, with the guidance and expertise of workshop facilitators and the New Frontiers team, is a pivotal aspect of laying the groundwork for your entrepreneurial journey. The business plan acts as a critical roadmap, guiding you through the complexities of launching your startup and strategising for customer acquisition. Its importance cannot be overstated, as it not only serves as a blueprint for your company’s direction and goals, but also as a dynamic document that evolves with your venture. Regular updates to your business plan and pitch deck are essential, ensuring they remain relevant and reflect the changing market dynamics and internal growth of your business. This process of constant refinement and adaptation is not just about maintaining a document; it’s about nurturing a living strategy that keeps your business aligned with its objectives and responsive to opportunities and challenges.”

Colm O’Maolmhuire, Programme Manager at TU Dublin – Blanchardstown Campus

“My advice to founders is learn to manage yourself. Create a structure or system to make the best use of your time and to track your progress. It may sound like six months is a long time, but it flies! It’s easy to relax in Month 1 (“Great, I got on the programme!”); however, if you do, it suddenly becomes a five-month programme. There’s lots to do, and the last month will be taken up with worrying about how you’re going to fund yourself afterwards. The successful founders realise you’re not about being on a programme – you’re about building a business. The best way to raise funding to keep the business going is to show you can deliver. And that’s why you need to use your time (and the support we give you) on Phase 2 wisely – so you can raise funding to grow a business you’ve already shown you can start. If you manage yourself and your time well during Phase 2, you will then have a stronger case to make by the end of it.”

Aoife McInerney, Programme Manager at MTU – Cork Campus

“An open mind will help you get the most from New Frontiers. YDKWYDK or ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ applies to all entrepreneurs, as does an immense pride in the business that you’re creating. New Frontiers is designed to support you to build your business by providing you with the time to really test your business model, access to experienced mentors, a supportive peer network AND by challenging assumptions you may have about your business. Realising that changes are needed can be tough, so to really benefit from the experience you’ve got to be ready to engage and participate with an open mind!”

New Frontiers is Enterprise Ireland’s national programme for startup founders. To learn more, read about the programme, check out the eligibility criteria, and find the application deadlines of your nearest programme.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Scarlet is a content consultant, commissioned by Enterprise Ireland to fulfil the role of Editor of the New Frontiers website. She is an expert in designing and executing ethical marketing strategies and passionate about helping businesses to develop a quality online presence.

Congratulations To The New Frontiers Winners Of The National Startup Awards 2023

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

The annual National Startup Awards reward excellence in vision and innovation, marketing, and social impact. Open to rising stars across all industries and technologies, the awards help them on their journey to success by providing national and international exposure and credibility. The awards “shine a light on talented founders, innovative products and services, and startups with the potential for rapid growth”.So, who are the most disruptive, scalable, and fundable companies in Ireland? It appears that many of them are Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers participants and alumni. This year saw 14 New Frontiers startups collect awards after a tough regional selection process and live pitching to a panel of expert judges. Congratulations to all the startups who took part, and to the winners from the New Frontiers community below!

National Startup Awards winners 2023 from the New Frontiers programme

Category: AI Focused Startup

“The advent of AI has had significant impacts on the startup landscape and this category is open to startups whose value proposition is centred on artificial intelligence or that utilize AI substantially in their product or service delivery.”

BRONZE: Snappie Dev. Founder: Mihael Melnic (participated in the programme at IADT in partnership with UCD – 2023). Snappie allows users to create top-quality, unique and beautiful websites, instantly, at freelance prices, on a revolutionary AI-based platform.

Category: Tech Startup

“We want to recognise Ireland’s booming tech start-up community and celebrate and reward the nation’s best tech businesses.”

GOLD: ReaDI-Watch. Founder: David Byrne (participated in the programme at TU Dublin – Tallaght Campus – 2021). ReaDI-Watch is an innovation management system (IMS) – a digital platform built by innovation and R&D experts to help companies embrace and unlock their innovation potential across any industry. Using ReaDI-Watch as a centralised platform, they can build, track, protect, and manage innovation and R&D strategy, including projects, teams, and intellectual property.

SILVER: LiveCosts. Founder: Ciaran Brennan (participated in the programme at TU Dublin – Blanchardstown Campus -2017). LiveCosts is a Blanchardstown, Co Dublin-based business with a simple goal. It tells construction companies if they are making money or not in real time. As is often the case, simple doesn’t mean easy. They collect data and apply it back to the main dashboard. Ciaran started the business in 2017 alongside his brother Niall and Diarmuid Quinn and Livecosts now has 15 staff.

Category: Early Stage start up

“The Early Stage Startup award is designed to recognise Startups that display great potential for future growth. Early Stage Startups can come from any sector but must be under 2 years old (From date of incorporation).”

BRONZE: HomeHop. Founder: Robert Kelly (participated in the programme at TU Dublin – Tallaght Campus – 2023). HomeHop streamlines maintenance and operations for property management companies across the globe. They can reduces maintenance costs, boost revenue, and scales business with HomeHop’s white-labelled, plug-and-play technology.

Category: eCommerce & Retail Startup

“eCommerce is the term describing the conducting of business through online channels, encompassing the outward-facing processes that touch suppliers, partners and customers, and including not just marketing communications but also sales, order taking, delivery, fulfillment and customer service.”

GOLD: Anewmum. Founder: Marian Kennedy (participated in the programme at MTU Cork Campus 2018). Anewmum has created postpartum self-care hygiene products that comfort and support new mothers.

Category: Emerge-Tech Startup

“Emerging technologies are perceived as capable of changing the status quo. Emerge-Tech industries include AI, information technology, wireless data communication, man-machine communication, on-demand printing, bio-technologies, and advanced robotics.”

GOLD: Sports Impact Technologies. Founder: Eoin Tuohy (participated in the programme at TU Dublin -Blanchardstown Campus 2020). Sports Impact Technologies has developed a sensor that monitors and reports any head impacts of a player to their coach, physio, or parent in real time.

SILVER: Druid Learning. Founder: Niamh Faller (participated in the programme at TU Dublin – Grangegorman Campus in partnership with IADT 2020) . The Druid Learning Enterprise content management tool transforms static and archived content, establishing an extensive digital repository for all your content assets. Prepare for AI by using your content to create training sets.

BRONZE: Agri Data Analytics Ireland. Founder: Jack Pilkington (participated in the programme at TUS – Athlone Campus in partnership with Maynooth Campus 2022). Agri Data strives to tackle the climate crisis through innovation in the agricultural sector, focused on reducing enteric methane emissions in line with Ireland’s COP26 pledge of a 30% reduction in methane by 2030. Agri Data Analytics Ireland is currently in the research and prototype development stage of creating a methane testing and monitoring unit called The Bovine Breathalyser which will record and process GHG emission levels produced by ruminant animals.

Category: Fintech Startup

“The rise of fintech has changed the way companies do business. This has opened up a world of possibilities. Businesses can offer more services than ever and for a fraction of the price of what it would have cost before.”

SILVER: Cytidel. Founder: Mathew Conlon (participated in the programme at ATU Galway and Mayo Campuses 2021). Cytidel helps security teams reduce breaches, save time, and stay secure. It offers vulnerability management, cyber risk management, and threat intelligence.

Category: Food and Drink Startup

“The Food and Drink industries play a major role in economic activity in Ireland with a wide-ranging impact on economic growth, employment, and local development.”

GOLD: BiaSol. Founder: Niamh Dooley (participated in the programme at TUS Athlone in partnership with Maynooth University – 2020). BiaSol is a range of milled grains with the ultimate zero-waste approach to reintroducing nutritional food back into the food chain.

SILVER: Well Spent Grain Ltd. Founder: Sunkyung Choi (participated in the programme at TU Dublin – Tallaght campus – 2022). Well Spent Grain is a food upcycling start-up based in Dublin, Ireland.
It collects brewer’s spent grain from local breweries and “spends it well” by creating high-quality and value-added food products such as snack bites.

SILVER: Wexbury Spirits. Founder: Mark Kavanagh (participated in the programme at SETU – Waterford Campus – 2022). Wexbury Spirits produces a range of vodka cream liqueurs made from Irish fruits.

Category: Medtech Startup

“Medtech is already diagnosing, monitoring and treating virtually every disease or condition that affects the human race. From sticking plasters to body scanners, ever more technologies are coming on stream to improve patients’ lives.”

GOLD: Gasgon Medical. Founder: Vincent Forde (participated in the programme at MTU Cork Campus – 2017). Gasgon Medical AirVault™ is a medical device developed by Gasgon Medical (Ireland), intended to remove air-in-line bubbles from intravenous (IV) infusion therapy.

Category: Product and Manufacturing Startup

“The Irish start-up scene may appear to be increasingly dominated by tech and service-focused companies but there’s still a huge market for product businesses.”

GOLD: Omuu Petfood. Founder: Frank Clarke (participated in the programme at DkIT in partnership with DCU – 2022). Omuu is a quality dog food designed by a leading Irish veterinarian. It’s a hypoallergenic dogfood based on insect protein that’s easy on sensitive stomachs and a sustainable product.

See the full list of regional and national winners on the National Startup Awards website. Congratulations again to everyone who took part.

Growing Capital Plans To Match Pre-Seed Start Funding (PSSF) For 15 Irish Startups

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? In the nascent stages of startup, founders need to achieve product-market fit to attract investors, yet, without investment, reaching that crucial juncture is exceptionally difficult. This is the hurdle that typifies early-stage development – the stage that is arguably the most precarious and pivotal for young companies. This is also the point at which angel investor Gianni Matera aims to make his mark on Irish startups.

Enterprise Ireland’s Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) provides early-stage investment of €50,000 or €100,000 (in two €50,000 tranches), plus access to a Development Advisor and supports from the agency. The PSSF is the bridge for those startups that are still early stage but need investment to really start flourishing, and a large proportion of successful applications for PSSF have come from New Frontiers programme alumni.

The PSSF Booster fund, conceived by Gianni’s company Growing Capital, matches PSSF funding with an additional €100,000 to accelerate the startup. “Our hope is that this larger budget means the startup can reach more ambitious technical and commercial milestones. The process of finding that product-market fit becomes more achievable, more quickly, making it easier to then raise further investment.”

PSSF is emboldening Growing Capital to invest earlier in the journey of a startup, when you can catch a glimpse of product-market fit on the horizon even though it hasn’t fully materialised yet. With a keen eye on New Frontiers programme alumni, Gianni aims to deploy 15 such investments by the end of 2024. The target is bold but calculated, with the anticipation that 60% of these startups will progress to a substantial seed raising round involving Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) fund.

Gianni’s approach is resonating across the investment landscape. In fact, he believes that many venture capitalists, traditionally more inclined to invest more but at later stages, are starting to recognise the potential of earlier-stage startups. It’s a shift in the investment ethos that underscores a broader belief that the earlier the involvement, the greater the influence on a startup’s trajectory.

Anna-Marie Turley, Department Manager for Entrepreneurship & HPSU Operations at Enterprise Ireland, is excited to see how startups can leverage the combined power of PSSF and Growing Capital funding. “It’s a great endorsement to see Growing Capital adding on to the PSSF. It will give the recipients more bandwidth to bridge that gap to seed funding. It will also put companies in a much stronger position to avail of HPSU funding. Having an independent, external investor at this stage gives the business a lot of credibility. On top of the credibility that comes from having gone through Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme, this is really setting them up for success.”

For Gianni, investing is still more an art than a science. He eschews a convoluted decision-making process, instead relying on his own due diligence and judgement. His criteria, though, are clear and discerning. Growing Capital seeks extraordinary, talented people who have spotted an unserved problem in the market with a potential market that’s big enough to build a meaningful company. And he believes that New Frontiers is a great environment in which to find such vision and tenacity.

If you’re a founder hoping to catch Gianni’s attention, it’s vital you can demonstrate your laser focus on the problem to be solved and a strategy to get there with efficiency, innovation, and at a cost that stands out from the competition. Gianni’s ethos is to support, not to steer, allowing the founders the autonomy to make things happen. “In general, I foresee that PSSF will generate a robust, varied, and flourishing stream of investment opportunities for the Innovative HPSU Fund, which is the natural next step in the founding journey of the start-up.”

As a programme, New Frontiers focuses on developing the skills and confidence of the founder, who is often at this stage the only person in the business. However, successful startups require a strong and cohesive team. Gianni therefore expects founders to have pondered the pivotal question, ‘Should I embark as a solo founder, or do I require a co-founder?’

Statistically, there are lots of excellent and successful solo founders, so he is agnostic on this point. But he feels strongly that a founder should have considered both paths and be able to stand over their choice. Solo founders will need the strength of character and charisma that allows them to build and lead a team toward the startup’s goal. Otherwise, the skills and capabilities of the founder may need to be balanced by one or more co-founders.

There is an extensive range of supports available to assist entrepreneurs and startup teams to take those critical first steps in establishing and developing innovative high-growth businesses with international potential, and as Anna-Marie reminds us, “While startups receive significant media attention, it’s important to remember that Enterprise Ireland provides support throughout the entire business journey, not just in the early stages. As a business progresses, we actively assist our clients with follow-on investments and aid in their expansion efforts. We help them scale their operations and facilitate their internationalisation by leveraging our extensive network of over 40 overseas offices. This network equips them with valuable insights on market entry strategies and introduces them to potential customers as their company continues to grow.”

Growing Capital has already invested in around 20 Irish startups, including Glofox, Flipdish, and Siren. Their first PSSF Booster investment was a startup co-founded by New Frontiers alumnus Nipun Kathuria. Nipun completed New Frontiers at TU Dublin – City Campus. His company, Smile Genius Dental, is a platform for streamlining dental workflows for clinics, DSOs, and clear aligner companies, offering a one-stop digital solution for the dental industry.

Speaking about the investment, Nipun said, “This investment from Enterprise Ireland, plus the additional funding from Growing Capital, marks a significant milestone for Smile Genius Dental as we strive to transform the digital landscape for the benefit of dental practitioners and the outcome for their patients. This investment will help us to improve our product, make it more scalable, allowing us to enter key markets and integrate with other ecosystem partners. The New Frontiers programme at TU Dublin has been instrumental in preparing us for investment readiness and in connecting us to the investment network in Ireland.”

Smile Genius Dental’s success is just one example of the potential that lies within the New Frontiers community. The synergy between PSSF and the PSSF Booster has the potential to catapult the growth of 14 other startups by the end of next year, nurturing the seeds of innovation and underscoring the importance of support at the early stages where it’s most needed. As Gianni and his team cast their net wider into the pool of New Frontiers alumni, the PSSF Booster will help to showcase the resilience and dynamism of Ireland’s founders on the world stage.

About Gianni Matera

Gianni Matera is the founder of Growing Capital, an early-stage investment firm specialising in providing support to startups rooted in Ireland. Before founding Growing Capital, Gianni established DigiTouch, a digital marketing agency that has since been listed on the Italian stock market and employs more than 400 people. He also has prior experience as the country manager for Buongiorno and as a consultant at Accenture.

[Featured image: (l-r back) Diane Hurley, New Frontiers Programme Manager at TU Dublin – City Campus; Anna-Marie Turley, Department Manager for Entrepreneurship & HPSU Operations at Enterprise Ireland; Deirdre O’Neill,

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Starting Up In Dún Laoghaire: Meet Programme Manager Orla Reynolds at IADT’s Media Cube

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Did you know that Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme is delivered at 18 locations around the country? The programme at the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) is delivered in partnership with University College Dublin, a short distance away in Belfield (Dublin 4).

We talked to Programme Manager Orla Reynolds about New Frontiers at IADT Media Cube, including her approach to programme delivery and the successful new partnership with NovaUCD. Orla brings a unique perspective to the programme, blending her past experience as a participant and a holistic approach to innovation and startup development.

A unique perspective on the programme

Orla Reynolds, New Frontiers Programme Manager at IADT

“I manage the programme at IADT, but I’m also an alumna! I took part in New Frontiers at TU Dublin – Blanchardstown Campus back in 2015 to 2016. My design startup manufactured an award-winning modular bookcase and other homewares. So I’ve seen the programme from both sides, and that’s key to how I do my job. I have a good sense of what agencies such as Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Office want, but also what it’s like to be the founder on the other side of that.”

Orla’s background gives her an unparalleled vantage point into the nitty-gritty of startup life, including the complex task of raising funding. But she is interested in much more than the market share, scaling, and exit strategy side of running a startup company. The programme at IADT also considers aspects such as the psychological and environmental impacts of being in business.

“Last year, I introduced sustainability onto the programme at IADT. Climate change is everyone’s responsibility, and it’s become vital to show investors that you’re thinking about this. Some founders start off thinking ‘I don’t run an eco-business, this isn’t relevant to me’, but when you look at the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it’s evident that sustainability applies across the whole business.”

Like other Programme Managers, Orla ensures that wellness is integrated into the programme at crucial junctures, especially during the two-month and four-month reviews. Good mental health isn’t a luxury or an afterthought; it’s integral to sustainable success. A founder who is mentally fit and emotionally balanced is better positioned to inspire their team, negotiate with investors, and make the kind of high-stakes decisions that are par for the course in the startup world.

“To be able to come back to yourself is important at these points. I myself suffered from burnout when running my business. You have to remember that, without you, there is no startup.”

A strong sense of community

A big benefit of the New Frontiers programme is the sense of camaraderie and community between participants. Media Cube is home to a variety of startups, and almost all of them were founded by New Frontiers alumni. Past participants are always willing to give time to the current cohort; some of them sit on panels at events, and there is also a VC in residence, Enterprise Equity. There are a lot of success stories within the building, which means it’s a very motivating environment to be in.

The Media Cube at IADT

“The sense of community is what makes New Frontiers special. It’s a safe space for founders. I always say there are no stupid questions. I’m transparent with participants, and in return I expect them to be transparent with me. If something doesn’t make sense to them, we aren’t explaining it properly. Mutual respect and psychological safety are crucial. It’s all about the founders and how to best support them.”

Phase 2 at IADT is front-loaded into the first four months. Concentrating most of the learning opportunities into this time ensures that knowledge transfer is immersive and intense. Participants then have the last third of the programme to focus on putting all the advice, insights, research, and new skills into practice in their business. Orla’s transparency extends to scheduling, which she shares with her cohort on the first day of the programme so that they know what to expect and can plan their six-month journey with clarity.

One programme, two locations

Some New Frontiers programmes are run exclusively at one location. The IADT programme is one of those that is delivered in partnership with another institution. In this case, the partnership is between IADT Media Cube and NovaUCD.

“This alliance is an essential part of the programme’s architecture, particularly on Phase 2. The programme is run in partnership with NovaUCD. Half our participants will be based at the Media Cube and half at NovaUCD, with events also split across the two sites. What’s great is how the two institutions complement each other, which I believe enhances the range and depth of the programme. You have the ‘creative arts’ strengths of IADT balancing with the ‘technological’ strengths of UCD. The result is a symbiotic and collaborative relationship, meaning we can cater to sectors as diverse as medical devices, fintech, digital media, or food.”

The startup puzzle

Startup is a complex, multifaceted exploration that needs inputs from experts and mentors as well as one’s own intuition and reasoning. Orla describes the startup journey as a treasure hunt, where each piece of advice a founder gets is a part of a larger puzzle.

“It’s too simplistic to think that if you just find the right person, they will have all the answers you need. Each person can give you part of the puzzle, but it’s up to you to follow the trail and get the answers you need. Your own reasoning in decision-making really matters. You need to understand the choices you’re making – why you have decided this particular way or option instead of the other possibilities. If you’re clear in your rationale, you’ll find it easier to build trust with team members, investors, and stakeholders.”

Orla doesn’t just draw on her experience as a founder. Creativity is the thread that runs through her career, but she has worn many hats over the years, including as a professional dancer and bank supervisor. She has built skills in design, product development, mass production, exporting, intellectual property, brand development, and marketing. All this gives her a rounded and grounded approach to the programme.

“I’ve had to reinvent myself multiple times. Reflecting on my time as an early-stage founder: I’ve felt the disappointment from things not going my way, I’ve been a minnow up against huge competitors, and I’ve had the difficult meetings. I think that gives me a lot of empathy. I definitely don’t see my role of Programme Manager as one of box-ticking. I want to see progress, but I want the founders to feel empowered. New Frontiers was one of the happiest times of my working life, and I want to have that same impact on the next generation of founders.”

2023 New Frontiers participants - IADT - Nova

(l-r) 2023 graduation – Sidath Handurukande – CNUX Hub; Marita Kenrick – ARA; Ken Mason – Nugget; Iman Zolanvari – Qlindex; Rebecca Adamson – Aquila; Fergal Meegan – Assiduous; Orla Reynolds – New Frontiers Programme Manager; Ruth Guest – Sersha; Mark O’Brien – AI Interpreting; Helen O’Hara – Store My Stories; Rachel Gallagher – IADT Media Cube; Mihael Melnic – Snappie; Philip Brophy – Push Me; Brian Webb – Switchable; Tom Flanagan – NovaUCD; Anna O’Donovan – IADT Media Cube; Fionnghuala Ní Néill – IADT Media Cube; Michelle Doyle – NovaUCD. Credit: Conor Mulhern, EyeOn Photography

Graduates of New Frontiers at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT)

Twelve startup founders completed the first Phase 2 programme of 2022 at the Media Cube. In the six months since completing the programme, these startups collectively secured just over €930,000 in follow-on financial support or funding from Enterprise Ireland, Local Enterprise Offices, private investment, and Science Foundation Ireland. The startups have collectively created 19 full-time jobs, two part-time jobs, and more than 15 internship positions (with national and international students). In addition, the startups have entered new export markets in the UK, Portugal, and Germany. See more details about the Media Cube’s showcase and awards event.

(l-r) Cormac Finn – SideTeams; Frank McNally – Peledor; Emi Takakura – Slice of Life; Dan Coen – Skippio; Davin MacAnaney – Hamilton Rock; Michael Doherty – MDD IOT; Eimear Vaughan – Karla; Jibraan Esoof – Strohab; Nessa Maguire – Eudaorg; Fiona Kiernan – Zeumed; Conor Duggan – TaxZap; Oisin McEnroe – SayLing; Lisa Geoghegan – SonaLife

If you’re interested in applying to the New Frontiers programme at IADT, you can head over to the IADT location page to learn more about what’s on offer and keep an eye on their upcoming application deadlines on our calendar page. You can also visit the IADT website for more information about the institute, and explore everything the Media Cube has to offer on their website.

[Featured image: (l-r) David Smith – President of IADT; Paula Carroll – National New Frontiers Programme Manager, Enterprise Ireland; Rachel Gallagher – Enterprise and Innovation Manager, IADT Media Cube; Fiona Kiernan – Zeumed; Cormac Finn – SideTeams; Michelle Doyle – Strategic Innovation Partnerships, NovaUCD; Conor Duggan – TaxZap; Lisa Geoghegan – SonaLife; Tom Flanagan – Director of Enterprise & Commercialisation, NovaUCD; Orla Reynolds – New Frontiers Programme Manager at IADT]

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Flower Child: Alexandria Kelly’s Journey Of Resilience And Business

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

The startup journey is famously bumpy. For every win, there’s a corresponding flurry of obstacles and problems. When we also have setbacks in our personal lives, it makes things even harder. Alexandria Kelly hasn’t just built a thriving business from scratch; she has done so while navigating tumultuous personal health challenges.

The tale of this founder demonstrates the power of grit, determination, and positivity. In a candid conversation, Alexandria unpacks her journey, the inspiration behind her unique products, and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Join us as we delve into the heart of Flower Child and the indomitable spirit of its founder.

Scarlet: Alexandria, your journey with Flower Child began as a blog in 2021 and has since transformed into a thriving business. How did this evolution occur in the midst of your personal health challenges?

Alexandria: Yes, it started off as a personal project back in 2021. As I shared my gardening passion and other experiences on my blog, a community began to build around it. I was enrolled at SETU – Carlow Campus, studying for my BSc in Business with Marketing at the time. During a period of poor mental health, I was given a set of aromatherapy essential oils. The impact the products had on me was profound, and I started to experiment with the different fragrances and applications like candles. People I knew started asking me to make them, and before I knew it, I was developing a product range. It wasn’t planned as such, it all just happened quite organically.

By the end of 2022, I had graduated and found a full-time job in SETU Carlow’s Marketing Department. I worked on Flower Child in my spare time and the business was really beginning to pick up speed. But just as things were looking up, a severe seizure landed me in hospital with a brain injury. That was in January this year. I have been in and out of hospital, constantly grappling with my health. But I’ve always believed in focusing on what’s within my control. Instead of getting consumed by my health problems, I poured my energy into building the company.

Scarlet: Delving a bit deeper into your health journey, how has your illness impacted your career choices?

Alexandria: Epilepsy has been a part of my life since I was 11. I was misdiagnosed at first, but at 13 I received my diagnosis of frontal lobe Cortical dysplasia. Back then, I was experiencing up to 40 seizures a day. At 13, I underwent life-changing brain surgery. That operation brought some normality back into my life. I was still experiencing seizures – partial seizures, tonic-clonic seizures, and absent seizures – but it’s a world of difference from before the surgery. As we speak now, I am currently in hospital preparing for further brain surgery that will hopefully get rid of the seizures completely, but for now I am living with a daily mixture of seizure activity.

The flexibility of my job has always been crucial for me, considering my health. If I get sick or my health takes a downturn, I can’t keep to a regular work routine. I had to leave my position at SETU after my injury in January. I’ve always leaned towards entrepreneurship, partly due to my health pushing me in that direction. In the past, I’ve launched businesses centred around my hobbies and interests. It’s definitely the flexibility that drew me to entrepreneurship, and the possibility of setting my own pace and boundaries.

I know many people in similar health situations who feel that entrepreneurship is off-limits for them. But I’ve always seen it differently. I believe being an entrepreneur allows you to shape a livelihood that fits your unique needs and lifestyle. When I had my injury, I realised that Flower Child could cater to my health needs and provide employment for myself and others.

Scarlet: Your products carry a unique inspiration. Could you share a bit about that?

Alexandria: Absolutely. My family home, Turra Lodge Farm, has a beautiful garden which my Mum and Nana designed and planted when I was younger. It is a cornerstone of my mental health. Luckily, my family has indulged my passion, or obsession, with gardening for years now and given me lots of creative freedom to develop different parts of it. That’s what my blog initially revolved around.

When my mental health was low, I began practices of mindfulness, meditation, and breath work. So, each fragrance in my product range is not only a nod to my lifestyle but also designed to offer the medicinal benefits of aromatherapy. By using them, you tap into the natural essence of life.

In our family, we say that entrepreneurship is “in our blood”. We all, including my siblings and parents, run businesses. And when it came to Flower Child, the nurturing from programmes like New Frontiers and guidance from the Local Enterprise Office have also played pivotal roles. Joining the New Frontiers programme was pure chance. I just happened to be having a chat with someone on campus one day, and they suggested I apply. My lecturers were incredible too, always nurturing my entrepreneurial spirit.

Scarlet: What’s the best advice you’ve been given, and what advice do you give to others?

Alexandria: The best advice I have been given is, “Don’t trust the first answer you’re given.” That has helped me navigate many situations. The advice I give to other people is, “You are not your circumstances.” In life and business, you’re in control of how you play the hand you’ve been dealt, and you can overcome whatever life throws at you.

I’ve been given bad advice, too. I was told to scale before I was ready for it. The startup world often promotes a “go big or go home” mindset, but scaling too quickly in the past set me back rather than helped me forward.

My guiding principle is to never quit on a bad day. Being a founder is tough, and there are days you contemplate a regular nine-to-five. But for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit, the highs of being your own boss make it all worthwhile. When it comes to resilience, bad days are inevitable. They come and go, much like the waves in an ocean. The peaks make the troughs worth enduring. I suppose I’ve built up my resilience because I simply didn’t have a choice. Enduring my epilepsy has been a blessing. I don’t think “poor me”, I’m thankful for the challenges my health has thrown at me because it has made me who I am today.

Scarlet: Lastly, how do you balance work and personal wellbeing, and what’s next for Flower Child?

Alexandria: Taking care of my wellbeing is vital. One strict rule I adhere to is keeping my bedroom a no-work zone. Mornings are my own; I give myself the first hour of the day to properly wake up before diving into work. Ensuring downtime away from the business keeps my mental load balanced. Being part of a close-knit family, we often spend evenings together, even if it’s busy season and I’m in the workshop.

Looking ahead, the next twelve months are set to be exciting. We’re renovating a workshop, and I’m preparing to hire my first employees. From there, I’m keen to explore exporting and continue scaling Flower Child, but always organically!

Discover Alexandria’s world of inspired aromatherapy candles, melts, and sprays in her online shop at flower-child.ie, where you can also read more about her epilepsy or simply pick up some cool gardening tips!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Founding A Startup In The Midwest? New Frontiers At TUS – Limerick Campus May Be For You

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Thinking of founding a startup in the Midwest? Discover what you can expect from the New Frontiers programme at Limerick. I spoke to Mary Casey, New Frontiers Programme Manager at the Hartnett Enterprise Acceleration Centre at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) – Limerick Campus, and Gillian Barry, TUS Head of Innovation & Enterprise, to learn more.

Mary Casey, Programme Manager at TUS – Limerick Campus

Innovation and enterprise in the Midwest

One thing is clear from our conversation; Ireland’s Midwest is a dynamic, collaborative, and supportive environment for startups and established companies alike. Business agencies, local networks, investors, and third-level institutions all work hard to support innovators and entrepreneurs in a proactive way. There’s a real sense that people here want to make things happen for founders.

The Limerick area boasts various co-working spaces; enterprise centres; incubators and accelerators; development agency offices; innovation, research and development facilities; technology gateways; and even a dedicated innovation development agency called Innovate Limerick. Limerick has the fastest-growing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country after Dublin and has seen significant job growth in the past decade. 50% of the population in the region is under 35 and there are around 34,000 students in the city’s third-level institutions.

Limerick, a European City of the Future, sits just 25 minutes from Shannon International Airport (gateway to the USA, UK, and European destinations), 40 minutes from Foynes (Ireland’s largest bulk port), and is just two hours from Dublin. It’s hardly surprising that many global brands are based in the Midwest region – around 120 of the world’s leading ICT, life sciences, and financial services companies, including Uber, Dell, Northern Trust, Johnson & Johnson, Analog, Cook Medical, General Motors, Jaguar Landrover, Regeneron, and Viagogo call it home. Limerick is as close to the Americas as it is to 26 European Union countries.

The New Frontiers programme at TUS – Limerick Campus

If you are based in – or thinking of moving to – Limerick, Clare, or Tipperary, the programme in Limerick is an excellent option. For Mary, capacity building is essential in enabling a founder to take their business forward. She focuses on showing participants how to take a pragmatic approach to startup. There are lots of disciplines within business and they may not all be your strength, but you still need to know enough about them to make key decisions. You will be exploring business theory, doing your research, but also making sure to develop your network. The peers you will interact with daily, be it your New Frontiers cohort, the experienced entrepreneurs and advisors who facilitate sessions, or the team that delivers the programme, can be the difference between success and failure.

One of the goals of the programme is developing the individual, helping them to become the leader they need to be to succeed. Having developed your vision for the business, what do you need to do to bring it to life? Mary and Gillian have no doubt that New Frontiers alumni are building stronger businesses because of the programme. Founders benefit from peer-to-peer accountability, working with mentors, and constructive feedback from experts who have already walked the path. In addition, being a graduate gives you a lot of credibility, as founders discover once they start knocking on doors – whether they are looking for funding, trying to attract collaborators, building their network, or talking to potential customers.

Phase 1 of New Frontiers at Limerick

If you have a business idea but don’t know if entrepreneurship is your path, Phase 1 is for you. It would also suit people who feel they are experienced/have a strong idea but want to see what the team and the location are like, so they can decide whether to apply to Phase 2. The focus is on teasing out the idea, understanding the customer, and the value to the customer. 80% of startup ideas fail at this early stage, so Mary is giving participants a toolkit that will help them explore the idea and see if there is a business there. If there is, you’ll look at how you can make this early stage of the development possible and get yourself to Phase 2.

Phase 2 of New Frontiers at Limerick

New Frontiers combines a variety of benefits – financial support, workshops and other learning opportunities, networking, guidance and advice, access to R&D, co-working space, and more (see more about the programme on our About page).

Punctuating the stages of Phase 2 will be meetings with the review panel, at the start, second, fourth, and sixth month of Phase 2 (and at the end of Phase 3 for those who get through). You’ll receive comprehensive guidance and feedback from a panel composed of experienced advisors and entrepreneurs, including people from agencies such as Enterprise Ireland.

Phase 2 at Limerick covers three distinct areas: the business, the financials, and the investment journey.

The business: in the first two months, you’ll lay the foundations of a successful business through the lens of what are you trying to do and where you want to get. The review panel is looking for an executable project plan – they want to see you have done your research and understand where you’re going and how.

The financials: during the next two months, you’ll learn how to ensure you’re building a sustainable business. This includes looking at ways to extend your runway through grants, investments, or generating revenue.

The investment journey: for the last two months of Phase 2, you’ll be preparing to pitch to investors and get out there and implement your business idea. A small group of alumni will move into Phase 3 after this, with an additional financial support to help with this.

Phase 2 culminates with a showcase and awards event. At Limerick, sponsorship from local agencies, networks, and businesses means that the three award-winners also receive a cash prize as well as mentoring and consultancy support.

The team’s approach and programme methodology

In addition to building your skills and capabilities, you’ll learn how to build your resilience. You can’t build a successful startup if you’re falling apart, so participants are encouraged to manage their wellbeing and be mindful of the stress that can build up.

As Gillian points out, New Frontiers is intensive. You’ll be in the stretch zone for six months, but you will come out with a strong business idea and a founder toolkit that will elevate your value professionally. Whether your next step is developing the business, starting a completely new venture, or seizing a corporate opportunity, New Frontiers gives you the skills, knowledge, and confidence to take that leap.

Although it’s hard work, you will get a lot of support throughout. Mary thinks there are three key ingredients for a successful experience on the programme:

be curious (ask questions so you can find out what you don’t know)
find your resilience (it’s not a smooth ride, how you dust yourself off and carry on matters)
build your network (embrace it, because the connections you make could be your future advisors, collaborators, or even investors)

Limerick-born Mary is an experienced Programme Manager, having joined the Hartnett Enterprise Acceleration Centre in 2015. She is serious about making sure founders progress and build momentum, giving them honest, open, and constructive feedback. As she points out, New Frontiers may help you develop a plan, but how do you survive long enough to implement that plan? Knowing which supports to go after at which time is a vital piece of the jigsaw puzzle, and she makes sure participants are fully informed on that score. See more about Mary’s background and experience in our Meet the team section.

Other features of New Frontiers at Limerick

Access to experienced entrepreneurs and innovators is a huge benefit of the programme. The Hartnett Centre is one of five innovation centres across TUS with entrepreneurs in residence: Dick Meaney, former Senior VP at Analog Devices; John MacNamara CEO & founder of BCM Limited; Tom Brennan, co-founder of EirGen Pharma and Trivium Vet; Pat McGrath, formerly CEO of PM Group and highly experience board director and chairperson; and John Hartnett, eponymous patron of the centre and founder of SVG Ventures, Thrive, and ITLG Group. These entrepreneurs provide one-to-one mentoring or master classes but are also available if a founder needs specific guidance. With their vast experience and global contacts, they are an incredible asset to the programme.

The connection between the New Frontiers team and its alumni is an enduring one. Even after completing the programme, alumni maintain contact with the team and actively participate in events such as lunch and learns or workshops. Some alumni even step into the role of facilitators, generously sharing their invaluable insights in small, intimate settings. While some sessions are open to all, the programme also hosts closed-door gatherings, creating an environment where honest and fresh perspectives on a wide range of topics are shared. There’s an emphasis on providing learning opportunities around general business topics as well as any specific gaps or needs of that year’s cohort.

One of the unique benefits of New Frontiers is that participants have access to the university’s extensive R&D capabilities. As a founder develops their business, they will be connected to any relevant expertise available within the university or at another third-level institution depending on the discipline. TUS is a partner of the Forge Design Factory, part of a network of 38 global design factories and the first of its kind in Ireland. A partnership between local councils, universities, and business organisations, this initiative employs design methodology to foster collaboration with industry, promoting innovation and creativity.

TUS houses three Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateways – Shannon ABC (applied biotech), APT (polymer technologies), and Command (connected media) – offering innovation support and assistance to companies of every size and sector. There are also two industry clusters, Advanced Technologies in Manufacturing (ATiM) Cluster in Athlone and Irish Digital Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing Cluster (IDEAM) in Limerick, further expanding the support available to entrepreneurs in the region. Also based in the area are the Aviation Skillnet and the European Space Agency BIC Ireland.

TUS leads a European University alliance called RUN-EU, comprising nine universities whose goal is to strengthen the quality of education, research, and innovation among its member universities. It also supports regional development by via three innovation hubs offering opportunities for entrepreneurs to engage across a strong European network.

Interested? Talk to Mary to learn more.

If you are interested in the programme at TUS – Limerick Campus, get in touch with Mary to discuss your background and business idea. Remember, New Frontiers is about helping you become a stronger founder, so your business idea can be from any sector (subject to our eligibility criteria). Limerick alumni include Paul Gough of Nualtra, Charlie Glynn of Glynn Technical Diamonds, Mark Cochrane of Trackplan, Hannah Wrixon of Get the Shifts (now WrkWrk), Shane Ryan of Fiid, Leonie Lynch of Juspy, Eoin Keaney of Tornoc Studios, Nicholas Ryan of Thomond Gate Whiskey, and Paul Byrne of Mavarick.

Limerick offers a fantastic quality of life and is bursting with historical, cultural, and artistic treasures and events. It’s also a city of sport, from Munster Rugby at Thomond Park to hurling and Gaelic football at TUS Gaelic Grounds, from racing at Limerick Racecourse to golf at championship courses such as Adare Manor. Water sports are a big feature here too, and there are world-class surf beaches within an hour’s drive of the city. For those seeking a more cultural experience, Limerick, the first National City of Culture, boasts thriving art galleries, vibrant music scenes, and captivating theatre communities. It’s safe to say you’ll find a way to unwind once your working day is done!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Dermot O’Shea (Taoglas) On The Highs & Lows Of Building A €100 Million Business

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Dermot O’Shea and Ronan Quinlan founded Taoglas nearly two decades ago. Dermot participated on the precursor to the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers programme, the South East Enterprise Platform Programme (SEEPP), which was run by our Programme Manager in Waterford, Dr Eugene Crehan. Taoglas has grown from strength to strength, and at their recent graduation Showcase and Awards event, South East Technological University (SETU) in Waterford inducted Dermot into their New Frontiers Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame.

Enniscorthy-headquartered Taoglas is a leader in complex Internet of Things connectivity solutions. Its technology is applied in areas as diverse as mobility and infrastructure, transportation, smart industry, connected health, smart cities, and even in space. Earlier this year, the company made a deal with private equity backer Graham Partners that values the business at around $200 million.

Dr Eugene Crehan interviewed alumnus Dermot about his experience of SEEPP and his learnings from nearly 20 years growing a cutting-edge business.

Eugene: What motivated you to set up Taoglas, and what challenges did you face in the early stages of your business? I know that your co-founder, Ronan Quinlan, was based in Taiwan and you were in Wexford.

Dermot: My co-founder and I met in Taiwan. We both wanted to work in global Irish technology company and we both aspired to be entrepreneurs. Also, I think we had a great work ethic. We had both worked in the electronics industry for some time before that and were looking for opportunities in that area. After trying some different products and ideas, we were offered some GPS antennas from a vendor we were working with – used in Sat Nav units at the time – and they were an instant hit with many potential clients building GPS into their product for tracking or location-based services.

The biggest initial challenges were financial and size-related, for example, how do you hire people to do complex projects? Or, how do you win large customers as a small and new business? Building credibility while building up your cash flow so that you can deliver what you’re promising is tough. The first year of the business, the planning stage, happened in Taiwan where we were both based. Then my wife and I moved back to Ireland and registered the business here, as we wanted an Irish headquartered business with Taiwanese excellence in manufacturing. We’re still an Irish headquartered company today, and the name TaoGlas means ‘The Green Way’.

Eugene: Why did you join SEEPP and what did you hope to get from it?

Dermot: When you start up, you’re always wondering what you’re missing and what you’re not doing. It was like a kind of paranoia, I suppose. I registered for a Start your own Business course with the local Enterprise Board [Ed: the predecessor of Local Enterprise Offices] to refresh my business skills in areas such as cash flow, profit and loss, marketing, etc. Because we had an international business, the Enterprise Board pointed me towards the South East Enterprise Platform Programme (SEEPP). It had more content relevant to growing an international business. And that’s how I met you and came onto the programme.

Eugene: How did you find the programme? Did it meet your expectations?

Dermot: The programme offered a bit of everything. Apart from the funding support, it could also help out with relevant expenses. Let’s say you’d identified an important opportunity in the USA, the programme would contribute towards the cost of your flights to go there. But the financial support was only one aspect.

A big benefit was the interactions with the other participants. Typically, as a founder, you’re working away on your own in some temporary office in the attic or the garden shed. On the programme, we were all developing international business but there was a good variety of business ideas so none of us were in direct competition. There was a lot of camaraderie and we made connections that would last forever. That was really special.

But also, I have to say that the content of the programme was excellent. There were experienced business founders coming in to share knowledge in areas you might not even think about. I remember learning about how to really leverage the power of websites back when company sites were no more than a basic brochure. This encouraged us to think of our site as an interactive tool, which gave us a competitive advantage over bigger, more established companies. It was very educational.

“There was a lot of camaraderie and we made connections that would last forever. That was really special.”

What’s great as well is that you have kept in touch with all of us ever since. You don’t miss an opportunity to say good things about us and promote the business when you can. It really is a network for life.

After the SEEPP, we became an Enterprise Ireland client. One of the first things that EI did was match me up with a mentor, an experienced businessman who didn’t hesitate to tell me some very hard truths about the business. I found that really valuable. Whenever we needed support from EI, especially the overseas offices, they didn’t hesitate to pull out all the stops. A few years ago, we won some European Space Agency funding which is managed here by Enterprise Ireland, so at the moment we are working closely with them on that.

Eugene: How did you stay motivated and focused during challenging times when growing Taoglas?

Dermot: You have to have a true belief in yourself and the journey. You will launch products that don’t work. You will do stupid things. But that’s OK as long as you bounce back. To build a sustainable business, you need to build resilience. We’ve been through the recession, through Covid, and through the current supply chain issues because resilience is part of our culture at Taoglas.

As the founder or CEO, you can’t expect every day to be a great day. If things go right; you have to give everyone else the praise. If things go wrong, you have to take the blame. But it’s not the great days that define you. It’s the daily grind, the dedication, the ability to take the knocks and keep going. You don’t win business because your website is the best; you win it because you’re able to get in front of the right customer and convince them to choose you.

Regardless of whatever other drama is happening in the background, you keep on the mission. Persistence and hard work are what really pay off in business. If you’re in it for the champagne and unicorns, you’re better off going to Hollywood.

Eugene: At our event, you talked about the importance of work-live balance. As the CEO of a large company with teenage children, how do you maintain a work-life balance and what strategies do you use to avoid burnout?

Dermot: I didn’t have any strategies until six or seven years ago and that’s why I ‘burned out’ in 2017 and had to make some changes. Most CEOs and entrepreneurs are excellent at putting a good spin on things, especially in Ireland. “Everything’s fine! My arm’s falling off but everything’s OK!” We never want to say there’s anything wrong in the business, and of course that makes sense to a certain degree. You don’t want customers thinking things aren’t going well. So, it becomes second nature to keep saying everything is great. Maybe that’s why so many CEOs and founders feel lonely, in the early days especially.

My advice is don’t isolate yourself. Stay connected – talk to mentors, have coffee with a peer, go and talk to your customers. Some people don’t do well working from home because it is isolating, so get out there and be with other people.

“Persistence and hard work are what really pay off in business. If you’re in it for the champagne and unicorns, you’re better off going to Hollywood.”

For a while, I made the business the most important part of my life. I have to keep reminding myself that it isn’t, in fact, the most important thing. It’s maybe the fifth or sixth thing on my priority list now, and even our investors know that. Because if I’m not good and things aren’t good in my family life, I’m not going to be a good CEO. Now I work fewer hours, but I work more effectively and I feel that I perform better and can handle more stress. Experience helps as well, after 20 years in the job I’ve seen most things and problems that would have seemed impossible to deal with before are just bumps in the road now.

I made changes in my life such as giving up alcohol, eating better, and travelling less. I also built a management team that takes on some of the things I used to handle myself. It’s a process, and I think a lot of people forget that you have to work on yourself and not just the business. Some people have this mentally of, “If I go on this business course, everything will be better.” Actually, they’d probably be better off getting therapy or going to the gym or taking some time out. Entrepreneurs aren’t great at admitting weaknesses, but we should try to change that.

Eugene: I know you have ambitious plans for the business. How do you identify and evaluate new business opportunities, and do you have criteria to determine whether to pursue them?

Dermot: Yes, I have a very scientific process called my gut instinct. Well, that’s part of it anyway. I do have 20 years of experience and I also know who to ask for feedback on ideas. In the business, we have an innovation committee that works with our engineers, salespeople, customers, and suppliers to understand where the market it going and what types of products we should work on. This means that if we launch something that no one wants to buy, which we have done, we should have some early warning signs that it might be a bad idea. It’s not good to just decide for yourself and then hope for the best, so we have people and processes in place to help.

But at the end of the day someone – you – has to decide if it’s a go or no-go on a particular project. The data, feedback, numbers, experiences, analytics are good information, but you go with your gut instinct at the end of the day. If it’s wrong, you can adapt and change and will feel comfortable with that because it was your decision. If you had gone against your gut, that would be a really frustrating. Luckily, we have enough projects and products that we aren’t reliant on any one thing for success.

I do have ambitious plans for the business. If I look ahead 10 years, similar things are happening at Taoglas but hopefully we have more products in more markets. There are a few new areas I’m interested in exploring, like marine, mining, and maybe defence. We’ll have added new component lines, effectively creating more products that we can sell to our existing customers. We also aim to do one acquisition each year, allowing us to sell our products into new markets.

Last year, the company hit its target turnover of €100 million; our target is now €1 billion by 2030. After that, we’ll no doubt be chasing a target of €10 billion. But beyond that, we want to have a great company culture, with 12 or 13 locations around the world and up to a couple of thousand employees. I want Taoglas to be a great, fun company to work for.

Dermot O’Shea receiving his award at SETU

Dermot O Shea (Taoglas), SETU New Frontiers Hall of Fame - with Paula Carroll

(l-r front) Paula Carroll, National New Frontiers Manager at Enterprise Ireland; Dr Eugene Crehan, New Frontiers Programme Manager at SETU – Waterford Campus; and Dermot O’Shea, CEO of Taoglas. (l-r back) Brian Fives, Senior Development Adviser at Enterprise Ireland and Dr Tom O’Toole, Dean of the School of Business SETU

Dermot O'Shea, centre, receiving his award

(l-r) Dr Tom O’Toole, Dean of the School of Business SETU; Dermot O’Shea, CEO of Taoglas; and Dr Eugene Crehan, New Frontiers Programme Manager at SETU – Waterford Campus

Our congratulations to Dermot on his induction to the SETU New Frontiers Hall of Fame. Dermot joins two prior SETU inductees, David Whelan of XR Engage in Waterford and Edward Hendrick of Sonru in Wexford. Read more about the ceremony on the SETU website.

Read more about the awards ceremony and the recent graduates of New Frontiers at SETU – Waterford Campus, including award winners Praveen Kaur of Uoto, Chris McGarry of Migim, and Susan O’Neill of Sulu Solutions.

Enterprise Ireland’s PSSF Propels Your Startup From Promise To Powerhouse

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

The Enterprise Ireland Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) provides investment of €50,000 or €100,000 (in two €50,000 tranches), plus access to a Development Advisor and supports from the agency such as 10 sessions with a mentor from the Enterprise Ireland panel, access to their Market Research Centre, and other appropriate supports to develop your business.

I spoke to Anna-Marie Turley, Department Manager for Entrepreneurship & HPSU Operations at Enterprise Ireland, to learn more about PSSF (which recently replaced Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive Start Fund, or CSF) and why it is of particular interest to New Frontiers alumni.

PSSF is a springboard for ambitious startups

First things first. CSF has been retired, but PSSF is not simply CSF with a new name. There are four main differences worth highlighting:

PSSF is not a competitive process. With CSF, you were scored across several areas and only the top scorers won funding. This is not the case with PSSF.
PSSF is open all year round, unlike CSF which had a defined series of ‘calls’ which sometimes targeted specific groups or sectors. Applications to PSSF are accepted at any time and there are no deadlines. This is a really important difference because PSSF is all about timing, as we’ll discover below.
You can apply for either €50,000 or €100,000 (which is split into two tranches of €50,000) in investment (CSF was €50,000).
The funding is in the form of a convertible loan note (CSF was for a 10% equity stake in the business). Convertible notes, or CLNs, are a form of hybrid debt finance, where funders offer investment as an interest-bearing, repayable loan that converts into equity under certain circumstances (most commonly at a future qualifying funding round).

These are the differences, but the fundamental purpose of the fund is based on a similar premise to CSF, as Anna-Marie explains.

“PSSF is designed to accelerate the growth of early-stage startup companies with the capacity and ambition to succeed in global markets. The fund covers operational costs – development of market-ready products/solutions, market testing, building mission critical skillsets, etc. What we’re looking for is those fledgling innovative businesses that have the ability and drive to really scale.”

The money can be spent on salaries, travel, consultancy fees, and other expenditure, but not direct export aid costs such as sales and marketing and only a capped amount in legal fees. Startups can initiate the application process at any time, but Anna-Marie underlines that the timing must be right for the business.

This is not about getting the cash as quickly as possible and you’re not in a race to obtain this funding before someone else gets it. The absence of a ticking clock means that you can choose the optimal time to go for PSSF, at the moment it can do the most for the company and get you ready to raise significant seed funding.

The PSSF application process

The application process involves completing an application form on the Enterprise Ireland online application system and the submission of a video pitch.

The video pitch must be in PowerPoint format with a maximum duration of four minutes. That means slides plus a commentary, as though you were presenting in person. A really impactful pitch will take a while to prepare, so I recommend you start working on this in advance. Workshops are being organised to support you with this (see below). The PowerPoint should address:

Overview of the business and the opportunity (problem, solution, team, financials)
Management team (skills, gaps)
Use of the investment monies (specific technical milestones and commercial milestones)
Your future funding requirements and timelines for fundraising

It’s crucial that your application is clear on your technical and commercial milestones. The funding should get you to the point – ideally within 12 to 18 months – where you are able to attract further seed funding. Milestones will be how you know you are moving in that direction.

The online form will be fairly quick to submit, but remember you need to also upload the PowerPoint presentation within the 48 hours the system keeps your application open. Allow time to run into technical issues and fix them so that you don’t have to start all over again.

Formal assessment of the application is similar to the process used for CSF. Expect the panel to consider areas such as:

Company and promoter/team profile
Product/service and market opportunity
Business proposition
Product/service innovation
Ability to deliver on the key commercial and technical milestones

Although re-applications are possible, you are limited to three applications in any 12-month period.

Tips for the PSSF application process

You’re not alone on this journey. Business Innovation Centres (BICs) around the country and Furthr (formerly Dublin BIC) are running regular PSSF application support workshops and actively helping startups with the new application format. You can attend workshops in any region but will need to register. Upcoming workshops are listed on the Enterprise Ireland site.

What is Anna-Marie’s main advice for founders thinking of applying? “When preparing your application, pay a lot of attention to the technical and commercial milestones. These define how you’re going to get to the next stage, so they are really important in helping the panel assess your application. What are you going to spend the money on and over what timeframe?”

Companies with a minimum viable product (MVP) or Beta are going to have an advantage over those that are still at the idea stage. This is why PSSF is the ideal next step for companies coming out of the New Frontiers programme and where we expect many of our alumni will turn next. Since this fund was launched, 40% of successful applicants have been New Frontiers alumni. The programme is an excellent preparation for this stage of startup growth.

“Work with Local Enterprise Offices, apply to programmes like New Frontiers, and get your startup to the stage where you are ready to push forward towards a seed round within 18 months. That’s the sweet spot that PSSF is for. But be clear on what your steppingstones are and plan ahead so that this funding comes at the right time.”

Anna-Marie explains that the assessment is not weighted against first-time entrepreneurs.

“Track record is one thing, but knowledge of an area or sector is another. If you’ve come out of a multinational in that area or have applicable academic expertise, for example, that is considered as part of your track record. You don’t have to be a serial entrepreneur. But we are looking at the team as a whole and not just the promoter, so your collective accomplishments matter.”

What is an ideal PSSF company?

While this is not a competitive process, there is of course a very serious evaluation of each application to ensure that the startups getting funding have a strong likelihood of becoming Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Up companies (HPSUs).

HPSUs have very strong export potential and are capable of generating revenues of over €1 million per year within three years and/or employing more than 10 people. Therefore, HPSUs typically have a strong element of innovation in their product/service, a team with strong domain knowledge, and the kind of business plan that means they will very soon need to raise significant investment as they accelerate their international growth.

The company must be classed as a manufacturing or internationally traded services business, within which criterion a wide range of sectors are included. As with any Enterprise Ireland support, there are some excluded sectors such as gambling, adult entertainment, tobacco, and military. To apply for PSSF, the company must be less than four years old and revenues should be under €150,000 that year or in any previous year.

What would preclude a startup from being able to apply to PSSF? There is also a ceiling of €150,000 in funding raised from external sources. If you have raised more than this, you may not be eligible to apply. A comprehensive list of all the qualifying and disqualifying factors can be found on the PSSF page on the Enterprise Ireland website. There is also an FAQ downloadable from the EI website.

Get ready for PSSF investment

PSSF is a welcome bridge for those startups that are still early stage but need investment to really start flourishing. At that point, raising private equity can be a huge challenge. If you have the ambition to take your startup global, it makes sense to build PSSF investment into your strategic roadmap. However, don’t be pre-emptive with your application! Make sure your MVP is strong, that you have a great team around you, and that you have identified your international expansion and employment potential.

If you’re interested in the PSSF, it’s a good idea to start by having a conversation with your New Frontiers, Local Enterprise Office, or Enterprise Ireland advisor. Interested in reading more? Check out this recent article by Anna-Marie Turley in the Independent and the full fund details on the Enterprise Ireland website.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Four Female Founders With Game-Changing Startups Targeting The Female Market

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

There has been a global rise in startups created by women that are addressing the unique needs of women, solving issues faced by women, or creating products for women. This focus on the female market is something we’ve seen on the New Frontiers programme too, so we decided to talk to four outstanding female founders about their experiences.

We asked them about their their ideas, learnings, inspirations, and priorities. The four alumnae are Heidi Davis of IdentifyHer (2021 alumna of New Frontiers at TUD Dublin – Blanchardstown Campus), Grainne Byrne of Norma Therapy (2022 alumna of New Frontiers at TUD Dublin – City Campus), Deborah Brock of Nua Fertility (2018 alumna of New Frontiers at TUD Dublin – Blanchardstown Campus), and Alison Clarke of Fembition (2022 alumna of New Frontiers at ATU – Sligo Campus).

Question 1: What does your startup do and why is this an idea whose time has come?

Heidi Davis: There are 440 million women going through the menopausal transition worldwide and 330 million of these women will experience symptoms that are negatively affecting their lives at work and at home. We know that about 60% of women that suffer from their symptoms will seek medical help, but only 30% of these women will get a diagnosis and treatment plan, leaving 70% of the women wanting help to suffer. The simple reason women do not get a diagnosis and treatment plan easily is that there are no clear diagnostic tests to establish perimenopause. Clinicians rely on self-reported symptoms on the frequency and severity of symptoms to establish perimenopause and prescribe treatment. We are developing a first-of-its-kind wearable biosensor and digital platform that can passively quantify & profile the frequency and severity of menopausal symptoms, providing women and clinicians with the necessary information to diagnose & personalise symptom management.

Grainne Byrne: Norma is a psychosexual wellbeing platform and app. Our first product is a digital support programme for two very common conditions that impact sexual wellbeing, vaginismus and dyspareunia, which can affect approximately 1 in 5 in women.* These conditions can cause pain, anxiety, and difficulties with things like penetrative sex, inserting menstrual products, or undergoing a smear test. Our dynamic programme empowers these people with the knowledge and the tools to understand, manage and overcome these conditions at home today. Thankfully, in recent years, there has been a surge of much-needed, user-centric innovations in areas like cycle tracking, fertility, and menopause. At Norma, we are definitely excited to be riding the crest of this long-overdue femtech wave.

*When I use the terms “women” or “female” above and below, this acknowledges that we are including individuals who have vaginal/vulvar anatomy but may not identify with those gender labels.

Deborah Brock: Nua Fertility is revolutionising the field of reproductive health by harnessing the power of the microbiome to enhance and optimise fertility outcomes. We combine personal experience, scientific research, and innovative products and digital solutions to optimise the microbiome for fertility success. The idea behind Nua Fertility is one whose time has come as the area of the microbiome for reproductive health is one of the most innovative and growing areas in fertility health. There is a rising awareness of the significant role that the microbiome plays in reproductive health, and scientific advancements have highlighted its impact on various aspects of fertility.

With this increased understanding, individuals and couples are actively seeking effective and holistic approaches to enhance their fertility. They are looking beyond traditional methods and are eager to explore the potential of the microbiome in reproductive health. As pioneers in this field, our startup is at the forefront of this transformative shift, providing individuals and couples with new possibilities for achieving their dreams of parenthood. The time has come for our startup because we are at the forefront of an exciting and rapidly expanding field. By leveraging the power of the microbiome, we are offering innovative products and digital solutions that are backed by scientific rigor and personalised support. We are empowering individuals and couples to take control of their fertility health and explore the untapped potential of the microbiome in fertility.

Alison Clarke: Every day, women experiencing fertility problems walk out of their career, resulting in depleted talent pools and costing employers tens of thousands. Fembition is a pioneering women’s fertility and leadership platform for progressive employers who want to retain their top female talent, close the gender gap and build a more inclusive culture at work. Essentially, we provide analytics, networking and peer support for women in business who are experiencing a challenging fertility journey. One of the biggest challenges for many women is managing their career whilst they’re trying to conceive. We work with these women through our platform and provide resources, workshops, and live support.

Today, employers are more receptive to providing support for women’s health related challenges, as they acknowledge that this has an impact on productivity, performance, and morale. In addition, businesses are under pressure to close the gender gap. Later this year, its anticipated that the EU Pay Transparency Directive will be signed into law, meaning that employers will have the disclose their gap, and their strategy to reduce it. By supporting women’s health-related issues, employers are significantly more likely to retain these employees in the long term.

Question 2: What’s the single biggest lesson you’ve learned since starting your business?

Heidi Davis: Funds are not secured until they are in the bank. Changes can be made up until the final day, and we had exactly that. Changes to the amount being invested etc. at the last minute. These are challenges you can get around, grow from and maybe even be better off with in the long term, but it can feel very disheartening at that moment.

Grainne Byrne: Trusting my instincts has been the most valuable lesson I’ve learned since starting Norma. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the opinions and reactions of others when you’re launching a new venture or introducing a unique proposition. When I first talked about these conditions, I encountered puzzled looks from people who had never heard of them. This lack of awareness was down to the fact that they have long been under-researched, dismissed and neglected in our society. Many people have suffered in silence for years without the language to talk about these problems, never mind accessing tangible solutions! Having experienced chronic vaginismus myself for over three years, nobody understands the existing barriers to diagnosis, care and information better than I do. Therefore, if you’re building a solution to help solve a problem that you know inside-out, try to filter the feedback you receive and seek out sounding boards that can see the big picture, just like you do.

Deborah Brock: The biggest lesson I’ve learned since starting my business is about resilience. There have been so many ups and downs along the way, but what really stands out to me is the importance of being able to pick yourself back up after those knockbacks and keep pushing forward. You see, being an entrepreneur isn’t always smooth sailing. There are moments when things don’t go as planned, when you face obstacles and setbacks that make you question everything. But it’s in those moments that resilience becomes your superpower. For me, resilience is all about having that fire within me that refuses to let failures define who I am or what I’m capable of. It’s about staying determined and not letting the tough times dampen my spirit. Honestly. there have been many moments when I’ve felt discouraged, but I’ve learned to never lose sight of our mission and the people we are serving.

Our customers are the heart of everything we do. They’re the reason I started this business in the first place. They are the ones who keep me going, even when things get tough. When I have moments of doubt (there have been many), I look up above my desk and I see a smiling Sebastian (Nua baby) with a beautiful handwritten letter from his mum thanking us for creating Nua Fertility as we became part of her journey to bring him into the world- that’s what drives me forward. Resilience has taught me to view challenges as opportunities for growth. Instead of letting setbacks knock me down, I’ve learned to see them as steppingstones on the path to success. Each stumble becomes a chance to learn, adapt, and come back even stronger.

But it’s not just about bouncing back from failure. Resilience is also about maintaining a positive mindset. It’s about staying hopeful, even when things seem bleak. Trust me, there have been moments when I’ve felt overwhelmed and doubted myself, but I’ve learned to approach challenges with a problem-solving attitude. I search for creative solutions, knowing that there’s always a way forward, especially by surrounding yourself with the right people who give you good advice and always listen to those who have been there before and made the mistakes. So, if you’re on this entrepreneurial journey too, remember the power of resilience. Embrace the ups and downs, knowing that they’re all part of the ride. Stay determined, never lose sight of your mission, and keep serving those who rely on you.

Alison Clarke: Always ask for help when you need it. There’s no need to try to figure everything out on your own!

Question 3: What inspires you to keep going despite the challenges women still face in business?

Heidi Davis: Easy, what keeps me going are two things: 1. I have full support from my husband, and he is cheering me on always, on good and bad days. 2. To reduce the challenges that women face we need to continue pushing for change. It is great to be play a minor part of this by persevering and showing up every day to challenge the current ways.

Grainne Byrne: The simple fact that I can see other Irish women entrepreneurs succeeding with their businesses is a huge motivator for me. There is so much power in seeing yourself being represented. As they say, if you can see it, you can be it. Moreover, since I started building Norma, many female entrepreneurs in Ireland have readily and generously given me the time to pick their brain about their individual journeys. It has been so valuable for me to connect with those who are further down the road and have conquered similar challenges. Due to the strong entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ireland, I’ve also been able to develop a phenomenal group of female entrepreneurs that I can luckily call my friends. At the end of the day, being able to support one other through tough times and celebrate our respective wins together is what I find most inspiring.

Deborah Brock: What inspires me to keep going despite the challenges women still face in business is the incredible progress we have made and the potential for even greater change. More women started businesses in 2020 than men, showcasing the determination and resilience of women entrepreneurs! Despite these achievements, women still encounter barriers such as limited funding, gender biases, work-life balance challenges, and lack of support. However, these challenges only fuel my passion to create a more inclusive and equitable business environment. Addressing gender biases requires challenging stereotypes and advocating for equal opportunities. By breaking through patriarchal norms and showcasing our capabilities, we can change the narrative around women in business and create a more inclusive culture.

Despite these challenges, I am inspired by the progress we have made and the potential for further change. By sharing our experiences, raising our voices against biases, and supporting one another, we can bridge the gender gap in entrepreneurship and create a more inclusive and supportive business environment. I am motivated to make an impact and be a source of guidance and support for other women who may be facing similar challenges. By supporting each other, sharing our mistakes and imparting knowledge, we can continue to break barriers, challenge norms, and create a more equitable and empowering business landscape for women entrepreneurs worldwide.

Our work at Nua Fertility focuses on harnessing the power of the microbiome to enhance and optimise fertility outcomes. We are pioneers in this innovative and untapped field, highlighting the significant role the microbiome plays in reproductive health. By leveraging this knowledge, we are providing individuals and couples with new possibilities for bringing life into the world. While setbacks and knockbacks are a part of the journey, the motivation to pick ourselves back up comes from the belief in the transformative impact our work can have. The untapped potential in the field of reproductive health, coupled with our groundbreaking work at Nua Fertility, inspires me to persevere. We are at the forefront of this transformative shift, and by continuing to push boundaries, we can create a positive impact on the overall gender gaps that exist.

Ultimately, our mission is driven by the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to experience the joy of bringing life into the world. This is what keeps me motivated and determined to overcome obstacles, and it is a constant reminder of the importance of our work at Nua Fertility.

Alison Clarke: It’s expected to take over 130 years to close the gender gap. We all need to play our part. Just 50 years ago it was illegal for women with children to have any type of professional development – it was even illegal to step foot onto the trading floor at the London Stock Exchange. It sounds barbaric, but it wasn’t that long ago. When things get tough, I remind myself that if it wasn’t for the women that advocated for gender equality we’d still be there, and that I too have to play my role to make things better for future generations.

Question 4: What is your number one priority in the next six months?

Heidi Davis: Finalise our product development and raise our seed round.

Grainne Byrne: Without a doubt, our most important objective for the next six months is to launch and rigorously test our MVP. As I come from a consumer research background, staying close to the end user is a non-negotiable for me, as it’s critical that we build Norma to truly fulfil their core needs. Bringing this platform to life is such a gratifying and invigorating challenge, as it’s exactly the lifeline I needed when I was at my lowest with vaginismus. My co-founder, Dr. Natasha Langan, is a dual senior clinical psychologist and a COSRT accredited psychosexual therapist. In her private psychosexual therapy work, she is consistently faced with glaring need for a digital support platform like Norma. Something that collectively drives and excites us is the potential scale of the positive impact we can have on people’s intimate lives, all from the comfort of their own home, wherever that may be.

Deborah Brock: Our number one priority in the next six months is finding the right investor who is a great fit for our company and can support our ambitious growth plans. We are seeking an investor who truly understands the transformative nature of the microbiome-reproductive health connection and recognises the immense potential of our work. Additionally, we aim to highlight the research work we have undertaken with our fertility partner and showcase the remarkable results we are seeing in clinical settings. By sharing these outcomes, we can further establish the credibility and efficacy of our approach.

Finding the right investor who shares our vision and values is crucial for driving our expansion and reaching a wider audience. Their support and resources will enable us to scale our operations, expand our research efforts, and continue making a positive impact in the field of reproductive health. By focusing on securing the right investor and showcasing our research work, we can advance our mission of revolutionising reproductive health through the power of the microbiome.

Alison Clarke: PR is our number one focus. We want to make sure that those who crave the type of service we provide know its available, and that they can access it via their employer.

Our thanks to these four amazing women for their candid thoughts and insights. Find out more about their businesses at identifyher.ai, nuafertility.com, fembition.co, and feelnorma.com.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Start Up In Cork! Aoife McInerney Welcomes Us To The Rubicon Centre

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

The Rubicon Centre at MTU’s Bishopstown Campus in Cork has supported 500 companies over the past 10 years, with its client businesses raising some €88 million in funding from a mix of public and private equity. Every year, Rubicon delivers a range of programmes, including New Frontiers. Aoife McInerney, Enterprise Programmes Manager, tells us everything we need to know about New Frontiers at Cork.

About Programme Manager Aoife McInerney

After university, Aoife went to work for an entrepreneur, gaining a real appreciation of the drive, commitment, resilience, and flexibility required to make a fledgling business successful. She then moved into an international setting for over a decade, at the heart of a rapidly scaling global tech startup. Following this, she consulted for a wide range of startups and SMEs in sectors such as pharma, hospitality, retail, and medtech. Through this work, Aoife developed a deeper interest in entrepreneurship, which led her to the role of Enterprise Programmes Manager at the Innovation & Enterprise Office, MTU. An experienced project manager, Aoife brings strong analytical thinking and problem-solving skills to the table, supporting entrepreneurs through their journey with a pragmatic, straightforward approach.

A wide range of sectors supported

The latest cohort having recently graduated, Aoife is currently seeking applications for the next New Frontiers programme, which will run from autumn 2023. Her latest 15 graduates had business in the circular economy, high science, engineering, food products, technology, and software and it is noteworthy that half of these projects were led by female entrepreneurs (or promoters, as they are known on the programme). Cork’s most recent alumni were:

Blade Bridge (engineering and sustainability) – repurposes decommissioned wind turbine blades into cycleway bridges and public structures, thereby helping the wind and public infrastructure sectors to participate in the circular economy. Promoter: Angela Nagle.
Travella (tourism) – an open-source website to provide tourist attractions to drive visitor engagement and provide data to owners. Promoter: Andy Kinsella.
Second Street Bakery (food) – creating quintessential US confectionary, toffee brittle, for the Irish market and beyond. Promoter: Claire Keane.
Lughcent Technology (energy and foodtech) – UV pasteurization significantly decreasing the water and energy requirements of traditional pasteurisation. Promoter: Dave Andrews
Clisteprobe (medtech) – a handheld biopsy device that will deliver instant results on whether a tumour is malignant or benign. Promoter: Justina Ugwah.
Everywhere English (edtech) – a business English platform for employees with transparent progress reporting for employers, it promotes social inclusion and workplace progression by enabling learners to feel confident in English specific to their sector. Promoters: Kate and Becky Popova.
Doctrine (consumer goods) – a skincare brand that blends key trend ingredients with beautiful packaging and biotech ingredients for a modern market. Promoter: Mark O’Sullivan.
HaPPE Earth (sustainability and healthcare) – a manufacturer of single use compostable aprons made from a bio resin produced and made in Ireland. Promoter: Dr. Mary O’Riordan.
Hibra Design (sustainable engineering and energy) – offers decarbonization as a service (DasS) by electrifying traditional diesel off-road vehicles, e.g., mining trucks or airport vehicles. Promoter: Mike Keane.
Sifter Media (tech) – an open-source platform that enables the visual tracking of study and investigation. Promoter: Fintan Meagher.
Buildzon (construction) – offers construction industry procurement real-time access to prices from multiple vendors for building products in short supply or not available in Ireland. Promoter: Monika Wotjek.
Eofis (edtech) – an AI summarization and adaptive learning tool to allow the learner to acquire, organize and retain information more easily. Promoter: Tiarnach O’Riada.
BioEnz (biotech) – a proprietary enzyme discovery platform and unique bio bank, developing novel enzyme solutions from nature to protect the environment, improve nutrition and treat disease. Promoter: Tim Roche.
Silvermine Studios (gaming) – Chaos Riders is a couch co-op traditional video game. Promoter: William Hulshof.
CRAOI (tech) – an expertly designed platform which combines a personal approach with interactive tools and on-demand content, backed by science, to empower employees to prioritise their well-being. Focusing on four holistic pillars: movement, mindfulness, nutrition and happiness, CRAOI supports the whole person, not just one aspect of wellbeing. Promoter: Clodagh Ryan

What does the programme at Cork offer?

As with other New Frontiers programmes around the country, you will receive a range of supports to help you develop your startup and your skills as an entrepreneur. You receive nine months of dedicated co-working space and access to knowledge, shared experience, and potential synergies that goes well beyond your sector. Training in market research, sales and marketing, business modelling, and financial management will be beneficial regardless of your background. You’ll also learn concrete, tactical skills (for example, Aoife’s cohort was treated to a video production course so they could learn to create their own promotional videos and learned about lead management and generation).

The whole Rubicon team places a strong emphasis on mentoring. Programme participants can expect lots of one-to-one time with Aoife and her colleagues George Bulman (Operations Manager) and Paul Healy (Rubicon Centre Manager) depending on their needs and startup journeys. They will also have lots of day-to-day contact with Maria Horgan, the programme coordinator. Participant feedback shows that the support and encouragement between participants is a big feature of the programme. Strong and lasting bonds are forged on New Frontiers!

As well as expert trainers, participants get opportunities to learn from previous promoters (such as Pat Lucey of Aspira and Matthew Lawlor of Spearline) during organised events or simply while grabbing a coffee – Keelvar Technologies, Swyft Energy, Aventamed, TisaLabs, and H2 Compliance are all based in the Rubicon. Previous programme alumni include LegitFit, Kuul Play, and Mama Bear Foods. Lunch and learn events bring in experts to talk to all Rubicon clients, not just New Frontiers participants.

For the first three months of Phase 2, promoters will focus more on themselves, including preparing to be an entrepreneur (working on mindset and resilience), sales training and knowing which doors to knock on for support (for example, the BICs, Local Enterprise Office, or Enterprise Ireland). Because startup life is very different to being an employee, there are lots of opportunities to talk to people who’ve been on this journey themselves and understand the challenges.

The second half of New Frontiers is about getting investor-ready, with plenty of time going into mock pitch panels which give promoters invaluable feedback. Aoife organises several sales panels, where promoters pitch to people in the role of prospective customers, as well as investor panels comprised of Irish and overseas investors. The grand finale is the programme showcase – yes, more pitching! – and graduation event.

The business ecosystem in Cork

As Aoife highlights, the business community in Cork is very strong and welcoming. Entrepreneurs can tap a vibrant business ecosystem (both state-funded and private) to help build their networks, find collaborators, and open doors, including Network Ireland (for women in business), the Tech Industry Alliance, CorkBIC, Accelerate Green (Bord na Móna), the Enterprise Europe Network, Cork Chamber and Cork Chamber Skillnet, BNI South, West Cork Business, and of course the Local Enterprise Offices. The Rubicon Centre actively collaborates with these organisations to ensure New Frontiers participants avail of all possible supports.

Research and innovation in Cork

New Frontiers is a programme for entrepreneurs with an innovative business idea. This means that access to world-class research capability is vital. MTU has an impressive research and development offering that participants can leverage. There are four Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateways at MTU. Gateways focus on key technology areas aligned to industry needs, aiding the research and development of innovative products and services through a dedicated team of full-time researchers and engineers. The four Gateways at MTU are:

Centre For Advanced Photonics & Process Analysis Gateway (CAPPA): with particular expertise in new photonics devices, medtech and pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, manufacturing technologies, devices and sensors.
Intelligent Mechatronics & RFID Gateway (IMaR): with particular expertise in new embedded systems, intelligent and connected smart sensors and devices, Internet of Things (IoT), automation and robotics, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technologies, process monitoring and analytics.
Embedded Computing & Software Systems Gateway (Nimbus): with particular expertise in new electronics/hardware, sensor devices and systems, mechanical design, miniaturisation, networks and wireless communications, software, data analytics, systems integration, controls and optimisation tools, UX (user experience) and UI (user interface), virtual and augmented reality.
Shannon Applied Biotechnology Centre Gateway (Shannon ABC): with particular expertise in new bioprospecting and bioprocessing – screening, extraction, characterisation and testing of bioactive molecules, identifying routes to scale-up, analytical and research services, and food innovation.

In addition, other relevant research groups include:

BIOEXPLORE research focuses on developing and applying the best platform technologies available to detect and treat both human and animal related diseases.
Clean Technology research focuses on promoting evidence-based sustainability.
Halpin research focuses on opportunities in the global maritime domain.
MeSSO research focuses on mechanical and energy systems and applications.
NutRI research focuses on food innovation, food microbiology, and public health nutrition.
The Process Innovation Engineering Research Group (PiERG) research focuses on providing solutions to the pharma engineering sector through its combined expertise in the development of predictive models and industrial pharmaceutical processing.
Ríomh research focuses on the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help solve some of our most pressing cybersecurity challenges.
The Enterprise Engagement and Experiential Learning Research Group (E3LRG) focuses on viewing the workplace as a valid and valuable centre for learning.
The Health Exercise and Sport Research Group (HEx-Spo) research focuses on exercise and sports performance optimisation.
The Sustainable Infrastructure Research & Innovation Group (SIRIG) research focuses on sustainable infrastructure developments.

The advantages of starting up in Cork

If you aren’t already based in Cork, you may be considering relocation. As Ireland’s second city, Cork has a growing population (the metropolitan area population is around 305,000) and a highly educated workforce and talent pool. It’s attractive demographically and economically, with many global players in the technology and pharmaceutical space (including household names such as Apple, Intel, IBM, Boston Scientific, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Janssen).
The south-west region accounts for some 25% – 30% of Ireland’s economic output annually. Cork city was voted the number one small European city for economic potential in the 2022/2023 edition of the Financial Times European Cities of the Future Awards. Connectivity and infrastructure are also good, with Ireland’s second-busiest airport providing access to all major European destinations, train and road links to the rest of the country, and a huge natural harbour which acts as a key international gateway for trade.
Cork also boasts a number of accolades that will entice you for non-work-related reasons. The food capital of Ireland, it’s one of the friendliest cities in the world, culturally vibrant, and sits in stunning scenery with a spectacular coastline – providing an excellent quality of life and access to a wide range of recreational activities. Paradise? The people of Cork certainly think so!

If you’re interested in the New Frontiers programme in Cork, you can check out their location page, visit rubiconcentre.ie, and connect with Aoife on LinkedIn. Applications for the next Phase 2 are closing soon, so register your interest via our online form and Aoife will be in touch to discuss your application.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

New Frontiers Celebrates 10 Years Of Supporting Innovative Irish Startups

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

One of the benefits of the New Frontiers programme – particularly Phase 2 – is the access to networking. Whether it’s exploring synergies within your programme cohort or more formal networking events, programme alumni agree that New Frontiers gives them lots of opportunities to build relationships far and wide.

Although interrupted by the pandemic, an annual networking event has been a regular feature of the programme over the past decade. This year it was finally back after the hiatus! Recent graduates from every programme around the country were invited to a day of informative insights and – importantly – opportunities to network with alumni from other locations. (To see a recap of the event, hop over to our YouTube channel. We will also be adding interviews with some of the participants in the coming weeks, so don’t forget to subscribe to the channel!)

This year’s New Frontiers Annual Networking Event was held in Mullingar on 23rd March. Three panels were held, hosted by our MC, Conor Carmody, with a lunch break providing valuable and timely sustenance over chats and introductions. There was also a breakout session (allowing participants to discuss their 2023 priorities in small groups) and plenty of other opportunities for attendees to mingle and exchange contact information.

Our thanks to the following alumni and supporters of the programme for agreeing to be on our panels:

New Frontiers, 10 Years Growing – alumni panel

Kevin McCaffrey, Tr3dent
Yvonne Comer, Rugby Smarts
Deborah Brock, Nua Fertility
Raj Lyons Chohan, EV Energy

The Funding Horizon – panel discussion

Chris Burge, Spark Crowdfunding
Christine Charlton, LEO Westmeath
Brian Sheridan, Enterprise Ireland

Building Scale – fireside chat

Feargal Brady, No Frixion
Rory O’Connor, Scurri

This was a special year for the New Frontiers family as the programme is 10 years old. Since 2013, New Frontiers has supported an incredible 5,000 early-stage entrepreneurs in a wide variety of sectors, with 1,700 going on to Phase 2. New Frontiers startups have raised many millions in funding (in fact, New Frontiers alumni made up a significant portion of successful Competitive Start Fund applicants – this fund has recently been replaced by PSSF, which we will be writing about soon) and created jobs all around Ireland.

Today, the programme is delivered at 18 locations nationwide. Beyond networking, benefits of the programme include training, mentoring, incubation space, access to research and development capabilities, and a financial stipend during Phase 2 (€15,000 tax-free). It’s the ideal programme for first-time entrepreneurs of any age and most sectors are eligible. You can see more features of the programme and eligibility criteria on our About page.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Alumni Profiles: Adrienne Magnier and Zarasyl

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Adrienne Magnier’s startup story is one of a serendipitous business opportunity followed up by five years of hard work. Her company, Zarasyl, has created a “miracle cream” for horses and companion animals. Read on to discover how Adrienne charted her path to international success.

Adrienne previously worked in software development, bringing software products to the health and human services market. This meant she already had a deep understanding of what it takes to develop and deliver a product to market and work with customers on a global scale. Adrienne’s husband is involved in the thoroughbred horse business in County Meath, so the couple were around horses every day.

Around five years ago, they were introduced to the technology behind Zarasyl. The formulation was the result of a decade of research at Cambridge University (UK) and was initially developed for human use. Adrienne and her husband knew that a few people had been using the cream on animals, and decided this was a business opportunity worth further exploration.

Starting small with some initial batches of samples, they started to use Zarasyl on the farm and trialled it with a group of local vets and horse owners. The feedback was really positive! From initial research, Adrienne decided to bring this technology market. She focused on the regulatory and compliance requirements involved in bringing the first product, an equine barrier cream. Zarasyl Equine was launched to the market in August 2019 – initially in Ireland and then expanding into the UK.

“From the outset when you look at what you have to do to bring something to market in a space like this, it’s overwhelming. And as a business owner, you wear so many hats on any given day – regulatory, operations, sales, marketing, financial… You must focus on them all to be a success. That’s why New Frontiers was a great programme to be on. It looks at all those skills and how they come together.”

But what is Zarasyl exactly? It’s based on novel silicate technology. Silicon is the third most common trace element in mammals and is essential for healthy connective tissue growth. Zarasyl provides the ultimate healing environment – a barrier that is breathable and highly moisturising. The cream is also steroid-free and antibiotic-free, making it very safe for animals and owners.

Because Zarasyl is a new product, buyers may not know what it does, how it works, or why it’s so effective. This means that Adrienne’s first step in selling the product would typically mean a visit to the veterinary surgery, farm, or horse yard to have a face-to-face discussion with the buyer. These trips became impossible during Covid-19, so Adrienne turned her attention to the USA, reaching out to buyers individually and asking if they would like to trial the product.

This is how Adrienne painstakingly grew her base in the USA. Once restrictions had been lifted, she was able to start attending US conferences and trade shows. In time, word of mouth gained momentum and people started getting in touch with the company directly. Today, a host of leading equestrians and veterinary surgeons – both here and in America – use and endorse the product.

“A team of veterinary surgeons at Cornell University who came across Zarasyl were so enthusiastic about the product that they instigated a study. A paper has just been approved for publication in the Journal of American Veterinary Medicine and will be published quite soon.”

The company’s second product is for companion animals and launched in January this year. Adrienne has managed to really leverage organic growth and word of mouth in growing her business, with a continued focus on educating vets about the products. Zarasyl is listed by three of the four largest veterinary distributors in the US, which is a fantastic result in such a short time.

One of the most important things about Zarasyl is the absence of antibiotics and steroids. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is working hard to tackle the use of antibiotics because antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today. In addition, any animal that competes is subject to very tight anti-doping and controlled medication restrictions, limiting what can be used to treat them.

Skin problems such as dermatitis are one of the most common reasons for dogs to be taken to the vet, and lots of other domesticated animals suffer from skin issues. Zarasyl is a novel product that’s very safe for pets, as well as their owners, when their skin is compromised.

But even novel products need a solid business behind them to succeed. Having decided to leave her job and focus on the startup full-time, Adrienne applied to New Frontiers. She joined the programme at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) – Athlone Campus, arriving just before the end of Phase 1. She found the programme, and the financial stipend, very helpful during that period.

“New Frontiers provides a good team environment while you’re working on becoming a rounded business owner. The other participants come from different backgrounds and are building different businesses, but you feel you’re all in it together! There is great structure to the programme and the access to experts is very valuable. You really feel like you’re with people who have your back and want you to succeed. The support is what I would call realistic but positive.”

Adrienne’s team up to now has mainly been composed of consultants and advisors, but now that Zarasyl is an Enterprise Ireland High Potential Startup (HPSU), she is working on her first hires. She has licenced the global rights to the Zarasyl technology, so her ultimate goal is to be in every vet’s dermatology toolbox around the world. She is focused on continued growth in the US market and other markets are opening up on a weekly basis. She is also focused on the product roadmap based on the underlying novel technology.

Adrienne’s approach to product validation and marketing has really paid off. Her advice to other startup entrepreneurs embarking on this stage of the business is to be mindful of rushing ahead too quickly.

“Don’t try to be all things to all people. You may have various potential markets, but you won’t have the budget to go after all of them at once. Rather than diluting your reach, stay laser-focused on your route to market. We launched our second product recently and for now we are concentrating primarily on veterinary surgeries as our route to market, which includes educating vets about Zarasyl and why/when it’s the right choice. You can’t take on everywhere at once.”

To learn more about Zarasyl, visit https://zarasyl.ie/

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

How To Take The Fear Out Of Networking & Start Making Real Connections

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Networking is a critical component of building a successful startup. As a founder, you’ll need to connect with potential investors, adopters, collaborators, customers, suppliers, mentors, and partners in order to grow your business. These relationships are the lifeblood of a growing business, because, in the words of Porter Gale, “Your network is your net worth.”

Networking is one of those tactics you’ll find on every founder’s to-do list, yet few of us do it really well. While you may dream of sweeping into every room like an extrovert on a sugar high riding a unicorn, the cold reality is that the typical business person finds networking intimidating and overwhelming. If you’re also new to the startup world, this feeling is only magnified.

In this blog post, we’ll share some tips and best practices for startup founders looking to improve their networking skills. To help us in this task, we solicited some inside tips from Jane Manzor of Manzor Marketing, who is one of the experts that regularly trains New Frontiers participants.

Top tips for good quality networking

TL;DR? If you’re looking for a quick fix for your networking strategy, here are our top tips for a winning networking strategy:

Know your audience: Research the attendees and organisations that will be present. Tailor your message and approach to each person you meet.
Have a clear elevator pitch: Clearly communicate your value proposition and differentiators. Be prepared to adjust it based on who you are talking to.
Be authentic: Be yourself and don’t try to be something you’re not. People can tell when you’re not being genuine, and it can hurt your credibility.
Listen more than you talk: Ask open-ended questions and listen actively to what the other person is saying. This will help you build relationships and gain insights.
Follow up: After the event, follow up with the people you met. Send a personalised message and, if appropriate, set up a follow-up meeting or call to discuss potential opportunities.
Be patient: Networking is a long-term game. Building strong relationships takes time, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results. Keep attending events and building your network over time.
Provide value: Look for opportunities to help the people you meet. Offer to make introductions, share resources, or provide insights that might be useful to them. By providing value, you’ll build trust and strengthen your network.
Build: Remember, networking is about building relationships, so focus on creating genuine connections with the people you meet.

Who’s afraid of networking events?

For startup founders, Jane says the main thing is to simply put yourself out there. There are lots of reasons to feel nervous about this as we (nearly) all have a reluctance to venture outside of our comfort zones. Maybe you’re new to networking, get awkward around new people, or feel the tug of imposter syndrome. It can be comforting to remember that most of the people there will be feeling the exact same way!

How to bring your networking a-game

Ready to dive in? Jane recommends that you, “Establish your ‘Why?’ before anything else. You need to understand what you are selling, what your brand proposition is, and what you want out of the networking opportunity. As an early-stage promoter, you may be looking for your first customers or for investment. Think about who the people you are trying to reach are and where they are likely to be spending their time. Those are the events you need to target first.”

Beware of jumping into networking before you have adequately prepared. Jane tells us, “I started going to networking events a little too early. I hadn’t finished working on my Why? and I felt unprepared. So, I took a step back and got all that clear in my mind, working on my ‘Three Ps’ of prepare, practice, pitch. Then I started networking again and it felt completely different.”

Jane’s Three Ps of networking

You can, of course, rock up to an event without any planning whatsoever. You could also set sail for America with no map, compass, or clue how boats work. But there’s also a good chance you won’t ever arrive! If you prefer method over madness, try Jane’s approach:

Prepare

Work on clarifying your customer, your brand, and your why. Make a shortlist of the networking opportunities you want to go after (you won’t be able to go to every single networking event, so prioritise the ones with the most potential). You’ll want to adapt your approach to the type of meeting/event you are going to, so make sure you have a plan. Design and print your business cards.

Practice

The elevator pitch isn’t just a theoretical exercise. If someone asked, “What do you do?” would you be able to give a succinct and clear explanation of what your company is all about? You should be able to sum it up in a few sentences by way of introduction. Practice in front of the mirror, your friends, and your colleagues. But remember, practicing doesn’t mean memorising every element of your pitch – do that and your introduction could sound robotic, if not downright creepy!

Pitch

If you feel anxious about attending these events, it’s a great idea to go along with someone you know, such as a peer or colleague. But don’t stick to them like glue. Once you’re in the room, it’s time to divide and conquer. We’ve all seen groups of friend/colleagues stay together for an entire event, but this is counterproductive as they don’t tend to interact with anyone else and no one feels like trying to break into their circle.

If you manage to stick to the Three Ps, you’ll hopefully come away from the event with two or three business cards of people you are genuinely excited to have a longer conversation with.

Invest in physical business cards

If you’re serious about networking, get yourself some quality business cards. While there is a move by many to use digital business cards, some of which are very cool, a physical card is a cost-effective investment. You can use options in card type, printing methods, and finish to create a card that truly reflects your brand. There are lots of eco-friendly materials and ink products available now to ensure your cards are sustainable. If you’re looking for a way to really stand out, get inspiration from the many fun and creative business cards that have been created by brands over the years. Because they are a physical object, there’s a good chance people will hold on to them, keeping you top of mind. Oh, and they’re quite handy for giving someone your phone number and email address :)

If you hate the idea of physical cards, check out the wide variety of digital solutions out there, which range from phone-to-phone contact sharing to personal landing pages to lead generation sites.

Which events should you go to?

Networking opportunities come in every shape and size. Whether you’re looking for a pure networking experience or prefer to network more casually at talks, shows, conferences, and trade fairs, it’s important to find what’s right for you.

You may favour bigger or smaller events, ones attracting a local or international crowd, or centred around a niche sector versus general business interests. Do your research and profile who is likely to attend the different events on your radar so you can pick the most suitable ones. You can often look at the guest list in advance, allowing you to prep further by identifying the people you most want to speak to.

Organisations such as the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland, ISME, and the SFA hold all kinds of events across the year. There are also trade associations operating in niche sectors or industries that host events. If you are bootstrapping, the good news is that lots of networking opportunities are free. While some organisations such as the LEO Women in Business Networks, Chambers of Commerce, or BNI chapters have membership fees, you can often attend one or two events as a guest first.

Jane also recommends conferences for those on a budget, as there are lots of free conferences around the country, many of which are sector specific. Once you know how to get value from the events you’re attending, it makes sense to go to paid networking events or join membership organisations.

Final networking takeaways

If you feel underprepared, don’t panic. It isn’t usually possible to communicate everything you want to during a short introduction, so just keep things simple. Better to leave people intrigued and wanting to know more than to drown them in thousands of facts. When you follow up and meet them again, you’ll have time to expand on some of the details.

If social anxiety is your biggest roadblock, Jane has the following advice. “Fear of the unknown is a big problem in networking. How to break the ice? How to get talking to someone? How to relax? Some easy ways to get over this are to introduce yourself to a group rather than an individual (join an open circle, say hi, and take it from there). When you first approach someone, use casual social openings to strike up a conversation (for example, compliment someone’s handbag or mention a recent sporting event). Whatever you do, don’t just march up and hand someone a business card!”

If you’re not enjoying these events because of the pressure to sell, Jane has some great insights. “Everyone is selling at networking events. You can relieve some of the pressure by focussing on finding out about other people instead of pitching to them. Talk less and listen more. Ask for the person’s business card. You’ll typically have a chance to talk about yourself at some point, and you’ll discover if there are possible synergies there. Make sure to follow up and find another opportunity to connect so that you can build the relationship from there.”

Networking can be a daunting task, but it can also be a powerful tool for achieving your startup goals. By staying authentic, looking for genuine synergies, and giving value, you can build strong relationships with people who are pivotal to your startup journey. Networking is a long-term game, so be patient and persistent. It takes time and effort to build strong relationships, but the rewards are huge!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

To Be A Good Leader, You Need To Be A Good Communicator

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Every blog about being a successful entrepreneur discusses the value of good leadership. But what does it mean to be a good leader? One of the defining characteristics of business visionaries seems to be their ability to build relationships. We spoke to one of the New Frontiers regional trainers, Frank C Guy, a leadership and performance coach with extensive experience in this area. How does he approach this area of leadership and relationships?

Frank sums up his philosophy in the mantra, If you want to improve results, build relationships. If you want to build relationships, improve the conversations. When people on the front-line aren’t doing a good job, it’s often because leadership aren’t giving them the right help or support. In Frank’s view, “This tends to be because communication in business is either not happening or is happening badly. There’s a belief that if you just sit down and have a chat with someone about an issue, it will somehow resolve itself. In reality, for conversations to be truly productive, they much be approached with far more intention and skill.”

Turning organisational structure on its head

One of the first things Frank does when working with startup founders is get them to change their traditional thinking about how an organisation is structured. He advises that we turn the hierarchical pyramid – where the bosses are at the top and the workers are at the bottom – on its head. The chart he uses (below) places the directors and shareholders at the bottom, because it’s their job to support the rest of the organisation. If you look at organisations in this way, you also start to question the language we use about organisations, which is very top-down and directional (phrases like ‘moving up the ladder’, ‘a sideways move’, ‘being demoted down’ are everyday business parlance).

Build relationships, one conversation at a time

Once you start thinking about the leadership role as being one of support, you can see how crucial relationship building is. And at the heart of this lies communication.

As Frank says, “A leader communicating with their team may be having any of three different types of conversation: leading conversations, performance conversations, or coaching conversations. To be effective, leaders need to be aware of what approach they are taking and decide which is best in any given situation. I use the metaphor that a leader wears a different hat depending on what type of conversation they are having.”

What are the main characteristics of these three conversation types?

Leading conversations are about involving people

You may talk about topics such as: Where we are going? What is our purpose? Where do different people fit in? What is a person’s significance? These conversations could happen during one-to-ones or in team meetings. These conversations are how you get people engaged.

Performance conversations are about success

You may talk about topics such as: These are your targets. Are you meeting your goals? Do you need support? Let’s review your KPIs. These conversations are what people managers spend a lot of time on, but they aren’t really leadership conversations.

Coaching conversations are about questioning and listening

These vital conversations are about letting the individuals on your team work things out for themselves. Generally, people have the answers, as long as you give them the means to work out what they need to do. Coaching conversations empower people to bring you solutions rather than problems.

“There is another type of conversation that happens in business but is not a leadership conversation. Feedback. Typically, we neither ask for feedback nor give it because it is so often negative. We’re just not doing it well. But, if you can get feedback right – whether you are trying to improve someone or encourage them – you can use feedback as a tactic for build great relationships.”

Different approaches in conversations

There is a sliding scale for conversations that goes from non-directive at one end to directive at the other. Frank recommends always taking a non-directive approach, if possible. Directive approaches will be necessary in business, of course. There are situations where you have to provide instructions on the correct way to carry out a task or tell someone what you need them to do. But coaching lives at the other, non-directive, end of the scale.

“Coaching conversations are about repeated questioning and listening and reflecting back what you are hearing. If you’re coaching someone, and you think they can work out a problem for themselves, don’t advise them and don’t instruct them. If they don’t manage to arrive at a solution, then you might ask a question along the lines of ‘I wonder what would happen if…’ which is a suggestion they can take as their own and hopefully make a breakthrough with.”

Questioning and listening aren’t skills we are taught, so most of us aren’t particularly good at either. During a conversation, we’re often just waiting for an opportunity to jump in and show off our own brilliance. Steven Covey describes this phenomenon as listening “with the intent to reply, not to understand” in his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Leaders need to train themselves to listen better so they can have more effective conversations.

Advice for questioning and listening during conversations

In a startup business, you will bring people in to work with you who need help and support to deliver what you need. Franck encourages founders to have real conversations with their team on a regular basis, allowing them to work through issues. You may need to have performance conversations with these employees, and that’s fine. But a lot of the time, the non-directive approach is best, helping people to feel empowered and autonomous. This is really important for motivation, which will be key to building a successful business.

There are also lots of conversations that need to happen with people outside the startup. Imagine a scenario where you meet with a potential customer. You’ll probably be tempted to launch into a pitch along the lines of here’s my product/service, this is what it does, and these are the benefits. It’s called the tell-and-sell method. Frank recommends a different approach. Spend more time trying to understand what’s going on with the other person: What do they know? What do they really need? What are their wants? You can use this information to make them a more tailored offer.

“Because we aren’t taught to listen, we tend to interrupt, get distracted, make assumptions, change the topic, or rush people. My advice to founders is to ask the right questions and then consciously listen to the answers. If you’re not sure if you were doing it right, just ask yourself who was doing most of the talking. If it was you, that conversation won’t bring you the best results. This applies to all the conversations you have as a leader, whether with your team, suppliers, investors, etc.

It’s about building relationships and influencing people. When you listen with full attention, people feel understood, then they feel respected. People want respect; when you give them this you are fulfilling a basic human need. It’s a vital element of building trust, which is the ultimate goal.”

Frank’s guidance for questioning

At the start of a conversation, start questions with What…? and How…? You can also use the alternative opener of Tell me…
As a conversation progresses and you want to refine your questioning, you might start questions with When…? Where…? Which…? and Who…?
Don’t start questions with Why…? It’s a very confrontational question that puts people on the defensive and forces them to justify their actions. Imagine being in a meeting and someone asking, “Why are you wearing that shirt?” Ouch! Now imagine the person asks, “How do you decide what to wear in the morning?” This question doesn’t cause the same reaction at all.
Try to ask questions for which there isn’t a Yes or No answer. Ask open questions that allow people to express themselves fully.
Keep your questions short and sweet. Some examples are What’s up? What happened? How come? These kinds of question help you to keep the conversation flowing while allowing you to dig further. If your questions are really long, everyone will lose the thread.

Frank’s guidance for listening

What makes you a good listener is genuine curiosity. If you aren’t truly seeking to learn and understand the other person, your conversations won’t give you real value.
Focus ALL your attention on the other person. Resist all those reasons to get distracted – both external and internal
Maintain eye contact (only important for listeners)
Give the person time to respond and don’t interrupt. Remember the acronym WAIT: Why Am I Talking?
Bring a conversation to life by looping back or mirroring in three ways:
i) repeat a word or two to show the person you heard what they said;
ii) repeat back in your own words what you’re hearing (a paraphrase); and
iii) summarise what you heard back to them to confirm you have understood correctly.
Don’t take notes! You cannot listen fully and take notes at the same time. Also, looking down to write note means you are no longer maintaining eye contact. If there is something you MUST record, ask for a pause in the conversation so that you can do so.

As you can see, communication skills can help leaders to foster a culture of trust, understanding, and collaboration. The methods Frank describes may not come naturally to everyone, but they can be learned. Effective conversations are a crucial aspect of leadership, and investing time and effort in this area will have an immediate effect on you and those around you.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

A Guide To Getting The Most From Digitalisation In Your Startup

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

In our recent blog, Use These Easy Time Management Skills To Help Run Your Startup, we looked at how you can try to gain extra time in your day through some simple time management tricks. Sometimes, though, time needs a bit more help and that means looking at digitalisation!

Digitalisation isn’t simply about automating time-consuming tasks. Yes, it can help to streamline your processes and workflows, but it also brings in benefits such as:

improved information security
more flexible access
easier collaboration and communication
better customer experience
greater transparency
fewer duplications
centralised insights for better decision-making

Let’s see what’s involved.

What is digitalisation?

First things first, what exactly is digitalisation? Surely every tech-savvy startup in 2023 is digitalised by default? Actually, not always. Even startups that code software for a living can find huge digitalisation gaps in their operations workflows or back-office procedures. That’s because good digitalisation doesn’t just happen, it’s a deliberate strategy and takes thought and planning.

Digitalisation means using the right combination of tools in a way that simplifies what you do across all your departments – sales, marketing, operations, accounting, etc. – and centralises data so that you have clarity over what’s happening in the business. Ideally, these tools will be integrated so that key data can move seamlessly between teams and it’s easy for colleagues to collaborate and communicate.

How do you make a start on digitalisation?

To see where you need to bring in digitalisation, or improve digitalisation, you’ll need to assess your business processes. Remember that as a startup grows, some of the tools being used will no longer be a good fit – you could be losing out on valuable data, missing opportunities to connect dots with other parts of the business, making teams work with clunky workflows, etc. So, I advise that you assess every workflow in the business, even if you think it’s already digitalised.

You’ll want to document your processes so you can see how they can be optimised. To do this, you could:

Interview/survey employees at all levels of the organisation to understand how they complete their tasks and what processes they follow.
Observe and document processes by watching employees as they complete tasks, documenting the steps they take.
Identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies as you document processes, looking for areas where tasks are taking longer than expected or where there are delays in getting things done.
Pinpoint opportunities for automation, because manual data entry is error-prone and many repetitive tasks can now be automated thanks to machine learning and AI.
Find opportunities for connectivity either through better collaboration or by syncing data across your digital solutions.

This exercise is vitally important in a startup because you may have started witht just one or two people who did everything but now have entire teams in place for these functions. You will probably find they are working in a very different way now that everything has scaled.

The resulting documentation can take whatever form works best for you. The only requirement is that it is easy to understand and can be easily updated, because its crucial to keep process documentation up to date so that everyone works the same way and you can spot any inefficiencies that creep in.

Typical formats for documenting business processes and workflows include:

Flowcharts
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Work Instruction manuals
Process maps
Mind maps

Define what digitalisation tools you need

Now you have a clearer idea of how everyone is completing tasks, you can define your requirements for new digital tools. This is an important step in the process of selecting the right tools for your business. Some approaches you can use include:

Look at business goals: Identify the specific business goals you want to achieve with the digital solution. This will help you focus on the features and functionality that are most important for your business.
Explore pain points: What pain points (inefficiencies, delays, manual tasks, etc.) did you identify when documenting your processes that could be solved with the right digital tool? These could be pain points experienced by the team or by your customers/end-users.
Discuss employee requirements: Talk to employees at all levels of the organisation to understand the challenges they face so that you can find solutions that align with their workflows.
Research industry best practice: Take a look at best practice in your industry to understand what other businesses are doing and what solutions are available.

The end result of this process will be a document that outlines your specific requirements for a digital solution. It should include a clear statement of the business goals you want to achieve, the pain points you want to address, and the features and functionality that are most important for your business. It should also include any specific technical requirements, such as compatibility with existing systems, security requirements, GDPR compliance, etc.

Finding the right digital tools

Your documented requirements will help you evaluate the solutions in the marketplace and serve as a reference when you talk to software vendors, as well as the developer or internal team that will be implementing the solution. It can also be the basis for creating a request for proposal (RFP) if you decide to look for vendors that way.

Evaluating digital tools in the market can be a time-consuming task. Here are a few ways to tackle it:

Research existing solutions: Before you start testing different tools, research the market to identify products that might be a good fit. Look for ones that are designed for businesses similar to yours and that address the specific needs you’ve identified.
Use online resources and reviews: Many websites and blogs provide reviews and comparisons of different digital tools. These resources can help you get a sense of the pros and cons of different products without having to sign up for a trial.
Ask for a demo: Lots of digital platforms and software solutions provide demos of their products, which will give you a sense of how the tool works and whether it’s a good fit for your business. Don’t be afraid to ask questions during the demo and ask for case studies of how the solution has been implemented in a business similar to yours.
Sign up for a free trial: Plenty of platforms also provide free trials, which can help you test the tool in a realistic setting and see how it works in your business environment. Make sure you are testing the full product, though, as sometimes free trials only give you access to a ‘lite’ version of the solution.

Remember that digital solutions are constantly evolving, and new tools are being launched all the time. It’s important to regularly review the digital tools available and the workflows in place to make sure that the best tool is being used.

Of course, you could go through this process only to discover that you are already using the perfect tool for the function in question, which is great and still a valuable exercise. You could even find that your existing solution is the right tool, but you aren’t on the right plan and so not getting the range of benefits or functionality you need. A simple upgrade could eliminate many of the pain points identified.

Harnessing the potential of digitalisation

Sometimes the biggest wins in digitalisation come from the smallest improvements. It could be that you are using tools that are perfect for your needs, but each tool stands alone within the business. This can lead to two major issues:

Data isn’t syncing across the business

This could occur in a variety of ways, for example:

Your ecommerce solution doesn’t connect with your in-store inventory, so you don’t have real-time stock data online.
Your employee leave information isn’t available wherever you do your job scheduling, so you have to keep cross-referencing to check availability.

Multiple instances of the same data

This could occur in a variety of ways, for example:

Your marketing team and sales team have their own CRMs, meaning you have duplicate data and a high probability of inconsistencies/errors.
You create your quotes in your CRM, meaning you have to then input the same information again when you invoice in your accounting software.

The solution in these situations is to get your systems talking to each other. This starts by mapping the data in your business and where it is able to travel from one solution to another. Then you will be able to see where it isn’t being communicated between tools and look for ways to change that.

You could assess the connectivity of different software with:

A data flow analysis: Visualise the flow of data between different tools and systems in your organization. Identify where data is being duplicated and where there are gaps in the flow of data.
A data map: A map that shows the relationships between different data sets and how they are used across different tools. This also helps you identify where data duplication is happening and where there are gaps in the flow of data.

Your next task will be to find ways to integrate your tools or allow data to move between them. Sometimes you only need the data to move in one direction, other times you will need to ensure that data added, updated, or deleted in one system will sync through to one or more other systems.

Improving connectivity between your systems

One way to do this is with a data integration tool that connects different systems in order to automate the flow of data between them. You can also such a tool to bring key data through to a central dashboard for monitoring KPIs. Zapier and Integrate.io are two well-known examples, but there are many others and the one that’s right will depend on which tools you are trying to connect.

Another way is to use the Application Programming Interface (API) of your digital systems to communicate and share data, enabling seamless integration and automation. This is a really flexible and scalable way to improve connectivity, but you will need support from a developer if this isn’t your area of expertise.

Good digitalisation: key principles to remember

As you can see, digitalisation can greatly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of a startup, but it’s important to have a thought-out strategy. As you embark on your own digitalisation journey, don’t forget the key principles outlined in this blog: prioritise your goals, work on connectivity, and continuously monitor and maintain your integrations.

Don’t forget to implement data governance policies and procedures to ensure that data is accurate, consistent, and up to date across all systems. This includes creating guidelines for data entry, data validation, and data security. Regularly review the flow of data between different tools to ensure that they are working as intended and that data is accurate and consistent.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Customer Discovery Helps You Build Products/Services That People Want

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Most startup founders are familiar with the concept of idea validation. In fact, Phase 1 of New Frontiers is all about helping entrepreneurs to validate their startup idea and get them to a go/no-go decision. Idea validation can be summed up as finding out if people want what you are planning to build – i.e., if it’s a viable product/service that’s worth further investment.

But there’s another area of early-stage research that is too often forgotten or neglected by startup founders, and that’s what we want to look at today. Customer discovery provides a more in-depth understanding of the needs and preferences of potential customers, which helps inform product or service development. By conducting customer discovery, founders can ensure that their product or service idea is aligned with the needs of their target market, increasing the chances of success. Let’s look at what’s involved.

What is customer discovery?

Customer discovery is a process for understanding potential customers and the problems they are trying to solve. This involves conducting research and interviews with potential customers to gather information about their needs, pain points, and preferences. The goal of customer discovery is to validate the assumptions you are making about the target market, and to identify potential areas for change and improvement.

Customer discovery has many benefits for a business. The top ones are that it helps you to understand the needs and preferences of potential customers, uncover possible challenges and obstacles that may present themselves, and cement early relationships with potential customers who can help kickstart sales and marketing.

If you’re looking to develop your own discovery process, here are some steps you might start with:

Define the problem or need you are trying to solve: Before starting, be clear about the problem or need that the startup is trying to address. This will help you focus your research and interviews on gathering information about the specific needs of your potential customers.
Identify potential customers to interview: Identify people who are likely to have that problem or need. This can be done through, for example, research and networking.
Conduct interviews with potential customers: These interviews can be in-person, over the phone, or through online surveys. During the interviews, you should ask questions about the potential customer’s needs, pain points, preferences, and other relevant information.
Collate and analyse the data collected: Look for patterns and trends in the data and identify common themes and insights.
Use the insights to inform development: This can involve making changes to the product, adjusting the business model, or developing a new marketing strategy. By incorporating the insights from customer discovery, you can better meet the needs of potential customers and improve its chances of success.
Iterate and continue the process: Customer discovery is not a one-time process. As the startup continues to develop and grow, you should continue to conduct customer discovery to gather new insights and make ongoing improvements to your product or service.

Getting customer discovery right

Daniel Kyne at the Product Management Festival 2021

We spoke to Daniel Kyne, co-founder and CEO of OpinionX, a research tool that enables qualitative research at scale so that companies can find their product/market fit faster. Daniel is a New Frontiers alumnus and also trains New Frontiers cohorts to improve their own customer discovery processes. He is something of a nerd in the area of actionable user research strategies, so who better to bring the theory to life for us!

According to Daniel, one of the best places to start if you are new to this concept is The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick. This book addresses a lot of the misconceptions people have about customer conversations. Typically, people think customer interviewing boils down to creating a giant PowerPoint, making people watch it, and then asking, “Would you like this product/service?” Research proves that, if you do this, you will tend to just get people agreeing with you (beware of flattery during this process!). Partly this is because people don’t want to hurt your feelings by saying, “This doesn’t seem like a good idea,” or, “I wouldn’t want this.”

The Mom Test takes you though some basic principles to avoid ending up in that situation. The key takeaways are that you should never use customer discovery interviews to tell people what your idea is or pitch them your product. Instead, you should focus on their lives and their problems – diving into the stories that give you all the context and details needed to really understand real-world examples of the problem. It’s also important that you don’t look at hypothetical scenarios, but actual examples of when the situation you are discussing happened.

As Daniel points out, customer discovery is the wider context of idea validation. It’s about finding the right combination of ingredients that can go together to build a successful business. Done right, it should answer questions like:

Who the customer is
What problem you are trying to solve
How their life will be better once you solve that problem

As a concept, customer discovery really revolves around interviews. There are lots of great resources out there to help you get to grips with what good interviewing looks like, how to find people for interviewing, and most importantly what to ask/not ask. It’s a skill you can learn with just a little effort and practice.

Using customer discovery to prioritise problems

But uncovering problems isn’t the end of the process. It’s vital to understand how much of a priority the problem really is. This is an area of particular interest for Daniel, which he really started to investigate after seeing a tweet from Shreyas Doshi of Stripe, who was working directly with founders Patrick and John Collison.

Shreyas broke down the principles covered in The Mom Test, where founders or product managers try to use interviews to validate that the problem they are trying to solve exists. Described like this, it sounds like this is focusing on the right thing. But Shreyas showed that building a successful startup/product isn’t JUST about solving a problem for someone, you need to know that the problem is high up on their list too. If you are solving a problem that is only a mild inconvenience, people may not care enough about the solution!

Daniel says, “It’s not enough that you’re solving a problem. You want to be solving a ‘hair on fire’ kind of problem. This is the most missed element of idea validation. The way to do this is through what we call customer problem stack ranking, which is a survey technique to find out what really matters to people by getting them to prioritise problems. Once you know this, you are developing products/services with high impact that people will want.”

Getting started with customer discovery

How does Daniel suggest founders start discovering what people care about? It starts with asking yourself why this problem happens and what solutions people are using at the moment. For lots of founders on Phase 1 and even Phase 2 of New Frontiers, the challenge is to park their assumptions far off to one side, go back to the beginning, and re-validate everything they know. There’s a framework called the startup bow tie that you can use for doing this:

Stage 1: persona (who is the customer), problem (what is the need), purpose (why does the problem need solving), product (the proposed MVP), positioning (understanding the context), and proposition (value proposition)
Stage 2: pull
Stage 3: model, medium, and market

Stages 1 and 2 of the bow tie framework are what happen before you gain traction. This is what occurs before you get the combination of ingredients that resonates with people and that people react to in a way that shows there is real need. At the early stages of the bow tie, a lot depends on your ability to interview well, because this is external information that you need to access. You can’t influence results much at this point, as you are still collecting data and insights. It’s at Stage 3 of the bow tie that you have the chance to turn insights into action and results. Daniel recommends checking out the breakdown of how this works in his article, Deconstructing WeatherBill’s $930M Startup Pivot.

As you can see, customer discovery is an essential part of any successful product or business strategy. By conducting interviews and surveys with potential customers, you will gather valuable perspectives that can help you create more effective products that are in tune with your customers’ needs and preferences. In addition, you’ll have an advantage when it comes to positioning your solution in the market and selling it to prospective clients!

Daniel Kyne is the Co-Founder and CEO of OpinionX, a research tool for ranking people’s priorities that’s used by thousands of teams at companies like Google, Amazon, and Shopify. Prior to OpinionX, Daniel was a Digital & Innovation Lead at Unilever UK, a Global Facilitator for Techstars Europe, Head of Speakers and Startups at Dublin Tech Summit, and a Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum. He writes about actionable user research strategies for product teams and startup founders on his newsletter The Full-Stack Researcher.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Former Programme Manager Jenni Timony Shares Insights For Startup Founders

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Jenni Timony is a past New Frontiers Programme Manager and, more recently, the founder of her own startup – FitPink. In a wide-ranging conversation, we explored Jenni’s three decades of entrepreneurial experience, and how it has shaped her approach to her new business.

Jenni Timony, former New Frontiers Programme Manager and founder of FitPink

Based in Donegal, FitPink is an activewear business selling functional fitness clothing for women. The company takes a women-focused approach to product development: designed for women and run for women. Starting off with leggings and sweatshirts, Jenni soft-launched the company in 2019, fitting the work around her day job at the Innovation Centre in ATU – Sligo Campus. In fact, she didn’t work full-time on FitPink until November the following year.

The business had its full launch in January 2020, eight weeks before the pandemic hit. Jenni feels that the changes in lifestyle and shopping habits caused by Ireland’s lockdowns probably accelerated the growth of the startup by two years. It brought people into ecommerce that previously would not have bought online, meaning the brand got in front of people much faster than might have happened otherwise. Luckily, these customers also proved to be very loyal.

But it’s a myth to think that if you just launch a website, you can simply sit back and watch the sales pour in. FitPink’s success to date is not accidental. What learnings from previous ventures did Jenni bring to this business? How did she get here?

An early introduction to business

Born in Ireland to an Irish father and Indian mother, Jenni’s family immigrated to Australia during the 1980s recession. She attended high school in Australia and then returned to Ireland for university. Unfortunately, the family’s time living abroad meant that Jenni would have to pay ‘international student’ fees. These being out of reach, she decided to work instead and became self-employed at the age of 18 – starting off with a café and later moving into pre-packed food.

The food company made sandwiches, which were distributed across the country into schools, hospitals, airlines, and retail. With 35 full-time employees, this was a challenging business from the start.

“A mistake that many entrepreneurs make, that I made myself, is falling into a business. You see an idea, you decide to jump in and do it, and from that point you are operating from a position of blind faith rather than informed decision-making. You haven’t researched the market or the industry. I made that some error myself with the sandwich business.

It was a situation where there was demand for the product and very little competition (apart from one publicly listed company, Kerry Group). I just saw this as an opportunity to compete, but what I should have been asking myself was ‘Why are there no competitors in this sector?’ Some of the reasons might have been that food products are very low-margin, have a short shelf-life, are capital- and labour-intensive… It’s really difficult to make money in that kind of business. If you look at the big companies that make products like these, you’ll see that the profit margins are slim to none.

That’s the kind of learning that I always advise other entrepreneurs to take on board at the very start. Do the cold research. Don’t fall in love with the idea until you’ve really looked into it!”

Market research and product-market fit are essential for a business to succeed. Some of the most famous companies in the world took years to find their sweet spot. Even if you’re already weeks or months into your idea, it’s always worth stepping back and doing that research. If you decide not to go ahead, that’s still a good decision.

Lessons from recession

Jenni’s sandwich business stayed the course despite the challenges. But when the last recession hit, it became an early casualty. The company had always ploughed turnover back into the business, meaning there were no cash reserves in place to help cushion the effects of the downturn. It’s one of the common reasons that businesses fail when hit by external or internal shocks; lack of cash is a risk factor for any business – regardless of size or age.

Jenni is adamant about operating on data and not gut instinct. This means research at the very start of the business, but also continually exploring the data in the business and looking into other ways of doing things as the years go by. One example she gives is Facebook Ads. These would have been a go-to for almost any B2C company a few years ago, but given they are universally in decline now, it’s crucial not to be overly reliant on them as a sales pipeline and start experimenting with ads on other channels.

“It’s really important not to get fixated on what’s working for you now, because that won’t necessarily be what works for you next year. This requires continuous research and keeping your eyes open. People have a tendency to assume they know who their customers are, but you must remember to keep researching them and listening to them. And don’t forget to also look outside of that circle to who else might be a good customer or what trends are coming along that your brand might be a good fit for. It’s about being open to opportunity and open-minded – that’s what we call the ‘growth mindset’. I think it’s important to make sure the whole team has that growth mindset.”

Every sector and industry has its opportunities and pitfalls, but it’s important to understand that these cannot be blindly applied, and a good entrepreneur will look at their specific business and context when making decisions. Start with your goals and establish what kind of business you want to run – then work back from there to decide how this will play out in the day-to-day operations of the company. What is different at FitPink given Jenni’s experience working in and advising successful businesses?

A recipe for success

“I was careful not to outsource customer service or fulfilment. Lots of business owners might see these as obvious overheads to optimise through a third party, but I would argue that these are part of the customer experience and therefore core to the business. I don’t see many businesses with 98% un-incentivised five-star reviews that have also outsourced their fulfilment.

It’s said that you can do things when you’re small that you won’t be able to do when you scale, and we’re holding on to doing these things for as long as we can – at FitPink, customer queries and fulfilment are completely manual. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that when we are selling into multiple other countries and languages, but we can for now and that’s vital.”

There’s a lot of advice out there about outsourcing everything you can and automating every possible process within the business, but it isn’t right for everyone. Purpose-driven businesses and those that leverage values-based marketing have been championing approaches like Jenni’s for some time. A good rule of thumb is to outsource strategically and in a way that gives you good levels of control. For cash-strapped startups, it’s a balancing act between operational effectiveness and affordability.

“When you do need to outsource something, staying involved and understanding the ins and outs of what you’re asking for is important. Marketing is a good example; not all agencies can deliver the kind of value that a startup entrepreneur is looking for as agency fees are quite high and the return you can expect from some of the activities often isn’t there. However, if you’re able to put in as much effort or time as the agency, you often get much better results. If you find an agency that is transparent and happy to work in partnership with you, this can be much more productive.”

While the pandemic proved to be an unexpected boon for FitPink, the startup is now closing its third ‘proper’ year in business. In a reversal of the usual startup timeframe, Jenni sees the coming year as offering the biggest challenge so far, with the economic downturn and cost of living crisis presaging a tougher market for the company.

Focus on your core values

External shocks are always easier to navigate when a startup is built on strong foundations. Jenni’s focus on customer service means that the people who buy FitPink products are passionate about them and help spread the word. The team sees this play out in all kinds of ways – for example, if they get a sale in a new area geographically, they see a mushrooming of sales in that same area six or eight weeks later. The company’s quality and environmental credentials also factor in brand loyalty.

“We’re the opposite of fast fashion. While we don’t use ‘recycled polyester’ because it’s not a very technical fabric – we opted instead for a high-quality product at an affordable price. I think that’s important in the current climate. We’re the same quality as our international competitors but at half the price, and right now that’s very important to people.

From the day we started, we used biodegradable packaging (it decomposes at the same rate as a banana skin). Competitors have taken our lead and adopted that since, and I’m glad to see it because that’s great for the planet. Since day one, we’ve supported Plan International – one of the largest international child-centred development organisations. Even through we’re just a tiny business finding our way in the world, I believe that we all have an impact. That’s the power of compounding. It would be great if all startups had that attitude.”

FitPink plans further growth in the Irish market and is moving into the UK market. Jenni intends taking it one step at a time so that she maintains control over those things that are so important to the brand, such as value and customer experience. She will keep operations in Ireland for as long as possible, rather than distributing the team too early. It’s a sector that’s full of opportunity, and FitPink has already proved it can gain traction with its winning combination of quality and comfort without compromise!

Find out more about FitPink activewear on their website and follow them on Instagram.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

ProMotion Rewards Is Creating Real Value For Both Brands And Consumers

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 and customer feedback surveys enough? And, even if a retailer had this information, how can the brands themselves access this and what kinds of consumer trends are hiding in plain sight?

“From the retailer’s perspective, they own the sale. This means they own the related data, and they have the power to then action that data through their channels. We started thinking about the brands that are sold through these retailers; they don’t own the sale and they don’t have the connection with the consumer. A manufacturer of goods might distribute across supermarkets, retail shops, petrol stations, etc. How can they see who their consumers are across the market and reach them with the right offer, at the right time?

We wondered if we could provide really high-quality insights to these brands. We were also thinking about the consumer perspective and their desire for transparency as well as seeing a benefit from this data that can be held about them.”

This became a core of the ProMotion Rewards product – it had to be democratic for the brand but also for the consumer who was bringing all this valuable data to the table. Lauren and Bidemi had identified that the value lies in the receipt, because it’s the only way to really understand what a consumer is buying.

“We became really nerdy about receipts. We looked at how they work, and what their similarities and differences are. That’s where building the product started from, taking the true value from the receipts and rewarding consumers for their data. Obviously, they have complete autonomy and can choose which receipts to upload.”

Lauren and Bidemi have been at university together since 2016. They took part in the Trinity College LaunchBox accelerator with their first startup idea, so they knew they worked well together. The early-stage startup won the LaunchBox programme and gave the founders plenty of experience in essential areas such as the market research process.

“We have different strengths and weaknesses, so we are able to complement each other. Bidemi is the more technical one, he’s a self-taught programmer so he took on a lot of the work of researching the technology and how the product could be built and do what we wanted it to do.

My role was more in researching the value creation side of the product. We wanted to build something that kept the consumer in control but was still seen as very valuable by the brands – that’s the only way a product like this can work. I did lots of primary research with consumers and brands.

There is crossover with our roles, though, because we both like to understand how things work. But we have worn many different hats during this process and if something needed to be done, we just got on and did it.”

The scientific approach these founders brought to their startup is one of its core strengths. They used their own networks to undercover user perspectives early on, then branched out through family and friends to find a wider reach of consumers. The goal was always to bring the broadest range of voices into their research.

“I found that people are very willing to give up some of their time to talk to you if you’re genuinely interested in their problems and opinions. I was like a giant sponge soaking up what they were saying in the most unbiased way! Once we had the MVP, I went back to them to get their feedback. I made sure that people in different countries were trying it out too, as we want the app to be usable in other markets and part of that will be seeing what kinds of differences users in other countries would expect.”

Lauren and Bidemi are well embedded in the startup community, first with their involvement in LaunchBox, then by participating in New Frontiers. They also decided to locate in Dogpatch Labs, which helped them make connections and get introductions to the media industry and the consumer goods industry. As the startup was still in the research phase and not simply trying to pitch to them, these contacts were very willing to share deep insights and knowledge. In fact, Lauren was able to have conversations with some of the biggest and most influential brands out there.

The company is now in a major new chapter as it has secured pre-seed funding of €725,000. The investment was led by Laidlaw Scholars Ventures (LSV), with participation from Delta Partners and Enterprise Ireland. ProMotion Rewards has a new hire starting and will probably hire again soon. This next phase will involve developing the product and getting it in front of more consumers.

“Everyone tells you this, but it’s still a surprise when raising funding takes longer than you expect it to! We started preparing at the beginning of this year and we did the right thing in raising before we actually needed to. That did mean that possibly we jumped in a little before we were ready to, but it also meant that we had a clear idea of what investors needed to see from us.

We worked on our value propositions – different investors have a different focus, so they need to be adapted – and got on a lot of calls. At the end of the day, we wanted an investor we could work well with and who could bring value to the business beyond cash. It’s a bit like a marriage; you have to get along and work well together.

If I went through this again, I would take the early start approach because there is so much involved to get through the process and out the other side.”

ProMotion Reward’s model of transparent data sharing couldn’t be more timely. Consumers are ready for more responsible technology products that respect their needs and privacy.

“I think people are generally tired of feeling spied on and don’t want their data combed through for profit. As pharmacists, we already take a very strong stance on privacy, so that was important to us from the get-go. The whole point of our product is that you have total control over what you share – if you open the app and snap a receipt, you know that’s what you’ve done. In addition, that data has now been anonymised.

In return, you get discount vouchers – or you can donate them to charity if you prefer. We’re giving control to the users and letting them put the benefit of using the app where they want. Brands get insights into consumer behaviour, which is really valuable to them, but without any personal data attached. I feel that our 100% transparency model is different from a lot of products. There’s no sneaky stuff happening, it’s all about direct value being created on both sides!”

Check out the startup at https://usepromotion.com/ or download the app (Apple App Store/Google Play Store) and start snapping your receipts today!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Start Up In Waterford! Dr Eugene Crehan Introduces Us To The Southeast’s Ecosystem

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 Frontiers startup to become publicly listed), Taoglas, NearForm, Stitcher Ads, Sonru, Scurri, Open Back, Powerscourt Distillery, CMC Hygea, MotoKlik, PlantQuest, Tailr, and Flexiwage.

Eugene, tell us a bit about your background and your role as Director of Programmes at CEDRE.

My background is in international business development with AT Cross Pens, Baileys Irish Cream, and Waterford Crystal. I have lived in the USA and Dubai and have conducted business in over 50 international markets. I have been with WIT, now South East Technological University (SETU), since 2003 in various roles that support entrepreneurs.

In my role as Director of Programmes at the SETU Centre for Enterprise Development and Regional Economy (CEDRE), I managed the South East Enterprise Platform Programme (SEEPP), The Female Entrepreneurs Ireland & Wales project (FEIW), the Enterprise Start programme, and the Post Graduate Diploma in Enterprise Development (which was delivered to innovation and enterprise centre managers in Ireland).

I’m embedded in enterprise and entrepreneurship activities right across the SETU Waterford campus through my involvement with ArcLabs Innovation Hub, Growth Hub (HCI-funded student entrepreneurship programme), student enterprise initiatives and competitions (as a mentor), and research in areas of entrepreneurship. Outside of SETU, I’m involved with Kinetic Labs Waterford and the Enterprise Europe Network, and I Chair the national New Frontiers Programme Managers Forum.

I’m passionate about business and entrepreneurship development. In 2018, I completed doctoral research looking at the impact of investment in early-stage businesses and how it helps them to develop competitive advantages to grow their businesses. This research is highly relevant to the work I do supporting early-stage businesses on the New Frontiers programme at SETU.

It sounds like Waterford has a really strong offer for startup founders (or promoters, as we call them in the startup ecosystem). Give us some insight into what they can expect on your programme.

The SETU Waterford New Frontiers programme helps start-up promoters to make the transition from employment to entrepreneurship. We give them the skills to investigate their market opportunity, quantify it, and then craft a customer value proposition that is relevant to, and understood by, the target market. A key objective of New Frontiers is that the business has an investment-ready business plan at the end of Phase 2 of the programme. Basically, New Frontiers helps to reduce the fledgling start-up’s risks and dramatically increase their chances of success.

Our New Frontiers programme is located in Xcelerate (formerly ArcLabs Research and Incubation Centre on the grounds of the SETU West Campus in Waterford and has direct access to the SETU Arena (open to the public) and the Waterford Greenway. Xcelerate is a purpose-built, fully serviced facility providing incubation and commercial space dedicated to the growth of young knowledge-based companies.

Many of the micro-enterprises and SMEs based in Xcelerate have “graduated” from New Frontiers. Programme participants can meet and learn from more experienced entrepreneurs (tenant companies) on an informal basis in the Café and increase their networks through these new connections as well as through New Frontiers alumni who regularly come in to share their startup experiences with participants.

We offer New Frontiers participants practical, interactive workshops, personalised mentorship, and free co-working space in Xcelerate. As the New Frontiers Programme Manager, I leverage my international business knowledge and years of experience working with early-stage businesses to help promoters navigate the challenges of planning and launching an innovative high-potential startup business.

In addition to being their mentor, I see myself acting as a regional knowledge broker – connecting New Frontiers participants with other appropriate entrepreneurship supports in the eco-system. This could be from the various research groups at SETU in Waterford and Carlow, the regional investment community, successful former New Frontiers participants (who remain in contact with us), and even SETU students who may become prospective employees. I work closely with Enterprise Ireland, southeast Local Enterprise Offices, the Southeast BIC, Leader Partnership groups, and the Southeast Development Office.

I have worked very closely with the New Frontiers team in Carlow since 2011. We support each other’s programmes, meet and advise each-other’s participants on our programmes across all SETU campuses, and arrange meet-ups for our respective participants. The commencement dates for our programmes in Waterford and Carlow are staggered in a manner that gives prospective entrepreneurs multiple opportunities to join New Frontiers across the southeast region.

A key feature of New Frontiers is that it is delivered by the technological universities and the institutes of technology. This proximity to knowledge providers has benefited countless startups on New Frontiers. Tell us more about the academic, research, and innovation side of your programme.

New Frontiers participants have access to the SETU School of Business in Waterford (which has managed the New Frontiers programme since 2011 and other start-up programmes since 1999). New Frontiers participant companies regularly take talented SETU Waterford students on work placements. I facilitate invitations for New Frontiers alumni to share their real-life business experiences with both under-graduate and post-graduate classes. In addition, Masters students have worked in teams on live enterprise challenges faced by New Frontiers businesses. Depending on the stage of product development, participants may benefit from introductions to SETU research centres.

SETU has been recognised as an outstanding performer nationally and internationally by Knowledge Transfer Ireland, securing multiple awards. This puts SETU in a unique position to offer research-based expertise to regionally based businesses via its three Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateways: Walton Institute, SEAM, and PMBRC.

Walton Institute is an internationally recognised centre of excellence for ICT research and innovation. It has a proven track record translating world-class research into market-ready products and services and has established an ecosystem of mobile service companies.
Pharmaceutical & Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC) is an award-winning research centre that conducts multidisciplinary research across three schools of SETU (Science & Computing, Health Sciences, and Engineering) in areas such as drug delivery, pharmaceutical characterisation, molecular biology, sensor technologies, and biomedical science.
South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre (SEAM) is an industry focused applied research centre, providing innovative materials engineering solutions for companies from a wide range of sectors, including bio-medical devices, pharmaceuticals, micro-electronics, precision engineering, and industrial technologies

In addition, the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (NRCI) is a multi-disciplinary research group within SETU that studies the role of nutrition and lifestyle for human wellbeing. The NRCI enables scientists to conduct research across a diverse range of human health-related disciplines including biotechnology, eye health, cognition, biochemistry, cancer, and mental health.

RIKON is a hybrid centre of innovation in business technology management, based in the School of Business at SETU Waterford. RIKON’s BizTech strategists specialise in solving business problems and creating commercial opportunities through pioneering research advancements across business strategy, innovation, design, operational excellence, and technology optimisation.

What does the future of Waterford’s New Frontiers programme look like?

In 2021, SETU secured €3 million in funding from Enterprise Ireland to deliver New Frontiers on its two main campuses of Waterford and Carlow. This funding will support emerging technologies such as fintech, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and smart agriculture. In collaboration with SETU Carlow, SETU Waterford will work with over 400 early-stage entrepreneurs over the 2021-2026 funding period. This includes 95 high-potential entrepreneurs who are eligible to receive the tax-free stipend of €15,000* that is given to each participant on Phase 2 of the New Frontiers Phase 2 programme.

*Past funding may affect your participation on New Frontiers/eligibility to receive the stipend, see more in our FAQs.

I highlighted some of your alumni at the top of this interview. The Waterford programme has been very successful over the years, how would you sum up the impact you’ve had on recent participants?

We had 48 Phase 2 participants between 2016 and 2020. Collectively, these promoters secured follow-on funding of €19.8 million, which is 13.2 times the cost of running the programme.

We survey participants about their achievements. For the period 2016-2020, they have reported:

88 jobs created
€4.1 million in sales achieved, of which €1.2 million were export sales
22 (46%) Phase 2 participants received Local Enterprise Office funding
9 (19%) Phase 2 participants received Completive Start Funding (CSF)
3 (6%) Phase 2 participants joined the southeast accelerator, NDRC @ ArcLabs
3 (6%) Phase 2 participants received Enterprise Ireland High Potential Startup (HPSU) funding (approximately €450,000) plus private investment of €2.3 million

Some particularly successful companies are Engage XR, which raised €6.7 million through listings on Dublin’s Enterprise Securities Market (ESM) and the AIM in London with an implied a valuation of around €21.6 million, and OmniSpirant, which received €9.4 million in the Disruptive Technologies Fund 2020.

There was also the WIT spin-out, OcuDel, which came onto New Frontiers Phase 2 and later secured €560,000 in collaboration with WIT for the Enterprise Ireland Commercalisaton Fund for a human health study. Four companies have secured private investment matched by Enterprise Ireland’s HPSU division: MotoKlik – led by Jens Kopke, PlantQuest – led by Ger Carton, Tailr – led by Shana Chu, and Flexiwage – led by Anthony Cronin.

(For more evidence that Waterford punches above its entrepreneurial weight, check out pages 10 and 11 of this edition of Waterford Chamber’s Network, Issue 20, Q3 2022. Five of the six businesses featured completed New Frontiers at SETU and the sixth is a tenant of Xcelerate.)

Finally, tell us a bit more about Waterford and the southeast region. Why do you think it’s so attractive for startup entrepreneurs?

The southeast region is experiencing significant change. The Waterford catchment area is the largest regional population in Ireland, and we’re seeing rapid population growth (doubling by 2040). In the city or in the countryside, quality of life is high with short commute times, affordable homes, cultural events, and proximity to breath-taking mountains and beautiful clean beaches.

Economically, we’re diversifying in response to national, European (post-Brexit), and global environments, as well as a changing demographic profile. There’s a strong presence of knowledge-based industry such as advanced manufacturing, biopharma, fintech, ICT, tourism, and agtech.

Waterford is a fantastic base for any business. Come for the natural amenities, stay for the connected and walkable city, the world-leading tourist attractions, and the internationally recognised research and innovation capabilities.

Waterford is currently recruiting for its next intake of Phase 2 promoters (deadline 17th November!). If you’re not ready to apply now, our provisional 2023 calendar will be available soon and you can register your interest (for any programme) in the meantime.

: Enterprise Ireland National Programme Manager Paula Carroll with Eugene Crehan

: 2020-2021 winners

: Awards day!

: Group shot outside Xcelerate

: 2022 winners with Eugene Crehan and Paula Carroll

: SETU Arena

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Use These Easy Time Management Skills To Help Run Your Startup!

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 if business success is the goal. Between the various projects, campaigns, meetings, and errands that need to be started, managed and completed on any given day, time management is a crucial skill to have in your repertoire.

“Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose.” Thomas Edison

To help you to harness the power of time, we’ve drawn up a list of our favourite time management tips. In the spirit of cherishing every momentous second, the whole blog should only take you 3-4 minutes to read!

How do entrepreneurs manage time?

1) Don’t just create a to-do list – prioritise!

With a plethora of tasks that need doing at any given moment, the humble to-do list is a fantastic tool for helping you focus on precisely what needs to be tackled TODAY. It stops you feeling overwhelmed or worrying that you’ll forget something important. Lots of people say the simple act of seeing a task written down stops it from intruding on their thoughts.

There is only so much that can be done in the waking hours, so creating a to-do list is an effective act of prioritisation. But we suggest you further prioritise by numbering your to-do list in order of importance. This follows on from Mark Twain and Brian Tracy’s advice to eat the frog, which we discussed in our blog, 5 powerful habits of successful business leaders. By starting your day with the task that will result in the most positive impact on your business, you can dramatically boost your productivity in a short space of time.

2) Just-in-time learning

To stay ahead of the competition and stay relevant to their market, great entrepreneurs are constantly learning. But learning takes time, and a lot of it. How do you continue to learn without desperately trying to squirrel away non-existent “spare” hours? Just-in-time learning is the answer! The theory underpinning this learning methodology is that most of the education we receive is “just-in-case learning” – i.e. we might use that skill at some point in the future. But just-in-time learning says that you should only learn so that you can do something that will pay immediate dividends. The extra bonus with this approach is you actually speed up the learning process because you get to practice your new skills straight away.

3) Actively track your time on tasks

The funny thing about time is that although we have clocks to measure it, our own perception of time is an ever shifting and fluctuating phenomena. A good example of this in action is the flow state, popularised by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, which describes how when you are so immersed in an action time seems to go by very quickly. However, more often than not we lose track of time not because we are experiencing the positive, holistic experience of flow but because we are so busy! When you have your numbered to-do list to be getting through, this can become a bit of a problem.

A great way to combat this is to use a time tracking tool. Luckily, there is an endless supply of great apps out there that will track your time for you so there is no excuse not to master the hours and set time restrictions for each task. If you already use a productivity tool to manage your workload, there may be a built-in time tracker, which is even better.

4) Delegate or outsource

Time management is only truly effective if the work you are doing is required by you. To really make the most of your day, it’s essential to restrict your attention to certain types of tasks and not just anything that happens to pass by your desk. If you find you’re always doing a bit of everything, then the solution is to either be stricter about delegation or to outsource certain functions entirely. In fact, lots of business people will tell you to outsource anything that isn’t a core function or skill of the business.

This is often easier said than done for entrepreneurs who are used to doing everything themselves or are still bootstrapping. But true business growth is impossible without relinquishing that steadfast grip for perfectionism and letting other people pick up the slack.

5) Batch related tasks

This clever tactic may seem too simple to work, but we know that if you put it into practice properly, you will see a massive increase in your productivity! Task batching is all about organising your day by grouping similar tasks together and completing them all in one powerhouse session. As an example, instead of looking at your emails every time your email programme dings, tackle them in one go and then close your email programme down until your next authorised email window. Take it even further by maintaining a calendar and blocking off the time that will be needed for these batch jobs, so that meetings and other ad hoc activities don’t take away your focus.

It makes sense to set boundaries like this, especially now that multitasking has been proven by researchers to be a complete myth. In the Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance, an experiment proved that repeated switching between tasks can reduce productivity by a whopping 40%! So our advice is to stay focused on one batch at a time if you want to get the most out of your work day.

Give yourself time

Although this is a blog about using time and getting more out of time, remember that balance is key to a healthy life – for you and your startup. If you plan to use every second of your work day to its fullest potential, you should also aim to have some time in your day when you can do absolutely nothing. This could be something you do during a lunch or coffee break, or outside of your work hours. Everyone deserves some down-time during which there are no screens or demands or obligations. The amount of time you need will depend on you, but it’s crucial to carve out this space for yourself!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

New Frontiers Phase 1: Start Your Business Off On The Right Foot

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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.

The three stages of a startup

Whether you are just starting out as a first-time founder or are a serial entrepreneur, there’s a chance you may have heard of the three stages of a startup: problem/solution fit, product/market fit and scale. As you begin your entrepreneurial journey, think of New Frontiers Phase 1 as a great resource for helping you navigate towards problem/solution fit. Simply put, think of this as the point you arrive at when you have a potential solution to a market problem – a problem that has been validated with a small group of early customers, also known as ‘early adopters’. If you try skipping the problem/solution fit stage it will soon catch up with you – possibly when you launch your product only to find out that nobody wants it, or is willing to pay for it…

Your journey to problem/solution fit will involve you having to test a number of assumptions about your business model, ensuring that your proposed product is desirable (customers want it), viable (customers are willing to pay for it) and feasible (you can actually build it).

The innovator mindset

So, where do you start? As the founder of your startup, a good place to start is to look inward and ensure you are starting with the right “innovator’s mindsets“. Ash Maurya, the creator of the popular one-page business modelling tool the Lean Canvas and CEO & founder of Leanstack, has created a list of these known as the 10 Continuous Innovation Mindsets. Aptly, first and foremost, mindset number 1 is “Love the Problem, Not Your Solution”.

“Love the Problem, Not Your Solution”

Sometimes, for a founder or innovator, this mindset can be particularly hard to embrace, especially if you have already spent a huge amount of time, money and energy building out your solution without having first done any problem discovery work with potential customers.

Embracing this mindset is critical because it ensures that you are actually solving a market problem – ideally, one that has a large market opportunity and is financially worth solving. There is a reason the word problem appears at the first stage of a startup. After jotting down your business idea on a Lean Canvas, one of your first steps should be to conduct problem discovery interviews with different customer segments in your target market.

Problem discovery interviews are critical for allowing you to gain insights and a deep understanding of the problems and pains that customers are experiencing with their current solutions (i.e. your true competition). Having this knowledge helps to shape the design of your solution and allows the innovator and entrepreneur within you to build something of value, which is 10x better than the way it is currently being done today. Getting traction and paying customers is the ultimate goal of any start-up, and to get there you need to ensure you are building something that customers want and are willing to pay for.

Phase 1 of New Frontiers is a fantastic opportunity for you to test your idea in a safe environment surrounded by like-minded entrepreneurs. This short phase is not just about attending workshops and subsequently making a Phase 2 application, it is all about applying the knowledge and advice you are being exposed to and using it to help you validate your idea with the market, allowing you to move towards a go or no-go decision about your idea.

Getting the most from Phase 1

With everything you’ve just read in mind, here are my 10 tips for your New Frontiers Phase 1 journey:

Dream big but start small. Balance your long-term ambition with the now. Big dreams start with small actions – commit 100% to completing the necessary market validation work.
Fully engage with the Phase 1 programme and resources offered. Facilitators and programme managers are there to support you. Asking questions is free.
Set aside time weekly for the validation work described above, which may require you to put in additional hours in the evenings and the weekends. This is when focusing your energy on what matters most becomes critical.
If you don’t already, try getting into the habit of setting small goals and staying accountable to them. Start acting in order of priority. It is very easy to get distracted into further building out your solution, but if you haven’t conducted enough customer problem discovery interviews you need to re-focus. Learn to say no to other distractions.
Drop your need for perfection. Idea validation is a time for exploration and curiosity. Be curious, agile and adaptive. Ask big questions.
Use the insights, evidence and feedback that you are getting from the market to adapt, pivot or reshape your thinking about your business model and possible solution.
If you do not come from a business or commercial background, don’t fret. Accept that learning is all part of the New Frontiers entrepreneur development process.
Starting a new business can be stressful and lonely so ensure you seek the support of family members or friends. If you are lucky to have a co-founder, team members or advisors be sure to get them on board and involved.
Understand the criteria and expectations of a New Frontiers Phase 2 application.
If at the end of Phase 1, you decide your idea is a no-go but you are still passionate about start-ups, you can always apply the knowledge and skills you have learned elsewhere. The transferable skills will be valuable for other business opportunities, or you could join another Irish startup (they are always looking for co-founders!)

Going beyond Phase 1

If, by the end of Phase 1, you have uncovered a problem worth solving and are starting to see early signs of traction, a natural next step in progression would be to continue your New Frontiers journey by applying for Phase 2. Phase 2 is a competitive process, so the more you have validated and de-risked your business model and assumptions in Phase 1, the better equipped you are for making a good Phase 2 application (there are other selection criteria for Phase 2 and you will receive further guidance on this during Phase 1). It may be the case that you may have a limited window between the completion of Phase 1 and submitting an application for Phase 2, so you need to be fully engaged and committed to the Phase 1 validation process. Use your time wisely – invest it, don’t spend it!

Securing a place on New Frontiers Phase 2 will open up a host of invaluable supports for your startup. For example, the financial support of a €15,000 tax-free stipend, expert-led workshops, personalised mentorship, access to Institute/University facilities, investor pitching panels, widening of your commercial networks and – critically – being on a programme funded by Enterprise Ireland (ranked first globally by PitchBook in terms of venture capital funding deal counts). New Frontiers really can create new beginnings and new opportunities for your startup.

Next Steps

If you have a potentially innovative idea lurking in your head, take the first step today by finding your nearest incubation centre and registering your interest in their next New Frontiers programme. Don’t let your ideas go to waste. 2022 could be your year. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Best of luck!

About the author

Martina Goss

Martina Goss was previously the New Frontiers Programme Manager at Dundalk Institute of Technology (Regional Development Centre) and Dublin City University (DCU Invent). She is a certified lean startup coach with Ash Maurya (creator of the popular one-page business modelling tool Lean Canvas) and coaches on his 90 Day Start-Up programme.

Martina is a qualified chartered accountant, having spent 20+ years working with business owners across a wide range of industries. She runs her own startup training, coaching and consulting business offering supports in the areas of Lean Canvas, customer discovery interviews, financial modelling and finances for startups.

She is a practising member with The One Thing – the company behind the Wall Street Journal’s best-selling business book of the same name. The One Thing focuses on the surprisingly simple truth behind achieving extraordinary results.

Alumni Profiles: Tipping Point In A Search For The Dream

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 that I was working on all at different stages.”

A friend from New Zealand was keen for Darragh to hear about a new invention his father-in-law, Andy DePetra, was working on. A born inventor, Andy was known to work on five or six things at a time. Darragh was halfway through his MBA, but this latest invention caught his attention.

Having been diagnosed with arthritis a few years before, Andy was inventing a kettle “that not only looked good but one that would ease the struggle and still enable him to maintain his independence.”

The early stages of creating a prototype for the Uccello Kettle began. It involved a month-long stay in China to find a suitable supplier for one part of the kettle. Other parts and raw materials were sourced in Germany and the UK. They also had to adhere to different regulations in each market.

“We had to get it from idea to prototype,” says Darragh. It was a steep learning curve, “because, when we did this, we were pretty new to it.”

The Uccello Kettle – a unique tipping kettle that moves around the body of water so you don’t have to lift or balance it – helps people with impaired mobility reclaim their independence. It was initially stocked in Australian shops by partnering with distributors with strong retail expertise and large national networks.

“It needs to be something that, if you win the lottery tomorrow, you would continue to be engaged with it.”

But it was a letter from one of the kettle’s early users, indicating how much the kettle had impacted her life, that changed everything for Darragh. The project, one of many at the time, became his main dream.

“I began to think that maybe this is the thing I was looking for. The kind of food for the soul I was seeking, something I can actually make an impact with. So, I started to dive into the whole industry of disability.”

Darragh put everything into Uccello Designs and, after much research, decided to launch in Europe. He moved back home to Ireland with his family. However, having spent so many years away, with few connections in Ireland or Europe, he felt he was starting from scratch.

“We knew what we were talking about when it came to the product. We knew the product inside out, but everything else had to be developed,” says Darragh. He sought out help and discovered Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme.

“We hadn’t established a real persona for the customer; the brand and future products had to be worked on. With the New Frontiers programme, we started to think about how we can build a relationship with our customers.”

The programme also helped him launch Uccello Designs in new markets. For Darragh, the guest speakers were game-changing. “We had speakers every second week. They were high calibre,” he says. One of those speakers is now the company’s CFO and they also work with a marketing expert introduced to Darragh on the programme.

Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme gave Darragh a sense of validation, opened up networking circles in Europe, and accelerated the growth of the business.

Last year, the turnover for Uccello Designs was over €1 million. They are continuing to expand the team in Ireland and across other markets in Europe, the USA, and Asia. Plans are also underway to manufacture a product range in Ireland.

The self-proclaimed introvert is now living his dream. For other potential entrepreneurs, he suggests going for it. “It needs to be something that, if you win the lottery tomorrow, you would continue to be engaged with it.”

See the kettle on the Uccello website.

Start Up In Kerry! Emily Reen Tells Us Why Tralee Is Such A Great Location

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

Find out why Kerry is a great location for startups and what the Tom Crean Business Centre offers to New Frontiers participants!

Sep 21

Turn Dreaming Into Doing! Updates From The New Frontiers Programme

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 for New Frontiers as we emerge from this latest lockdown.

Scarlet: I know you put a lot of work earlier this year into conceiving the national marketing campaign that people may have already come across. There have been ads on media sites and social media, plus some interesting articles in the newspapers. Can you tell us a bit more about the campaign?

Paula: Enterprise Ireland hasn’t undertaken a national marketing campaign for New Frontiers in the past number of years, which meant that awareness of the programme spread more as a result of word of mouth, recommendations from the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), referrals from alumni, local campaigns conducted by the Institutes of Technology or universities, and of course via this site which acts as a kind of central hub.

We decided that it was time to raise awareness at a national level, and so with the Enterprise Ireland marketing team, we implemented a national marketing campaign to achieve this. We settled on a campaign theme, which focuses on ‘turning dreaming into doing’, as we felt this really encapsulates what New Frontiers is all about.

We want to encourage people who have had that little voice at the back of their heads for a while to take the leap to entrepreneurship through the programme. So, we’ve featured some great case studies in our campaign (you can read these here on our blog, they feature Ivan Tuohy, Derya Sousa, and Conor Grimes) and used ads on media websites, social media, and the radio to spread the word. We really wanted to highlight the huge impact New Frontiers has had on our alumni.

If you’re a potential entrepreneur, or even a business advisor or investor, we encourage you to look into New Frontiers if you’ve never heard of us before. It’s a well-established programme run by passionate, expert programme managers and located in the country’s best incubation centres. It’s not just a door to Enterprise Ireland or Local Enterprise Office funding; the facilities, networking, access to expertise, and third-level research capability make it unique in Ireland and even abroad.

Scarlet: For those who don’t know much about New Frontiers, we have lots of practical information right here on the site. But could you tell us a bit more about the background of the programme? Any insider knowledge we should know about?

Paula: People sometimes assume that New Frontiers is a new programme. In fact, it dates back to the late 1990s, when it was known as the Enterprise Platform Programme (EPP). Enterprise Ireland took over the programme in 2012 (it was previously run by the Institutes of Technology). Since that time it has become a really important part of Enterprise Ireland’s regional strategy. New Frontiers runs in 18 locations around the country, so it is a key part of our national approach to encouraging entrepreneurship. Today, 59% of participants are outside of the Dublin area, so there is a real geographic spread.

Since 2012, over 4,000 people have been through Phase 1 of the programme and around 1,500 participants have completed Phase 2 (the full-time phase lasting six months). 32% of alumni are women and 68% are men. We really encourage women to apply, because we believe this should be an even split. The stipend paid during Phase 2 should ensure there isn’t a barrier to any particular group being able to commit to a full-time programme.

We carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the programme, which was published last year. Some interesting statistics that came out of that were:

25% of alumni go on to receive additional Enterprise Ireland support
There is an 83% survival rate for New Frontiers companies
We identified an attributable turnover of €302 million for New Frontiers companies (2012-2019)
Alumni give us a net promoter score of 86

Scarlet: I know that the content and delivery of the programme is very important to you. Can you tell us a bit more about that, and what changes might be coming?

Paula: It’s really important that the programme stays relevant for participants. We review it constantly and we’re always ready to improve or change things as necessary. Last year, when the first lockdown kicked in, we had to adapt very quickly to ensure that people in the middle of a programme were not adversely affected.

New Frontiers went from 100% in-person to fully online overnight. That was a huge challenge, and it is a testament to our programme managers and their teams that this transition happened with minimal disruption. No one was ready for a national lockdown, but everyone, including the institutes and technological universities that deliver the programme locally, has been amazing.

There were, of course, trade-offs in going online. A big benefit of New Frontiers that alumni often mention to us is the opportunity to network and share insights with other participants. That’s a hard thing to fully replicate via Zoom or Teams. On the other hand, we realised that some of the material from the programme is just as effective when delivered virtually. If a workshop, for instance, is held online, this can help a participant save on travel time and costs while getting just as much value from the education as if they were in the room.

I can see that in the future we will offer a bit more flexibility in how the programme is provided. This means that participants in remote rural areas might be more inclined to apply because they won’t have to travel in every single day. It also means that participants will have access to the full list of mentors from the EI Mentor Network, regardless of where the participant or mentor is physically based. This will be of huge benefit, particularly if niche expertise is requested.

So, post-Covid, I think we’ll see Phase 1 happening mostly online and Phase 2 taking a blended approach – most likely 80% in-person and 20% online. The in-person interactions are so important to entrepreneurs that we will make sure they stay. The support, advice, encouragement, and even friendly (?!) rivalry that occurs within any cohort is an enriching feature of the programme.

Scarlet: That’s so true, lots of our blogs by alumni mention how important the interpersonal relationships were to them. What other changes are we likely to see coming to the programme in the coming months and years?

Paula: We recently secured a new tranche of funding for the programme so that it can run for another five years. But we also managed to secure funding to implement a funded Phase 3 for the programme, having successfully trialled this previously. This means that each year there will be 30 – 34 funded places on Phase 3, which will be distributed across the programme geographically.

These spots will be for the startups that have the potential to become Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Ups (HPSUs). Our HPSU Unit will work closely with these entrepreneurs with a view to fast-tracking them to HPSU status. It’s a great opportunity.

Enterprise Ireland has a platform called EI Learn, which is made available to Enterprise Ireland clients. In the future, we’ll be making more use of this system by giving New Frontiers participants access to the large volumes of learning content that is available on it, with our own area where they can also interact with each other.

We know that there are some sectoral or knowledge niches where entrepreneurs need extra support and we’re looking at creating specific content to meet these needs, potentially bringing in expertise from abroad. This of course wouldn’t be feasible for face-to-face situations, but thanks to the EI Learn digital platform it’s now a real possibility.

New Frontiers is heading into its second decade with a great track record and an amazing team of experts ready to help the next generation of entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality. If you think New Frontiers might be for you, check out the eligibility criteria and then register your interest at your preferred location. Intakes for each location’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 happen at different dates throughout the year, but you can keep an eye on deadlines for applications over on our calendar page.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Alumni profiles: An epic journey towards the dream

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 from it. And basically, she started getting great results.”

Having watched how the locals ground the roots into powder, they returned home with some basic ingredients. However, it was while trying to get the spices into their grandmother’s diet that the early stages of their product, Spoonful Botanical, began to unfold.

An avid foodie and Louth footballer, Conor was always interested in nutrition. Growing up, his parents ran a food business. “It was very organic at the start. We were giving it to her in jam jars and a few of our friends started taking the product,” he says.

They developed their own fermentation process which saw them mixing and blending the roots of the ingredients and then fermenting the spices with golden raisins. The result was a chutney-like consistency, something Conor’s granny could easily work into her diet. “And it started to slowly escalate from there, we got to the stage where we had 100 people tasting the product on a regular basis,” he says.

As business graduates, the couple were perhaps destined for life as entrepreneurs. “We always wanted to have our own setup but we never really knew if it was achievable. Jayne was working in a marketing company in Dublin, we weren’t 100% sure if it was going to take off,” Conor says. It was an approach to Enterprise Ireland and their acceptance into Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme that saw things quickly gaining momentum.

“It’s not easy to get the product to the stage where you’re presenting to retailers. But with the help of New Frontiers and that kind of environment, it makes it a lot easier…”

“The hardest part was building up that confidence. With New Frontiers, you are surrounded by people who are in similar situations,” Conor says. For him, the practical nature of the course was instrumental. “It’s not easy to get the product to the stage where you’re presenting to retailers. But with the help of New Frontiers and that kind of environment, it makes it a lot easier, even just contacts around packaging, labelling, all that kind of stuff, those contacts were given to us.”

As a team player, Conor enjoyed being surrounded by other entrepreneurs. “You’re in that kind of environment where everyone wants to help each other but everyone also wants to be the best,” he says. When they completed Phase 2 of the programme, Conor and Jayne felt their product was market-ready and decided to go for it. They now have a team of 12 and are stocked in over 300 independent health food stores and pharmacies.

A food-based product, Spoonful Botanical has become popular amongst some sports stars. “There’s a lot of sports players that take it. To have it in their diets every day, just to have it for recovery after a training session, recovering from an injury, all that kind of stuff,” says Conor.

He believes the contacts and connections made while on the programme made a huge difference. Some of the mentors they met still work with them today and they continue to use a review section on their site that one of the participants created for them while on the programme. The €15,000 stipend also allowed them to fully invest their time in the product.

Overall, Conor believes the programme gave them the opportunity to make the dream a reality. “You’re fully focused and geared up to present your product and put your best foot forward.”

To read more about Spoonful Botanical, visit their website.

Alumni profiles: Breaking the code, building the dream

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 2007 and worked as IT consultants. Every evening, they went home and talked about what they were working on. They realised it was similar projects for similar companies, developing the same types of system over and over again from scratch. Wanting to simplify things for businesses and create a ‘no-code environment’, they came up with a new type of process automation software that would build custom workflows using a drag and drop interface.

“Less than five years ago, we had the idea and thought it was the right time for us to start,” Derya says. “The biggest risk was quitting our jobs and in terms of income, how were we going to manage? We had some of our own savings, but of course, that wasn’t enough.”

She was also on maternity leave with their second child, who was just four months old at the time. But they felt it was now or never. “We said, if we don’t do this now, we won’t do it again,” Derya says. “We have to try. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. We’d have to accept it. But we had to try. So we bit the bullet.”

The couple quit their day jobs and spent the first year working from their living room, building their platform while taking on some freelance work to help with living expenses. It was when they were completing the product build and seeking office space that the New Frontiers programme was suggested to them by the team at the LINC centre at TU Dublin – Blanchardstown.

“We have to try. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. We’d have to accept it. But we had to try. So we bit the bullet.”

“There were so many unknowns, so many things we weren’t aware of, it opened up so many opportunities for us,” Derya says. “Seeing other like-minded entrepreneurs, what stage they were at, seeing their journeys. Some of them were similar to me, some of them were just starting, and wanted to validate their idea.”

Derya found the programme very practical, “in terms of financial modelling and in terms of marketing, fundraising, networking, and hearing from the mentors.” It also helped navigate the Irish start-up ecosystem and to find out what support was available during and after the programme while receiving a €15,000 stipend.

“The mentors we had were really good. Lots of them were really insightful. It was all really practical. Real-life issues were covered. The pitching sessions were really good. Nerve-wracking but good.” She adds that she pitches “all the time” now.

It also helped build her confidence. “When we were both starting we heard some negative thoughts from other people. It really helped to build my confidence in terms of my own skills in running a business,” she says. Kianda Technologies was launched in November 2017. The company is growing quickly and has recently experienced a 40% increase in its customer base. The aim is to triple the team by the end of 2021.

Having taken the leap, Derya would encourage others to follow their dream. “It’s worth it, so worth it. If you think it’s the right time and it’s the right idea. People might say no, be prepared for it. But don’t let it stop you. Get the support that’s available, having people who have gone through a similar journey helps a lot.”

To learn more about Derya’s company, visit kianda.com

Alumni profiles: Unlock your potential, back your dream

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 traditional tools like audio guides, maps, leaflets, in-person tour guides and stand-alone signage to engage their visitors; even in the biggest tourist attractions in the world. The tools were outdated. It was the cause of much frustration for Ivan and there was no obvious fix.

For international visitors, there was also a language barrier, with about 20% of visitors unable to understand audio guides or maps. “We had limited communication with the visitor, pre-arrival, onsite and after arrival,” Ivan says. “We didn’t have any tools in place from a digital point of view to capture that data. There was no real-time commercial information to drive onsite business.”

Ivan began to look for a digital solution that would immerse the customer in the visitor experience at every touchpoint, from start to finish and beyond. It didn’t exist. He was told he could source an augmented reality app but no app could integrate all their existing assets into one place. He thought, “No way, it needs to be bigger than that. We needed to build an ecosystem with just one omnichannel where attractions, museums and activities could all live together.”

“The New Frontiers programme was a fantastic first step. It really allowed me the time to focus on the idea, and to build some structure around it.”

The tentative steps towards developing Great Visitor Experiences, an interactive app that enables operators to engage with visitors, source data, tell stories and sell more, were underway. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Ivan felt that he had the relevant skills to make it as an entrepreneur. But there were fears.

“The first big problem was not believing in myself, in my own ability. And the other real problem was quitting the job and not having a salary,” he says. “It was a case of, I might have a good idea but how am I actually going to commercialise it and bring this to reality? I might take a chance on myself, but can I really do it?”

Ivan sought support and applied to New Frontiers. Once accepted, it all became very real. The programme put him on the path towards backing himself and his dream.

“The New Frontiers programme was a fantastic first step. It really allowed me the time to focus on the idea, and to build some structure around it.” It also brought out Ivan’s competitive spirit. “You’re in the room with 12-15 people, all with very good ideas and all coming from a problem from different angles. That support, that peer-to-peer network is great. But you’re dealing with people who want to succeed. It’s fairly competitive. It was a case of, I want to help people, but I also want to do well myself.” As for the mentors, “They really challenge you. They challenge you in a way you wouldn’t challenge yourself.”

Since launching in 2018, Great Visitor Experiences has scooped major innovation awards. The company works with leading attractions across Ireland and recently launched an All-Ireland Destination Guide. The team is working closely with operators to help them get access to the platform with the choice of a subscription or ticketing partnership model as they navigate COVID restrictions.

For anyone thinking of taking the leap and following their dream, Ivan has some advice; “Don’t be afraid.” He adds, “No one is going to back you until you back yourself. So if you can back yourself, and be open to listening to people, go for it.”

Want to learn more about Great Visitor Experiences? Visit their website.

Have you made any of these common startup mistakes?

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 running the business itself.

Not having a proper partnership agreement

When times are good and you’re enjoying some success, the thought of drawing up a proper partnership agreement can seem unnecessary. However, growing a business is rarely straightforward. There will be bumps in the road. There will be turmoil. There will be disagreements. None of these detours should deter you from your overall goal too much, but if you have failed to draw up proper contracts with your partner(s) it could be easy to make a mountain out of a molehill.

It is vital to get a partnership contract in writing. Remember, this is not only about protecting yourself but also your partner(s) and the families dependent on the income from your startup. This contract should cover essential information such as the division of ownership, the duties of each partner, the duration of the partnership, what happens in the case of disability or death, how a partner can buy their share and how a partner can be terminated.

Waiting too long to get the next round of funding

Securing your first round of funding is a reason to celebrate. But don’t spend all that money at once! When you see that row of zeros sitting contentedly in your account, it can be tempting to pull out all the stops and get the best of everything: best office, best location, best candidates, best gadgets, and best website! Not only would we suggest not blowing your seed fund, but we’d also recommend you get going on organising the next round of funding at soon as possible.

Securing funding always takes longer than you expect, even though you have now established yourself in the startup space. The worry is that investors who are interested in later-stage funding will be more risk-averse and expect to see more results before they part with their money. This can make attracting the right investor trickier than you might expect. Therefore, the best thing you can do is give yourself as much breathing space as possible and start working on the next stage of funding long before your money has a chance to run out.

Recruiting for technical skills and not soft skills

Having a limited budget will influence the decisions you make in all kinds of areas. Given that salary is one of the biggest costs for any company, it makes sense for a business owner to be judicious in who they recruit. You know what you bring to the table, which makes it easy to see what your startup needs to move forward. Therefore, hiring based on technical skills alone can seem like the wise choice in this early stage.

However, those first hires are going to be instrumental in what kind of company your startup becomes. They will influence the culture, the processes and client relationships. That’s why at this stage it can be a mistake to hire the moody artist or the aloof genius! Look for technical skills but also make sure to hire someone who has those crucial soft skills, such as being conscientious, communicative and trustworthy. It will serve you better in the long run.

Forgetting to delegate (or worse, micromanaging!)

Entrepreneurs wear many hats. They are the doers. The makers. The movers and shakers, as poet Arthur O’Shaunessy called them. The problem with all this doing and making is that entrepreneurs often don’t know when to stop. When you know how everything is done and expect a certain standard, it can be hard to share responsibilities. But if you’ve decided to expand your startup and are in the process of building your team, it would be wise to take some time to reevaluate your role in the company.

Your startup won’t grow if you continue to control everything. Trying to complete every task on your own will not only burn you out but will also stop your team from growing. There will be a trial-and-error period in the beginning so it’s OK to keep the training wheels on for a little while, but eventually you will have to give your team the space to shine. If you’re struggling to get to grips with this new phase of your startup, a great way to gain some clarity is to pull out a pen and paper and create a whole new role for yourself with a specific list of responsibilities.

What mistakes have you made as an entrepreneur? Perhaps you nearly made a big mistake but caught it just in time? We’re always keen to share the insights of our startup entrepreneurs, so if you are a past or present New Frontiers participant and would like to share your story, let us know!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Project One Sky: Developing Wellbeing Education For Young Adults

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 their own physical and mental health in the context of a rapidly changing social, cultural, and technological world, as well as to affect society in a positive manner by focussing on the ethical components of wellbeing.

How did your own background shape the business?

I always say this company was 20 years in the making as I had mental health issues myself as a young adult. Academically, I had always done extremely well. Until I didn’t. The result of this was I ended up dropping out of university. When I returned to education some time later, I had already decided that I wanted something more from the experience than just a job. I was studying physics at university and started travelling a lot, becoming very interested in philosophy, yoga, and spirituality. I went on to obtain my PhD in Experimental Physics, then became a post-doctoral fellow and researcher. However, I didn’t want a career as a scientist, so I became a physics and science teacher in a secondary school.

How did the idea for Project One Sky come about?

I saw that wellbeing was starting to be introduced to curriculums globally. It was superseding subjects such as SPHE, CSPE, PE, and religious education here in Ireland. I saw there was an opportunity to teach all the things I had been learning about mindfulness, personal development, resilience, and healthy choices. Essentially, I felt we could better prepare students – socially and emotionally – for life in the digital age. This is what prompted me to start teaching wellbeing at the school where I worked, and the idea of Project One Sky grew from there.

What was the early stage of the business like?

I got onto Phase 1 of New Frontiers at TU Dublin – Blanchardstown Campus in 2018, but I didn’t manage to secure a place on Phase 2 when I applied. As a result, I took a year to focus on developing my business idea. Working with two schools in particular, I developed my MVP and then re-applied for the programme, at which point I got on. Phase 2 was very intensive and a lot of hard work, but I was absolutely ready for it by that point. I was starting to build my client base when the pandemic hit, which obviously affected the company significantly. I had to pivot how the business worked and how we delivered our programmes. But going online actually allowed us to scale much faster, so I was able to increase our customer base by 500%.

I had never built a website before, so that was a learning curve for me. I managed to bootstrap the website and video editing until I could get help with it. I developed a network of experts (sleep experts, nutritionists, etc.) around the country, who could deliver the video content we needed to make the courses engaging. This is how we developed the digital workshops that were ready to be delivered in the classroom, facilitated by a teacher who can organise the time and help to lead in-class discussions.

What is covered in the programme?

I wanted to go into a wide range of topics that might be relevant for young people. I didn’t just want to cover ‘easy’ topics but get into deeper, more philosophical or challenging themes as well. There are 10 modules in total:

Sleep
Nutrition
Breathwork
Meditation
The natural world
Truth telling
Ethical smartphone use
Resilience
Connection
Positive habit forming

Everything is delivered over an online learning management platform to make it easy for the school to fit it into their timetable. There are no logistical issues, they have access to the materials for the whole year and it’s up to them when and how they use it. Our experts present their topics by video and there are additional materials to help the teachers lead class discussions and project work. We’ve also used gamification tactics to make sure that students will stay engaged.

What’s next for Project One Sky?

I’ve started to grow my team, which has been challenging in the pandemic. Right now, I’m focusing on talking to potential customers about signing up for the 2021-22 academic year as this has to be finalised before the schools break for the summer.

We’ve had excellent feedback from the schools currently running our programmes, and from students themselves. We will continue to roll out into Irish schools – both at junior cert and leaving cert level. After that, a next step for us will be getting into the UK market. Wellbeing isn’t as integrated into the curriculum over there, but it seems that schools are very receptive to this type of approach.

And finally, what key piece of advice would you give to other entrepreneurs starting out?

Over the past year, there were times when my own and my company’s capabilities were stretched to their limits. What helped me through those times was knowing that my project could make a real difference to people’s lives. My advice to others would be: don’t be an entrepreneur for the sake of it; rather, choose to do something that’s bigger than you. And, of course, look after your wellbeing!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

The 7 Deadly Sins Of Bad Elevator Pitches

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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. Yes, they need the hard facts but never forget that when you pitch, you are essentially marketing your business idea and the best marketing succeeds because it tells a story. Not sure what your business story is? We advise taking a big step back so you can rediscover what makes your particular business different from the competition.

2. You haven’t said what problem your startup is solving

They say everyone has a book in them, and it seems we all have a startup idea as well. However, just like the likelihood of getting your book published is low, so too are the success rates for startups. You’ve probably heard the infamous statistic that 90% of new businesses fail. There are many reasons this occurs, such as bad financial management, insufficient growth, and poor leadership. However, one of the top startup killers is that the product/service did not solve a specific customer problem. We hope for the success of your startup that you have recognised the pain point that your business idea alleviates, and if you have then make sure to mention it in your elevator pitch!

3. You don’t know your numbers

If you ever watched Dragon’s Den, you’ll know that investors love numbers! We’ve already explained how telling a story will stimulate the appropriate emotional response, but now you need to prove how this great idea of yours also works in real-world conditions. If you want an investor to part with their hard-earned cash and take a chance on your business, you will need to reassure them of your financial judgement with some compelling reports. More than anything else, investors want to know how exactly your idea is going to make money – so show them!

4. Your elevator pitch is too fast

Whether due to nerves or because you’re trying to cram as much information into your elevator pitch as possible, speaking too fast can kill a pitch. People can only retain so much information, therefore it’s your job as the pitcher to make it easy for your audience to remember as much of what you say as possible. Forcing people to try and keep up with you is not going to win you any points. If you’re looking for some inspiration, bring to mind the most captivating human voices in film and television; the languid tones of David Attenborough, Morgan Freeman, Joanna Lumley, and Alan Rickman should come to mind!

5. Your business idea is too abstract

Right now, you’re in the trenches with your startup. You’re up close and personal with every aspect of it and your head is chockfull with all the different ways it could go. Perhaps you’re deep into research and development at the minute or maybe you’ve been designing your marketing strategy. Before you approach an investor, it is important to distill all these jumbled thoughts down to what is actually important. At this early stage, they do not need to know every minute detail of your business (hence the term “elevator pitch”). Avoid sounding too abstract and knuckle down to precisely what your business is, who your customers are, and why that particular investor should care.

6. You don’t have a use case

If you really want to stand out from the rabble of entrepreneurs vying for investors’ attention, a great way to do it is by sharing a real-life example of how a customer has already used your product. This ties in well with deadly sin number 2 because it helps you get to the crux of what your business idea is all about – solving a real customer problem. Nothing is as persuasive as showing that real businesses/customers have handed over real money – this gives potential investors confidence in your ability to gain traction. It also is a valuable device to use in your overall business story as well as a perfect opportunity to thread in some impressive numbers to really win them over.

7. You didn’t practice your pitch

You’ve come to the end of another New Frontier’s blog and we are delighted to still have you with us, but in the words of economist E. F. Schumacher, “An ounce of practice is generally worth more than a ton of theory.” Pitching is a learnable skill just like writing or singing, so pitch repeatedly, into the mirror and to your friends, and make tweaks along the way. While you don’t want your pitch to sound over-rehearsed, you do want to be very familiar with it so that when the opportunity knocks you are always ready to answer!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

5 Powerful Habits Of Successful Business Leaders

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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, Jim Carrey wasn’t yet the world-famous comedy actor he is today. Instead, he was a struggling comedian finding it hard to make ends meet. Despite the precariousness of his situation, he wrote himself a cheque worth $10 million for “acting services rendered” and dated it for 10 years into the future. It just so happened that in 1995 he shot to fame in the $247 million dollar movie Dumb and Dumber. This story exemplifies the visualisation techniques recommended by so many business psychologists. The secret to visualisation is the details – Carrey identified success as a specific amount of money being attained at a specific point in time and for a specific skillset. So instead of chasing some vague idea of success, start visualising precisely what success looks like for you.

2. Schedule me-time into your calendar

Organisations of all kinds depend on the performance of people. Therefore, it makes sense that if you are not taking care of yourself, your business will suffer. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done because not only are business owners generally run off their feet, but too often they wear the status of workaholic as a badge of honour. This is an outdated concept that only leads to poor decision making, bad management and ultimately becoming burnt out. How to beat these business blues is to regularly schedule “me-time” into your calendar, as you would any other task. You can spend this time meditating, exercising, indulging in a hobby and/or spending time with family. The only rule is that it cannot be work-related!

3. Set goals for your day

At New Frontiers, we love business plans. After all, how can you get to where you want to go unless you know the way! Short-term and long-term goals are necessary stepping stones to success, but great business leaders take the practice of goal-setting to the next level with daily goals. Trying to achieve success can be a daunting task when it is perceived as a singular overarching target looming in the distance. However, if you construct success as the achieving of daily “wins” that keep you going in the direction of that “mega goal”, then not only are you much more likely to get there but you won’t pull all your hair out along the way!

4. Eat the frog!

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” – Mark Twain

This often-quoted line from Mark Twain only grows in prominence as our world becomes increasingly demanding. There are a hundred and one tasks you could be doing on any given day as a business owner, but how do you decide which one to tackle first? Twain is suggesting to start with the task you want to do the least and many business leaders agree. Brian Tracy, in his book, Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, advocates this time management technique and highlights that it should not only be the least appetising task that you act on first but also the one which will create the biggest positive impact on your life once it is completed.

5. Surround yourself with talented people

Entrepreneurship is often depicted as a lonely road and it can be, but wise entrepreneurs ensure that it isn’t. Success doesn’t happen in a vacuum. By surrounding yourself with the right people, you get access to new perspectives, fresh ideas, different skillsets and alternative opinions. In the fast-paced world of business, developing tunnel vision will dramatically impede your development. But with the right people on your side, you can spot new industry trends on the horizon and become aware of great opportunities that otherwise would have passed you by. Whether they’re peers in your network, people on your team or a business mentor, as long as you are continually having conversations about your industry with talented people, you and your business will continue to grow and develop.

What about you? What habit has kept you both sane and successful? Or what habit do you really want to develop but have been unable to?

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Small business secrets for improving your SEO ranking

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 set yourself a reasonable time limit for each task. With our SEO secrets and a bit of self-discipline, you can dramatically increase traffic to your website. Without further ado, let’s dive in…

3 secrets to boosting your SEO ranking in 2020

1. Stop competing with the big brands on Google

If there are dominant movers and shakers in your industry taking a big chunk of market share, then this will hold true on Google. Our advice is to leave them to it, at least for now. Think, for a moment, of the main keyword(s) you are trying to rank for on Google. If you are in tech it may be “cloud platform”, “fintech” or “IT security”. If your business is beauty, it could be “perfume”, “anti-ageing cream” or “micellar water”. All of these keywords are much too broad and websites that have been around longer and have strong domain authority will beat you for them every time.

That’s why we suggest that you narrow your target and go after more specific search queries. We’re talking about ‘long-tail’ keywords. Long-tail keywords are search queries with at least three words and often considerably more. For example, instead of targeting the short-tail keyword “micellar water” you could go after “micellar water stop breakouts”. Someone who has this phrase in their search query is looking for very specific information and therefore their buying intent is high. The great news is that long-tail keywords are easy to go after! They currently make up 70% of search traffic and this is only set to increase as more people use voice search.

2. Use your location to your advantage

Databox recently asked 53 SEO experts “Which channel(s) should local businesses spend more time on?” and the second highest answer, after a website, was Google My Business. Google My Business, or GMB, is a free service provided by Google for helping customers find your physical location. If people can visit you then it is a must-have. If you’re not that kind of business, we’d advise getting it anyway simply because of the real estate you get in Google search results. When I google “New Frontiers” from a device in Dublin 3, for example, this is what appears:

There are 16 locations delivering the New Frontiers programme, I saw this result because it’s the closest to my location. That great big box on the right hand side is precisely what GMB can do for you. If you want to boost your visibility in Google search, then this is a fantastic way to do it. Not only can you add basic information such as address and phone number, but you can also include a link for online bookings and add things like services and products. It’s a fabulous shop window for your business and completely free! To set up a GMB account, just visit google.com/business and create your business listing. You’ll have to wait a couple of weeks to be sent a verification code (Google works hard to stop abuse of this tool by sending the code to your physical address) but once verified you’ll be ready to also share regular updates such as news, special offers, and events.

3. Write more website content. A lot more!

We’ll admit straight off the bat that this one is going to be time-consuming. However, if you combine this tip with your new long-tail keyword strategy, you can start making great leaps in your SEO ranking. In a constant battle to capture customer search queries, the more relevant words you have on your website the better. According to marketing expert Neil Patel, every month industry leaders are writing as many as 16+ blogs! To add to the challenge, Google prefers long-form content. We’re talking blogs that are exceeding the 2,000-word count.

At this point, you might be wondering how in the world you are going to manage this! But remember that you’re not competing against industry leaders just yet. You’ve narrowed your net and you’re going after customers with high intent who are far down the buyer’s funnel. Highly targeted content that capitalises on the power of long-tail keywords is your best bet. You can of course also consider hiring a content creator to do the job for you. With content marketing bringing in three times the amount of leads as other marketing strategies, it is worth the investment. However, if you’re reading this then your DIY hat is probably firmly on, so keep an eye out for fantastic online resources such as this copywriting blog to keep you inspired.

Search engine optimisation is a moveable feast

Google takes account of a mind-boggling range of factors when it comes to SEO. For sites with high volumes of sales or leads, optimisation is a full-time job. Even for small sites, SEO isn’t something you can just do once and then you’re good for a year. If that’s your approach, the evolution in best practice and proactive competitors will see you slip steadily down the pages. Another issue is that the user experience itself is fast becoming a big part of SEO strength – site speed, annoying popups, stuff moving around the page as it loads are some examples. Google announced recently that the algorithm will update to take account of these at some point in 2021, so website owners have a little time to get these sorted. You can already see these measurements in your Search Console account, but to learn more about ‘Core Web Vitals’, check out this resource from Google.

As you can see, the SEO landscape is constantly evolving. If ranking is critical to the success of your business, you may choose to outsource this to experts. If you do, make sure they are transparent about the actions they are taking. Also, get involved in the process yourself (regular reviews of their actions/make them report to you regularly) so that it aligns with your business goals. If you choose to take it on yourself, I recommend reading everything that Google makes available (you could start on the Webmasters site) and checking out the Yoast blog (they make plugins for WordPress, but their blog is an excellent resource and they have online courses too).

My main advice, as someone who has been obsessing about SEO for well over a decade, is to build your website for humans rather than bots. If you make a site that works well, looks good, and gives the audience what they’re looking for, you are well on the way to outranking sites that view SEO as a box-ticking exercise. Visit your site regularly and try to see it through a user’s eye. Ask people what they think of it. Ask clients and prospects what they’d like it to do and what information they want from it. But learn the technical basics too. And always put keywords in your headings :)

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

How You Can Stop Bad Posture Ruining Your Workday

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 our own research to find out exactly what we need to do to avoid becoming Emma! (Apologies to any real-life Emmas out there, we didn’t pick the name!) This is what we’ve come up with…

How to avoid swollen legs and varicose veins from sitting at the desk all day

Emma’s legs are suffering from a condition known as oedema or, more specifically in this case, peripheral oedema. According to the HSE:

“Oedema is the medical term for fluid retention in the body. It occurs when there is a build-up of fluid (mainly water) in the body’s tissues, causing swelling to occur in the affected area.”

Peripheral oedema can be caused by underlying problems, but for many long-term office workers it will very likely be a result of hours spent sitting at the desk, and varicose veins can be another sign of this.

The only way to keep these problems at bay is to move those legs! There are treadmill desks as well as standing desks which you should take advantage of if possible. If your boss isn’t in the position to provide one of these for everyone in the office, there are desk additions that will extend your desk height without too much of an investment. Of course, gentle leg exercises should be your new best friend, from ankle circles to foot pumps to knee lifts and leg extensions.

The key is to start noticing opportunities to get away from the desk, and we don’t mean to doss! When you run into a technical difficulty and need the IT department to come to the rescue, why not visit them for a chat instead of sending off an email. If you have a meeting coming up, suggest that you walk and talk instead of just moving to another seat in a different room. Anytime you take a call, stand up and pace! It’ll take a bit of getting used to but, in the long run, your legs will thank for it.

How to avoid looking like an office zombie!

Red eyes can be caused by a number of issues, from smoking to pollen to dust and dirt. However, it can also be caused by computer vision syndrome, or, as its more commonly known, digital eye strain. As we use more and more screens on a daily basis, from computers to mobiles to tablets and television screens, our eyes become strained in a number of ways.

You’ve probably heard about the problems blue light can cause, such as messing up your circadian rhythm and even causing blindness by contributing to age-related macular degeneration, but it doesn’t end there. Research has shown we tend to blink less when we are concentrating on a screen which can lead to dry eyes. The constant focusing and refocusing between your screen and other objects in the room can also tire your eye’s ciliary muscles.

The solution is to take regular breaks from screens. Set alarms if necessary and find alternative ways to engage with digital content e.g. listening to an audiobook rather than reading text online. For work, you might consider investing in a pair of digital eyestrain glasses. Make sure to adjust your monitor so that it is as bright as your surrounding workstation and the screen is positioned 20 to 24 inches from your eyes. Also, start practicing the 20-20-20 rule which says to look away from your screen every 20 minutes to gaze at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

How to avoid back pain at work

If you’re sitting right now, take note of your posture. Are your shoulders hunched? Are you bent forward as though you’re about to be swallowed up by the screen?! Or perhaps you’re leaning so far back in your seat that you’re under suspicion of defying gravity? To avoid long-term back problems, it is essential to retrain your body to sit properly, but the only way you can do this effectively is by having an ergonomic workstation.

Correct posture is only possible by aligning your workstation with your body. If you sit at a desk all day, it’s important to adjust your chair height so that your feet are flat on the floor and your knees are in line with your hips. You should sit at arm’s length from the computer screen and the back of your seat should be reclined at a 100° to 110° angle. As for the monitor, it should be positioned so it is at eye level or just slightly below.

Of course, it is not only bad posture that can cause back problems. Incorrectly lifting heavy objects, such as boxes and paperwork, can wreak havoc with your spine. According to the MayoClinic, you should:

“…lift with your legs and tighten your core muscles. Hold the object close to your body. Maintain the natural curve of your back. Don’t twist when lifting. If an object is too heavy to lift safely, ask someone to help you.”

The reason most people will not do this correctly is that they are rushing. Work can be a busy place, but the choice is to either take your time and protect your health or risk ending up like Emma!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

How To Keep Your Remote Workers In The Loop

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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.

A recent survey from Workplace by Facebook titled Deskless Not Voiceless: Communication Works, has shown that remote workers find it difficult to build work relationships. What was particularly interesting about the survey was that 86% of remote workers felt connected to their colleagues, but only 14% felt connected to the company HQ and just 3% had any communication with the C-Suite. This can be demoralising for remote workers because it may result in fewer opportunities for promotion and rewards. So how do we bring our remote workers back, not into the physical office but into the company psyche?

Communication tools are the remote worker’s best friend

Technology often gets a bad reputation for isolating us from one another, but in many ways technology is what enables us to come together. That being said, not all communication technology is equal! Composing an email is a much more isolated and time-consuming task than firing off instant messages into a chat box where other members can respond in real-time. One particularly popular communication tool is Slack. Slack allows you to organise your conversations into channels and these can be set to private if needed. You can see when members are online and tag them in conversations to quickly get their attention. The platform is robust enough to send most kinds of files (such as images, videos, GIFs, PDFs) which makes it easier for remote workers to collaborate on projects. It is the speed of interaction that communication tools like Slack support which makes it so effective at keeping remote workers in the loop. There are many alternatives to Slack, of course, such as Microsoft Teams, Hive, or Google Hangouts.

Make time for face-to-face communication

Instant messaging definitely has its place, however face-to-face communication is unbeatable when it comes to building real relationships. The ideal way to do this remotely is with videoconferencing. There are multiple ways to achieve this, from FaceTime to Zoom to Skype and beyond. We would advise you to schedule in either weekly, fortnightly or monthly face-to-face meetings with your remote workers, depending on the work you do. By being able to see someone’s face, identify facial cues, and speak in real-time, video conferencing can humanise communication. Once you see their face pop up on your screen and they, in turn, see you, all sense of distance is instantly removed. This can also be a real godsend for those moments when you would like your remote worker to be available in a meeting to answer a couple of questions but that’s just not possible. Using videoconferencing to allow teams to touch base – such as with an informal ‘coffee and a chat’ session that lets them catch up on the everyday personal news that fuels human interaction – with help to keep teams cohesive while apart.

Don’t forget to give remote workers praise!

The only way remote workers can feel a part of the company is by being treating them as such. We can all be guilty of falling into the terrible habit of out of sight, out of mind, but you know that if your remote workers suddenly dropped in productivity, you would be on their case! So take the time to praise them for the good work they do. While you’re not likely to pass by them at the water cooler, the extra effort of reaching out to remote workers will be well worth it. After all, you want your remote teams to stay motivated and the best way to do that is by giving them a sense of pride in where they work. Include them in shoutouts in the company newsletter, make sure their name is in the hat for competitions, and give them the heads up on new opportunities that they may otherwise miss out on.

The key to making remote working a success long-term is to remove ‘remote’ from the equation as much as possible. It can be a challenge for on-site employees to treat remote workers the same as the colleagues they bump into every day, but if you want your workforce to thrive while reaping the benefits of remote working, then you need to set the standard from day one. It is the responsibility of those at the top to create a culture of inclusivity for every member of the workforce. Remote working is going to become a permanent option for most teams; this is a cultural shift that is unlikely to roll back. Your best bet as an employer is to embrace this change for all the benefits it brings – take the necessary steps and get ready for the future!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Enterprise Ireland’s Action Plan For Women In Business

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 aimed at improving the ratio, such as Going For Growth or female-only Competitive Start Fund (CSF) calls. The success of these is evident, with Enterprise Ireland investing in three times more women-led companies in 2019 compared to 2011.

Looking forward, it was clear that as the national agency for economic development, Enterprise Ireland had an important role to play in improving diversity in business. CEO Julie Sinnamon asked the agency to put together a plan.

“Harnessing the full talent and expertise of our diverse population will result in better businesses and faster economic growth. Unleashing the creativity and skills of more women represents an unparalleled opportunity for fuelling economic growth in Ireland.”

Julie Sinnamon – CEO, Enterprise Ireland

The plan has been piloted by Sheelagh Daly, Entrepreneurship Manager at Enterprise Ireland. She spent a year putting together the strategy and identifying the first 24 actions for 2020. She started by asking four key questions about the lack of female participation in enterprise: What are the reasons? What are the barriers? What needs to change? What additional supports are required?

“Women in leadership roles means increased profits, improved productivity, better returns on assets, and overall superior performance. We want companies making smart decisions about the senior management team that will help them be the best they can be.”

Sheelagh Daly – Entrepreneurship Manager, Enterprise Ireland

An evolving plan with multiple themes

Research demonstrates that – in general – women take a different approach to business, so the plan includes a commitment to working on a one-to-one basis with women as well as addressing systemic barriers that women tend to face. An excellent example of concrete action is a new grant for Enterprise Ireland clients that offer part-time leadership roles. While a grant already exists for full-time roles, this new funding reflects the reality that many women ready to take on such responsibilities may need more flexibility.

The scope of the plan is broad and in addition to the horizontal focus across Enterprise Ireland activities, we will see initiatives developed in partnership with other agencies, stakeholders, the private sector, and government departments. Input into policy development is likely to be significant as the plan evolves.

But if you were thinking this strategy is just about startups, think again! Research and development, education, mentoring, investment and venture capital, networking, leadership development, showcasing successful businesswomen, and bringing experienced female leaders back to work are all going to be a feature of the Women in Business plan.

“People with more senior management experience in their industry are more likely to spot opportunities for innovative new businesses, plus the beliefs and skills to go ahead with the idea. These people are also more likely to have the all-important network of connections that will make things happen in the business.”

Sheelagh Daly – Entrepreneurship Manager, Enterprise Ireland

The objectives of the Women in Business plan

In total, the plan comprises four main objectives, each with six associated actions that Enterprise Ireland has committed to starting in 2020.

Objective 1: Increase the number of women-led established companies growing internationally

Drive the Women in Business action plan in each division of Enterprise Ireland
Engage with financial institutions to deliver a finance and funding landscape that is accessible and inclusive
Develop a #GlobalAmbition campaign featuring Women in Business leaders and initiatives
Offer increased one-to-one engagement to women-led companies to effectively support growth ambitions and expansion into new global markets
Ensure all Enterprise Ireland programmes and supports are designed to maximise participation by women
Explore proposals for new finance offers to support scaling for women-led established companies

Objective 2: Increase the number of women in middle and senior management and leadership roles

Introduce a new grant for Enterprise Ireland-supported companies to facilitate the recruitment of part-time senior managers
Promote the benefits of diversity to enterprise and provide funding support for diversity planning to Enterprise Ireland-supported companies
Work with external stakeholders to influence national policies to address identified barriers to women’s participation in enterprise
Work with key stakeholders to facilitate Irish companies to improve gender diversity on their boards
Target women managers in Enterprise Ireland-supported companies and within Enterprise Ireland for participation on leadership development programmes
Promote a focus on diversity in the development of skills and talent for Irish enterprise through the National Skills Fora and within Enterprise Ireland

Objective 3: Increase the number of women becoming entrepreneurs

Partner with key stakeholders to drive better access to finance and funding for women at all stages on their enterprise journey
Collaborate with the Local Enterprise Offices to develop and grow female entrepreneurship in every county
Target more women to become founders, mentors, and investors
Ensure enterprise and entrepreneurship policy is aligned with the objectives of the Enterprise Ireland Women in Business plan
Develop, support, and promote a national network of role models to interact with and inspire future entrepreneurs
Promote a focus on women in business in the actions and funding of Regional Enterprise Plans

Objective 4: Increase the number of women-led start-ups with high growth potential

Appoint a dedicated team in Enterprise Ireland to develop and drive initiatives directed at female founders
Issue a series of funding calls targeting women entrepreneurs, and women researchers from third level institutions
Pilot an initiative to include women leaders/senior managers in project teams spinning out from third level institutions
Explore the potential to establish a women-focused seed investment group with key finance industry stakeholders
Roll out national and regional communications campaigns showcasing women entrepreneurs
Offer increased one-to-one engagement to women-led HPSUs and support female founders through mentoring with experienced entrepreneurs who have scaled their businesses

The Women in Business plan addresses a broad range of factors contributing to the under-representation of women in enterprise and will help to initiate sustainable and enduring change in the Irish economy. If you’d like to know more, you can download the action plan brochure, visit the Enterprise Ireland website, or talk to your Enterprise Ireland/Local Enterprise Office advisor.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Top tips for dealing with late-paying clients

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 taking longer to make their payments, showing a total disregard for SMEs.”

It all comes down to big companies wanting to have as much ready cash available to them as possible, but this can turn into a serious problem for SMEs in the long run.

Although no healthy business should be reliant on any one client, this worrying trend of late payments can be detrimental to a small business if not managed correctly. That’s why in this blog we’re going tackle the credit-control challenge head-on.

Should you be giving credit at all?

Providing credit is not uncommon in business, but it is not the rule and you are not obliged to offer it. If you’re a small business ticking over with only a handful of clients and you can’t afford to give credit, then perhaps you shouldn’t. In the creative industries and for freelancers, payment on delivery is the most common payment term. For larger or longer projects, it’s typical to pay half upfront, or even staged payments throughout the life of the project. Maybe your business could adopt a similar model? Take a close look at your current cash flow situation and determine what kind of figure you should be starting the month with. If getting to that figure requires bringing those invoice deadlines closer, then don’t be afraid to put your foot down. Remember, it’s your business and you make rules, not your debtors.

Set clear terms before you start

When a new project or contract comes through the door, it’s tempting to show how keen you are for the business and dive in as soon as possible. But not setting clear boundaries from the outset can be something you come to regret. If you do need to offer credit, then agree in advance what that will be and get it in writing. Ideally, this will already be laid out in your Terms and Conditions, but even so it’s worth drawing the new client’s attention to what these are. If you don’t have Ts & Cs already, or if you want this client to stick to different payment terms, make sure to get this agreed in writing beforehand including a) at what point(s) you will invoice, and b) how many days they will have to pay. If they subsequently don’t stick to these terms, you can start chasing straight away and draw their attention to the agreed terms.

Offer an early-payment discount

As with everything in business, you are dealing with human beings, which means that incentives and motivational tactics can work a treat – especially when it comes to saving money! You don’t necessarily have to offer this to all your clients, but you can pick a select few who you think would be open to the idea. You can offer them a discount for paying within, say, 10 days if that is helpful to your cash flow situation. The only drawback with this strategy is that payments may still be unpredictable. It is up to your client whether they take you up on your offer, and even if they do you won’t be sure exactly when they’ll pay.

Penalise those naughty late payers

Did you know that you are entitled by law to charge interest on late payments? It doesn’t just apply to your Irish customers, as this is a European Union regulation. The majority of businesses don’t do this, perhaps because they don’t know they can, don’t want to rock the boat, or think it isn’t worth the hassle. But you can do this for any commercial transaction and you don’t even need to send a reminder first; you can start charging as soon as the invoice is overdue. The Late Payment Interest rate is currently 8%. This means that if a client was a month late paying a bill of €2,000 + VAT, you’d be able to charge them €16.13 in interest. You can use this online interest calculator to work out what you are due.

In addition, you are automatically entitled to “compensation for recovery costs” without needing to provide evidence of having incurred recovery costs or issuing a reminder. This is a flat fee entitlement. If you had a particularly tricky situation and had to hire a solicitor or debt collection agency, this would obviously be a whole different situation. The automatic compensation you are entitled to under the regulation is:

Up to €1,000: €40
€1000 – €10,000: €70
Over €10,000: €100

Automate the credit control process

These days, there is a software solution to alleviate any business ailment. If you’re tired of payments dribbling past the finish line like the world’s slowest snail race, the time has probably come for more proactive credit control. There are lots of fintech solutions for debt management out there that make it easy to chase late payers. Some examples are Chaser and Fluidly. With Chaser, you simply connect with your Sage, Xero, or QuickBooks account and set up auto-reminders so that your clients are prompted when their invoice is past due. Solutions like this allow you to personalise these prompts so that your business brand is kept intact. You can also control who gets reminders and how often, and even escalate the reminders to get more serious the longer the debt is outstanding – for instance by changing the recipient and sender of the reminder to more senior counterparts in your respective businesses.

Leverage outstanding bills with invoice financing

A 60- or 90-day credit window can become too much to bear for some small businesses. It’s a situation many businesses try to suffer through but there are ways to get around this problem if chasing your clients isn’t enough. If existing credit terms are now proving challenging for your company’s cash flow, you could look into invoice financing. Invoice financing is a finance facility that allows businesses to borrow money against outstanding customer invoices. Typically, you’ll receive a large portion of the funds immediately and when your client settles the invoice, you’ll receive the rest (minus a fee for the service, of course). This isn’t an ideal scenario in the long-term, but it can get you through a challenging period.

As you can see, there are many ways to manage late-paying clients. The key is to find the solution that works best for your type of business as well as your clients. It can be uncomfortable talking about this issue with clients, but never forget that you deserve to be paid for your hard work. Asking for what you are due is a fair and reasonable thing to do!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Leaders can help employees achieve their New Year’s resolutions

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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.

What the data says about New Year’s resolutions

Strava conducted a survey studying over 31.5 million online global activities with regard to the setting and keeping of New Year’s resolutions. Their findings were grim:

80% of people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions
The 12th January is the date people are most likely to give up on their resolutions
The main reasons for failure are a lack of motivation and unrealistic expectations

Now, you could look at those statistics and take them as the evidence you’ve been keenly waiting for never to set a New Year’s resolution again! But business leaders are all about the challenge, so we’re going to guess that you’ve zeroed in on the obvious obstacles here and are already thinking up ways that this problem can be solved. That’s what we’ve been doing, and we think the solution is to bring New Year’s resolutions into the workplace!

Introducing New Year’s Resolutions to the workplace

Ask for feedback from your team

Creating a partnership between work and personal goals could seem daunting at first. You might be wondering whether your team appreciates this new-fangled project of yours or considerate it a hindrance. The best way to find out the answer to that question is to ask. Bord Bia research found that 70% of Irish people would appreciate help with maintaining a healthy diet and less than one-third of us get the correct amount of exercise because we cannot find the time.

How to help your employees achieve their resolutions

There are many ways you can go about helping your team achieve their goals. The methods you pick will be based on what will suit your company best. You could decide to add a few additional activities to the workweek, or you could make smaller but equally effective tweaks to the workday. Alternatively, you could design a whole employee wellness programme!

Deciding which route you’ll take will involve taking some time to think about your budget, assessing how many people you expect to get involved, finding out what their New Year’s resolutions were and determining what kind of activities would benefit them best. Then map out how you imagine these activities will realistically coincide with job tasks and decide who will be in charge of making it all happen. If that sounds like far too much work, don’t worry; no matter how small or comprehensive your approach, we have a few ideas to get you started!

Great resolution ideas you can support all year long

Let’s dive into some ideas for how you can support your team in reaching their goals – not just in January, but all year long!

Diet

Ditch those pastries packed with saturated fat in meetings and instead think strawberries! Popcorn! Whole-grain sandwiches with low-fat fillings! Parfaits!
Combine healthy eating and team building by organising activities such as “Come Dine With Me” style lunches, food tastings, cookery classes and smooth- making competitions.
Request an employee discount from your local health-conscious eatery.

Spend more time with friends and family

Remote working puts an end to wasted hours spent commuting so your employees can spend more time with the people they love.
Offer an automatic day off for three important family events that occur annually.
Trial a four-day workweek. New Zealand company Perpetual Guardian reported a 20% increase in productivity when they did it and Pursuit Marketing in Glasgow enjoyed a 30% increase!

Exercise

Incentivise walk-to-work and/or cycle schemes.
Set up company sports teams and organise a gym buddy system to get peer pressure working in everyone’s favour!
Create a calendar for local fitness events, such as marathons for charity, and encourage people to sign up.

Quit smoking

Establish a tobacco-free workplace.
Include quit smoking programmes in your wellness initiative with one-to-one coaching or, if your budget can’t stretch to that, make external resources easily available for them.
Consider ways you can help employees through the withdrawal period, i.e. exercise regimes, improving diet, stress management.

Hold a monthly book club that people can either participate in after work or during the lunch break.
Include a book recommendation in the company newsletter.
Invite local authors to speak at your company.

Drink less alcohol

Organise alternatives to ‘after-work drinks’ such as movie nights, bowling, going to exhibitions, volunteering, sports training, attending a class, seeking out drink-free events, etc.
With your team’s help, set alcohol-free days to reduce the chance of hitting the pub at 5 pm on particularly tempting evenings.

None of these ideas are earth-shattering, but that’s precisely the point! Small changes that are simple to implement and easy to take up are most likely to be successful. If all goes to plan, not only will you have a happier, healthier team by the end of 2020, but you’ll have simultaneously increased job satisfaction and productivity.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

The big business trends to watch out for in 2020

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 2020

Irish businesses will need to get 5G ready

True, we didn’t need to check a crystal ball for this one! The fifth generation of cellular networking is here, but how exactly will it impact your business? This wireless technology is estimated to be at least 10 times faster than 4G, which means faster communication, faster business processes, and faster results for your clients. Currently, the average time it takes data to upload from a device is 50ms with a 4G network, but with 5G it will take just 1ms.

However, we’re not claiming 5G will be in every single household by the end of 2020. After all, there are still houses in rural areas stuck on 3G. But according to Intel, the rollout will be in full swing in 2020 so they advise businesses to get ready:

“For 5G to become a reality, businesses need to replace fixed-function equipment with virtualised software-defined networks. Switching to the cloud will be vital as 5G relies so heavily on virtualisation.”

Customer Experience will benefit from automation

Customer Experience, or CX, has been a hot topic for a few years, but until now businesses have been struggling to know how to implement it as practical business processes. With increasing accessibility to high-quality automation tools, 2020 will be the year in which we see CX truly take off.

A great example of this is the strides being made with chatbots. The chatbots of 2020 won’t simply trot off a couple of generic messages and then hand the conversation over to a real customer service agent. Instead, chatbots will use intelligent voice messaging to tailor responses to the individual and automate payments in real time.

Customer expectations are increasing constantly as people get used to using more smart devices, such as virtual assistants, in their own home. With Qualtrics finding that 60% of businesses think the mobile experience they are providing is good but that only 22% of customers feel the same, it pays to bulldoze those blind spots, listen to customers’ needs, and invest in the technology you use to drive successful customer relationships in 2020.

Will your business take advantage of the growing remote working trend?

Remote working used to be something that employees who wanted more flexibility pushed for while management looked on sceptically, unsure of whether a divided labour force could really manage to be productive. How times have changed! According to FlexJobs, 75% of people work remotely because there are fewer distractions and 86% say it reduces stress, which all directly feeds into increased worker productivity. In 2020, the encouragement for remote working is coming from the top as employers reap the benefits of this cost-effective, timesaving, and fully customisable work structure.

There are many great reasons as to why remote working is gaining in popularity, but for Ireland specifically we would throw the combination of high rent prices in the capital and long commutes into the ring. On average, it takes commuters in Kildare and Meath one hour and nine minutes to get to work, which is equivalent to, if not quicker than, those taking public transport from Dublin’s suburbs. The Luas and Dart have become notorious for congestion, which not only increases travel time but makes getting to work a very stressful and exhausting experience. Therefore, if not just for productivity then for employee health and happiness, remote working could be a great trend to jump on in 2020.

Gen Z will enter the workforce

They’re coming and they’re going to make up 20% of the workforce in 2020, but what does that mean for your business? This generation is composed of digital natives in the truest sense. Born between 1995 and 2010, they do not know a world without the internet. This puts them in a strong position entering the workforce as we are very much in need of their technology skills! However, to leverage their skills you’ll need to attract them and being a tech-first company is essential.

According to a study by Dell, 91% of Gen Z considers the technology offered by an employer to be a critical factor when choosing a job. Generation Z, or Centennials as they are also known, expect to not only exercise their skills but to continuously improve them. Therefore, it is in the business’s interest to provide these opportunities. Despite being glued to their screens, Gen Z appreciates authentic face-to-face conversations and shows a strong interest in being tech mentors, which can only be a good thing for other members of your intergenerational team!

Running an Irish startup in 2020 is going to be both challenging and rewarding. If you’re about to take the plunge and would like some extra support, why not consider a programme like New Frontiers?! We have locations around the country and start dates throughout the year. Take a look at what’s involved and register your interest today.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Coworking space vs the traditional office – which will you choose?

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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.

Coworking spaces as a budget-friendly option

The main draws for opting for a coworking space are flexibility and cost-saving. Renting private office space is a big commitment and cost for any business, but the return of Celtic Tiger pricing is exacerbating the issue. If you’re looking to rent office space in the capital in 2019-20, you can expect boom-era prices at over €60 per square foot! This doesn’t take into account the cost of insurance, rates, utility bills, cleaning services or the added expense of furniture and technology.

On the other hand, coworking providers offer more affordable hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and annual rates, so you can find a payment option that suits you with a predictable, fixed cost. Dogpatch Labs, for example, is a popular choice for its impressive facilities and is located at the heart of the city centre. They charge €200 per month to hot desk and €400 per month for a dedicated desk. Included in this cost is all utility bills, all service charges, access to meeting rooms, the kitchen, fibre-based internet, the receptionist, as well as refreshments. Another high-quality coworking space is The Tara Building, which keeps a busy calendar of events for its members to get involved in and offers a private, lockable office at €350 per desk. It’s worth shopping around and find the best fit for you.

Compromising on security and productivity

There is an ongoing debate as to whether coworking spaces end up costing businesses with regards to security and/or productivity. While there are advantages to working alongside other business professionals, it can end up being more of a hindrance than a benefit if your work style doesn’t sync well with an open-plan coworking environment.

Privacy is scarce in coworking spaces. If you are hot-desking, you will literally have no idea who you will be sitting beside from day to day. By relinquishing control of fundamental elements of your work environment – such as noise levels, atmosphere, space and seating arrangements – you take the risk that every day is different and not necessarily in a good way. While we all like to think everyone is as courteous and considerate as we are, this is not a given and dealing with these issues in a coworking environment is not as straightforward as it would be in your own private office.

Apart from the potential distractions that come with sharing your work environment, security is another concern. Consider the kinds of discussions you will need to have on a regular basis with your employees, investors, advisors, and clients. How often do you need to discuss sensitive information? Determine if you’re happy for this information to be potentially overheard by other businesses. If your only concern is the weekly meeting, then coworking could still be a good option for you. All you need to do is book the meeting rooms which are available in most coworking spaces.

How beneficial is networking for your business?

If you are just starting out and find that growing your network of business contacts is proving more of a challenge than you expected, deciding to work in a coworking space could be the perfect solution. Coworking spaces are a hub of creative activity. These unique ecosystems enable business professionals, with their various skills and levels of experience, to come together and create coworking communities.

The best thing about this is that most of these companies will also be startups. By entering a coworking environment, you have instant access to entrepreneurs who are going through all the same trials and tribulations as you are! You will have the opportunity to learn from each other, share your stories and act as each other’s sounding boards. The invaluable business opportunities that can be fostered in this kind of environment are limitless.

Many coworking spaces capitalise on this attractive networking opportunity by holding events, primarily for the purpose of aiding the development of supportive business relationships. These can vary from a simple breakfast spread to yoga sessions to happy hour to guest speakers. You’ll easily find an event that will suit you and attract the type of people you would prefer to work with. But if you want our advice, we say dive right in and try them all! You never know who you could meet and how far that relationship could take you and your business.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

5 tips for recruiting a stellar first hire for your startup!

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 is to take a careful look at the finances and financial projections to see if you can afford an employee. Consider all the costs associated with this – salary costs plus hidden costs such as equipment, office space, insurance, software, training, etc.

The second step is to consider which area of the business could best be supported by a second pair of hands. There should be enough workload to add up to a new role, and what needs to be done should bring real value to the business and contribute to your bottom line (for example, supply chain or customer services). If your plate is overflowing with smaller tasks that don’t add up to a particular business role (for example, bookkeeping) then rather than making a new hire you should lighten the load by outsourcing specific jobs.

Finally, be careful of making your first hire a big, expensive role. For instance, it’s not uncommon for founders to want their first employee to be the salesperson, because it’s typically a role they aren’t confident in. However, these salaries are usually very high and it can be hard to find the right salesperson on the first attempt (see more about this in our interview with Nicky Bowman).

So, having decided the time is right for your first hire, here are 5 ways to make the transition from founder to employer a little easier.

How to successfully hire your first employee

1. Identify your startup’s weak spots

Your first hire should not be a jack-of-all-trades. In fact, no hire should be! It’s particularly tempting for startups to seek out that unicorn individual who has a bit of experience in everything. The problem with this approach is that they’re not properly solving any one problem. A much better approach is to identify specific weaknesses in your business that are taking up a lot of time or particular gaps where you can really start to grow revenue and aim to hire someone who can take this on and have a transformative effect.

2. Document procedures for tasks

You want your new employee to hit the ground running when they arrive. Do not wait until the last minute to figure out how they are going to do what you need them to do. It’s probably clear in your mind how the tasks that need doing should get done, but don’t assume this will be obvious to your new hire. They aren’t familiar with your business or how you work yet. If you’re not used to onboarding employees, you’ll be surprised how many small things need to be communicated in the initial stages.

List the responsibilities attached to this new role and then take the time to document procedures for each one. Trust us, it’s worth it. As an entrepreneur, you’re used to doing everything yourself, which means you have your own set of standards. If you want to maintain those standards and avoid resorting to micromanagement, then procedures are a lifesaver.

3. Don’t underestimate the importance of culture fit

Skills are not the be-all and end-all, especially at this early stage of your business. Your first hire is going to be working in close quarters with you and, inevitably, will have an influence over how your team grows. This is not the time to take a punt on the aloof genius, the rebellious leader or the troubled artist! Rather trust, integrity, and good communication skills are the kind of characteristics you want to invest in with your first hire.

If there is more than one business founder, we’d advise giving everyone the opportunity to meet with the potential candidate so they have a chance to air their opinions. The last thing you want is your office split down the middle by an employee who gets along swimmingly with one founder and is at loggerheads with the other! This exposure to key people in your business is also a great way to show the candidate that you envision them to be there for the long haul.

“I’ve turned down very good technical people. I know the team they are going to have to work in and if I don’t think they will fit in there is no point in hiring them, no matter how talented they are from a technical point of view.”

Sandra Whelan, Immersive VR Education
read our interview with Sandra

4. Have them demonstrate their skills

It really is the only way to know for sure that they can do the job. There are many great interviewees out there. These people are personable, passionate, quick with winning answers and they’ve researched your company inside and out. But none of these attractive qualities necessarily means they will be good at the tasks you have in mind for them.

To combat this, don’t be afraid of having more than one stage in your recruitment process. It may be time-consuming, but this is not a hire you want to make in a rush. The first stage of the interview could be designed to whittle down candidates by their skillset and the second stage could be for finding out if they have the right personality fit for your company.

5. Have a trial period

This is your first hire and there’s a lot riding on it. Feeling a little stressed about getting it right is only natural. Overthinking it won’t make it any easier, however having a trial period can take a lot of the pressure off. Recruitment is a speciality industry for a reason so if you’re not a professional recruiter, it makes sense to buffer the risk with a probationary period. Ensure it is included in the new employee’s employment contract and define clearly the duration of the trial period. Under Irish law, a probationary period must be one year or less in duration.

Making your first hire is a big decision, especially when you are bootstrapping. As with most things in business, careful planning will help you avoid the most common pitfalls. Be clear about what you expect and what you are offering from the outset, because high staff turnovers will only negate the benefit of having the extra help. Also, remember that although you will be able to move over a large part of your workload to a capable colleague, employees do require management, so factor in enough time to oversee their work.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Listen to your market and always be ready to pivot your idea

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 equine farming, and I felt that a price comparison site, which is very common in a lot of markets, was lacking in farming. I won a number of awards for this idea, including the Trinity College All-Tech Innovation competition.

The importance of validating your market

During the validation phase of my startup, when I started to talk to the farmers I was hoping would become my customers, many told me that price was not their biggest pain point. People generally felt that price was not the big issue for them and in fact they stayed with suppliers because of factors like quality assurance, quick delivery times or credit terms. I spoke to people across Kildare, Cork and elsewhere for this validation phase, and I was very fortunate to meet people who were honest with me about the idea before I spent both time and capital developing a solution. It is important to listen to your potential customers rather than just people in your immediate circle, such as advisors, friends and family. The customer is always the most important person.

When the people I was talking to told me price comparison wasn’t their biggest issue, I always asked what their biggest problem was. Time after time, people in equine yards told me that they were having issues keeping up with the large amounts of paperwork required because of frequently changing equine welfare regulations. Racing trainers and equestrians have to keep medication records for their horses to satisfy regulators and drug testers. Some yards have hundreds of horses, each with their own drug and vaccination regimen. It gets very complicated very quickly and if records are wrong it can lead to heavy fines and, in the most serious cases, prosecution. The yards I was talking to said that if I could develop a solution for this issue, they would be very interested.

Always listen to your target customers

It was at this point I realised that there was a large opportunity to try and build a regulatory technology system to be an education tool that would help ensure compliance for equine yards and help promote equine welfare and transparency. It was a difficult decision to pivot the idea. I had won awards for my original farm marketplace idea and it was hard to let go. However, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says, always listen to your customers. It is a common trap that entrepreneurs fall in love with their ideas and don’t listen to what their customers actually want.

Once I pivoted my idea, I knew I would need a CTO who had experience in digitising regulatory paper processes. It just so happened that I ran into a friend from secondary school, Simon Hillary, who had just finished optimising workflows from paper to digital systems for the Oireachtas. Simon came on board, and we started the process of getting our system deemed compliant as a medicines register by the Turf Club (the horseracing regulatory body) here in Ireland and their equivalents in the UK and France.

Early-stage development with support and funding

I completed Phase 1 of New Frontiers at IADT mid-2017. From there, we were accepted onto the Trinity LaunchBox, and I completed Phase 2 of New Frontiers as well. Our Local Enterprise Office has been very supportive, and we’ve had a priming grant and business expansion grant from them. This has all been very helpful, because in all pivoting the idea took two years – refining our solution and getting into the finer details of the regulation.

By 2018, we were ready to launch with an initial cohort of users. That’s when my brother, Finlay, who has a background in finance, joined as our COO. Our app manages the whole compliance process for yards, centrally tracking the what, when, why, and how of medications being administered. Trainers or owners can invite vets and staff onto the system so that everything is tracked and recorded safely and securely.

Our pivoted startup: Equine MediRecord

We already have hundreds of yards on our system across Ireland, the United Kingdom and France, tracking thousands of horses. Our system is the first and only system to be approved as compliant to replace the paper regulatory documents, and the only system in the world ensuring compliance in the equine industry. We won a number of competitions, including the One Zero Conference, ‘Best Use of Mobile’ at Energia Digital Media Awards, and Most Innovative Equine Technology in the UK. We were also accredited with the Business All Star in ‘Regulatory Technology’ at the All-Ireland Business Summit. I also made it into the final 24 (out of 1,600+ applicants) of Ireland’s Best Yound Entrepreneurs, representing the Irish Midlands Region and Kildare at the national competition in September.

As we all become more aware of animal welfare issues, regulations are being strengthened and people need systems to ensure medical record compliance for their animals. Equine MediRecord is looking to enter new markets by the end of the year; we’ve just signed clients in the USA and Argentina and are talking to regulatory bodies inside and outside Europe. We’re also diversifying into other types of equine activity, such as horse breeders and polo teams. None of this would have happened if I had fallen in love with my original idea and been unable to pivot.

About the author

Pierce Dargan

Pierce Dargan is a fifth-generation racehorse owner and breeder and New Frontiers alumnus. He is the co-founder of award-winning tech startup, Equine MediRecord.

Pierce is an ex-professional rugby player having played with Leinster Development and then the US professional rugby league, which is now called Major League Rugby. He won a rugby scholarship to Trinity College, where he completed his Bachelor’s in Political Science and History while a member of the Trinity Rugby Team, which won an all-Ireland 7s title in 2012 and he made the Irish Universities team that played against England in 2016.

It was while studying for his Masters in Business and Management at Trinity that Pierce first had the idea that led to the development of Equine MediRecord. It was an idea that won him the Trinity College All-Tech Innovation competition, and the platform was developed after CTO Simon Hillary joined the team.

Equine MediRecord is a system that provides simplified medical record compliance for equine yards through a regulator-approved digital medicines register. The platform is used by hundreds of yards in Ireland, the UK, and France. The team is also on the cusp of expanding Equine MediRecord into other markets.

Pierce was named in The Independent’s 30 Under 30 in 2018 and was a national finalist of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur 2019. He is the founder, chairman, and racing manager of Blackrock Racing Syndicate that has horses in training with Irish Derby-winning trainer, Joseph O’Brien. He is also the co-founder and chairman of the non-profit social enterprise, Secret Street Tours, that runs tours given by those affected by homelessness who share their story while exploring the cultural and historic landmarks of their local area. It’s aim is to empower their guides with skills and confidence to take the next step toward independent living.

Immersive VR Education builds on startup success with a strong team

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 from? How did it all come about?

It all began when my husband, David, saw a Kickstarter project for a virtual reality headset called the Oculus Rift. He invested, and sometime later the headset turned up at the house. We all tried it out – David and I, and our three children. The technology wasn’t very advanced at that point, but I could see the potential. We all recalled information we’d seen much better than we would from reading a book. It was evident to me that there were a lot more useful applications for this than what was available, especially in education.

This is what got David interested in the sector. He started a site to review VR technology – called Virtual Reality Reviewer, very original! Running that site is what led to us realising there was a gap in the market for educational solutions using VR. We created our own Kickstarter for a project involving the Apollo 11 mission. That gave up 30 days to raise €30,000 and we actually raised €36,000! That’s the moment we knew we had hit on something that could work. David sold his web design business and Immersive VR Education was born.

Through the Local Enterprise Office in Waterford, we were pointed in the direction of New Frontiers. David went through the whole programme and it was absolutely brilliant. He learnt all about the financial projections we needed to do, how to formulate a business plan, and how to pitch it. Before this, he had no experience of public speaking or pitching to investors.

It was evident at that stage that if we were going to go ahead with it, I would need to be involved in a bigger way. Up until then, I was working full-time as a logistics manager while working on this in the evenings. I was going to have to give up my job, which was scary because we have a house and three kids to look after. But we felt that we’re either going to give it 100% or we’re not. David was so passionate too and he really believed in the idea, so I thought, OK, let’s do this together.

Sandra Whelan and David Whelan Immersive VR Education New Frontiers Past participant

Sandra Whelan with her husband and co-founder, David Whelan, CEO of Immersive VR Education

Q2. It is a very niche business you’re in, so how did you go about growing a team?

In January 2016 we moved into our new office, and that’s when we made our first hire: Mike Armstrong. Mike was someone we met through the Virtual Reality Reviewer website, so we already knew him. He is now the Lead Technical Developer for our platform. He actually moved over from America with his girlfriend who he has since married and they now have two beautiful children. By permanently relocating, Mike really has come along the whole journey with us.

To make our second hire, we held a VR party in our office. We thought that if we put out the invite on the right messenger boards and explained that anyone interested in working in VR should come along, then we might find the perfect fourth member of our team. That’s how we met Bobby. So, our first two hires were pretty unorthodox, but after that, we started using LinkedIn and recruitment agencies to hire people.

Q3. Did you have a recruitment strategy?

Initially, our strategy was very much determined by the business plan David had developed on New Frontiers, because that was how we secured funding in the first place. In the business plan, we had stated how many developers we needed, so we always knew this was what that money would go towards. We started by putting up ads on LinkedIn and our own website, but there was nothing really coming through.

The skills we were looking for were not available in Ireland at that stage, so we started to look further afield with recruitment agencies. The result is that today only 10 of our team are Irish, and the rest are either American, European, or Argentinian. We do use Indeed sometimes, but a lot of our hires are through recruitment agencies. The fees for recruitment agencies can be on the high side, but we find it is worth it because it saves us a lot of time and we end up with people who are fully qualified for the position.

Q4. How does hiring people from abroad work in practice? What kind of interview process do you have?

We have a relocation package available for people which comprises of us finding them a house, putting down a deposit on the house, providing their first month’s rent, covering moving costs and also paying for their flights. It is something I took responsibility for from the beginning and I have helped relocate numerous candidates at this point. As you can imagine, it is time-consuming, so it helps that the recruitment agency takes control of the other side of the process. We don’t meet the hires face-to-face until they arrive in Ireland, but we do have Skype interviews.

The first interview with potential candidates is held over Skype and would be a technical interview. Depending on the position applied for we will get them to do a test that they could send back in four or five days. The next stage would be an interview with David and myself, because even though someone may be technically fantastic that doesn’t necessarily mean they are a good fit. For me, that’s more important than anything else and it has been the reason I’ve turned down very good technical people. I know the team they are going to have to work in and if I don’t think they will fit in there is no point in hiring them, no matter how talented they are from a technical point of view.

Q5. Considering your background isn’t in people management, why do you think you’ve been so successful at building a team?

It was a steep learning curve because I don’t have a background in people management. However, before this I was a client manager, so I am good at understanding people. I think it helps that I’m very hands-on in my role. There is no HR manager, it is just me and has been from the beginning, so I get to know everyone individually and I love that. I understand their little nuances and help them get settled when they arrive. Of course, it was more challenging as we grew. We started with a four-person team in January 2016 but that quickly grew to seven people, then 10, then 12 and by March 2018 we had 21 people. Today we have nearly 40 but I think the culture we’ve managed to nurture here is key to our success.

We have a very diverse team with people coming from all kinds of background, which is fantastic, but it also needs to be managed carefully. We decided from the outset to be very transparent by letting people know exactly what we expect from them. We have a very relaxed environment at VR Education, and I am happy as long as the work gets done. That’s why, when someone new starts at the company, we explain how relaxed the work culture is here but make sure to point out that at the same time they cannot take advantage of this.

I also make sure the team receives a lot of feedback. Because of what we do, the workday is mostly people sitting at computers with their headphones in, so I like to give people time to talk. I make sure everyone gets one-to-one feedback from their line manager every month. There is no point in me living in a happy rose-tinted bubble in my office, not knowing what is actually going on outside and there is nothing worse than letting problems fester. So it’s important to give people a chance to air any issues they have at these meetings.

Q6. Is there an example of a problem you came across that you found a solution for?

I noticed in the mornings when people came in there would be a lot of yawning going on. I decided it would be a good idea to push the morning meeting back because people weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders! But we also didn’t want anyone getting burnt out because they all work very hard. That’s why I went a step further and offered the team the option of working a four-day week every second week, as long as they had their work done. I thought this would be great for people travelling back and forth from the UK and Europe to visit their families.

It was voluntary, and about half the staff tried it. But in our feedback sessions, we found out that in reality, people were becoming more exhausted by trying to squeeze a full week of work into four days! It was at this point I asked them if there was a solution that they felt would work better. In the end, the introduction of core hours was the answer because everyone was able to design a workweek that would suit them best. Those up early dropping off kids at school were happy to start earlier and finish earlier, while those who felt like they were only really awake at 10 am could push their day forward. Being able to talk and listen to people in this way means we can get the most out of the team and they can get the most out of their job.

Q7. Are there any other perks you offer your staff?

We offer two team-building events every year, the Christmas one and the summer one. That’s always great fun. We close every Good Friday and we do a full shut down over Christmas, but it’s not counted against people’s holiday entitlement. We hold game competitions in the common area of the office to encourage people to get away from their desks. We also have a fully stocked canteen.

Q8. Do you have any top tips for start-ups trying to build a great team?

Ask your team what they want. I could guess what would work best for everyone, but that’s just my opinion. I think getting real feedback is essential to determine what is and is not working. Also, we try not to differentiate between management and everyone else. I have my office, but my door is physically always open for people to come in and out. Our management team have their desks out on the floor with everyone else. After all, when it comes down to it, we all work for the same company and our goal is exactly the same.

Another thing that I had to learn myself over time was to not be too swayed by other people’s recommendations for potential hires. I found that I have had many hours wasted by talking with someone about a role based on a recommendation. Always make up your own mind on matters like that because you know your company and your team and what works somewhere else won’t necessarily work for you.

To find our more about Immersive VR Education, read our article about their IPO last year or visit their website.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

4 actions entrepreneurs need to take to scale up quickly

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 getting where you need to be is to visualise success for your business in practical terms. Try asking yourself, what does my business look like at double or triple the value? “Scaling up” is a nice idea and a handy phrase to throw around when talking to investors, but it doesn’t come with a guidebook tailored to your business. The good news is that you know your business inside out and you know what resources are available to you. Use this knowledge to drive real action that contributes to business growth. Visualise what you want to achieve, give yourself a deadline to get there and then design a map. As with any goal, the deadline is crucial, so don’t be tempted to skip over that part!

2) Stop micromanaging and start delegating!

We’re sure you’ve heard this one before, but the question is, have you actually put it into practice yet?? There is no understating how important delegation is when it comes to growing your business. As an entrepreneur, you’re used to wearing many different hats and taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to everything you do. It’s this trait that makes the entrepreneur who they are, but you need to recognise when the time has come to take a step back and work on the business rather than in it.

To use the cliché, a healthy business is like a well-oiled machine, meaning it can run on its own. Your role needs to change from a management one to a leadership position so your business can have true value that exists beyond your name and your personal network. It’s time to create a strong senior management team that you trust to make important decisions on a day-to-day basis. When you have successfully done that, the next thing to do is to take a holiday. Yes! That elusive thing people with extra time do! If the business can run itself for a week or two, then pat yourself on the back because the value of your business has just increased.

3) Outsource the nonessentials

We recently wrote a blog covering this topic in more depth to help entrepreneurs decide if outsourcing is right for them or not. Have a read of it, and if you find it does make sense for your business, then we advise you to get going on it! Outsourcing is a fantastic way of getting access to high-quality skills at a cost-effective price. By outsourcing the nonessentials, you can focus on what you do best, streamline your processes and invest in the areas that really matter for business growth. As for those areas you can’t afford to outsource, automate them as much as possible.

4) Share wealth and opportunities amongst your team

We have already recommended that you should delegate by building a strong senior management team. However, if you’re going to invest in doing this, then you would want to make sure these key employees stick around for a while. For any business looking to grow, a high turn over of staff is a killer and a clear sign that something has gone wrong at the heart of your business. Hard working, loyal and talented people who want to help your business grow are vital to the lifeblood of a business looking to scale and you simply won’t compete on an international scale without them.

It’s a good idea to share wealth and opportunities amongst your key team members. This means not only paying your employees what they’re worth but incentivising them in other ways, such as offering them opportunities for self-development, investing in team bonding (whether that’s on-site or off-site), creating a pleasant workplace that has its own distinct character and perhaps even offering them shares in the company. Finding star employees is hard and so is keeping them, so it’s worth taking the time to make them feel valued because they are essential to the growth of your business.

If you’ve just finished the New Frontiers Programme, you might be wondering what comes next. If you’re looking to scale, you should definitely keep an eye out for the next Competitive Start Fund call. Providing access to fantastic one-on-one mentorship opportunities as well as funding, you’ll get all the support you need to take your business to the next level!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

A framework for founders: how one VC thinks about pre-seed investments

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

‘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 (the founder), are here for the VC’s money, not to get them to join your team. Consider this though; when you pitch to a VC, you are looking to inspire and excite. At our stage of investment, it’s about taking a leap of faith and believing in your vision and your team’s potential. Surely, this is also what you do when pitching talent you are looking to hire. So, if you can convince a VC to invest in you, great. If you can get a VC to actually join your team, all the better.

Sarah Tavel was so excited after meeting the founder of Pinterest that she invested and swiftly left Bessemer to join the company. Pinterest is now a $15 billion business. It wasn’t that way when Sarah joined — it was still another startup trying to break through the noise.

So, why is this is a good heuristic to access early-stage companies? The key assumption we’re making in venture is that you’re going to build a big business and the essential ingredient in building a big company is the ability to hire the best. In the early days, you’re unlikely to be competing on compensation, option grants are a long way from ever paying the bills, and the hours will likely be long and hard. The one thing that will attract top talent is your ability to tell a compelling story, display a truly unique insight into the problem you’re solving and to be overwhelmingly impressive when you first meet candidates. The team isn’t assessed just on who’s in the room, it’s imagining who might be in 12 months time.

2. From Chihuahuas to exit, can you find a big enough market to scale?

At Frontline, we track all the reasons why we pass on companies — market size, competitiveness, price, strength of team, etc. We then review all the companies we’ve passed on and check in on how they’re doing using the metric of funds raised (not ideal, we know, but it’s a simple public indicator of success).

Surprise, surprise; our data has shown us that multiple cases where we liked the team but passed on the opportunity because we thought the market was too competitive, we were often wrong. The reality is that good teams can succeed in hot markets. In those cases where we also liked the founders, but passed because we felt the market was too small, we have found that founders go on to struggle.

“When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.”

Warren Buffett

Warren Buffet lives by this mantra and the data proves it.

Even if you’re good — when you go after a small market in the early days you tend to go deeper into the niche rather than expanding outwards. This can cap your upside and in venture, if we don’t think there’s a viable route to an investment returning half our fund, we are likely to pass on it. Here’s how that practically plays out, on the back of an envelope:

Frontline Ventures Fund II: $70 million
Target ownership at exit: 10% – 20%
Required company value at exit: $150 million – $300 million
B2B SaaS forward revenue exit multiples: 5x – 10x (if growing minimum 2X YoY)
Company revenue required at exit: $15 million – $60 million
You can usually never expect to own more than 10% of any market, so the smallest addressable market we consider for an investment is about $150 million — in reality, to find that market segment you need to look for +$1 billion markets (or be able to make the case that the market is growing or that you can create it)
This is fund by fund. Some funds don’t care about ownership/exit multiples – they just care if they think you can build a $10 billion company and can they get a slice of it.

Larger target markets give you flexibility in the early days to figure things out. Longer-term, you must then narrow your focus as you get closer to your customer because once you go deep on a customer segment, it becomes much harder to get back to a larger market without pivoting the company.

One of the best (non-software) examples of this is Chihuahuas. (Yes, you read it correctly). Imagine you’re starting a pet-food business and you decide to start with gourmet, home-delivered meals for Chihuahuas. Let’s say it’s a $50 million market (🤪) that no one is addressing specifically, you can get a big slice of this right? Sure, there are plenty of Chihuahua owners. Plenty of them might have a high willingness to spend on their dogs’ health. But what if it turns out Chihuahua owners aren’t as loose with their wallets as you thought? You’ve gone too deep too early and now all that adorable marketing collateral goes into the bin.

What you could have done is start with the pet food market (multi-billion dollar market). Move down into the dog food market (still multi-billion dollar market). Then go gourmet. Still a huge market and very competitive. But if you follow the rule that you’re never going to own more than about 10% of a market in a best-case scenario, it is always wise to target the larger opportunity. Chihuahuas might turn out to be the right answer — but so might the Maltese or perhaps Pugs. (Analogy inspired by the very cool Butternut Box.)

3. Can you spot the shift beneath your feet?

The world is changing by the day. Yet, major shifts in platform and underlying technology only really happen once every couple of years. The shift to mobile in 2009/10 and the shift to cloud in 2012/13 spawned dozens of new unicorns. In the UK, the opening up of financial regulation in 2014 has since spawned some of the most successful breakout European companies in recent memory.

Often the way these changes empower startups is by opening up new distribution channels. Founders are up against sophisticated sales teams with great brand awareness and multiple routes to reach their customers. But what these incumbents gain in scale they lose in awareness and speed. New routes to customers inevitable open up – and founders that can find these channels early are on their way to building great companies.

One of the best examples of this is the rise of self-serve in SaaS. Founders like Melanie Perkins of Canva that recognised the early trend rode the wave of lower acquisition costs and viral distribution when it was at its peak, and has now built a huge company. Older companies such as Hubspot had to transition from an inside sales-driven growth model to a freemium product-led strategy. For a company like Hubspot, making that transition is expensive and hard. As a startup, you can do it tomorrow.

As a founder, it’s important to recognize key changes in technology and/or customer behaviour that will allow you to create new value. Was there a missing piece of functionality that previously did not exist, and that you can now leverage? Old products become bloated by features whilst new paradigms make better, faster and cheaper products possible. This is a startup’s opportunity. Think about mobile-GPS enabling ride-sharing and food delivery, or AJAX enabling fast content consumption in a browser, or accessible machine learning frameworks like TensorFlow opening opportunities for new analysis.

4. Who are your beachhead customers?

Finally, when meeting new founders, I am always looking for beachhead customers. If a product is to be adopted by new customers, a general rule of thumb — pulled from Zero to One — is that it has to be 10 times better than the existing alternative.

Of course, on day one your product isn’t going to be 10x (lol) better for all your potential customers. It’s not even going to be close for a lot of them. But customer pain is a sliding scale. For most customers, your initial product might only be a 2/3x improvement. But there will be a group for whom the pain you are solving is most acute.

Find these customers and obsess over solving their problem. When you do, nurture them. Grow a loyal and effective group of early advocates who love your solution. Leverage this group to raise capital and as you develop your offering you’ll find you’re a 10x solution for more and more of the market.

TL;DR

Early-stage VCs don’t look that closely at the product or the technology as those are rarely the things that trip up early-stage founders. It’s almost always one of the below:

The team isn’t right.
The market is too small.
The market isn’t ready.
The company is unable to find early customers.

If you’re speaking to us, know that this is the lens through which I evaluate an opportunity. I know it isn’t perfect, but I hope this gives you some guidance on how to shape your approach. And, if a VC turns you down, don’t be too disheartened. I got turned down by Frontline when I was in the early days of fundraising.

There are myriad reasons why you can be rejected; some subjective, others less so. At Frontline, we try to give constructive feedback to all the companies we engage. It can be hard to tell a founder you don’t believe in them personally, but more often than not, that’s the real reason. For founders, figuring out why VCs make the decisions they do is another part of what it takes to build a big company.

And remember, the ‘picking’ part of venture is tough. It’s as much our job to get it wrong as it is to get it right (+50% of pre-seed investments fail). But we want to partner with founders as early as possible – and as soon as you have a vision and a plan together. Ping me on finn@frontline.vc if you want to chat or just tell me why most of the above is wrong.

About the author

Finn Murphy

Finn Murphy is an Associate at Frontline Ventures, an early-stage venture fund specialising in B2B software. He spends most of his time searching for and working with the most ambitious founders in Ireland, Europe and the US. Finn focuses on finding founders at the earliest stages of company formation due to his recent experience building his own company and running the growth team at another early-stage startup.

With a First-Class Honours degree in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering from Trinity College Dublin under his belt, Finn had many doors open to him but was instinctively drawn to the startup environment. In college, he built a successful software business to digitise ID cards, starting with his classmates at Trinity. It was during the creation of this company that Finn learned the difficulty and necessity of raising external funding when building high growth startups.

Today, Finn loves working one-on-one with entrepreneurs and helping them find their path to building world-changing companies. In his spare time, if not glued to his laptop, Finn is most likely to be out kite surfing in Dublin Bay or planning his next adventure abroad.

The food business: when is a trend not a trend?

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 is to assess it against the key trend indicators for your sector. Your idea should meet a clear and defined need, solve a problem and align with at least one trend.

The 7 real trends shaping the food industry

Without fail, at the start of every year, a deluge of lists emanates from a myriad of sources, telling us what we ate last year, what we will be eating this year and, of course, what we should be eating. These lists are fun to read, but are linked in many ways to what is being sold by the source, whether it is a data house looking to sell more reports; food delivery companies promoting their businesses; or chefs/food gurus/influencers looking to build their profile.

The question is, how can you discern the wheat from the chaff? What’s a real trend versus a fun fad? It’s clear that a focus on health, community and the environment have taken centre stage of late in the food sector, along with a keen focus on “management of self” in a frantic, always-on, digital era.

Below is my take (please note, far from exhaustive!) on some key trends that a food start-up needs to consider before taking the plunge, along with a few examples of products that meet the trend test.

Food industry trend #1: Changing Meal Patterns

What some commentators describe as the “Fourth Meal”, this trend reflects the growing fragmentation of eating occasions. In our topsy-turvy and less structured world, with mobile and flexible working becoming the norm, breakfast has morphed into lunch and snacks have become mini-meals. Also, the final meal of the day is often a treat more than sustenance, which brings its own challenges. Products such as nutritional bars – a substantial and relatively healthy snack – have been trailblazers in this trend, with Fulfil at the forefront (followed by a long tail of competitors).

Food industry trend #2: Health is Wealth

Food & Beverage products in the health space cover a vast spectrum of interest areas and preferences, including disease prevention and holistic well-being all the way through to practical health management tools. Products that claim to aid sleep are a new phenomenon as people find it increasingly difficult to unwind, digitally detox and prepare for rest in the evening. Hot beverage brands such as House of Tea have capitalised on this trend by promoting the features and benefits of variants such as their “Sleep Well” product which has very specific (relaxing) ingredients.

Food industry trend #3: Nutritional Nurturing

It can be very difficult to communicate positive health messages to children that aren’t boring for them and at times it feels that a constant battle is being waged against sugar, which the parent is doomed to lose. I have therefore been eagerly awaiting the arrival of newly launched Hidden Heroes in my nearest Dunnes, and am hoping that my young son will no longer refer to vegetables as the “emeny”. The brainchild of Aileen Cox Blundell, these are junk-free vegetable snacks with 100% natural ingredients which tick all the boxes. Convenient (frozen), guilt-free (quality product) and with a razor focus on a child’s nutritional needs.

Food industry trend #4: Real People, Real Food

The artisan movement is no longer niche and there is huge interest now in knowing where your products come from and who has made them. On social media platforms, posts relating to product provenance generate strong engagement and empathy and add significantly to the user experience. Earlier this year, a small company in the west of Ireland garnered huge publicity following an appearance on a business makeover programme. Aran Islands Seaweed Pesto, an authentic product produced by likeable, relatable people, charmed the public as their journey from idea to product on a plate was shared. Catnip for Millennials.

Food industry trend #5: Kits are King

Meal kits are one of the fastest-growing segments in the market and have extended in all sorts of directions. Not just focused on meals any more, there are now kits for bread, cakes, biscuits, condiments, cheese and even beer. My absolute favourite is the recently launched Gin Fusion Kit from the Dublin company Drink Botanicals, which aims to enhance the gin experience. Interestingly, in the US, Amazon has introduced a new range of meal kits in Wholefoods, which link with Alexa-enabled devices to provide recipes and cooking instructions – appealing to gadget lovers who also seek convenience.

Food industry trend #6: Plant Protection

Interest in plant-based proteins is at an all-time high. Even children in their early teens (and sometimes younger) are choosing to follow meat-free diets. My own locality of Stoneybatter on Dublin’s north side could well be a candidate for vegan capital of Ireland (three vegan restaurants opening in the last few months). And it is becoming mainstream. California-based vegetarian burger company Beyond Meat has been the best-performing public offering in the US this year, currently holding a market capitalisation of $11.2bn, above Macy’s and Trip Advisor. Definitely not niche.

Food industry trend #7: Green Me

Now more than ever, there is a strong and growing sense of personal responsibility to effect positive changes and address the world’s increasingly pressing and worrying environmental issues. Reducing usage of packaging (especially plastics), commitments to green causes, effective management of food waste – consumers now demand and expect that food (and other) businesses will take their concerns more seriously. There are many great examples here however I particularly like Insomnia’s Mission Compostable campaign, which aims to replace all single-use items with either reusable or compostable alternatives by 2020. Clear, time-bound and accountable.

When you are sure your service or product meets at least one clearly identified trend, the first and most pertinent piece of advice you will receive on New Frontiers and elsewhere is to validate it. Be aware that research can be maddening! Just when you are sure your proposition is fully birthed and ready for launch, someone will throw a curveball. When this happens, take a deep breath. Embrace the feedback. Make any necessary changes, taking advantage of the many resources that are available. And above all, enjoy the experience, as I did.

About the author

Orla Donohoe

Orla Donohoe is a trends analyst, food sector advisor, content writer, and New Frontiers alumna. With a background in international business development, and a career spanning over 20 years in market and client facing roles in Bord Bia’s Dublin, London and Madrid offices, Orla has an immense knowledge of the food sector. Orla’s long experience in analysing trends and advising start-ups led her to the New Frontiers programme with her own business idea in 2018.

Orla is currently involved with a number of start-ups within the food and technology sectors. She blogs on her website, My Food Trends, and has recently analysed trends such as the rise of veganism, the popularity of street food and sustainability initiatives. Orla’s technology interests include content development and assessing new market opportunities for IoT solutions.

How to decide whether to outsource or keep everything in-house

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 on everything and each department in your company needs to start regulating themselves.

As you figure out how to navigate this evolution of your business, there will be a big question that you’ll have to answer early on, and that is “Should we outsource, or should we keep everything in-house?” We’ve narrowed down the primary determinants when considering this question to 1) Expertise, 2) Cost, 3) Time, and 4) Control. In this blog, we’re going to look at the pros and cons concerning each to help you decide which is the best solution for you.

The pros and cons of outsourcing vs keeping it in-house

Expertise

Your business has a core skillset that allows you to offer certain products and services in the marketplace, so it makes sense to keep these types of skills in-house. However, when it comes to other areas – such as marketing, IT, accounting, or recruitment – you may find your team is lacking. You can hire individuals with these skills, but how many people will you need and at what level of experience? Do you have the right knowledge to be able to recruit the correct individuals for the role?

One of the main advantages of outsourcing is that you get immediate access to a team of specialists highly skilled in their area. Rather than hiring someone who knows just a thing or two about IT, for example, outsourcing provides you with technology experts dedicated to getting you results. On the other hand, you may prefer growing your expertise from the inside so you can ensure you have your own stamp on every project while also learning from experiences.

Cost

Outsourcing is by far the more cost-effective solution when compared to an in-house option. The outsourced agency doesn’t require benefits, training, space, tools, holiday pay, or a Christmas bonus. You don’t have to waste resources on a recruitment process, and instead of paying a salary, you only pay for hours worked or input received. Some will say that this doesn’t matter if there is a loss in quality, which can happen when you give an outside source control over an aspect of your business. However, this is simply a matter of doing your due diligence before choosing which outsourced agency or consultant to partner with.

Time

One of the primary motivations for outsourcing is because it gives you more time to focus on your business. Many hours can be eaten up trying to get to grips with financial budgets, marketing analytics, or troubleshooting technical difficulties if these are not your areas of expertise. However, you will only save time by outsourcing if you have good communication channels available.

There are four main reasons why working with an outsourced company can prove problematic if communication is a problem:

Projects slide because you’re not used to working with people remotely.
Project briefs are not clear enough, therefore resulting in inaccuracies and multiple revisions.
You haven’t built up a proper level of trust with your outsourced agency and end up spending a lot of time micromanaging their work.
You and your outsourced agency are working in different time zones.

However, it is worth noting that most of these problems can occur with bad in-house time management as well. Employees working from home can become isolated from their team, vague briefs can result in mistakes, micromanaging employees can take up a lot of time and, if you have expanded internationally, you may find your team is working across different time zones. The lesson here is to find a way to improve those communication channels early on in your business’s progression, whether you choose to outsource or not.

Control

Working with an outside firm is often viewed as a partnership rather than an employment situation. Therefore, instead of having ultimate control over employee work processes, determining how you prefer things to be done from start to finish, you have a situation in which you hand over a project to a team of experts in another company and they get you results their way. Of course, you will be able to specify certain details, such as how many leads you want, the budget, the expected outcome, etc., but the core impulse behind outsourcing is that you recognise the agency to be more experienced than you in a certain area and that is why you are willing to hand over control to them. You have to decide whether this is something you are happy to do when deciding to outsource a service or keep it in-house.

Scaling up? Enterprise Ireland provides funding for established SMEs in areas such as developing your management team, market research and internationalisation, developing your management team, productivity and business process improvement, as well as company expansion. Find out more on their Established SME funding page.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

A strong employer brand is essential for attracting top talent

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 these other draws and having a strong employer brand is a powerful enticement for job seekers.

What is an employer brand?

Having an employer brand is how you market your company to job seekers. Just like with the marketing of products and services, the promises you make to jobseekers should be fulfilled at all stages of the recruitment process and followed up on in the work environment. For example, if you market your company as “daring, innovative and fun” but then the job candidate quickly finds out that the office space is a cardboard cut out of every other office they’ve seen and their interviewer comes across as stern and a sticker for the rules, the expectations that brought them to your door in the first place have been shattered. This is why is it important that your employer brand is a clearly defined personality for your company which is holistically incorporated into every aspect of the organisation.

How do you create an employer brand?

Considering that the average person spends a third of their waking life at work and that people are more aware than ever before of the importance of a healthy work/life balance, where someone chooses to work is a serious consideration for them. Therefore, if you have the ability to offer benefits and perks that people with the skills you desire would appreciate, then it makes sense to construct an employer brand that acts as a platform for these advantages. But what does this look like in practice?

Case study: Lush

A great example of employer branding done right is the cosmetics retailer, Lush. When Lush holds their open call recruitment events, they truly are an event! Hopeful job seekers are known to queue for hours to be in with a chance of working as a sales assistant at Lush. But why? For anyone not in the know, Lush on the surface would appear to be your typical high-street retailer that pays their employees an average wage without commission. The hype all comes down to their employer branding, which they’ve perfected.

Lush’s employer brand is all about injecting positivity, fun and a heavy dose of quirkiness into life while also being steadfastly ethical and environmentally conscious. Lush defines itself as being a challenger of the status quo, a champion of individuality and relentlessly passionate about everything they do. Vibrant colours, bold images and a generous amount of sparkle dominate their image and they employ a complementary informal brand voice. Their typical customer identifies intimately with the brand and many fans, or “Lushies” as they call themselves, even help Lush spread the word about new products with their organic user-generated content. It makes sense that more often than not Lush’s employees are also their customers.

In keeping with their branding, you won’t hear humdrum questions such as “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” during a job interview, but rather they’ll ask “Which fictional character do you think is most like you and why?” Staff frequently have opportunities to exercise their creativity by submitting and implementing concept and design ideas for seasonal campaigns. When an employee’s birthday comes around, they will get to have the day off and employees are regularly invited to participate in Lush industry events. With passion being a key Lush trait, employees get to try new products for free and enjoy 50% off all products so that they are truly invested in what they are selling.

More than a job

What Lush has managed to do is create an employer brand that is also a lifestyle choice. People want to work there because they feel that Lush represents them in more ways than simply a job title. In this scenario, employees feel valued for who they are as individuals and not just for the skills they provide. When you show your employees that you value them, they become ambassadors of your brand and when that happens attracting and retaining staff is no longer a problem. The key to a successful employer brand is the crafting of a story that people want to be a part of and proving the truth of that story throughout the employee experience.

If colour and sparkle don’t feel like the right style brand for you, remember that Virgin, The Boring Company, Google and The Walt Disney Company all are examples of successful employers brands with very diverse company personalities and employee benefits. Your employer brand is only limited by your imagination!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Financial advice every startup entrepreneur needs to hear

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 and be ready to scale up. If that sounds good to you, then check out our 4 financial tips below that will whip your finances into shape.

4 financial tips for startups

1. Tighten up your cash flow

For most startups, the issue with cash flow is lagging debtors. Debtor days is how long it takes a client to pay you for your services and chances are some of your debtors are more casual about it than you’d prefer. At the beginning, when you’re trying to get your business off the ground, slow debtors can cause a lot of stress and frustration. The best thing you can do is nip this in the bud from the being.

Firstly, decide if you can afford to provide a credit period. If you can’t, then you need to plainly outline this in your service contract. Some companies ask for part of the payment up front. However, if you are going after bigger, more established clients, chances are they will expect a credit period that can range from 30 to 60 days. Manage this by setting a clear credit period that suits you and prompt clients to pay with a friendly reminder approaching the end of their payment window. If this goes unrecognised, have a second reminder quickly sent from a more senior team member. If you still have no success, then send a legal follow-up and stop doing business for this client until payment comes through.

If you are trying to build up a book of clients in the early stages of your business, this approach may sound aggressive, but in the long run it’s better to have an established process in place to manage debtors because it directly affects your cash flow which is the lifeline of your business.

2. Get financial and tax advice

If you’re not an accountant and you don’t employ the services of an accountant, then chances are you are missing out on many opportunities to make tax savings for your business. From Entrepreneur Relief to Startup Refunds for Entrepreneurs (SURE) to R&D tax credits, there is a lot of support available in Ireland for startups. A financial advisor that specialises in small businesses can provide you with invaluable tax advice that is vital for giving startups the breathing space they need to grow.

There are also numerous state and private funding sources for startups, from microfinance loans to incubator funding to angel investment. A good place to start is your local LEO, and the Enterprise Ireland website also has extensive information on their funding supports (so both tax saving and funding sources). Of course, we can’t but mention our own programme, New Frontiers! We are Ireland’s only national entrepreneur development programme, and as well as providing office space, mentoring, and training, the New Frontiers programme offers Phase 2 participants a €15,000 tax-free stipend.

3. Have access to a bank overdraft

Getting a loan and being financially healthy may sound contradictory, but bear with us! We’re returning to the issue of cash flow. Let’s say for some reason or another your business stops making a profit for a few months. Perhaps your premise was flooded, or you lost a few big clients in a row. Do you have a strategy in place to weather the storm?

Bank overdrafts are not always easily accessed when you suddenly need one. After all, what bank wants to loan money a business when it’s failing? It is much better to set up this facility in advance, when your balance sheet is looking healthy. That way everything is ready to go when disaster strikes, and guess what? With this lifesaver overdraft facility at the ready, it’s not such a disaster after all. It’s just another bump in the road on your way to success.

4. Consider outsourcing

When you’re expanding your business, you might imagine everything you do will be inhouse because you want to retain as much control as possible. However, outsourcing can be a lot more cost-effective if your ambition is to scale up. Doing everything yourself makes sense when you’re a startup, but if you plan on growing your business then this can prove too costly. Hiring an in-house team of marketers or accountants or IT professionals is expensive, and that’s before you take into account the office space and equipment that comes with them. Outsourced services don’t only make financial sense, but you also gain access to the valuable insights of experts in their field. Now you can focus on what you do best and save money at the same time.

If you have a startup idea and would like to take it to the next level, read more about the New Frontiers programme and see our calendar of upcoming application deadlines around the country.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Grow smarter and faster by automating tedious work tasks

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 this space, Musk is working on ‘neural lace’) but as he explains, “You can answer any question, you can video conference with anyone, anywhere. You can send messages to millions of people instantly. Just do incredible things.” The question is, are you ready to embrace your inner cyborg? If you are then you’ll find you can easily automate tedious work tasks with your not-so-secret superpower – technology.

5 ways to automate tasks in your company

1. Clean up your inbox!

We might as well start with the bane of your working life – your inbox! The emails never stop coming, and god forbid you should go on holiday because when you return you’re going to have to spend a whole day tunnelling through that backlog! The average worker receives 121 emails a day and sends 40, so how can automation help?

Most email platforms, such as Gmail and Outlook, have inbuilt automation tools so you can easily categorise emails by importance. Smart Labels in Gmail or Rules in Outlook allow you to automatically sort your incoming emails based on the sender’s details or keywords. Both email platforms allow you to schedule emails to be delivered at a specific time. You can do this in Outlook by clicking the more options arrow in the ‘Tags’ section of your email or use the plugin Boomerang for Gmail. You can also design email templates for messages you find yourself sending repetitively to save time and avoid errors.

2. Start using voice-to-text software

Sometimes it’s the simplest pieces of technology that can save the most time at work. No one marvels at the wonders of a calculator anymore, but it is one the handiest pieces of office equipment! This is the kind of automation we need in other areas of our working life, a solution that completes a task quickly and precisely every time. Voice-to-text software is just that. Dictation solutions have come on leaps and bounds in recent years and for anyone who finds themselves writing at length on a daily basis, this is a must! If you’re looking for a free version, GoogleDocs Voice Typing is a great choice.

3. Be an automation whizz with Zapier or IFTTT

If you’re serious about automating tasks at work, then you probably have heard about IFTTT and Zapier before. Both applications allow you to sync various solutions so that you can have your Gmail talking to your Dropbox account, or your Twitter triggering messages in your preferred Slack channel. These platforms perform by letting you design rules that in practice look like this: if X occurs then Y must happen.

X could be your company name being tagged on Twitter and Y could be the notification of this in a Slack channel. This one would be very handy for the marketing department, but there are useful rule combinations for everyone in the office. If you’re not sure what you need automated, that’s not a problem – take a look at their library of predesigned rules and find out what’s popular with other users.

4. Get real financial insights with Xero or Bullet

Human error is inevitable, but you don’t want it to happen in your financial accounts. Accounting solutions such as Xero and Bullet (an Irish company) can help you automate repetitive tasks while also providing business intelligence that would otherwise get lost! They enable you to automate payroll, invoicing, expense claims, approval processes, payments, and reports. If your bank allows live feeds, reconciliation becomes a breeze.

Knowing which of these is best for you will depend on your needs, but they both have time-saving features the overworked entrepreneur will appreciate. Bullet, for instance, does automatic mileage calculations and can post Revenue returns directly to ROS. Xero is powerful for growing startups because of the hundreds of other systems it can connect to – stock control, POS, project management, booking, time tracking, CRM, and other business tools. These are cloud accounting solutions, which means everything is safely backed up and encrypted in the cloud, allowing you to always have access to what you need, when you need it.

5. Automation for customer relationship management

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is the go-to for businesses that have a lot of customers to manage and want to design an effective sales pipeline personalised to each individual. With CRM tools you can automate many different aspects of your company’s communication with your customers, such as the initial “Welcome” email, follow up emails, automatic reminders that a subscription is coming to an end and automatic updates to customer profiles and calendars. With customer-centric automation such as this, you can nurture long-lasting customer relationships, boost your brand reputation and capture more leads.

Automation results in higher productivity, reduced operating costs, streamlined processes and the protection of your competitive edge. What’s not to like? Beep-bop-boop, cyborgs are go!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Nicky Bowman chats about sales strategies and finding your first customers

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 about sales, and this is likely to be far out of your comfort zone. For the first few years at least, you won’t be generating the kind of turnover that will enable you to hire a salesperson, so that duty is going to fall on you as founder. But sales is a lot more skilled than many founders imagine, and it’s important to go about it the right way. If you go out there with the impression that a monkey could do it, you’re probably in for a big shock.

Tell us more about what makes for a good sales strategy

Sales is not about going out and telling people how fabulous your product/service is and how excited they should be. The chances are you’ll have a great meeting but won’t actually sell anything. When done right, sales brings a customer to the understanding that they need your product, but very few people will make that connection for themselves. It’s the reason a lot of new startups get off the ground but then struggle to get past the first handful of sales. I think a lot of organisations tend to throw a lot of mud at the wall – they might do a huge amount of untargeted marketing, for example, in the hope that people will pick up on it and make the connection. But, as they say, hope is not a strategy!

A good sales strategy is quite targeted then? How do founders go about that?

Yes, the key to success is to find those people who are willing to make the switch to you despite the fact you don’t have a track record. These ‘early adopters’ as they are known are your first target market. You need to identify the reasons why they might be interested in your service/product and then align your approach with those reasons. You start this process by identifying which organisations – and which individuals within those organisations – are likely to be willing to try something a bit different so you can focus on them. This would be in the B2B market, obviously.

That sounds difficult if you don’t have inside knowledge of the company. How is this done?

You’ll want to be quite programmatic about it. It all starts with good research. You should look for those organisations that are less traditional, ones that may have been early adopters of other solutions or processes in the past. You can tell a lot of that just from their mission statements and the texts on their websites. Do they talk about being innovative? Or do they talk about being steady and reliable? With good market research, you can identify those forward-thinking organisations to target. Then ask yourself questions such as: What is their process for buying and who needs to be involved? Would they need to do some kind of trial or pilot? Do they have to go through a committee for approval? That will show you how to make your initial approach to them.

It sounds like a data-led approach is most likely to get results?

Absolutely, it’s all about data. But it often surprises me that people who have a very data-led approach to the rest of the business start making a lot of assumptions when it comes to sales. Experience in an industry doesn’t always mean experience of a market. The ideal candidate for purchase is often not the one the startup founder assumed. The way to get over this gap in assumptions is to ask yourself WHY? If you think your ideal prospect is a 40-year-old male in business development, ask yourself why you think that and look for evidence to back it up. You won’t know who to get in touch with until you have a solid grasp on the market and the prospects you need to target.

And what needs to happen once that first contact with the right prospect is made?

Even if you’re not experienced in sales, you can still build out a strong process to support the sales function. This involves establishing how a prospect will make a decision and determining how you can help them along that path. If your product/service is fairly expensive, there is likely to be a reasonably complex decision-making process on the purchaser’s side. The scenario where you walk into your first meeting and someone says “I love your stuff, here’s a cheque” is for movies. The more likely situation is that you first raise awareness, then you establish interest, and then you move on to talk numbers. But because you’ve already found out what their decision-making process is, you’ll be able to help them at each stage.

What should happen once someone does say ‘Yes’?

It’s fairly common for people to say ‘Yes’ in the room, but you must never stop with your process until you have a signed order in your hand. They may say they want to work with you, they may say the product/service looks great and they can’t wait to get going, but what you want is concrete action. This is where your robust process will keep the wheels turning: Can I call you next week? Who needs to approve this? How can we get a Purchase Order raised? Your sales process should help people along the journey of Awareness, Interest, Decision and Action.

Are there any common mistakes you see inexperienced salespeople repeat?

Yes, it’s very common to see what we call the show-up-and-throw-up method, which is just to sit there telling the prospect everything you can about your product/service. The key skill in selling isn’t to talk until you establish interest, it’s to ask questions so that you can establish WHY they might be interested. The other thing people do is they keep talking after the prospect has shown clear interest. Once someone is interested, they don’t need to hear, “It also does this, and it can do that.” They’re interested, so now you need to start asking for action. Ask for a commitment, or get decision-makers into the room, whatever the next step is according to your process.

What would be your key takeaways for the founder fulfilling their own sales function?

The headline for me is that selling is a profession like any other and you have to learn the skills involved to do it well. You can’t wing it. As a founder, it’s likely that you’ll have to take on sales at the beginning because you’re bootstrapping. And you probably dream of the day you start making a bit of money and can hire a salesperson to take this task over. My advice to you is to not do that until the day you can afford to make the wrong hire. The issue is that hiring salespeople is even harder than selling, because salespeople are really good at interviews. They’re salespeople, after all. So, before you make that hire, and it’s an expensive one to make, think about how much it will cost you if it doesn’t work out.

But I don’t want to end on a negative note! Sales is simply a skill and a set of processes that anyone can learn. You can too, and who better than you in those early days to go out and sell the product or service you’ve developed. I’ve seen entrepreneurs who really don’t like selling and are not naturally a fit for it learn to do it very well. They’ve understood that it’s all about developing a good process and they’ve adjusted to that way of thinking. And it’s worked for them.

You can find out more about Nicky Bowman and her sales coaching at www.salescoach.consulting

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Drone Consultants Ireland wins European Satellite Navigation Competition

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 real-time visual data and pinpoints locations to assist emergency services and disaster relief in remote or inaccessible areas. It monitors up to 300 square kilometres from a fixed position, with flight times up to 500 hours. It can also operate in adverse environments without risking lives.
Jack in the Box can provide reliable positioning data to support emergency services, environmental protection, government bodies, civil defence, and border control on land, at sea, and in remote locations. It offers benefits such as reliable real-time data, extended flight times, re-usable hardware, the ability to network multiple devices, variable payload options, and cost-efficiency compared to standard aircraft.

Drone Consultants Ireland New Frontiers company wins European Satellite Navigation Competition

Peter Downey, Ian Kiely, Keith Tracey (Drone Consultants Ireland) with Bruce Hannah, (Irish National Space Centre)

Congratulating Ian Kiely on winning the European Finals, Dr. Annie Doona, President of the Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dún Laoghaire praised the winning submission:

“We were delighted when Ian Kiely, a New Frontiers DIT/IADT graduate company from the Media Cube, won the recent Ireland Regional Competition of the 2018 ESNC Awards. To win the overall European Award is a remarkable achievement. I would like to congratulate Ian Kiely and his team and thank him for his engagement with the staff and students at IADT.”

Jessica Fuller, Head of the Directorate of Creativity, Innovation & Research at IADT commented:

“It is uplifting when a New Frontiers graduate flourishes on the programme and Ian’s success is well deserved. “The real value comes from the mentoring and financial supports available through the Media Cube. We are always looking to support entrepreneurs and innovators with a thirst for international success. It’s wonderful to see innovators like Drone Consultants Ireland being acknowledged and awarded for the risks they take. A considerable amount of effort and research made the Jack in the Box vision a reality. We look forward to working with Ian and Drone Consultants Ireland on future projects’.

The Media Cube works in partnership with Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Office in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council and beyond. It provides state-of-the-art facilities including office space, meeting rooms, boardroom and canteen facilities, serviced reception areas and of course the best sea views from its rooftop terrace!

Ann Marie Phelan, Enterprise & Innovation Manager at the Media Cube and New Frontiers Programme Manager in partnership with DIT Hothouse, works closely with client ventures to help them formulate and refine their proposition and navigate the investment options available to support the growth of their start-up. She is delighted with how well the company is doing:

“The success of Drone Consultants Ireland centres on the fact that they started from the premise of building their technology around the problems faced by the emergency services in dealing with natural disaster events. The technology was specifically tailored to address the problems of trying to properly survey inaccessible locations, the need to speedily determine whether there were injuries or fatalities and the need to identify the most efficient rescue route out of the disaster area. A classic example of responding to the pain points of those they wished to serve.”

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Emer O’Donnell chats about product-market fit and finding your sweet spot

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 question, how do you define the product-market fit strategy?

One of the participants at the Founder’s Forum summed it up beautifully, way better than I could – customers are banging down the door for your stuff. Two authors have written a lot about this, Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits. Their definition of product-market fit is as follows:

Product-market fit, the match between product and market segment that results in high growth or high demand. So many customers are demanding your product that a clear market signal has been sent saying your product is needed.

Brant Cooper & Patrick Vlaskovits

Is there any way to measure it?

There are a couple of people who’ve written extensively about product-market fit in the last five to 10 years, and they’ve come up with mathematical ways of measuring it. I think those are really helpful for start-ups to look at because it takes you a little bit away from the kind of “art” or “voodoo” of am I there or am I not? and instead provides something factual for you to measure.

So, the first one of those is from Sean Ellis. Sean was the original growth hacker or marketeer behind the initial viral growth of Dropbox. Sean’s suggestion for measuring product-market fit is to ask your customers a very simple question, and that question is “How would you feel if you could no longer use or buy my product?” You give customers optional answers such as wouldn’t care, would care a bit, would be disappointed and would be very disappointed. You obviously need a reasonably sized sample to do this, but Sean’s view is that if more than 40% of the people say that they would be very disappointed if they could no longer use your product, then you probably have product-market fit!

As a trainer with the New Frontiers programme, you have a lot of hands-on experience with start-ups. What are the warning signs that they don’t have product-market fit?

If I look at the start-ups that we interact with, one of the indicators to me that a company may be at product-market fit would be when I hear them talk about the challenges in their business and they’re not talking about sales. When I hear start-ups talking about things like “My sales cycles are taking too long”, or “I’m struggling to find customers”, or “I’m missing my sales target”, that’s an indicator to me that they don’t have product-market fit.

I think one of the big mistakes that we see with start-ups that don’t have product-market fit is that they start spending money in places that they shouldn’t be spending it. There is this concept of a growth pyramid which says that at the bottom of the pyramid you should have product-market fit. You need this as a solid foundation first, and then you build everything else on top of it.

One of the most common mistakes I see start-ups making is that they hire a sales team before they have product-market fit, and then they wonder why the sales team doesn’t work out. If you’re not at product-market fit, then you either need to refocus the target audience or you need to tweak the product. But either way you need to keep your cash burn low.

To recap, product-market fit is when the market is sending out a clear signal that there is a need for whatever product or service you’re offering. Often the challenge when a company hits that point will be related to delivery, and not to sales.

Let’s say you are a start-up that does have product-market fit. What would be your advice then?

OK, on the flip side of that is say one of the companies that I am working with right now on the Founder’s Forum. They have product-market fit, and they are hesitating over expanding the team and raising money. Now they are at risk of a competitor coming in and taking the market from them. It is a balancing act. If you go too far, you run the risk that you are not building on a solid foundation; but if you go too slowly, you can miss the boat. It’s about balancing the two.

What are your key steps for achieving product-market fit?

There are three elements. The first is that they have a well-defined sweet spot or target market. They need to be very clear about who they are targeting. This can be a real challenge for a young company, because often they go too broad and go for, say, “Everyone in North America”! You need to focus down and get really clear about it.

The second one is what is the customer trying to do? What is the problem they are trying to solve or the job they are trying to get done? And knowing how you deliver in value against that and being really solid about that.

The last one is understanding why customers should choose you over the competition. You need to be clear about how you’re different from the competition. The three of these things working together is the recipe for product-market fit. If any one of them is out of whack, you are unlikely to hit product-market fit.

It’s important to remember that the answers don’t lie in your team, but in your customers. You need to be good at getting out and listening to your customers in a very open way, without assumptions. Most people will go out and look for the answers they want to hear. Instead of asking “That’s a good idea, isn’t it?” you should have a much more open set of questions to explore and get new insights. I did an exercise over the summer when I talked to 10 of our own customers, and I got some really good insights. I learned things about how our customers view us that I would never have guessed. But it’s all in the way you ask the questions.

If you’d like more insights from Emer, sign up for the monthly email sent out by her company, Select Strategies, examining the issues which affect growth in many companies.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Drone Consultants Ireland (DCI) wins regional competition of ESNC 2018

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT). The company was founded in 2016 by Ian Kiely and Peter Downey to provide consultancy and support to a variety of emergency response services, government entities and private clients as well as organising and hosting the Drone & Tech Expo Ireland. Ian Kiely is a recent alumnus of Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme at IADT.

Receiving the award, DCI’s COO Ian Kiely said,

“We are really excited to receive this award and are also looking forward to attending Space Week in Marseille in December to compete for the top awards. We believe this product has significant potential and we are working to bring it to market. DCI is a growing company and we are looking at partnerships and preparing for funding in the immediate future to launch a successful commercial product. We are grateful to the New Frontiers programme and for the ongoing support from Enterprise Ireland and The Media Cube at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) in Dún Laoghaire where we are currently based.”

Bruce Hannah, CTO of the National Space Centre and head of the Irish judging panel said,

“The Jack-In-The-Box entry from DCI demonstrates the potential which satellite navigation data holds to deliver life-saving new technologies to the world stage. The DCI entry leverages existing technology alongside innovation with exponential potential. We wish Ian and his team every success in Marseille.”

Annie Doona, President of IADT, praised DCI for their commitment to research and development,

“Innovative companies like DCI make more than a commercial impact – their technology has the potential to save lives in the aftermath of a vast array of natural disasters. Through their risk-taking and tenacity, we all stand to benefit and we wish them every success in the finals of the ESNC competition.”

For further information, contact Ann Marie Phelan, Enterprise & Innovation manager at the Media Cube, IADT: annmarie.phelan @ iadt.ie / 086 701 5922.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Insights: The five WHYs of New Frontiers

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 following another path to start up. Based on my experience with founders applying to New Frontiers, I thought it might be useful for potential participants to explore how the 5 Whys might be used in such a situation, and what supplementary questions might be relevant. These are not necessarily in any particular order.

WHY am I doing this?

Why am I starting a new venture? Am I an entrepreneur? Am I willing and able to make the hard decisions, initially on my own? Am I ready to leave my employment/give up my regular earnings to enter the uncertain world of startups?

Remember that there is very little you can do self-employed that cannot be done employed. A startup is not for everyone.

WHY am I doing the New Frontiers programme?

Given the great variety of paths to startup, how is this programme the best or most appropriate method of supporting my plan of action for the business? There are many other supports and agencies out there, so how does this match my needs and strategy?

Remember that New Frontiers is not suitable for every startup.

WHY will the customers buy what I’m planning to offer?

Do I have a strong initial understanding of my customers, their pain and my solution, my Customer Value Proposition? Can I articulate it clearly? If not, then how am I going to trial and validate anything?

Remember, this may change, or pivot, during Phase 2, but you need to start with a clear focus and understanding.

WHY do I think there is a business in it?

Is this going to be a ‘need to have’, rather than a ‘nice to have’? What do I know of my market/domain, from a commercialisation point of view? How will I define and progress the market opportunity in terms of scale, niche, accessibility, addressability, route to market, go to market, and most importantly initial sales? How do I think I will make money at this?

Remember, if you can’t figure out how to sell profitably, you could end up with an expensive experiment.

WHY will investors back it?

Will I be able to address the main question investors ask: What’s in it for me? Will I end up with a proposition that’s sufficiently compelling for future investors?

Remember, during Phase 2, we address and progress all of the above (and more) elements of your business. You can use the programme to gather evidence, document and deliver strongly. You will also be able to prepare and practice for pitching to professional investors.

Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme is a strong blend of time, space and support mechanisms for startups, and their founders, to prepare and progress to an advanced stage. It is an opportunity for you to build a business proposition and skillset on a strong foundation. But it only works if you can and do ask yourself the ‘hard questions’ – like WHY!

Thinking of applying to Phase 2 of New Frontiers? Read Colm’s post: Tips for making a successful Phase 2 application.

About the author

Colm Ó Maolmhuire

Colm is the New Frontiers Programme Manager at TU Dublin – Blanchardstown Campus. He has nearly 30 years’ experience operating as an independent, professional management trainer, mentor and consultant. His main areas of expertise are in finance, business planning/analysis and management skills.

Lean Startup: using customer-focused development processes

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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

The customer-focused development process which was originally developed by Steve Blank is at the heart of the lean startup. The answers about which features to build and which markets to target are to be found out in the field talking to customers, not at the whiteboard. The only way an idea can be turned into a successful business is through a process of validated learning and the lean startup lays out key steps to achieve this:

Identify your key “leap of faith” assumptions about your product and customer
Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test these assumptions as quickly and cheaply as possible
Measure your customer reactions
Learn from the data collected during the customer development process
Change direction if your hypotheses are disproven (pivot or persevere)
Iterate on your original idea based on the feedback

Building a Minimum Viable Product – perfection is the enemy

The goal with an MVP is to push it out rapidly with a minimum of time, development effort and expense. If your team is in a position to develop a software product in-house it is easy to become obsessed with the quality of your offering and spend too much time building features and refining the user experience.

The unfortunate fact is that quality is irrelevant if nobody wants what you are building. Rather than building out out a fully realised product and then starting to look for feedback, in the lean startup approach, the idea is to build the most basic demo possible and iterate on it early and often with customer input. If your potential customers complain about missing features this can be used to drive product development in the next iteration.

“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn founder

IMVU – a harsh lesson in customer validation

In The Lean Startup, Eric Reiss details how his startup IMVU spent months coding a complex backend system that would allow interoperability of various instant messaging clients. Once it was ready to ship they found that no one would even download their new 3D messaging client it in the first place, so the entire development effort went to waste. They had failed to test some of the most basic assumptions about their customers before committing to a development effort. The author comes to the crushing realisation that they could have learned just as much about their customers by creating a simple sign up page where they could have gauged early interest without committing to a costly development process.

Dropbox – a highly effective MVP

As a counterpoint to IMVU’s failure to validate with customers, the author describes how the founder of Dropbox used a cleverly edited video to show how Dropbox would work in practice, long before any actual software had been developed that would allow it to work in real life. Overnight, this video allowed them to sign up over 70,000 people who wanted to use the service, proving they were meeting a real market need.

Customer development over product development

Most startups that don’t make it have usually failed due to a lack of customers rather than a lack of product development. Placing the customer at the heart of the development process, as outlined in the lean startup, is crucial for a successful outcome.

Lean Startup methodology, along with Steve Blank’s customer-focused development process and Alex Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas, provides an excellent framework that any startup can use to test its hypotheses with the market and develop products that serve real customer needs.

About the author

Dara Burke

Dara Burke is a past participant of the New Frontiers programme in the north-west and the founder of ShowhouseVR, a virtual reality startup that enables users to visit spaces before they are built. He has combined his deep industry knowledge with a passion for technology to launch a VR startup serving the construction sector.

Dara is a qualified architect and 3D visualisation specialist and has worked as a design architect, project manager and team leader in the construction industry since 2004. Working as an architect, he specialised in large housing developments and high-end residential projects. He has over 20 years’ experience working in 3D visualisation and is an expert in VR development, real-time rendering technology and adapting game engines for commercial uses.

Innovation: give your SME a competitive edge with SBIR

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 unresolved problem. The idea is for small businesses to present innovative solutions to government agencies and public sector bodies to resolve societal problems. Each problem statement is tested through a competitive challenge.

Each challenge is divided into two phases. Phase 1 is a technical feasibility study, and enables the company to really understand the scale of the problem. At the end of this phase, the companies present their findings and recommendations for Phase 2. A smaller number of companies are selected for Phase 2. Successful companies develop working prototypes that are tested in the field. Illegal dumping, flooding, and increasing the number of cyclists on city roads are just some of the challenges local councils have put to market through SBIR.

(l-r) Therese Langan, Transformation Project Manager, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Marguerite Bourke, Manager, SBIR Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Nicola Graham, Smart Dublin Regional Data Coordinator.

(l-r) Maeve McGonnell, LexIcon Library, Tony Lawlor, Challenge Champion (Bathing Water Quality) Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Therese Langan, Transformation Project Manager, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Marguerite Bourke, Manager, SBIR Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Ronan Herron, Digital Strategy Officer, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Mary Hegarty, Challenge Champion (Internet of Things) Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

SBIR Advantages for SMEs

SBIR is a unique and practical approach with benefits for both the public and private sectors. Public procurers can drive innovation in a direction that meets their needs. Young businesses are given the opportunity to put their prototypes to the test, giving them that all-important competitive edge upon entry to the market. An SBIR award is not a grant, rather it is a 100% funded development contract, where the company get to work hand in hand with the specifiers to address the problem at hand. It’s a win-win for everyone involved!

SBIR also provides opportunities for businesses to collaborate with other key stakeholders. After demonstrating success through a public procurement process, many products will go on to provide other real-world applications. Companies retain intellectual property rights over their product with certain rights of use retained by the contracting department. This enables the company to replicate the SBIR success in other public and private markets globally.

Thinking outside the box

Local authorities face a variety of challenges when managing cities and counties. Traditionally, when going out to procurement, authorities specify the type of solutions they were seeking. These pre-conceived specifications often made it difficult for companies to come back with novel approaches.

The beauty of SBIR is that it allows innovators from outside the local authority to look at a problem with fresh eyes, providing much more innovative solutions. Now, authorities can access and test new technologies that they might not otherwise have considered.

“For many years there hasn’t been the fast pace of technology, while searching for municipal solutions councils would have spent a lot of time developing what programs to put in place and what kind of infrastructure they might have. SBIR means that things move much faster and it’s much easier to go to the market and say ‘here’s our problem’.”

Philomena Poole, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County council

SBIR’s impact on Irish SMEs

By providing a budget for product development and feedback from reference customers, SBIR helps start-ups overcome obstacles to the commercialisation of their prototypes.

Take Sparrowatch as an example. This SME produces smart, low-cost security cameras. Company founder and CEO, David Tunney, had been developing and experimenting with different security camera ideas for a while and, through the SBIR Challenge, his security cameras became the solution to illegal dumping that local councils needed. Before he got in contact with SBIR, the business was not yet trading!

The growth and expansion of Sparrowatch is a typical example of how an unmet need in the public sector was addressed by the technological development of a small business. David Tunney is certain that the benefits of the SBIR programme were invaluable for his business and “unique, in that you can actually talk directly to your customers and get validation on your concepts”.

Sparrowatch is now working with all four Dublin local authorities in partnership with Enterprise Ireland in a bid to tackle illegal dumping and fly-tipping.

Case Study: Liberty Bell Project – safer cycling in Dublin

Conor Cahill and Síle Ginnane run a development company called FluidEdge Innovation. Conor has a keen interest in cycling and as well as volunteering with Dublin Cycling Campaign, he had worked on a wearable medical device and was keen to work on more Internet of Things projects. By chance, he attended an event where Sarah Scannell, the Walking and Cycling Promotion Officer for Dublin City Council, introduced the Smart Cycling Challenge, which aimed to increase cyclists in Dublin City. It felt like fate to Conor, and although there was less than a month until the deadline, he decided to submit a proposal.

The solution put forward by FluidEdge was deceptively simple. The only touchpoint for participants was a bell on their bike which they used to record actual or perceived obstacles to safe cycling, as well as positive experiences. But plenty was happening behind the scenes: the Bluetooth-connected device was generating data about hotspots, which were highlighted in real time so that authorities could be alerted to poor road conditions or poor behaviour by other road users. Unlike the numerous audit solutions already available, FluidEdge’s solution collected qualitative, as well as quantitative, data about the cycling experience.

(l-r) Mark Bennett of BikeLook, Conrad Christensen, Philip McAlesse, Conor Cahill (FluidEdge, creators of Liberty Bell)

Liberty Bell successfully completed Phases 1 and 2 of the scheme, with feedback from the various stakeholders being continually fed back into the project. Apart from the funding that supported the development of the Liberty Bell project, having Dublin City Council as the first customer was a huge benefit for Conor and Síle, and opened many doors for them. They have since gone on to win the international Bicycle and Pedestrian Challenge run by the Colorado Department of Transport (CDOT) and are looking for new cities to run the project in. You can find out more at libertybell.io.

Thinking of throwing your hat into the ring?

Niall Doolin of Cara Ireland had the following tips for small businesses thinking about participating in Enterprise Ireland’s SBIR programme:

Be attentive to the needs of the client – remember the SBIR process is demand-driven.
Keep it as simple as possible – good ideas are not always complicated (as demonstrated by the Liberty Bell solution)!
Don’t lose sight of future expansions and add-ons – the potential for commercialisation is a major advantage of participating in the SBIR process.

Enterprise Ireland’s SBIR programme provides fertile ground for small or young businesses to put their innovative ideas to the test. The programme has a dedicated fund to co-support innovative and competitive challenges. The experience provides a route to market for products that may, unknown to their creators, be the solution to an ongoing public service challenge.

Next steps

SBIR Ireland is managed by Marguerite Bourke. You can get in touch with the SBIR office at sbirireland @ enterprise-ireland . com or by calling 01 727 2178. You can also follow them on Twitter.

You can check out what SBIR projects are currently open for offers by logging into your eTenders account, or you can see a preview by visiting the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) section of the Enterprise Ireland website.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

New Frontiers startup, Immersive VR Education, lists on Irish Stock Exchange

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 was founded in October 2014 by husband and wife team, David and Sandra Whelan. David participated in the New Frontiers programme at Arc Labs (Waterford Institute of Technology’s Research and Incubation Centre) in 2016 and recommends the programme to ambitious entrepreneurs involved in a start-up business. A WIT graduate, he believes the AR/VR market is growing and as hardware becomes more affordable, growth will gain further traction.

“We are at the forefront of this as a VR software and technology group operating in the niche education sector, we provide students, educators with a customisable learning environment.
New Frontiers is a place where you can shape your idea into a business with a group of peers and prepare your business plan for scrutiny from venture capitalists. It’s been instrumental to establishing a solid base for our continued success and the contacts we made during the programme will of course always be useful for advice and guidance going forward.”

The first New Frontiers participant company to list on the Irish Stock Exchange

Eugene Crehan, the New Frontiers Programme Manager at Waterford Institute of Technology, said:

“Immersive VR Holdings is a great example of how an innovative technology start-up can benefit from the business development skills workshops and mentor supports available as part of the New Frontiers programme. By being technically innovative and building a solid investor-ready business plan on the New Frontiers programme in WIT, Immersive VR Holdings secured investments at several stages of their development, culminating in an IPO within three years of being on New Frontiers.”

Immersive VR Education’s listing on the Irish Stock exchange celebrates a number of firsts:

it’s the first IPO for an Irish tech firm on the Irish Stock Exchange’s Enterprise Securities Market (ESM) since its inception in 2005
it’s the first New Frontiers participant company to list on the Irish Stock Exchange
it’s also the first technology firm in the southeast ever to list on the Irish Stock Exchange

Virtual and augmented technologies as an education tool

Immersive VR Education’s free, award-winning platform, ENGAGE, allows educators and trainers to put together their own content in a virtual setting, inspiring students whether in a classroom, lecture theatre, operating theatre, or on the surface of Mars. The company has also won global accolades for its showcase experience, Apollo 11 VR. This multi-award winning educational experience is based on actual events and recreates the full Apollo 11 mission, using original NASA audio and mission data recorded during the 1969 moon landing. It has recently been announced that the Apollo 11 VR experience will feature as part of the launch collection for Oculus Go. In 2017, the company also launched an early release experience of the wreck of the Titanic.

The startup works with businesses and organisations such as Oculus, the BBC, HTC, the Royal College of Surgeons, and the University of Oxford. Post-IPO, the company is looking to establish ENGAGE as the world’s leading digital education and corporate training platform.

[featured image: Sandra Whelan, co-founder of Immersive VR Education, rings the bell at the Irish Stock Exchange. (l-r) Eugene Crehan (Director of Programmes, CEDRE, WIT), Sandra Whelan, Ciaran Cullen (Manager, ArcLabs) and David Whelan (CEO and co-founder, Immersive VR Education). Credit: SON Photographic]

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Orlaith Carmody: leadership starts with the self

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 gone and it’s just you and your idea.

This is why she is adamant that a true passion for your product or service is necessary to drive you on. Networking is key to this, and you should take full advantages of everything that’s out there. But the bottom line is you have to believe in it yourself!

As for all the other skills that the entrepreneur needs in their toolkit, can you simply learn them? I decided to ask Orlaith herself when I sat down with her for a quick chat…

Clear, engaging written and verbal communication… are these skills anyone can learn?

Yes, all types of communications can be learnt. At an early stage, it’s easy to get caught up with the job in hand – designing, packaging, bringing to market. It’s easy to think that communication is not important at this point. But then you have to pitch for investment and, suddenly, it becomes critical and you have to catch up!

Courses such as those offered by the LEOs or Enterprise Ireland get people in a room to learn the skills and practice in front of peers. Wherever the bar is, it can always be moved higher. If you’re already a natural communicator, you can learn to be an outstanding communicator. It’s like a muscle, the more you flex it the better you can get.

Even when you think you’re too early-stage to worry about communication, the fact is you need these skills for everything you do: speaking to banks, to providers, negotiating with a component manufacturer, when you’re writing to people… You have this one chance to engage with them – or not. When you pitch at a local networking event, you have the opportunity to connect with people who could be instrumental to your success.

So, everything ultimately comes down to communication. It’s the heart of what you do as a business owner. But if you feel it’s not something you’re good at, go out and get support, because there is plenty of it out there. Grab opportunities to talk about your business and polish your pitch.

People on the New Frontiers programme learn to pitch from day one and will have many different opportunities to pitch along the way. What advice would you give them?

The key is to put the audience first. Don’t assume that people want you to just talk about your product or service, even if that’s what the invitation says. It’s actually an opportunity for you to connect with an audience by letting them know how your offering will benefit them. Put yourself in their shoes and talk about their needs.

Tailor your pitch every time you give it. Don’t just learn one single pitch and deliver that every time – it won’t work if it isn’t about the audience. In the end, your pitch will get stale and you’ll lose passion, which will be picked up by the people listening.

So, keep it lively, relevant and engaging by tailoring it to the audience every time – whether that’s with investors, fellow promoters, potential clients, etc. If you bring new energy to your pitch, that’s infectious and will keep people listening. Obviously you need to know your core script, but adapt every time.

Yes, the security of learning off a template is appealing. Relying on a slide-deck feels safe. But imagine being an investor who has listened to over a dozen such pitches, one after the other. Use your template as a failsafe, not as a blueprint. On a demo day, your goal is to stand out.

Leadership – every entrepreneur is meant to embody it. But how do you become a leader before you have people to lead?

If you came out of a corporate role and had a team in your organisation, you may already have effectively led people to achieve and hit goals. But once it’s you on your own, building your startup, is leadership still relevant? Absolutely, you have to start with leading yourself. You have to be positive and motivated, get into a good routine, be organised and get out networking with people.

By leading yourself and staying on top of your game, every time you go for a meeting with a bank or an investor, you’ll communicate that focus and energy, and, in return, they are more inclined to believe in you and open doors for you.

Then when taking on those first interns or staff members, they will immediately see that passion and drive. This is how you attract the right kind of people; because you need the people who will take a leap of faith in coming to work with your young startup instead of the perk-laden job down the road.

In your book, you discuss your concept of ‘commander to coach’. Can you tell us a little about that?

Being ‘the boss’ is a role that has changed in recent times. The old-fashioned notion that the boss is he (usually) who rules absolutely and must be followed unconditionally used to be universal. I like to describe it as the “I’ve the map written on the back of my eyeballs, trust me, I know where I’m going’’ attitude.

But with millennials and Generation Z, things are different. No one stays in a job for life, people move jobs regularly and they are looking for something more than blind faith and a wage package. They are looking for a sense of purpose. They want to be part of a team that is going to make a difference, they want to believe in what is happening and feel valued, that their voice will be heard, that their contribution is important.

Feeling in line with the direction the ship is going in, feeling motivated and energised – if you as a promoter can offer this, you’ll make a connection with great employees. It’s all about motivating people and being a mentor and coach to your employees, not their commander.

Fewer women than men target leadership opportunities – whether in corporate settings or in building a startup. Why do you think that is still the case?

It is changing, but it is changing slowly. Security is still an issue for women. However we cut it, the reality is that women are still taking the larger burden in care – whether that’s because of children or other carer roles.

Women who have arrangements at work where they can leave earlier to collect children from the creche and other commitments are careful to hold onto such roles because of the security it offers. It stops them, perhaps, in making the leap to entrepreneurship.

Also, women self-select. The phenomenal response to women-only calls for initiatives such as Competitive Start Fund is a clear illustration of this. When I was president of the Irish chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, in 2014-2015, I made an increase in female membership a goal. But it was a real struggle and after six years the current president has the same challenge.

Access to finance, to supports, and to childcare are crucial and need to be in place before we’ll see gender parity in leadership roles. The Silicon Valley culture, which I saw when I started working with start-ups 10 years or so ago, was built on this notion that the start-up was your entire life. You lived in the office, practically sleeping under the desk, and you didn’t surface until your product was built.

When I was a consultant to the first Propeller Programme for women at the DCU Ryan Academy, we knew that this approach would never appeal to women. So the programme was carefully designed to fit with the lifestyle patterns of those who would be taking the course, and a direct rejection of that startup ‘mythology’ which no one needs – male or female – to succeed.

That programme has been very successful, and there are a good number of programmes out there now that are more user friendly. They give participants the space to fit something else in – whether that’s childcare, or a part-time job that funds your start-up, or learning opportunities. We’re much more sensible now and the focus on work-life balance is a healthy one.

When flexible working hours are right across the board – at whatever time of life and for whatever reason – we’ll really see change.

Why not just legislate for gender parity? Wouldn’t that be the quicker solution?

It’s possible to legislate, but I don’t know if we’ll see it here. In the UK, public boards have a quota of 30% female participation, here in Ireland state boards are now gender balanced, and part filled by a public appointment process. I was one of the first cohorts onto a state board (RTÉ, 2010-15) where some of the appointments were by competition rather than by Ministerial selection.

Eight years on, private boards are still not as balanced as they could be because there is no compulsion to appoint women, and no one wants to see a situation where a woman is only appointed because of her sex, not her skillset. We probably could do more.

However, in the corporate world, people are selected for boards from the executive pool. If women aren’t in that pool to start with, we can’t then complain that they aren’t chosen to be on boards. Women who have had to step back to have children, or haven’t pushed for promotions aren’t there and available for selection.

Recent research from DCU on the impact of maternity leave gave a fascinating insight into the role of the company in a successful maternity leave. The company, and the line manager in particular, have a huge responsibility in how the woman re-engages. When a woman feels that her employer sees maternity leave as a problem, then it becomes a problem for her too.

Welcoming an employee back, making sure she feels facilitated to get back into work and pick up where she left off, is crucial. As we hit full employment and retention becomes an issue for businesses, the onus is on the employer not to make maternity leave a stumbling block. That way, women will continue to climb the ladder and will be in that executive pool where they will get picked for boards. They will be loyal, because they were supported. That’s good leadership.

Orlaith Carmody’s book, Perform As A Leader – The Skills And Strategies To Take You Where You Want To Go, is published by Ballpoint Press. Find out more at gavinduffyandassociates.com.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

A crowdfunding conversation with Crua Outdoors

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 online in the intervening period – as discussed at the end of the video interview, Crua Outdoors is a very successful business with:

5 employees plus partners/base in the US
Range of 20 products, with a new hammock about to the launched
International sales across 43 countries
Completed several crowdfunding campaigns and have raised external equity investment using Seedrs and traditional sources to include Enterprise Ireland HPSU.
Turnover tripled from 2016 to 2017 and on target to triple again in 2018
Seriously looking at 7 figure investment in a production facility in Kerry

Key to this success is a brilliant product and a deep understanding of the customer which leads to great brand loyalty.

Deep crowdfunding experience

In the YouTube video, Derek acknowledges that Crua Outdoors would not be around today without crowdfunding. It provided a large part of the finance for the first and subsequent production runs. They are learning all the time about the crowdfunding process.

In 2015, they successfully raised €50,891 with 175 backers. According to Kickstarter’s website, they have (at the time of writing) 3,887 live projects, with 141,606 completed projects funded by a total of 14,432,333 backers.

Kickstarter is not a store. It’s a way to bring creative projects to life.
Kickstarter does not guarantee projects or investigate a creator’s ability to complete their project. It is the responsibility of the project creator to complete their project as promised, and the claims of this project are theirs alone.

Kickstarter website

Derek identified the following as the Three Big Factors to manage in a crowdfunding campaign:

Market research
make sure you are offering something that people actually want.
The video
needs to be professional and focus on the problem being addressed.
Drive traffic to your site
have a plan to source and convert visitors to your campaign page.

Derek believes that crowdfunding should be utilised more by startups in Ireland – it is ideal for product companies particularly those that have a tech or innovation angle. See the New Frontiers article Financing: alternatives to business bank loans, which runs through some alternatives to bank loan finance, listing crowdfunding as one option.

InterTrade Ireland equity crowdfunding resource

It was a happy coincidence that as I was arranging the meeting with Derek, that InterTrade Ireland published a superb resource on equity crowdfunding as a downloadable PDF.

“Equity crowdfunding has established itself as a real complement and alternative to traditional equity funding sources for High Growth Potential Start-Up and Growth Stage businesses in the UK and Ireland in recent years.”

Source: Equity Crowdfunding Resource, InterTradeIreland (page 2)

The InterTrade Ireland reports presents (page 4) the following table gleaned from the Beauhurst report on 2017 UK Start-Up investment activity ‘The Deal’, reflecting the deal volume activity of the lead UK-based equity crowdfunding platforms. The lead private players in the UK are Seedrs, CrowdCube, SyndicateRoom and VentureFounders.

The resources section is very well written (only 22 pages). It provides the necessary background information on equity crowdfunding compared to reward-based crowdfunding and the usual sources of startup funding. It also provides four case studies in the form of two pages summaries with all the pertinent details across set headings to include money raised, equity offered, and campaign preparation.

Crowdfunding is not a case of ‘build it and they will come’… it’s never that simple

Derek stresses in the video that crowdfunding is not a case of ‘build it and they will come’. This point is echoed in the InterTrade Ireland resource on page 11 and by their HouseMyDog case study.

“A business launching a fundraising campaign typically cannot solely rely on the Equity Crowdfunding platform.”

Source: Equity Crowdfunding Resource, InterTradeIreland 2018

Proactive management of crowdfunding campaigns to include significant preparation in advance is required.

Watch my conversation with Derek

Please note that this was one take – and the full interview was uploaded – edited subtitles have been added to the video to complement the audio.

About the author

Donncha Hughes

Donncha Hughes is a former incubation centre manager and has worked with startups for almost ten years. A big advocate of Lean Startup, his areas of expertise include: marketing, sales, business models, supports for business, business plans and financial projections. An EI mentor and member of the CSF Evaluation Panel, Donncha specialises in working with early stage startups.

Mistakes to avoid when product testing

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 utterly meaningless.

If you do not have a grounded assumption of the product’s purpose, you cannot validate that there is a market for it. If you do not have a defined customer, you cannot qualify or disqualify customers’ feedback. For example, my company is developing a computer game, Cerebros, which is a fast-paced First-Person Shooter, a genre which has a complicated control scheme. If we tested the game on 10 70-year-old customers, they would complain that the game moves too fast and that the control scheme is too complicated. If we did not have clear grounded assumption of Cerebros’ purpose (we cannot validate there is a market for a product that has no clear purpose), and if we did not have a defined customer (we cannot disqualify a 70-year-old customer’s feedback), the conclusion we would have to accept is: we have slow the game down and simplify the control scheme.

If we slowed the game down and simplified the control scheme, the 10 70-year-old customers would be satisfied. However, if we tested this new version of the game on 10 20-year-old customers, they would complain that the game moves too slowly and that the control scheme is too simple. If we had the hypothesis that Cerebros is a fast-paced First-Person Shooter for a young, experienced gamer, we could have immediately disqualified the 10 70-year-old customers’ feedback and not waste development time changing the game for customers fit for the product’s purpose.

The mistake of ignoring bias

The most obvious bias is your own bias for your own product. You’re never going to be perfect and you shouldn’t expect your product to be perfect. You have to accept criticism of your product, and ultimately criticism of you, and understand other people’s viewpoints of your product. It is always hard to separate your identity from your product’s and it does not get easier; in fact, it gets harder as the more time and money you invest in your product, the more your identity is tied to your product and it becomes something like your child.

On the same subject, have you ever criticised a child in front of their parent? If yes, what did you use to treat the black eye? If no, you probably already understand why you don’t criticise a child in front of their parent, because that child is that parent’s pride and joy. Similarly, people think the same of your product, as precious to you as your child is. Your customers will be biased towards not criticising your product when talking to, or in front of, you.

You need to understand this bias and enable the customer to voice their criticism of your product. Essentially, you have to give them permission to criticise the product. This could be as simple as asking them bluntly questions such as:

“What didn’t you like about the product?”
“What would you change?”
“What would make it better?”

Even if people are sincere and they are giving you honest feedback – whether positive or negative – people generally do not know why they act the way they act. There is a bias the customers have of themselves. So, attempting to extract introspection on their processing of their experience with your product should be treated with caution. What people repeatedly DO is a far better indicator of their behaviour and preferences than what people repeatedly SAY. So, if people ask to test your product or try it at an expo, keep coming back to test your product, or ask for more information, that’s a good indicator your product has potential.

Finally, there’s the bias you yourself will have if you are a likeable, charismatic person. I know a game developer who is quite possibly the best showman I’ve seen who wasn’t in show business. At game expos, he set up his game and created a great atmosphere around his exhibition stand that would always draw crowds and excitement. However, he always remarks to me that this enthusiasm he generates at expos (he’s received prestigious awards, etc.) has never transferred to sales and he cannot understand it.

To circle back, as he has never granted me permission to criticise his product, I am always prevented from giving him honest feedback. The problem is the customers are buying him, a very charismatic person, and the event he creates around his exhibition stand, not the product – his game – he’s ultimately selling. So, be careful when product testing: customers should be ultimately making a decision on whether or not to buy your product, not whether or not to buy you.

Key product testing takeaways

For the mistake of testing without a hypothesis, I used an exaggerated example demonstrating the disparity between two groups of customers; it illustrated that having no hypothesis will lead you to change the product, sometimes to its detriment, and waste precious development cycles. It won’t always be that obvious whom you should qualify or disqualify as your target customer, but it significantly helps if you have a grounded assumption of your product’s purpose for a defined customer.

Ignoring bias in tests or opinions is an easy mistake to make, especially if the tests confirm your hypothesis or the opinions coincide with yours. It’s always best to look at the behaviour of people interacting with your product and look at the amount or sample size of people who exhibit this behaviour and their profile.

About the author

Gerard Comerford

Gerard is a New Frontiers participant and the founder of Cerebros, an independent AI game developer specialising in adaptive AI and innovative AI-driven computer games. A graduate of the University of Westminster, Gerard has eight years’ experience as a contractor in the games industry.

Exhibiting your startup: a 25-step checklist for excellence

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 of new businesses, can learn from my experience.

Some of my fellow exhibitors have cried after the event because they did not get a single sale. Recently, I heard one high profile startup entrepreneur tell how he spent €10,000 on a single event, had negligible sales and managed to wipe out his cash reserves.

Why exhibit at trade fairs?

To build initial public awareness of Cara Mara – which sells a home seaweed bath product – we exhibited at a range of fairs. This included exhibitions tied in with sport, health, business, as well as summer shows. Yes, they did create a certain level of awareness, but they never generated high volume sales. Truthfully, it was a mistake to have even attended some of them. The lesson I took from this is that it is essential to ask yourself two questions when planning to attend an event:

Will your target customer group(s) be at the exhibition?
Will they be buying?

Here’s how we experienced the different events we exhibited at, and the level of interest a product such as ours could typically attract:

Sports events: participants are completely absorbed in their preparation and recovery (e.g. running, cycling, etc.) and then socialising with their friends afterwards.
Business seminars/exhibitions: attendees are mainly interested in the conference talks and then socialising and networking during the breaks. Exhibition stands are almost a distraction.
Summer shows: visitors are mainly interested in being entertained by animal demonstrations, live music stage shows, and a summer day out to meet friends old and new.

The best exhibitions are those which people attend because they have a specific need to address, and they intend to buy. In my case good examples included:

Taste of Monaghan, Taste of Cavan, etc. Yes, these provincial events include non-food products and services.
Wellfest. Attendees were specifically seeking ways to enjoy life and improve health.

Think awareness rather than sales

Most businesses, whether they are selling to business or the general public, will have specific exhibitions where their target customers will attend and hang out. It’s essential to research such events to make sure they are right for you.

What does the word ‘exhibit’ even mean?

“To publicly display, show, present, demonstrate, showcase.”

So unless you’re one of those food vendors or hurley stick sellers mentioned above, exhibitions are mainly for creating customer awareness! You’re making a connection in anticipation of future transactions. But remember that consumers are busy people and easily forget you, unless you are in front of them on a consistent, regular basis.

Exhibit with excellence – a checklist of 25 steps

This is my 25-step recipe for a successful exhibition strategy.

Research

Check out the exhibition the year before you expect to attend – i.e. visitor profiles, traffic flow, etc.
If that isn’t possible, check out the organiser’s website to see who exhibited last year. Phone those exhibitors and ask how they got on and what advice they would offer.
Cost benefit – decide what your objectives are and write them down. Are the expected benefits worth the cost (stand costs, staff, travel, accommodation, meals, extras)?
Grants – perhaps you could leverage funding to help with costs? Are there any business development/export grants you could apply for?

Dealing with organisers

Try to get a discount on the cost of a stand. Explain that you are a startup, you are on the books of your local LEO or an Enterprise Ireland client, or perhaps that you are a first time exhibitor at this particular event and you’re not sure it is for you. Always seek a discount, most commercial organisers are flexible on price.
Consider waiting to the last moment to get a discount price for late cancellations/organisers seeking to fill exhibition hall.
Payment: delay to latest date possible and pay in instalments. I suffered a significant bad debt when an event was cancelled and the organiser went into liquidation.

Stand preparation

Traffic flow: check out or anticipate the visitor flow in the exhibition hall. There is no point in taking the cheapest stand if it’s at the quietest part of the hall.
Positioning: the best stand pitches are at corners (you gain exposure from two directions) and the end of aisles (visitors can directly see you as they approach). Ask for them.
Be professional: your stand backdrop, exhibition table, and product display need to reflect quality and grab visitors’ attention. It needs to say “I’m interesting. Check me out.” There are many excellent display providers, but I particularly like focusonline.ie.

Exhibition preparation

Checklist: prepare in advance to avoid any shortcomings
a) Equipment, brochures, and leaflets for the stand
b) Product for the stand
c) Staffing
d) Times: opening, closing, set up. Organise logistics to get there on time
e) Insurance: make sure you have adequate public liability cover
Social media: spread awareness and make a noise about the event in advance. If you tag the organisers, they will usually re-post your communications.
Customer communications: if you are a B2B business, write to your existing customers and prospects inviting them to the exhibition/your stand. Provide them with free entrance tickets as appropriate.
Dress code: depends on your industry/business/culture, wear suits, branded t-shirts, name tags, etc.

Showtime

Fellow exhibitors: remember they may be potential customers! Talk to them and ask what exhibitions work well for them. They are a treasure of knowledge and experience.
Be passionate. Enjoy yourself. Make friends.
Pep in your step: always stand ready to engage with people. Sitting at the stand is a big No No! Get in shape in advance by getting sufficient sleep and enjoy a healthy energy diet.
Engage: some people are naturally shy and may avoid your stand or walk by with eyes averted. You have to be active. Stand out in the aisle. Say hello. Draw people in with a leaflet or an engaging question. Most people love it when you give them time and needed information.
Interesting product demo: this is always a winner (live or on video). Help customers to dream and think ‘Yes, this is for me!’.
Special prices: visitors nowadays expect special reduced prices for exhibitions, fairs, etc. Don’t disappoint them. Make sure there is a price list on display.
Eyes, ears, and mind wide open: observe what’s happening, what’s working, and what’s not working. Learn, change, and do better.
Build an email list: visitors love to leave their name and email address if there is a prize on offer. It could be your own product or something attractive (e.g. tickets for an event or a weekend away).

Post-event review

Follow up: with all new contacts and on all promises made – within a few days.
Email list: if you collected a list, your first communication should be within a week. Its focus should be to thank, to educate, to entertain, and not a hard sell. At the end, you could perhaps extend the special exhibition prices for a limited period, as an exclusive offer.
Learn: talk to your colleagues. Talk to yourself. Compare all the outcomes with the initial written objectives – level of engagement, size of email list, revenue, costs, insights, important new contacts. What worked for you? What didn’t? How can you improve the next event?

Best wishes for your future success!

About the author

Richard Mc Manus

Richard Mc Manus is a New Frontiers alumnus and the founder of Cara Mara luxury seaweed baths. Richard qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC and has extensive experience in the manufacturing and export sector, working in both Finance Director and Managing Director roles.

While in the west of Ireland, he became familiar with the traditional Irish seaweed bath and its many wellness benefits. This experience led to the idea of bringing the therapeutic benefits of seaweed baths to a wider audience, and so Cara Mara was born. Richard’s mission is to bring the Cara Mara seaweed bath experience into people’s homes and lives, helping them to achieve balance and feel confident, relaxed, happy, and energised.

Featured startup: Dublin Design Studio (Scriba)

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 of hardware development and had fully working prototypes. The discussion moved on to materials, manufacturing, logistics, and the other elements involved in delivering a quality, shop-ready product. David was clear he wanted to manufacture in Ireland, instead of going the somewhat obvious route of finding a plant in China.

David was introduced to the business development manager from Hasbro – the famous toy manufacturer – who was able to offer a partnership with Cartamundi, their Waterford-based manufacturing arm. With a strong manufacturing support, this meant the team could move into the design for manufacturability (DFM) phase. A whole new language had to be learnt at this point, as David worked with engineers and the Hasbro/Cartamundi team to perfect the design, assembly and materials. There were plenty of challenges and even the bespoke packaging that suspended the product to show off its unusual form was a complex design challenge that needed to be solved.

(click to enlarge the images)

Through an Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher, Dublin Design Studio worked closely with Athlone Institute of Technology’s CISD to develop the design of the 3D model that would be used to create the very expensive tool required by injection moulding. Getting the geometry correct from both a manufacturability perspective, in addition to the look and feel of the product, required many iterations; even though the electronics of the product were well-established, the form and feel of the product would have a huge impact on the user experience.

By Christmas that year, David assumed they were ready to go into production. However, a suggestion of an alternative tool design that would yield noticeably better quality results and an associated quote from the tool makers that was double the anticipated cost meant David had to make a difficult commercial decision.

“I felt strongly that anything that might let down the perceived quality of the overall product must be sorted out, and with competition from the likes of Wacom, Adonit and even Apple, it was important that Scriba was as perfect as humanly possible.”

With support from volunteers and numerous interns – David thinks his team may have involved a total of 50 people – all contributing their own expertise and insights to the product, Scriba has evolved into more than just a stylus. David has grown a network of mentors, advisors and friends who have also been instrumental to the realisation of this product. With such a complex project, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details or be consumed by the technical difficulties, so his strategy has been to celebrate the small wins whenever they happen.

“What I probably didn’t appreciate as much at the outset is that as a startup, developing hardware encompassed so many other fields. For instance, we’ve not only developed a hardware product, we’ve also created an ecommerce site, developed an SDK for software developers and produced six apps to go with it!”

The manufacture process itself threw up a number of technical hurdles, each one seemingly insurmountable. David credits the openness of the wider network he had at that point with his ability to overcome each one… companies went above and beyond what would have been commercially expected, and generously gave any insights and expertise they had. In addition to Cartamundi, of particular note were IPC Polymers in Kilbeggan who opened their doors to David to develop and test composite plastics to meet the product’s particular technical requirements. Scriba really is a testament to the Irish business ecosystem.

In parallel with the hardware and materials, the team moved onto software – developing apps and adding functionality (for instance, Scriba can trigger your iPhone camera and you can use it to control presentation slides or annotate PDFs).

“I wanted to change people’s perception of what a stylus could be. Every day I would ask myself: what value can we add for our end users? Sure, people will use the stylus for sketching and drawing; but that’s not all they do during the day so how can we fit into their lifestyle even more?”

A selection of artwork created with Scriba

(click to enlarge the images)

David, an architect by training, says he doesn’t get to spend long days ideating and being immersed in design. As a startup founder, his time is mostly taken up with other, more pressing issues: marketing, logistics, HR, management, finance and business development.

To keep the lights on during the development of Scriba, Dublin Design Studio has taken on a variety of architectural projects, and collected a few awards for these over the past couple of years, including Best Housing in last year’s RIAI Awards. Scriba itself has won a shelfful of accolades – the Irish Times Innovation Awards, UK Design Week Awards, Bank of Ireland Startup Awards and the IDI Awards to name just a few.

Fast forward to October 2017, and the very first batch of Scriba styluses has been manufactured, packaged, and is currently heading out to those first Kickstarter investors, who pledged over two years ago. David has been careful to keep these backers up to date along the way and has sent them regular updates and progress reports.

“I’m pretty hands on and to understand the process, I spent the day at the plant in Waterford working with the operators on the assembly line. That incredible moment of having the very first one, boxed, in my hands, was just amazing. It’s been such a long road and thanks to everyone’s perseverance and hard work it’s now a reality.”

General sales of Scriba are about to go live, initially via their own website – getscriba.com – and also on Amazon. Scriba has been accepted onto the Amazon Launchpad programme, which showcases innovative new products from startups. This will be crucial to the firm’s success, as they have identified Amazon as the key channel for their target market.

David is keen to point out that Scriba is only the first product the studio plans on creating. The collective knowledge the team has acquired since David’s very first prototype will be no doubt be channelled into other exciting projects. It certainly sounds like David is itching to get back to design, so I don’t think we’ll have a long wait!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Developing your market attack plan in four steps

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 market attack plan? Have you set out credible steps along the journey that you will need to take to achieve your goals? Over the past few years I’ve coached some of our Phase 2 participants to develop this plan. I use a commercialisation tool developed by WKI to structure the sessions.

WKI Commercialisation methodology

Step 1

We begin by reviewing the participant’s proposed target segments. We also look at the customer profile for each segment (who will use it, who will buy it, how they will use it, what the buy decision is, what motivates the user and what motivates the buyer, etc.). These have been identified by market research conducted to date and have been ranked into an ordered list of segments to target.

Step 2

We then discuss lead customers; these are early adopters who should be willing and eager to try a new idea even if it is in development. You are looking for someone who will collaborate with you to test, suggest, and mould your early stage idea into a customer-ready product for later stage customers.

A question to ask: are the lead customers from our identified target segments? If not, why not? If we can’t get someone from our target segment who will try our solution then has our market research been correct to date? Have we really identified the correct market? It may seem obvious but it does happen that the promoter has profiled a market opportunity in great detail yet introduces clients from different segments without clear reasoning. This can lead to a loss of credibility in the proposal, i.e. does the promoter really know who the customer is?

Step 3

So, having identified the lead customer we next set out what initiatives will be undertaken to advance the idea down the path to market. Each initiative should reflect the stage of development of the solution as well as the commercial roll out. That is why I usually have one or two lead-in steps such as demonstrator stage, prototype stage, before introducing the second and third target segments and beyond moving towards category leadership. Especially when working with start-ups. I also find that the first session specs out the first couple of development steps only. The promoters tend to need a break at this point as for further stages it becomes too vague or harder to define concrete initiatives and measures of success.

Step 4

Profile the risks. All plans have an element of risk associated with them, it is both natural and expected. Stakeholders will want to know that you are aware of potential risks and have prepared a plan to mitigate them should they occur. For early-stage businesses risks associated with technical, market, financial and people should be considered with each stage of the company’s proposed development. These should also be summarised on the market attack plan.

So what? Who cares? Why you?

Let’s work through an example of what a market attack plan may look like:

Stage – Demonstrator Timing: Month 1 & 2

Major initiative:

Update promoter’s LinkedIn profile and purchase premium package for 2 months
Build mock-up demonstrator using MarvelApp, CAD, Animation, etc.
Get 4 – 5 meetings with potential lead customers to review

Measure of success:

2 customers agree to pilot a prototype

Risks:

Unable to secure demonstration meetings

Resources:

In-house resources, travel costs and LinkedIn Premium only

Funded bBy:

Promoter’s funds

Stage – Prototype Timing: Months 3 to 6

Major initiative:

Agree framework for prototype stage with lead customers
Develop working prototype – to agreed limited features/command set
Company formation

Measure of success:

1 – 2 customers agree to purchase
2 – 3 new customers agree to pilot

Risks:

Unable to secure sufficient funding

Resources:

In-house resources and travel costs
Outsourced tech development – €20- 30K

Funded by:

LEO Feasibility Funding / New Frontiers stipend
Innovation voucher – for algorithm generation
Promoter’s funds & friends/angels

Stage – Market Entry Timing: Months 6 to 18

Major initiative:

Secure incubation tenancy
Hire CTO and first in-house developer
Sales and Marketing hires x 2
On-board the first 2 customers
Invest in CRM package
Complete technical development
Attend 1 – 3 national exhibitions and secure speaking slots
Start Next Round funding process

Measure of success:

Customer income secured – €200k
2 – 3 new customers signed each quarter
First segment 2 customers acquired
CE Marking, Safety and Compliance certifications secured

Risks:

Delays on-boarding key hires
Development overruns
Delays securing sufficient funding
New entrants

Resources:

€400K funding requirement (18 months runway)

Funded by:

EI Competitive Start Funding
EI HPSU Funding
Irish VC Funding Delta/Kernel, etc.

Why is this approach important?

There are a number of reasons to use this approach:

For the promoter, it helps break down into manageable steps the road to market entry. It also helps non-financial founders align the sales and marketing, operations and financial requirements of the business for stage of development – which is great when producing three year cash flow projections.
For team members, it provides them with clarity as to what the outcome from each stage of development is. It can also help them see where the business is headed.
For the business plan reader, it summarises what resources are required at each stage and what the output will be in terms of headcount (support agency focus) or monetary gains (investor focus).

So give it a go. You’ll be surprised how easy it can be and what a difference this simple tool can make to developing your company’s market entry strategy.

About the author

Garrett Duffy

Garrett is the New Frontiers Programme Manager at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT). An Electronic Engineering graduate from Dundalk Regional Technical College (now DkIT), Garrett has held management and senior engineering roles in a number of multinationals in Ireland, the UK and France.

Cyber security for medium/large businesses and organisations

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 the case) than smaller enterprises, however there are still areas of confusion and complacency.

The area I want to focus on in this post is cloud security, as many modern businesses no longer manage their own physical server infrastructure, instead opting for cloud services.

Who is responsible for security?

Many assume that their cloud provider – such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud – are responsible for their security. This assumption is wrong. They are simply facilitators in terms of IT infrastructure. One has to distinguish between managed and unmanaged services.

Yes, AWS are responsible for the global security of the entire cloud infrastructure, but they make it very clear that their clients are still individually responsible for securing their own data. So what does this mean?

Often, IT teams incorrectly assume that because they have a trusted third party in charge of their infrastructure, that vendor will also manage security. Like the small businesses who assume that their web developer is on top of security, large business often assume that the public cloud is secure and that this is managed by their vendor.

Of the cloud and in the cloud

In general, the cloud as an overarching entity is very secure. However – AWS clearly states that it will address “security OF the cloud” – compute, storage, database, networking, and global infrastructure. Amazon is responsible for the physical security and the hosts servers, so called hypervisors, but they are not responsible for your network or your own server instance.

However it is the customer who is 100% responsible for “security IN the cloud” instance – data, apps, identity management, OS, network and firewall configuration, network traffic, server-side encryption, and client-side data.

This is an important distinction – think of it as a property management company being responsible for the common areas of an apartment development, but the individual owners being responsible for locking their own doors and windows and to whom they give keys or access to their houses.

Spotting vulnerabilities

We recently did an assessment of the digital assets of an international law firm. At first pass the firm appeared to have a clean bill of health – they used AWS, their servers were in the US, and the website was secure.

On further analysis, we discovered a major vulnerability. Their site was hosted on a shared server operated by their their web designer and the hosted server could have been compromised even though the hosted site was fairly safe. This could have led to the website being maliciously hacked by attacking the host’s server rather than the site itself, and thereby taken down. The situation arose because of some incorrect assumptions about whose responsibility it was to secure the site.

Some concrete suggestions on cyber security for larger organisations

Make you know who is responsible for your security, in the cloud.
Challenge your assumptions and don’t be hesitant to ask seemingly stupid questions!
During system/server provisioning and setup, apply at least the basics of hardening in your environment.
Keep your system patched and up to date.
As Bruce Schneier, security expert, notes “the security mindset involves thinking about how things can be made to fail. It involves thinking like an attacker, an adversary or a criminal. You don’t have to exploit the vulnerabilities you find, but if you don’t see the world that way, you’ll never notice most security problems.”
Remove unused services from your server and restrict access to those services where there is no need for a public interface (anything outside of http(s) basically)
Always grant the minimum required privileges for your users/employees.
Know what your ‘Data Crown Jewels’ are – any access to sensitive data should be tightly controlled.
This sensitive data should only be accessible to employees that absolutely need it as a part of their job, in the moment they need it.
Install, maintain and update antivirus, anti-malware and firewall software for desktop and mobile

This may be too much for your own IT team to handle, so consider booking a security health check with a reputable provider. There are great resources put together by the UK National Cyber Security Centre and the Cyber Essentials Programme.

About the author

Donal Kerr

New Frontiers participant, Donal Kerr, is the co-founder and COO of 4Securitas – an automated cybersecurity intelligent defence system. The startup will will enable organisations to protect themselves against hacking, malware, fraud and cybercrime. It will enable staff without an IT or security background to handle some of most critical and sophisticated security tasks, manage risk and reduce costs.

If you don’t have a story, you are just another commodity

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 coffee. They sell a space to grow relationships, a space to escape the stresses of the office or home, a place to reflect or get some work done. Too many businesses don’t fully understand the need they are really satisfying for their customers, and so they often concentrate on the wrong parts of their offer. Customers are rarely motivated to go into a coffee shop because they are thirsty.

Understanding your customer’s story will help you better construct your business offer and make decisions that keep your customers coming back. Whether you are a small corner cafe or a global brand leader, one of your key priorities should be telling the stories of your business but more importantly, your customers.

Why does your business exist?

Ask yourself, why does your business exist? What motivated you to start the business? For me, it was a passion for stories about people. I had been working in media for almost 15 years, every day coming across stories of love, loss, endurance, sadness and triumph. I knew there was a value in those stories and I knew I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life working for someone else.

I set out to build a platform that would harness and develop a global community of people who could tell stories – journalists, bloggers, community activists and videographers. StoryStock would become a platform where we could connect that community of storytellers with media but also with brands who needed to tell stories about themselves and their customers. We were creating one of the world’s first global storytelling platforms that would connect people who could tell stories with people who needed to tell stories!

StoryStock helps some of the largest brands in the world to bring those stories out. Here are two examples of how stories were used by our clients:

Dairymaster

One of our first customers was Agri tech global Irish company, Dairymaster. They build some of the most advanced farming technology in the world and have operations that stretch from Ireland to the US and into the Middle East. We helped them to start telling the stories of the farmers who use their technology. Soon enough it became clear that Dairymaster don’t just offer new technology that makes life on the farm easier; they offer farmers the opportunity to spend more time with their children, because new technology is doing the work they once did.

We told those real life stories of their farming customers – at home on the farm. That shows other farmers who may be considering investing in new technology that they can have more family time, a more profitable farm and an easier life by using the tech that Dairymaster are selling. By telling the stories of their customers, we helped Dairymaster realise why they existed and how to communicate this to potential customers!

Global Airlines

Global Airlines don’t just fly people from A to B. They bring people who love each other together. Young couples in long-term relationships, workers who want to get home to see their families. They allow people with ideas to share those ideas at conferences on the other side of the world. Those are the stories they must tell. Telling the stories of why people use your product or service is how you will show others just how valuable it really is and why they should be using it too!

Stories help you stand out

Advertising has changed, with adverts fighting for space in a crowded and noisy online market. Stories help you stand out. Storytelling isn’t just for global brands. If you are a small pharmacy, why not tell the stories of how the drugs you prescribe make a difference in people’s lives? Fish shop? – tell the stories of the fishermen who spend weeks at sea so that customers can sit down with a takeaway on a Sunday evening. Every business has a story, and every customer wants to tell a story. The best brands are built on great stories! Start building today. Tell some stories or find someone who can tell them for you!

About the author

Francis Fitzgibbon

Francis Fitzgibbon is a New Frontiers participant and the CEO and founder of StoryStock. He is a former reporter and producer with Newstalk 106fm, and documentary maker with TV3.

Francis most recently worked as a political advisor in the European Parliament in Brussels, before returning to Ireland to start StoryStock. He completed the New Frontiers programme in March 2017 and was awarded Competitive Start Funding (CSF) in April 2017. The Storystock team of committed storytellers is based between Kerry and Dublin, with a goal to build one of the largest storytelling platforms in the world, connecting brands and media with the best content creators.

Value proposition and channel to market

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 goes. This is the entrepreneurial rollercoaster of business startups. Managing these emotions is important if we want to banish doubt and remain upbeat, confident and committed to our project.

Managing the bad days

While in the set-up stage of my first venture, a tourism business, a very well respected and established player in the market from Sligo declared that he would ‘eat his hat’ if my business worked in Co Laois! This was at my first trade fair in Germany and, for a 23 year old, this was massively undermining and stuck with me.

We need a coat of armor to protect us on bad days like this or to silence natural self-doubt and banish the demons. Luckily, this coat of armor can be built by using solid ‘good business practice’ at the earliest stage in the venture.

The well-known business writer, Joan Margeratta, ventured that you can distil any business down to two key foundational elements – value proposition and channel to market. This rings true in my experience. Yes, there are many other elements that we need and will need in time, but, to start with, these two elements are critical. Properly validated, they constitute solid business practice that will give you confidence and ensure you are more likely to succeed. It is also something that investors will demand if you are seeking finance pre- revenue.

Value proposition and channel to market

The best way for me to explain what I think is required in terms of validating a value proposition and a channel to market is through explaining the process I went through in developing and bringing to market a new domestic kitchen vacuum – Sweepovac.

By way of context, it took a subsequent four years of product development and market entry to get initial traction. That’s four years of uncertainty, challenges and obstacles. I definitely needed a thick coat of armor to get me through this, to give me the conviction to persevere!

Validation

This validation process was simple common sense really. First, we created the cheapest simplest prototype version possible of something that looked and acted like the finished product. We then tested it on end users – homeowners. We set up with this prototype for 3 days in 3 different retail settings – a hardware shop, a kitchen showroom and an electrical retailer spread across rural and urban centers. Over the three days we surveyed 100 people with a 15 question form using a Likert scale. This showed that 87% of people were positive and liked the product. A critical takeaway was, however, that within this group of 17% who absolutely ‘got it’ and were very enthusiastic, 13% had no interest.

Channel to market

Next, I needed to test the channel to market to see if we could deliver the product in the right retail environment, at the right price and at the right time.

I interviewed 20 kitchen retailers, some with retail chains, and the three largest distributors to these retailers. For each group, I had a different questionnaire that set out to establish their interest, their willingness to take on the proposed product and their views on pricing and margin structure.

The results showed that 70% would display, but with varying levels of enthusiasm and that the expected price should be between €90 and €220.

The result

I drew two key conclusions. The first was that 17%, and possibly more, of kitchen buyers would potentially purchase the product if it was presented in the right retail environment, at the right price and at the right time. The second was that there was enough interest among retailers and distributors to ensure that we could present it in the right environment at the right time. I also had strong guidance that I needed to get the manufacturing price down based on the feedback on the retail prices.

Key takeaway

Attempting to launch a new startup is usually, if not always, high risk with dramatic ups and downs. My key message is this: early and solid validation of your value proposition and your channel to market gives you a far greater chance of success and a coat of armour to help weather the process. It will allow you to focus on delivering, on problem solving and help stop you doubting the road you have chosen or second guessing yourself.

It takes bravery to launch a new start up or transform an existing business, it is usually if not always high risk with dramatic ups and downs. Mentoring has given me a wonderful opportunity to meet great people, to learn, to share and to to be part of their journey.

With regards to the gentleman from Sligo, I never had the opportunity to present him with his hat and some salt. The tourism business ran successfully for 13 years, was sold as a going concern in 2005 and still operates today.

About the author

Henry Fingleton

Henry Fingleton is an Enterprise Ireland mentor and the founder of Sweepovac. Henry’s experience in international sales started 20 years ago when he established and successfully marketed Kilvahan Horse Drawn Caravans into nine European markets, bringing the equivalent of 6,000 bed/night into Co Laois, a nontraditional tourism location. In total, he is responsible for six startup companies and, therefore, has a wealth of experience in many facets of business. Henry also has a strong academic background, having in recent years achieved a first-class Masters in Business (MBS), winning student of the year twice.

Starting up: how to beat entrepreneurial isolation

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 was well aware that running a business was going to be tough. I’d heard all the cautionary advice – getting my business off the ground would take longer than I planned, all the while costing me more money; and I would be working longer hours than ever before, with no holidays and little or no pay initially!

I went ahead anyway, taking over the children’s playroom and had a fantastic afternoon in Ikea buying all the must-haves for my home office. It was what I had always dreamt of doing when I used to commute to Dublin every day for my previous job – what could be better than working from home! With the home office looking like something off Pinterest, I was good to go and got stuck into putting together my business plan and getting ready to launch my business.

Soon launch day arrived and my business – Count Her In – was officially up and running. I worked tirelessly from the minute the children left for school until they came home in the afternoon. I rarely left the office, trying to fit as much as possible into my working days, and then starting again once the children were asleep. It worked and soon we got great traction, with membership steadily rising and fantastic feedback from members and the local media.

But something wasn’t right, I just wasn’t feeling the buzz I thought I would. I didn’t see anything as being a success and habitually focused on all the things I hadn’t managed to get done that day. With no one to run anything past, I mulled ideas and decisions over constantly in my head, even after making them – what if I had just made a big mistake, what if, what if…

The Mill Enterprise Hub

The weeks rolled into months. The business was thriving and yet, I was struggling to the point that I really didn’t know if I could continue. I couldn’t understand why. Christmas was fast approaching, so I decided to take a week off and think about things. I closed the door to the office and I didn’t set foot in it again! Over the Christmas period I had family and friends over, the house was bustling, and I suddenly realised why I was feeling so down about my business – I was alone and I had been for 12 months.

Every day, all day I was at home in my office, working hard, talking to people on the phone and via email, but not face to face. I had gone from working in a building with over 1,000 employees and managing a large team to being on my own. I now realised if something didn’t change then I would give up. I could not face going back to the office, and I didn’t. A friend had previously told me about The Mill Enterprise Hub in Drogheda, a great facility for startup companies where you could rent affordable office space or even just a hot desk, which was more suitable for me being on my own.

As soon as Christmas was over, I went and paid them a visit and knew, straight after walking in, that I needed to be there. There was such a buzz and energy about the place, exactly what had been missing in my home office. I managed to persuade The Mill to let me move in the very next morning, and I have been there ever since. Starting off with a hot desk in a shared office, and – now that we have grown and there are 3 of us – moving into our own office space a few weeks ago. Moving out of my home office gave both my business and me a HUGE boost.

Making simple changes

Moving into a facility like The Mill is not possible for all, but I believe the most important thing for anyone in the early stages of a business, or for someone who runs a business single-handedly, is to not allow themselves to become so engrossed in working hard that they become isolated to the point at which it begins impacting them and the performance of their business.

In January, I also made some other changes which again have really helped:

Networking events

I have made the most of all local events and some further afield, most recently making my way to Clare and Waterford. But even simply popping into something for half an hour during the day that gives you a break from the desk can be invaluable. You never know who you will meet and what impact they could have on your business or you on theirs.

Business inspiration

I have become great friends with a fantastic local businesswoman, and we try to meet on a regular basis to chat about our respective businesses. This has really proved invaluable. It is important to be able to share the more detailed aspects of your business with someone you trust. It is fantastic when you are struggling with something and need to talk it through, especially when it is with someone who understands what it is like to run a business. We happen to be at very different stages – my business is still very new whereas her business is much more established – but we have learnt that we still have the same types of issues, the same doubts and insecurities.

Coffee shops!

I love coffee. It’s my treat to myself when I get a nice coffee and now they are popping up everywhere. There is so much choice and most have free Wi-Fi, so even though I am now based in an office with a couple of others, sometimes I still head out the door with my laptop and go to a local coffee shop to work for an hour. Again, the buzz about the place just gives me an extra boost. I also realise how lucky I am to have a job that allows me that freedom, so that in itself gives me a reason to work that bit harder to ensure I can continue doing it.

The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone from what I have learnt is to listen to your own advice. What do you tell those around you? Probably something like look after yourself, ask for help, you need a little break. Next time you give out some advice just actually think about the last time you took your own advice.

About the author

Georgina McKenna

Georgina McKenna is a New Frontiers participant and the founder of startup Count Her In, a free online and offline social community for women. With an interest in mental health, Count Her In is a response to the difficulties of true communication in modern society.

Georgina worked for 12 years in a multinational corporation, enjoying the energy and buzz of being a project manager and senior finance shared service leader. However, it had always been a lifelong dream to run her own business, so when she was made redundant she took the opportunity to finally follow her true passion.

Featured startup: Bruno Lanvin, Dmbook

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 the communication was efficient between all the teams and all the shifts rotating around the clock.”

Making sure the right people have the right information whilst changing shifts and working on separate teams was an everyday struggle. It was this ongoing problem that caused Bruno to develop a concept which started out very simply – an online diary, “a platform to put everything [on] where people could access information.”

Building on a simple prototype

Bruno’s brother, Rémi Lanvin, a web developer, helped create this online diary as a side project. At this stage, the online diary functioned by allowing users to simply go between dated pages (today, tomorrow, last year, next year) and input simple text entries. Particularly useful was how users could set goals and mark them as done. Bruno brought this prototype to the hotel he worked for and from here the stone that caused the ripple of interest across the hotel industry was thrown. After 18 months, whilst still working full time and developing this project on the side, Bruno and Rémi had paying customers. It was this growing interest that caused the brothers to stop looking at their creation as a project and instead as a company. They created a business plan and within one year secured 85 customers across 8 countries, including the USA.

New Frontiers – direction in uncharted territories

As much as they could value their strengths, they could also recognise their weaknesses. Bruno knew that his in-depth knowledge of hotels, although key to his success so far, would not be enough to take his company to the next goal – a multimillion euro international business. As he says, “Hotels are not start-ups,” and so Bruno visited a Start-Up Ireland event in Cove. It was here he learnt of New Frontiers and after sending his application was invited to pitch for Phase 2.

“We made more progress in the six months with New Frontiers than in the six months before.”

Bruno attributes this to the direction they received regarding finances: how to raise finance, how to approach investors, who to approach, how to duplicate the success they had had so far, and how to secure more clients. Other invaluable support included sales and marketing advice, and valuable networking – being a part of a community of knowledge for start-ups, they could ask questions and get the answers they needed, while also exchanging experiences and learning opportunities with other participants.

Going forward

Dmbook Pro has expanded from its brotherly beginnings to a company with five employees and big ambitions. With this new expertise on board, they have created a fully functioning website, are currently developing a mobile app for Dmbook Pro and are targeting English-speaking markets, including the USA. Their goal is clear: to be in over 3,000 hotels by the end of year 3 in western Europe.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Cyber security: an important issue for small businesses

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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:

Small businesses are less likely to have sought any expert guidance on the topic compared to medium/large firms, and they cannot afford qualified/skilled security experts
Poor advice received from non-technical advisors or software salespeople
Poorly configured software and systems
Inadequate staff training and qualified staff
Lack of scenario planning around incident management

On the other hand, it has never been easier to engage in malicious hacking for profit or simply for malevolence. A plethora of tools are available freely and as digital life becomes more complex, with more and more devices connected to the internet without a thought for security, systems become more vulnerable. You might have heard of affiliate marketing – in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts. But have you heard of Malware Affiliate marketing? Malware authors, having seen what works elsewhere, have developed their own affiliate program.

In the security assessments that we have performed for small businesses in Ireland, we regularly encounter the following:

Weak cipher/encryption (whereby committed hackers could easily break into password controlled logins and take control of a site/server)
All service ports are open to public interfaces i.e. database, ssh, rdp. In these instances, there was absolutely no need to leave these open to the world.
Lack of redundancy or backup: one e-commerce retailer (just to pick one) has its entire site (IT asset, front-end, backend, etc.) on just one server with single storage, not to mention the configuration/setup. Despite the security risks, this is just bad practice as servers are known to fail for purely technical reasons.
Nicely designed sites delivered by competent front end developers, which have security flaws due to poor configuration. By this we mean the web server on which the website lives could easily be compromised. Developers often do not change standard admin configurations, leading to easily exploitable vulnerabilities. They often just are not aware of the security implications of what they are doing.

What companies can do for themselves

Imagine going to a car garage for a service. Would you assume that the mechanics would adjust your child’s seat for maximum safety or update your sat nav software? Don’t assume that your otherwise excellent IT people are looking after security. You may be surprised to hear it, but many IT graduates have never studied anything security related. Security is a very specialized discipline, at the pinnacle of IT and requiring a combination of skills in networking, system administration, development engineering, software engineering and infrastructure engineering with a solid background covering all areas. For small businesses, especially those holding data or processing payments, security is not something that should be compromised on.

Take a moment to consider these questions :

Do your IT team or 3rd party developers know how to secure your digital assets?
Who do you depend on if you suffer a data breach?
What would you do if your customer database was hacked, your website defaced or taken down, or you couldn’t access your email or business files?

Ciaran Martin, CEO of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre advises:

“The majority of successful cyber attacks are not that sophisticated, but can cause serious commercial damage. By getting the basic defences right, businesses of every size can protect their reputation, finances and operating capabilities.”

Steps you can take to significantly improve your cyber security:

Install, maintain and update antivirus, anti-malware and firewall software for desktop and mobile.
During system/server provisioning and setup, apply at least the basics of hardening in your environment. Remember to keep your system patched and up to date.
Consider Open Source products which can be more cost effective than commercial solutions.
Remove unused services from your server and restrict access to those services where there is no need for a public interface (anything outside of http(s) basically).
Always grant the minimum required privileges for your users/employees.
Set up a proper user access policy in your environment and keep it up to date (for new entries and leavers).

It is possible that this may be too much for your own IT team to handle, so consider booking a security health check with a reputable provider. There are great resources put together by the UK National Cyber Security Centre and the Cyber Essentials Programme.

Why this is important

All businesses holding customers’ personal data will need to ensure that they comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation from May 2018. This will strengthen the right to data protection, which is a fundamental right, and allow individuals to have trust when they give their personal data. Security is constantly evolving so make sure to carry out regular health checks. This could mean vulnerability and penetration testing, where security experts (with express permission) put on a ‘white hat’ and attempt to penetrate your system, yielding valuable data that can be used to strengthen your defenses.

Part 2: coming soon!

About the author

Donal Kerr

Economy: think outside the box to stay inside the circle

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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. In the natural world, there is no landfill. Plants and animals are born, they grow, eat each other, die and their nutrients return to the soil where the cycle begins again. Nature, being the most complex system known to man, operates using a seamless cycle, with each element integrating itself into a synergised system devoid of waste. It is a purely circular ecosystem.

The linear system

In contrast, for the past 250 years, humans have been favouring the alternative linear system – take, make, and dispose – fueled by the availability of plentiful and inexpensive natural resources. To date, this system has been attractive and successful for both business owners and consumers reaping the short-term rewards. When environmental and social impact is not a concern, businesses can take any necessary means to become more efficient, reach more customers, and sell more of their product. However, we are rapidly reaching the point of no return and the global economy is increasingly using finite resources at a rate which the planet is unable to replenish the raw materials.

Over the last century, we have watched prices decline as consumers demand cheaper and cheaper goods, yet we have never been in a situation where the price of resources has been so volatile. Renewable resources such as trees are being cut down faster than they can grow, clean water is being polluted and non-renewables, such as metals and fossil fuels, are fast depleting in an effort to keep up with global demand. The danger is that if we continue to operate using liner systems that the planet cannot sustain, our businesses, much like our finite resources, will cease to exist. After all – when all the trees have been cut down and all the rivers have dried up, we cannot eat money. Where will your business be then?

The future of business

Prof. William McDonough at Stanford remarked to the World Economic Forum:

“The ‘problem’ we find ourselves in is also the largest business opportunity ever seen by our species. The leaders of the economic future will be those that understand that by design we can create perpetual assets and optimise them to create businesses that thrive and are enjoyed by people everywhere, all the time, forever. Why would we want to miss that?”

Every traditional industry using a linear system has all the hallmarks of an industry ready to be disrupted. The long-term problem is unworkable, unavoidable, urgent, and underserved. This is an exciting time to be an entrepreneur, as here lies the opportunity to be part of global business solutions that fundamentally reinvent our economic model and build businesses that will shape the future of our planet.

So, what is the alternative? The circular economy! The circular economy is not reliant on the use of scarce resources to achieve economic growth, instead it uses disruptive technology and business models to profit from product longevity, renewability, reuse, repair, upgrade, refurbishment, capacity sharing, and dematerialization. Circular models do not focus on driving volume and squeezing lower costs through ‘efficiency’ measures in their supply chain. Instead, they design products to be ‘future-proof’, to fit within the limitations of our planet’s resources. There are five circular business models:

circular supplies
resource recovery
product life extension
sharing platforms
product as a service

Case study: The Nu Wardrobe

I will delve into a circular solution through the lens of my own company, Nu. Our startup has developed a platform that lets you bring your wardrobe online so you can share and swap your clothes with friends and other Nu. members. Our solution combines the thriving fashion industry and the rapidly growing sharing economy. The fashion industry is the world’s second most polluting industry, after oil. 25% of the world’s chemicals are used for textile production and the industry contributes 10% of the world’s global carbon emissions. The textile industry uses more water than any other industry, apart from agriculture. The rate at which apparel is created and consumed is unsustainable and the fashion industry is becoming ever more scrutinised for its lack of progress towards sustainable practices.

After conducting market validation, we found that although the fashion industry’s supply chain is highly efficient, this model is completely inefficient for the consumer. People invest in outfits that they may never wear or rarely wear. In cases like this, it would be far more efficient for people to borrow or rent clothes, rather than buy. This ties into the product life extension model, and sharing platforms which are part of the circular economy. In short, people have a lot of clothes and have made a huge investment in their wardrobe.

People want a constantly changing wardrobe, but the current model insists that consumers must make a purchase each time they want something different to wear. By providing a sharing platform, people can leverage the value already in their wardrobe to borrow clothes from other members. This cuts down on textile waste and extends the life-cycle of products already in circulation. Nu. profits by providing a service that connects users with people they can share or swap clothes with.

Changes like this can be seen disrupting industries the world over – prime examples being Airbnb, Lyft, and Guest to Guest. The sharing economy is set to boom over the next decade, estimated to be worth upwards of $335 billion by 2025. It is actually profitable, when setting out on a new business venture, to consider the future and how the business will thrive with it.

About the author

Aisling Byrne

Aisling is a New Frontiers participant and the co-founder founder of Nu. – a platform which lets individuals take their wardrobe online so they can share and swap clothes with friends and other Nu. members with a circular economy ethos… [Read Aisling’s profile]

The key traits of successful entrepreneurs

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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.

The common theme throughout my career has been a high degree of involvement with entrepreneurs taking the step to launch their own venture. I believe there is no better place to work than among a bunch of people who are motivated enough to take that courageous step! So, from my 16 years’ experience working with startups, these are the key characteristics of successful start-up founders that I have identified:

N.B. This is an entirely unscientific glance at a few traits that, for me, have shone through!

Surfing the waves of uncertainty

The only thing that is certain in the early stages of a start-up is that nothing is certain. The reality is that there is an endless range of unknowns for any founder launching their own venture. As Dave McClure, Founder of 500 Start-Ups, says:

A start-up is a company that is confused about (1) what its product is, (2) who its customers are, and (3) how to make money.

In my experience, it’s a minimum requirement for any founder to be able to live with the high degree of flux that marks the early days, months and years (yes, years!) of any start-up; otherwise, there’s likely to be a few too many sleepless nights. In fact, the best entrepreneurs seem to surf the waves of uncertainty.

Deliberate learners

Those who have ‘been there, done that’ (be it successfully or not so successfully) will often say that launching a start-up was the greatest learning experience of their lives. Some of the best founders I have worked with aren’t just happy to embrace the uncertainty referred to earlier, they either have or very quickly develop a very sharp sense of what they know and what they don’t know (but need to know). They then proactively set out to figure out some of the unknowns, reflect on the outcome and adapt their next steps accordingly. Deliberately learning every step of the way.

Glass half-full

All sorts of academic studies over the years have identified optimism as a key trait of successful entrepreneurs and there’s no doubt that it helps hugely to have a ‘glass half-full’ outlook on things. Indeed, the expression fits perfectly here, as it suggests an outlook which is on the positive side of neutral, without veering towards unbridled optimism or delusional confidence. I’m often struck by how a lot of founders will find silver linings in circumstances which might see others running for the hills. I’ve admired founders ‘positivise’ their way out of messes like lawsuits for patent infringement, the loss of a key customer or bust-ups with co-founders or investors.

Lone rangers?

Are they bold pioneers, happy to strut off into the unknown and tackle whatever obstacles arise? I’ll happily fudge the answer to this one. Yes, a lot of the successful entrepreneurs I’ve encountered are very capable people who believe in their own capacity to figure things out and often achieve remarkable amounts in the early stages. That said, anyone with their eye on genuine scale knows that they need good people around them – both as co-founders/key hires and within a wider network of ‘brains they can pick’. Finding the right people as co-founders/key hires or simply as ‘good people to know’ demands some degree of networking skill and effort. That’s quite different from rocking up at every start-up gig in town; it’s more about proactively and discerningly building a web of people who might be able to help you. Needless to say (I hope), that involves returning the favour!

Charmers?

Closely linked to the previous point, are all the guys and girls bursting with charisma? No, most certainly not. I have often observed how some participants on start-up programmes will determinedly slog away on their own for years, while others manage to develop whole teams of people who seem happy to come on board and work for free. Similarly, strong founders can keep customers and investors on their side, even when products aren’t working and timescales are slipping. It’s not unbridled charisma that makes the difference; in fact, being too ‘salesy’ is often unhelpful. Instead, having a passion for the project, communicating that effectively and being great to work with are all much more important.

Clever clogs?

Most definitely – but not at all in the sense of academic achievement or brilliance. While being a ‘genius’ is undoubtedly helpful when working on projects based on hi-tech or deep science, being ‘savvy’, ‘sharp’ and ‘on the ball’ will carry you much further along the start-up road than being highly intelligent in the conventional sense of the term.

When talking recently to a bunch of founders who have successfully scaled their start-ups, they all agreed that its people (staff, investors, customers) rather than technology or markets that consume the bulk of their effort and time. In that context, emotional intelligence is possibly the most valuable form of intelligence!

Marathon runners?

Yes, a start-up will take 150% of your energy and commitment, most likely over a distance more akin to a marathon than a sprint. I’ve often been struck by how some of the strongest founders have ‘something else’ which helps keep things in balance, be it sporting endeavours, a passion or past-time entirely unrelated to their business activity, and/or a good helping of time with their family. These will all help you find some clarity amid the sometimes ‘foggy’ and extraordinarily busy journey that is being a start-up entrepreneur. Bear in mind that nothing merits more investment than your well-being and that of your nearest and dearest!

About the author

Dominic Mullan

Dominic Mullan is a former New Frontiers Programme Manager at the Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT) Dún Laoghaire, where he was the Innovation, Commercialisation & Development Manager.

Dominic has extensive experience supporting the creation and growth of enterprises, with a particular focus on the innovation and technology space. He has worked closely with startups since 2000, and his expertise spans both the public and private sectors.

Technology-enabled innovation: pathways to success

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 the shape of a mushroom. The stalk represents growth of a technology for two to six to ten years, followed by an explosion of adoption of that technology into different use cases. The technology then resonates with users to the extent that customers can’t imagine what life was like before said explosion (i.e. the iPhone is only ten years old, Hailo only five). Basically, we see apprehension first, a growing buzz about a technology and, at the right time, mainstream adoption follows.

An example of this behaviour is evident in the case of the future technology in driverless cars. Initially, people will be very cautious; we will hear cases of fatal traffic accidents and instances when the car couldn’t differentiate a bike lane from a car lane, 3.5 million truck drivers in the US being laid off, and so on.

However, it’s clear that some consider driverless cars to be the latest ‘mushroom explosion’ in the making, as 2016 saw the online transportation network, Uber, purchasing a driverless truck company for approximately $680 million. Warren Buffet is quoted as saying the biggest risk to banking and insurance conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway is driverless cars, because their widespread use will mean fewer car accidents, and therefore less need for car insurance.

When the cars are ready for mass consumer adoption, infrastructure providers will catch up, and dedicated lanes, electronic signage and municipal vehicles will all play their role in facilitating this emergent technology. Exact timing can’t be predicted, but eventual productivity gains will ensure that technology will facilitate for driverless cars and societal acceptance will follow.

Other emergent technologies

Using this mushroom imagery to explore the stage of development of other new technologies, we would see emergent technologies on the ‘stalk’ as being:

Augmented/virtual reality technologies
The mainstreaming of data mining and data analytics at consumer level, as platforms such as Facebook and Google fully monetise their data
Enterprise-level data analytics insights from equivalent platforms such as Microsoft and SAP

The key issue around innovation, and especially some of the technology-enabled innovation today, is the time it takes to get to the stage of mainstream adoption and how that timeline applies to you or your company. Are you going to invest early and lead, while facing an uncertain length of time along the stalk, or are you going to trail early leaders and join the mushrooming market, but as a follower? The length of the testing phase is hard to predict (ask Blackberry or Nokia), but the outcomes are immense (ask Google or Uber).

I wonder if this mushroom-shape of adoption can be also applied to commentary outside of technology innovation; a long phase of emergent thinking before action – Brexit or Trump anyone?

About the author

Alan Costello

Alan Costello is a business consultant and Enterprise Ireland/New Frontiers mentor, helping scaling companies across multiple sectors. Alan is also the founder and managing director of Ruby Consulting, a strategy and innovation-focused boutique consultancy which strives to assist in the growth of companies and to work with business owners and leaders to help orientate planning for action.

After completing his MBA, Alan began working with early-stage startups, VCs, PE firms, universities and enterprise agencies. Alan provides high-value input for small/early-stage/HPSU companies, as well as delivering projects and programmes for public sector agencies, universities, colleges, large corporates, venture capital and many early-stage startups with ambitions to scale internationally.

How personal experience shaped my startup vision

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 business. She has suffered badly from eczema since she was a baby. I came up with the idea when searching for solutions that could help her and through the frustration of not being able to find products that worked for us. With 1 in 5 kids having eczema, I knew there must be many parents out there that were going through what we went through with our daughter; i.e. the sleepless nights due to unrelenting itching, not knowing what condition her skin was going to be in the following morning, and the ongoing risk of infection from the scratching. Eczema can be very distressing for both parent and child and there is no cure for it – it can only be managed and it’s all about maintenance.

Having a deep personal knowledge of the problem keeps you focused on finding a solution, and means you have the passion to persevere through the tough times.

2. “Building a business is like riding a roller coaster”

There are inevitable ups and downs when starting a business. Experience of the industry from the customer’s perspective will give you an edge.

We currently offer 2 products, with plans underway to extend the product range.

Our Shruggi is a form of scratch mitten that protects the child’s skin from the damage of scratching. It goes on like a cardigan/shrug over the child’s shoulders, making it easy for parents to put on but difficult for the child to remove. We found that traditional scratch mittens just wouldn’t stay on our daughter, so our Shruggi does just that. It is made from organic cotton and silk and comes in bright, colourful, child-friendly designs.

Our fun storybooks feature the characters of the Itchy Little Monkeys (Max and Mimi). These are characters that children relate to. The stories are fun for kids while also providing top tips and advice for parents to help them manage their child’s eczema, which complement standard clinical treatments their child may be receiving.

3. “You’ll have a competitive advantage”

Having experienced what other parents with kids that have eczema have, we know what our customers are looking for so that gives us a competitive advantage.

I AM the customer I’m targeting, so I know what other parents are going through and what it is they are searching for. I have parents regularly contacting me looking for advice on how they can best manage their little one’s eczema.

4. “You know your customer base”

With 1 in 5 kids globally suffering from eczema (more in some countries), we know there is a market for what we are selling. And since we’re able to relate to our customers, we should be positioned to make better decisions that meet their specific needs and wants.

There is no cure for eczema, it can only be managed.

The Shruggi breaks the itch-scratch cycle of eczema. When kids are itchy, they scratch. The more they scratch, the itchier their skin becomes. Scratching damages skin, with the increased risk of causing infection. Our product prevents the damage caused by scratching, therefore reducing the risk of infection and allowing skin to heal quicker, meaning less stress for child and parent.

I know from experience that looking after a child with eczema can be very stressful. When developing our brand, we aimed to remove the stress or eczema by making it as fun as possible for the child.

5. “You will keep refining your ideas”

Because our daughter lives with eczema daily, we are constantly aware of it and are always looking for better ways to help her and therefore our customers too.

As well as our Shruggi and storybooks, plans are underway to extend the product range. We are constantly thinking of the next way we can help make life easier for kids suffering from eczema.

Because our stories are based on personal experiences of dealing with a child with eczema, I haven’t run out of ideas for writing yet – there is so much we have learnt along the way that we can share with other children and parents.

So, although I have a business background and have previous experience of running a business day-to-day, it is the deep personal knowledge I have of this subject matter that makes me passionate about this business in my quest to help other kids (and their parents!) manage their eczema.

About the author

Nicola McDonnell

Nicola McDonnell is a New Frontiers alumna and the founder of Itchy Little Monkeys. The startup provides solutions for young children with eczema; its product range currently consists of the Shruggi – an innovative form of scratch mitten – and a range of fun storybooks.

Nicola comes from a business background. Before founding her startup, she had worked in senior management for 15 years, in roles that encompassed a wide range of responsibilities.

Business strategy: why it matters and how to do it

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 not dedicating enough time to it and not setting ourselves any goals or action plan, which all resulting in us just not doing it.

Why strategy?

The starting point for a lot of organisations is that people are too busy working away at an operational level making day-to-day things happen. Sometimes, people think they have a common understanding of where the organisation is going, but often – with some probing – it becomes clear that they don’t. Often, ideas about what the organisation might do to support growth are floating around and are either not acted upon at all, or are acted on in an ad hoc way, depending on the forcefulness of the originator of the idea. The development of a proper strategy has the effect of facilitating a common understanding of where the organisation is going, how it’s going to get there and what goals and action are required to make that happen. A lovely analogy I’ve seen is that of a magnet lining all the iron filings up to point in the same direction.

There are various schools of thought on how important goal-setting is in achieving results. Some argue that if you have a strong vision, everything else will fall into place; others, to varying degrees, argue for the necessity of setting goals and developing action plans to deliver those goals. While I’ve no doubt that people have achieved amazing things through vision alone, setting goals and developing action plans generally provides focus and yields better and faster results.

What do you want?

Consider how you would answer the following questions:

What’s your organisation’s VISION?
That is, what change do you want to see in the world?
What’s your MISSION?
In other words, what is your role in that change?
What’s your TOP LEVEL GOAL?
What is your more specific, measurable, time-bound goal?
What STRATEGY are you going to pursue to deliver on that mission?
What strategic objectives will you set to support that overall strategy? What actions are necessary and when? Who else needs to be involved? How will you measure success?

What’s important to you?

But before embarking on any of this, it’s important to ensure that what you’re setting out to do is in harmony with your values.

Values are principles, standards or qualities we hold to be important. Those cited frequently include integrity, innovation, and family… however, there are a whole host of possibilities, for example: money, success, freedom and loyalty. There is no point in pursuing a mission or goal that conflicts with your organisational values as, eventually, something will give, so it is very important to spend some time identifying values upfront. For example, if conservation or environmental protection is a priority for your organisation, then pursuing goals that conflict with these will not sit well and is unlikely to be successful.

How to build a strategy – the process

Once you’ve defined your values, you can work your way through the process shown, determining your vision and your mission, as defined above. For example, your vision may be that the expected standard of coffee in Ireland would be the same as that in New Zealand and your mission may be to be recognised as the best local cafe(s) in Ireland. Then, it helps to step back and do some analysis, both of the context and of your organisation. What’s the environment like? What forces are at play? What are the key success factors for the industry? How well do you perform versus your competitors? A gap analysis will highlight the knowledge, skills and resources that will help you get from A to B, but also the constraints within which you may have to operate.

There are some great tools to help analysis and understanding of your organisation, for example, a simple SWOT analysis, Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas, and the ‘Prevailing Logic’ tool.

Next, step back again and take some time to generate some ideas for possible goals and actions that will help you achieve your mission. Again, there are lots of possible approaches, but good old-fashioned brainstorming with a pen and some post-its is still very effective.

It’s now time to define your top level goal – what’s a time-bound, measurable goal you can set yourself in pursuit of your mission? For example, you may decide that you will open your first cafe in Dublin in one year’s time, or that you will have X cafes with a specific profit in 3 years’ time. What’s your strategy to get there – i.e. how are you going to get there? Set yourself five or six smaller strategic objectives – they might be concerned with finance, sourcing of premises, hiring good staff, barista training, roasting training, sourcing of equipment, sourcing of beans – the key is that they, together, will deliver your top level goal and that they are measurable and time-bound.

This is also the time to agree on what you’re NOT going to do. There may well be fantastic ideas generated at the brainstorming phase that have to be parked – the team will have to prioritise and agree what is feasible within agreed resource constraints; what needs to be increased, reduced and eliminated in order to create. No organisation has infinite resources and in order to effectively pursue agreed strategic objectives, it is essential that resources do not get pulled six months down the line to work on someone’s latest hobby horse. Unless, of course, there is an agreed change in strategy.

Action plan

Referring back to the ideas generated during your brainstorming, define the actions necessary to deliver on each of your 5-6 Strategic Objectives. You can download a template to help you organise the action items under each strategic objective from my website. What’s important is that you have the resources to pursue the actions and that you set yourself targets and milestones. It’s also advisable to decide on a small number of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that measure how well you’re doing on a month-by-month basis. The downloadable template can be used as a live document to track progress and KPIs.

It’s worth spending a bit of time at this stage considering the risks to your plan and working out some contingency plans.

Review

As many have said before me, “…the only sure thing is change,” so there’s nothing surer than the fact that your plan will require adapting at some stage. In fact, being flexible and being able to respond to changing circumstances is a strength, so periodic review of your plan is important, not just to ensure that you are on track but to ensure that what you’re pursuing and what you’re doing are still relevant.

Maintaining action

The biggest challenge many organisations face is implementation. All too often, they get sucked back into spending all their time on day-to-day operational issues. Dedicating the required resources, accountability and periodic review of the strategic action plan is absolutely critical – otherwise the strategy document will just gather dust on a shelf.

One of the big advantages of determining your mission, setting strategic objectives and detailing an action plan is that all actions should lead back to your mission. Having an action plan allows you to question whether what you’re doing right now is going to bring you closer to your mission. If not, why are you doing it?

About the author

Mary Carroll

Mary Carroll is a business strategist and coach with over 25 years’ experience in design engineering, management consulting and business development. She is also an Enterprise Ireland mentor.

Mary has worked in senior management and management consulting roles across various sectors. She has supported clients in personal growth, business process change, systems implementation, technology acquisitions, strategy development and planning. Her areas of interest include: strategy, business process optimisation, analysis, inclusion, diversity, gender balance, women in business, business coaching, mentoring, executive coaching, business consulting, programme management, and project management.

Case study: BriteBiz – business management solution

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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, end-to-end solution.” notes Eamon.

A lack of end-to-end solutions for SMEs

He points out that, “Over my years at PwC, I had worked with several large blue chip companies that used highly bespoke and integrated systems, such as SAP or Oracle, but this same streamlined process did not seem to be available for small and medium sized companies, particularly those that wanted a cloud solution.” After many failed attempts to find a better integrated cloud-based solution for SMEs, he decided to go it alone and set about developing the solution for himself – and so the adventure began.

“We developed the software in-house over a two-year period, and began to deploy it within a small number of beta customers. It really did have a hugely transformative effect, allowing companies to scale more rapidly and cut costs significantly through integrated systems,” says Eamon. “BriteBiz acts as an end-to-end solution from lead generation and capture on your website to product and service management, from quotes and e-contracts to booking management, from credit control to payment processing. BriteBiz also has many unique features not available in any other system currently on the market, such as client portals and worksheets for each individual deal, as well as resource allocation. Essentially, it takes the best parts of a CRM, project management system, payments platform and resource management and bundles them all together in a beautiful, easy to use cloud application. BriteBiz makes it easy for companies to do business, particularly companies in service industries.”

A solution that works across many sectors

After a successful deployment within the initial early adoption customers, Crosby and the rest of the team started to notice that other companies across different industries, and across the world, were suffering from the same problems and pain. The application has become a particularly good fit for the hospitality industry. “We work with several hotels and provide them with powerful tools for their sales and marketing teams to manage weddings and events,” notes Eamon.

“We knew that there was a huge potential market for BriteBiz, but there was a significant challenge in developing the correct sales and marketing strategy to achieve this. We became aware of the GMIT New Frontiers programme and decided to apply. The programme has been hugely beneficial in formulating a strategy and developing the best route to market for BriteBiz, we would highly recommend it to anyone starting off a new business, particularly in the tech sector,” says Eamon.

Britebiz is currently scaling from its Galway office and now has customers across Ireland, the UK and the US. “We are looking at bigger markets outside of Ireland, particularly the US. We are targeting the SaaS (Software as a Service) marketplace, which is estimated to reach $300 Billion by 2025. As BriteBiz also has a payment platform, we will also be targeting other high-value markets such as construction industries, the legal profession, IT and healthcare sectors. Our payment platform is currently being expanded to included digitised direct debit, and we will be working more on the payments part of our system over the years ahead, as Fintech technologies continue to develop.”

The company plans to grow its workforce within Ireland over the coming months and years. If you are a company looking for the perfect end to end business management solution, or you are looking for a role with an exciting tech company, take a look at the BriteBiz website. The New Frontiers programme at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology is delivered at Innovation Hubs in Castlebar and Galway.

[The image above shows Eamon Crosby from BriteBiz receiving the New Frontiers Best Emerging Business award from Conor O’Dowd, KPMG]

About the author

Tony O’Kelly

Tony is the New Frontiers Programme Manager in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT). His main expertise lies in finance, manufacturing, sales and procurement across a wide range of business sectors. He has experience in automating business processes and managing projects from conception to delivery; skills he brings to the structure and delivery of New Frontiers in GMIT… [Read Tony’s profile]

SaaStr 2017: how Irish startups can foster US-style ambition

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 higher expectations than their Irish counterparts?

Annual Recurring Revenues

Many of the SaaStr speakers shared their journey to Annual Recurring Revenues (ARR) of $100 million within 5 – 8 year time frames. They tell stories about cracking $1 million in their first 18 months and the struggle to get to $5 million or $6 million ARRs – when the ‘cavalry’ arrives – over the following 18 months. They talk about the challenges of building management teams, hiring ‘rock-star’ engineers and the costs of doing business. Mostly, though, they talk about building a sales engine. One thing that they rarely talk about is the product.

So what is it that makes US firms so confident in their abilities to build $100 million ARR, and why don’t Irish startups have that same ambition or, if they do, struggle to realise it? Even our most recent successes – Datahug, Trustev and Storyful – sold out long before reaching those heady heights.

Scaling strategies from the US

Companies with the ambition to be category leaders, such as Stripe, Intercom or Fleetmatics, might consider these four strategies that have turned similar US SaaS companies into household names:

1. Define your market

Prioritise defining your market above the product you’re going to build. US companies happily go to market with MVPs (minimum viable products) and trust that the technology will catch up with the marketing.

2. Recruit sales staff

Prioritise recruitment of sales staff, and even marketing staff, over engineers. In Silicon Valley, this may be a result of the shortage and the cost of engineering talent, but it’s clear that where Irish companies are knuckling down and writing code, their US counterparts are building momentum through brand awareness and early sales.

3. Build a sales machine

Build your sales machine as early as possible. US companies invest in sales technologies like Datahug, InsideSales and Pipedrive that optimise lead generation, incorporate predictive analytics and support a scaleable process.

4. Measure everything

Measure every element of the sales process – the lead conversion rate, sales velocity, customer acquisition costs, customer retention costs, churn and the all-important monthly recurring revenue. Because at the end of the day, without sales, nothing else matters.

Selling to US clients

The lessons learnt are very timely as our own business, TenderScout, has started scaling into the US. In sharp contrast to the Irish and UK firms we started out servicing, we’re finding that US prospects are generally more sales oriented and willing to invest in new business opportunities.

In our own sales process, we’re finding that US deals are generally three times larger than Irish deals and close twice as fast. The main challenge to overcome is not about our technology or our service, rather it’s our lack of in-market presence.

Being Irish can open doors abroad, particularly in the US, South America and large parts of Europe. But knowing the business culture, particularly when it comes to selling and sales, is critical in deciding which doors to knock on if you want to maximise your return on investment. That’s something we aim to change soon, when we will begin servicing our North American clients from San Francisco.

On the flight home to Dublin, I met founders from SwiftComply, Phorest and other Irish companies, who’d been in the Valley selling to, networking with and learning from some of the most valuable companies on the planet. What they’ll have seen is that the only thing separating them from the best Silicon Valley companies is the scale of their ambition.

About the author

Tony Corrigan

Tony is the Director of TenderScout and a past participant on New Frontiers. His disruptive SaaS company has won the Eircom Spider Business Choice award and was recently shortlisted for the ESB Spark of Genius award at the Web Summit, as well as being an Enterprise Ireland client and in receipt of Competitive Start Funds (CSF).

Featured startup: Aidan Duff, Fifty One Bikes

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 largest distributors on the island of Ireland – manufacturing his own range of world class bicycles was the logical next step.

Custom-made in Ireland

In early 2015, Aidan started Phase 2 of the New Frontiers programme, at the Synergy Centre in Tallaght. With the feedback and validation processes that the programme takes entrepreneurs through, Aidan decided that while his concept was strong, the delivery itself could be improved on. He needed to establish a real niche, a truly unique selling point. The programme is not for the fainthearted, and you need a lot of drive and motivation to take part. Market research, and trial and error, are both vital parts of the process. As Aidan put it:

“My idea was a really, really good concept, ticking a lot of the New Frontiers boxes, but when I put it out to people within the industry, the feedback was a little bit muted. People I trusted were saying: look, you can do that better than this, you need to go back and redesign it. On paper it looked good but the feedback from industry mentors and contacts was that it wasn’t enough. I felt a little bit embarrassed, because I was developing something within an industry that I knew, and here I was, a third of the way through New Frontiers and I literally had to rip it up and start again, so I started to feel a little bit of pressure at that point.”

Aidan cannot stress enough how much respect he has for his fellow New Frontiers participants. It’s a great mix of people with very diverse backgrounds, tackling projects that are sometimes very far removed from their previous experience. In many ways, Aidan was working from the safety of a known industry and well-established relationships, but he was also aware of the competitive and ruthless nature of the industry. Aidan concentrated on the elements he felt were the most important, and which would add to his core competencies:

“The great thing about New Frontiers is the unbelievable network you have at your fingertips – you come into contact with specialists you would never normally meet and certainly couldn’t afford as a startup. The New Frontiers programme is a fantastic tool for anyone wishing to start an export-oriented business. The benefits are too long to list but the course content and the structure it gives you are remarkable. It’s also a potential gateway into Enterprise Ireland CSF (Competitive Start Funding) and HPSU (High Potential Startup status), which is very useful for scaling companies.”

Following a clear plan

Aidan says the early stages of startup are vital to get things moving. He recommends creating the best network you can as early as possible. Although no one is going to grow your business for you, you’d be surprised at the help you will get if you reach out. Define what the overall goal or mission is, but don’t let it overwhelm you. Break jobs into bite-size chunks, define a road map and tick the boxes along the way. It takes time and you will go off course on a number of occasions, but a concise plan forces you to regroup and regain focus regularly.

Aidan reiterates how ideal the structure of New Frontiers is, as it essentially sets out this roadmap and helps you overcome the challenges that every startup is bound to face at some point. It’s structured around milestones and prevents you going around in circles. Sometimes, it can be hard to keep on top of the programme work AND keep your own project progressing. Aidan says, inevitably you derail from time to time, but that’s where your support network comes into play. The course managers have seen it all before so they can advise you on where to go from there. The consultants giving the workshops are all very experienced, too. Aidan worked closely with trainers such as Alan Costello, who helped put potential problems and issues into perspective. Aidan’s accountants, solicitors, trade marking, etc. all came from people he met on New Frontiers. Aidan says the best way to overcome inevitable challenges are with skilled, passionate people by your side.

Bringing it all together

Last year, Fifty One secured substantial investment in Ireland and from an industry-specific source in Germany. This will facilitate entry into the German and overall European market and give them a little more weight with suppliers. Fifty One is also an Enterprise Ireland HPSU (High Potential Startup). The carbon fibre framesets for the bikes are manufactured here in Ireland – instead of opting for lower-cost mass production in Asia, frames are custom-made to the precise specifications of the customer. The result is a completely bespoke bike that allows the owner to be part of the design process, which ironically is how bikes used to be made when Aidan first started out. The company is also developing a customisation tool that will allow customers to design and order their perfect bike online.

Aidan has a clear long-term plan for his startup, and with the right use of technology and customer focus will achieve his ambitious scaling goals.

“In short, to scale for the first phase of our growth plan, we will need to hit our revenue and employment numbers and establish a brand in a niche premium segment. From there we will have the credibility to leverage the brand image and add additional products, territories, and revenue streams.”

www.fiftyonebikes.com

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Business expansion: scaling your startup

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 is to identify the correct markets and grow in that direction. Here are my top tips for successfully growing your startup:

Maintain a healthy balance

Some business owners (and I was of this frame of mind for a while) think that business expansion is not going to affect their family life, their health, or their personal finances; and that they can be separated from the ongoing pressures of growing the business. Well, I have found that this is definitely not the case! One major change I have made in recent times is to safeguard myself against poor health by getting regular exercise, eating well and spending quality time (vs. quantity time) with family members. This is as important as anything else.

Prepare the whole team for growth

Business growth and expansion brings pressures to your daily systems, and your current structure and team may not have had the time or experience to get geared up for increased production or services due to a sudden growth in demand for your product. Our team had to increase production rapidly to cope with the influx of new sales over a short period of time. Luckily, we were prepared for this potential growth from the beginning and had production capacity schedules to call on and put into action. The team were motivated to deal with this quick growth and it was all hands on deck!

Keep an eye on cash flow

Cash flow is critical to successful expansion, as new timings of payables and receivables can cause financial strain. When expanding and increasing production, it is really important that the daily cash flow is strictly monitored to insure that your company can maintain its daily out. Cash is king – we’ve all heard this saying and it is more true today than ever before, especially for a small business expanding. A healthy profit may look nice on your financial statements, but if capital expenditures or extending credit terms are draining your cash, you won’t be able to stay in business for long. Too often, small business owners fail to focus enough on cash flow generation. For small businesses, handling business accounting and taxes may be within the capabilities of the business owners, but professional help is usually a good idea. Getting assistance with managing cash and the bookkeeping can allow you to excel when others are calling it quits.

Think about customer service

When focusing on growth and rushing to meet a rise in demand, customer service can sometimes slip. As a company who prides itself on customer service levels it was crucial that we ensured the continuing level of service to our loyal customers whilst bringing new customers on board. Smartphones, social media, texting, email, Twitter and other communication channels are making it easy for businesses and individuals to get their messages out. Figuring out the right marketing channels is key for businesses to be successful in the future. These channels are equally valuable when it comes to customer service.

We quickly identified that our key customers were avid users of Twitter and Instagram. By running polls and asking for feedback from our followers, we were able to identify what new aspects of our existing products these customers wanted. Identifying what our customers want and doing a better job of giving it to them has made all the difference in our expansion and planning for the future.

Take employees with you

Employees can become uneasy about change. From the beginning of our business, we shared our vision of growth with our employees. We stirred in them the passion for growth and productivity that we needed to push forward and develop our products. We identified and made the need for change well-known throughout the business. We also facilitated ownership of this change by involving employees in the planning and implementation processes. We encouraged them to offer suggestions of solutions to problems that arose from our scaling activities. We gave genuine regard to the concerns of our employees, and we put procedures in place to monitor the effects of change.

There’s no one way to scale a business, but by ensuring you have the right vision and culture in place, backed by strong procedures, you’ll give yourself the best chance of success. Strong leadership is important, but so it taking your team and your customer base along with you. Our business is growing and, as a team, so are we!

About the author

Noreen Doyle

Noreen Doyle is a New Frontiers past participant, and the co-founder and CEO of Irish Biltong Co. The company produces an award-winning, 100% Irish, gourmet beef snack that is a favourite of sportspeople and nutrition experts around the country. Irish Biltong Co is very much a family-owned business. Both Noreen and her husband John come from farming backgrounds, with a life-long connection to the beef and dairy sector. The family owns and breeds high quality, prize-winning cattle; using their own stock to supply their wholesale meat producing plant in County Kildare.

My startup story: belief, support, action!

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

“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 and belief is a huge part of making something happen, but action – follow through and a relentless, endless pursuit of the end goal – is imperative if you are to realise your ideas.

My own entrepreneurial journey probably started when I fled the nest at 17 and headed to Dublin City University to study for a Communications degree. This was actually my second choice, having fallen short of the points for English and Drama in Trinity.

I was not too disappointed, though, as the Communications degree was also right up my alley – covering TV, radio, broadcasting and a host of other interesting topics such as linguistics and social and cultural perspectives. I also managed to satisfy my theatrical bent through part time employment at Andrew’s Lane Theatre and claiming the role of President of the Drama Society.

Following college, I spent a summer performing with Shannon Heritage, completed a course with the Gaiety School of Acting, and started an MA in Drama in UCD at the tender age of 21. I continued to work in the theatre industry and around this time I secured an agent and had some minor successes with a number of TV commercials, plays and my ’15 minutes of fame’ in Damien O’Donnell’s Inside I’m Dancing (including an on-screen kiss with JAMES MCAVOY – a movie moment that I will be able to show the grand-kids some day!).

When life changes course

Trying to make it as an actress and failing to make the elusive breakthrough into the big time proved to be a great foundation for what was to come next, and furnished me with some very important tools to bounce back.

I learned that ‘no’ is not necessarily a definitive “NO!” and that the word “NEXT” is just a step closer to the next part – not an indication that it’s time for you to exit stage left (or right)!!

As the story unfolded, I did actually exit… or at least sidestep slightly. Trying to keep a roof over your head while living hand to mouth goes hand in hand with this type of career, and in order to keep going I fell into a number of so-called ‘stop gap’ promotional jobs. I found that working in events, public relations and publishing was more suited to my skill set and I also liked the novelty of suddenly having a slight jingle in my pocket for a change.

With hindsight, I now realise that there is a close similarity between being a starving artist and a budding entrepreneur!

The move into publishing

Having worked in events for a number of years, I started working for a publishing company in my late twenties and spent several years working across a variety of titles and with a number of publishers before setting up on my own in 2010. I spent a few years working on contract publications, but was eager to launch my own title and in 2012 I identified a niche in the market for a lifestyle publication for secondary schools.

Acting quickly, I gave birth to Bell TIME Magazine in 2013, sending an inaugural copy to every secondary school in Ireland to test the market from both a consumer and commercial perspective. We had great feedback from advertisers and schools alike and with that Bell Media Ltd was established in 2014.

And so the story begins

Getting used to rejection at an early stage in life has, I believe, proved to be a great life lesson for me as a budding entrepreneur – something which gives me the resilience needed to continue in difficult moments.

I was lucky to have had some good people around me who supported me in the delicate and difficult startup period. I had energy, passion and good marketing skills and a vision for where BellTime could go, but there were a host of other gifts I needed which were not in my own repertoire. Graphic design, customer care, distribution, sophisticated IT skills were some of the more obvious deficits that needed attention, but there was also the need for what might be called the ‘softer’ support systems such as encouragement, prudence, patience and wisdom.

This is where having a support network is imperative to survival. My family, my partner and a few close friends were my ‘go to’ people, who nourished and protected me in fraught moments when I thought I had taken on too much and that I was in over my head. They also kept me balanced and helped me take time out to avoid becoming totally absorbed by my work; this helped to recharge my batteries and to keep me sane when life had become all too hectic and work all too engrossing.

The next step in this process is to get busy living – I relate this to the now immortalised line in one of my favourite films, The Shawshank Redemption:

“Get busy living or get busy dying.”

My Phase 1: BELIEF

Being a one-woman band back in 2014 – and not having the first idea how to even play a musical instrument – I quickly tapped into a number of resources that were available to start ups. Through the help of our Local Enterprise Office, The New Frontiers programme, InterTrade Ireland, Plato, The Regional Development Centre, and DKIT Dundalk, as well as support from Enterprise Ireland, we have been able to reach our third year in business and launch phase three of our business plan.

Making the right decisions in employing the right people is imperative if you are to realise your dreams. Having key staff members, a support network and people you can trust who will tell you what you don’t want to hear is crucial. Being surrounded by “Yes Men” is a sure key to failure.

My Phase 2: SUPPORT

Having valuable experience across a number of industry sectors relevant to your business startup are essential ingredients for the success of your company; if you excel in a certain aspect of the business, apply the majority of your efforts to this area.

Employ other people to do the jobs you can’t. People who are better and more talented than you! Life has a funny way of leading you down many meandering country lanes, allowing you to experience different career paths. You can get very competent passing through these routes and even feel like an accomplished driver before you finally reach the motorway and suddenly…

Oh my God! you’re in the fast lane for the first time now and you have to overtake competitors, only you have never done this before or driven this fast!

This is where what you have learned thus far – your successes and failures to date, the preparation, blood, sweat and tears you have put in to your startup – kicks in. With a bit of tunnel vision and some, albeit, blind ambition, it’s time to accelerate.

My Phase 3: ACTION

We are about to climb a summit – hope to see some of you guys on the other side!

Some of my tips for startups

BELIEVE – DO
WRITE IT DOWN – WRITE IT DOWN – WRITE IT DOWN
GET IT DONE – GET IT DONE – GET IT DONE
GET UP – DRESS UP – SHOW UP

For those mental block moments, I use the following:

“The blank page is the place to begin. Open your mind and fill the page in.”

About the author

Rachel Hanna

Rachel Hanna is a New Frontiers alumna and the founder of Bell Media, a media company with an ambition to foster a culture of innovation in school communities and inspire young people internationally.

Rachel brings a rich and varied background to her role as founder, with over 20 years’ experience working within the media and communications industry and has worked on numerous lifestyle events since 2010.

Bell Media Ltd was established in September 2014, and is currently focused on establishing itself as the go-to events and publishing company within the education/lifestyle sector, with plans to expand the Bell Time brand domestically and further afield.

Success in business: stand for something

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 responsibility. Governments and society also impose legal responsibilities on you. If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.

What would you do if you had no worries?

Any fool can complain or condemn, and most fools do.

Blame looks back, responsibility looks forward.

How does this apply to an entrepreneur? Entrepreneurs perform in a very fluid but competitive trading environment. If they don’t have some critical anchors, then they are vulnerable to those who have. From my experiences out there in the business world, I believe that ‘clarity of purpose’ is the critical anchor one has to have in order to be commercially successful.

Form your own moral and social responsibilities from your values and your moral code derived from your family background, culture, philosophy, religion or school.

I assume that, imperfect though they may be, you respect the laws of the land and that you try to live by the cultural and ethical codes and practices that control civilised society. I assume that you would behave peacefully in the company of others. I assume that you stand for, and will campaign for, improvement in the quality of life and living for your family members, your friends and for members of the community around you. I assume that you will help someone who needs help and that you will defend someone who is being attacked. I assume you stand for something.

Think about how you can embed this in the team culture you are. You’ll need to to ‘win the debate in your own head’ first, and only then can you start to communicate and over time influence these critical values within the team. Culture is a difficult concept to understand, but it manifests itself in what the business consistently celebrates and reprimands.

What are you going to do differently? How are you going to do it? When will you have it completed? What evidence can you give to show that you have made the sustainable change?

“We would be happier with what we have if we weren’t so unhappy about what we don’t have.”

Frank A Clark

If you think you are average, you will achieve average results. Stretch yourself, but for the sake of your health and happiness, not beyond breaking point.

I work with a number of CEOs who really understand this critical anchorage. They keep telling stories to emphasise the point, and they use it as the backdrop when they are making difficult decisions. Having declared transparent VALUES facilitates the team to better understand and appreciate ‘how things are done around here’. This facilitates them to optimise their contribution, since they don’t have to waste energy second guessing.

About the author

Blaise Brosnan

Blaise is a business leader, consultant and author, and a New Frontiers programme trainer. Blaise studied and graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a M.Sc in Management. He has a unique blend of practical top management experience gained over 25 years in his capacity as Chief Executive of a portfolio of business types. In addition to this, he has gained further national and international experience, having successfully completed projects in Ireland, US, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and in Russia.

In his role as MD of the Management Resource Institute (MRI), he works with a rage of business types to help them put in place better Business Models and gain more commercial success. In addition, he is chairman and co-owner of a number of other commercial businesses.

Startup PR: increasing awareness and becoming an expert

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 a friend who helps me write up my press releases, and then I contact the various media contacts myself to see if they’re interested in the story. This personal touch goes a long way. I’ve also found it useful to reach out to mums in the media – I send my products to new mums and they almost always feature me in their magazine or paper.

Getting on television

I’ve also been able to get some appearances on TV, which has been incredibly helpful to the brand. My daughter and I appeared on a few slots on Ireland Am, and then on RTE’s Today. Often, openings like these are down to luck, and being in the right place at the right time. However, it’s also about creating these opportunities and putting yourself out there. In my case, the RTE appearance came about because I was producing online content for the RTE Food website. We were filming a video for this, which the Today show producer saw, and he asked if I would come to Cork to cook on the show.

Being on TV wasn’t something I had ever thought about, or in fact wanted to do, but when it can drive traffic to your website you soon lose the nerves! Becoming an expert in a particular area means that you have to be confident when speaking about the topic. Contact the media and let them know that you are prepared to write about your subject area, or go on TV. Don’t be shy!

Blogging and content partnerships

I started writing blog posts about weaning and feeding young children, and we also started writing recipes. I saw an opportunity to share our content with other online content sites, so we partnered with media providers as a way to grow our brand without a huge marketing spend. I used my network to get an introduction to the content editor of RTE, and because she could see that we were already producing great content, she gave us a weekly slot on their website. They get our content, and in exchange we get links back to the website. We have nurtured similar partnerships with Xposé Parenting, MyDealDoc, SuperValu, MummyPages and GloHealth. We also recently took part in the Tesco Back to School campaign – creating recipes and food hacks for parents.

Increasing awareness of our brand does not lead to instant sales, and it has possibly been a slower road for us than if we had invested in direct marketing. But our hard work is now paying off, as we’ve been able to see with our recent food flask product launch… mums who had previously purchased from us or connected through our recipes have been buying this new product because they trust the brand. Sales since January have been really strong and we are now planning to launch other colours.

Engaging social media content

Social media is another place where you can build your reputation, and once again it’s about producing good quality content that’s helpful and raises awareness of your product. Here too, brand image is important, so on social media we pay attention to our message, language and image. We keep the way we write content consistent across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Each post is friendly and helpful and I always sign it myself. Because I’m a mum of two young children, customers know that I’ve experienced the same issues around weaning and food as they have, and that helps to build trust.

I get emails every day from other mums asking if I can help them. Obviously, I’m not a doctor, so it’s important to seek professional advice from a doctor or dietitian if the problem persists. However, there are tactics and improvements I can share with them that can help. Simple things, like asking someone else to feed the child so that they don’t pick up on mum’s stress, can have a huge impact. Sharing these insights with other mums is an important part of what our brand is about, and it’s a great way to build our community of loyal fans.

Our next step is creating videos to get our message out there and drive product sales. This has been a difficult step, mostly down to cost. We’ve been focusing on growing organically, and we don’t have a large marketing budget to call on. At first, we went for a budget option, but the videos weren’t really in line with our expectations. It’s crucial when you’re building brand reputation in this way that everything fits with the image you are creating, so I’m always thinking about the overall brand experience. We were recommended another video producer, and although this time the cost was higher, we’re really happy with the results. We’ve created a series of recipe videos that back up our core messaging about weaning and show how useful our products are. These will be great for brand awareness, and we can share them with our media partners.

Choose opportunities carefully

Becoming an expert and raising awareness is as much about what you don’t do as anything else. For instance, I was asked to become a brand ambassador for a company that had had some very bad press. While I would have been well paid for it, I knew that there wouldn’t have been any positives for the brand image I had spent a long time building, and luckily I declined. Listen to your gut and if it feels wrong, don’t do it!

Also, be careful not to associate yourself with too many brands. Make sure the companies you partner with are a good fit in terms of their ethos as well as their relevance to what you do. You should also consider whether they want to partner with you because they are thinking about moving into your space in the future – in these cases there’s no point you giving them a boost just so that they can take over your market share!

Obviously, some partnerships come with financial compensation, and some don’t… so when doing any free promotion for other brands, think about how you will be able to build on it for the benefit of your own brand. For instance, I’ve done talks at baby & toddler events, which I’m happy to do for free because I’m able to present my products to an interested audience, and the organisers also promote our business on social media.

It’s all a case of balance. Although I do events for free, it is important to make sure you are getting enough back – for instance, that the audience is large enough and you will get good PR from it. In the past, I wasn’t always as cautious. I agreed to do one event on the basis that there would be lots of people attending and I was likely to make plenty of sales. I interrupted a family holiday to travel to the event, only to find that just four people had turned up.

Becoming an expert in your field is about looking for, and being open to, opportunities to talk about your expert topic and share your experiences. You’ll need to work on your confidence and be prepared to put yourself out there, of course! And the other key element is to consider any channel, and balance any offers you get, to make sure the opportunity is of benefit to your brand.

About the author

Siobhan Berry

Siobhan Berry is a New Frontiers alumna and the founder of Mummy Cooks. The startup has developed a range of storage solutions to help parents with weaning, and provides practical and simple feeding advice and recipes to inspire, educate and empower parents to feed their young families healthy, homemade food.

With a background in asset management, the entrepreneurial journey started for Siobhan after she became a mother. She started giving classes in baby food cooking, and after seeing how many parents were looking for advice and support with weaning, she decided to found Mummy Cooks in 2013.

Growing your business: the value of networking

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 new contacts that will help you and your business grow.

Boost your network, boost your net worth!

From the time I started my own journey on New Frontiers, we were constantly encouraged to grow our networks and share contacts with our fellow participants. This proactive and collaborative approach broke down many personal barriers I had to networking, and allowed me to critically analyse and recognise its potential value.

My favourite story was of the entrepreneur who, after a long, unsuccessful day of pitching to potential investors was feeling deflated and defeated as she boarded the train home. Wanting nothing more than to be left in peace, she initially ignored the chit chat advances from the passenger who sat opposite. However, not to appear rude, she entered into general conversation and it was not long before the discussion fell into the familiar territory of: So, what do you do? Telling her story and details of her own startup came easily in the relaxing ambience of the train carriage. By the time she had reached her destination, the entrepreneur had won over her fellow passenger – an investor – and landed a €200k windfall for her emerging business. The moral of the story… networking can happen anywhere, so always be pitch-ready!

OK, so this fairy-tale doesn’t happen to everyone; but it does happen. Which is why I want to share my essentials to help kick-start your networking habit!

Top networking tips

Get (old school) social

I soon realised that ‘liking’ someone or connecting via social media was not really enough to boost my business contacts. Don’t get me wrong, social media networking is excellent for creating a buzz around you and your brand. You can target your message to a particular audience, in a certain location, with a specific interest – and that’s great. However, quality beats quantity and there is nothing better than some good old fashioned ‘3D’ networking – going face-to-face.

Body language is key here. A good handshake, an open smile and being able to look someone in the eye can do more for your business than a solitary click on a keyboard.

How to find events

If I’m honest, as soon as I started looking for events I realised I could be attending one every day of the week. So, when it comes to events, be selective. Think hard about whether or not they suitable to your chosen field and if will they be attended by the kinds of people who can help you or who you can collaborate with.

The best ways to find quality events to attend are:

Join business networks: Women Mean Business (WMB), Network Ireland, Business Network International (BNI), etc.
Attend events organised by your Local Enterprise Office (LEO)
Look up conferences relevant to your area
Business media events: Sunday Business Post, Business Independent, etc.
Breakfast Events: Google Breakfast Meetings, Image Magazine Breakfast Networks
Business Organisations events: Enterprise Ireland, Small Firms Association (SFA), Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC), etc.

How to prepare

Before you attend an event, do some research on those who are attending. Find out which companies will be represented and by whom. Many a time, I would loiter at the registration desk (looking for my name badge) to get the first names of those attending. It’s also handy if their job title is listed.

Be pitch perfect! I don’t mean a 15 minute spiel on who you are and what your company is all about. Have your business down to 30 seconds maximum! Just enough to cover a walk to the coffee table, or when you first sit down. Enough to trigger interest and to invite that all important response: Really? Tell me more… It could go something like this:

Brainwave is an emerging technology that allows you to record your ideas while you are out and about and while you sleep (key phrase: emerging technology)

AgriKids is an award-winning farm safety educational platform for children (key phrase: award-winning)

Scruffy Wuffies is a mobile pet grooming parlour and we’ve just launched our first franchise (key phrase: franchise)

Having your ‘elevator pitch’ ready and primed can make a good networking event, great.

How to behave

If you have your pitch on standby and you have done your pre-event research all that is left to do is listen!

When you approach someone, it’s always nice to extend your hand or offer to get someone a coffee or tea. It’s open and friendly and offers some welcome distraction from the business talk! Then, over a cuppa, it’s always nice to ask the person something about themselves: Have you come far?.., Where are you based?.., There are some good speakers here today… If you launch straight into the business talk, you do yourself out of some very valuable small talk opportunities. People will not share if they feel they are been grilled or ‘interviewed’ from the get-go.

As the conversation progresses, or if the other person initiates it, then by all means it’s time to talk business. If the conversation has gone well and some synergies and opportunities have been unearthed, make sure you leave with their business card (always better you get theirs as well as the other way around).

Post event

If you made some good contacts and identified some real opportunities, make sure you follow up with an email or a phone call and by all means connect on social media.

If you listened well you may also have found some useful contacts for other people in your own network. Do pass on the details and share, this spirit of collaboration will always find its way back to you, that’s business karma!

The art of networking is definitely a habit worth forming! It’s not always easy, but nothing worth having ever is.

About the author

Alma Jordan

Alma Jordan is a New Frontiers alumna and the founder of AgriKids, a farm safety educational platform for children. The company works to positively engage, educate and empower children to become Farm Safety Ambassadors.

The genesis of AgriKids was largely prompted by the many farm deaths that occurred in 2014. It was the worst year on record for farm safety in Ireland. That year, 30 people perished on Irish farms, of whom five were children. With the deaths of two young children in quick succession, the topic of farm safety and how to address it weighed heavily on Alma’s mind.

Alma and her family run a farm in Co. Meath. Their main enterprises consist of thoroughbred horses, tillage, beef cattle and poultry. A keen equestrian in her younger days, Alma competed in many national events in the fields of eventing and showjumping.

Corporate Health: from horseback rides to health tracking apps

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 Program (EAP) and the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) with the aim of avoiding workplace accidents and work-related illness.

Throughout the 1980s, health and safety fell under the same umbrella – with health possibly being safety’s poorer cousin. The focus of this area fell on safety, to the extent where today you can’t even look inside a warehouse without wearing a Hi Vis vest, or load a photocopier with a ream of paper without having first been on a full day manual handling course.

A focus on workplace health

Fortunately, health became just as important as safety, and companies started to look to employee Occupational Health professionals to ensure the health and well-being of their most valuable asset – their employees. Things were starting to change.

In 1984, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe defined health promotion as “…the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health” in addition to methods to change lifestyles.

The ‘first and best known’ definition of health promotion, promulgated by the American Journal of Health Promotion since at least 1986, is, “…the science and art of helping people change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health.”

Today, health promotion officers manage employee health engagement programmes within an organisation. In recent years, these programmes have taken many shapes and forms. Typically, they will have a number of elements focusing on general health, nutrition and mental well-being. Many companies now provide health workshops and health talks around such topics, have health screening and smoking cessation programmes, and promote various forms of physical activity, such as taking part in fun runs and bike rides, usually with a fundraising element attached.

Implementing health programmes in organisations

The promotion of physical activity has generally been somewhat of a difficult element to implement, especially if an organisation has multiple sites and locations across the globe, as it’s impossible to get everyone to turn up for time and location dependent events. To overcome the challenge of trying to get all employees to attend a company health initiative at a given time, date and location, companies have started introducing fitness trackers for employees to engage them in physical activity.

Companies such as BP (British Petroleum) distributed 25,000 Fitbit tracking devices to their staff – the Fitbit wearable fitness tracking device comes as a bracelet or a clip-on option that monitors your steps, calorie intake and burn, and even your sleep pattern. In the USA, employees were able to earn activity points which led to staff discounts on their health insurance. We’ve also seen companies launch pedometer challenges, which is an activity challenge based on the number of steps being completed by each employee, tracked on a mini step counter device clipped onto the body. Today, pedometers are incorporated into most smartphones.

You may wonder why companies spend so much on health initiatives for their employees. It’s been said that healthy, happy employees are good for business, and they are. Employers care about the health of their employees and as their employees are their most valuable assets, they naturally want to protect them and ensure they are healthy and fit. It’s no secret that the health and wellness of employees has a direct effect on an organisation’s ultimate success. Engaging in physical activity is advantageous to the health of the employee, the employer and the organisation as a whole. In fact, managers and supervisors who regularly participate in physical activity have a more positive relationship with subordinates and other employees.

The advantages of a healthy workforce

The benefits of a healthy workforce are well recognised. Evidence shows that employing a physically active workforce can reduce sickness-related absence by up to 20%, increase productivity by up to 15%, improve quality of service and raise the public image of the company. A survey completed by Ibec estimates that it costs every employer in Ireland just over €800 per year in unscheduled absences per employee, with a total cost of nearly €1.5 bn to Irish employers annually.

Organisational benefits

Organisational benefits of a healthy active workforce include:

increased productivity
increased profits
decreased costs due to reduced absenteeism
decreased company health care costs
improved human resources through better recruitment
lower employee turnover
improved employee relations
lower level of employee stress
improved work environment
enhanced corporate image

Employees spend a significant amount of time at work. Businesses already have a substantial investment in each worker in terms of recruitment, training, compensation, and benefits packages. Encouraging a culture of physical activity helps to protect that investment and capitalise on the returns in cost savings, cost avoidance, productivity and human capital.

Employee benefits

Engaging in a physically active lifestyle is known to:

reduce stress and anxiety
reduce tiredness
lift moral
reduce the risk to various health conditions
improve mental well-being
improve overall physical fitness & agility

In 2015, we set about solving a problem we had identified with large employers: how to keep their employees healthy and engaged in physical activity all year round. We developed an online platform for employers to engage their employees in their own health through the employees’ existing fitness tracking devices and apps. This BYOD (Bring your own device) system immediately saves the employer the initial capital outlay that is required, in most cases, when an employer wants to get their employees engaged with their own health all year round.

The other issue with trying to run any initiative through fitness tracking devices and apps is convincing all your employees to use the same app or device, and this can be difficult because the people who are most likely to engage with any health initiative are the ones who are already out there being active and using existing tracking apps/devices. Convincing these people to switch to the company’s chosen app/device can be a massive barrier to maximising the participation of the employees.

An activity challenge to raise engagement

We knew that employers where interested in promoting healthy lifestyles to their employees, but how they could engage their employees in healthy activities all year round was the problem we were trying to solve. And we knew that to maximise the participation of the employees, there had to be benefits to both the employer and employee alike. We set about developing a system that had benefits for all – it had to be fun, simple to use and would allow employers to engage, motivate and reward employees for being active, while also being cost effective for the employer to implement.

In association with Sligo Chamber of Commerce, and sponsored by From Me2You gift cards, KudosHealth launched a Workplace Activity Challenge. The aim of the challenge was to engage the employees from a group of large employers and organisations in a four week competition based on the physical activities the employees were completing in their own time, such as walking, running, cycling, etc. The secondary aim of the challenge was to discover what motivated employees to take part in workplace challenges.

Over 400 employees took part, representing some of the biggest employers in the region in an inter-firm activity challenge from the 9^th Sept to 7^th Oct 2016. Employees were able to connect their existing fitness tracking such as Fitbit, Strava, RunKeeper or GoogleFit to the KudosHealth platform to record and register their fitness activities. They were awarded points, and each individual’s points were then averaged out to form the ‘Company Score’ which was then presented on a Company Leader-board.

Employee survey summary

The following charts show the key findings of our survey.

Insights from the survey

One interesting statistic that emerged from the subsequent employee survey was that a staggering 69% of the users who took part said they did it to be part of a team; many users were completing their activities alone or in small groups, but the KudosHealth system allowed the individual activities to contribute to a team score and this was the single biggest reason for taking part.

Another interesting statistic that emerged from the survey is that 54% of the participants had never used a fitness tracking app prior to taking part in the event. The survey results also showed that 93% of people said they would take part in this type of event again, with 60% of the participants answering that they completed more exercise than they normally would during the challenge.

Implementing a workplace well-being initiative can have its challenges, but the rewards for businesses are clear in terms of reduced staff turnover and absence from sickness, a better motivated and happier workforce, and improved teamwork. If you are interested in how the KudosHealth platform could help you get started, we’d be happy to talk you through it.

About the author

Declan Trumble

Declan is a New Frontiers alumnus and the co-founder of KudosHealth. The startup has developed an employee health engagement SaaS solution aimed at large employers.

The business idea developed from discussions on how people are motivated to stay healthy, and how employers benefit as much from a person’s health status as they do themselves. The two decided that companies must be interested in motivating their workforce to stay healthy, and this led to discussions on what kind of health initiatives companies implement for their employees, and how they could be made better and more cost-effective.

Eamonn Quinn: failure is as important as success

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 which are known and some early-stage projects which are more under the radar. Each investment relies on a greater or lesser level of involvement. Kelsius, for example, is a food safety business that Eamonn has been involved in developing, and which was a full time job for him until a CEO was recently appointed.

What are the most exciting developments you’ve seen in food retail recently?

“Food is going from just being a commodity to being an integral part of your health. People are really questioning what they’re eating now and are less and less satisfied with a mass-produced product at the lowest possible price. The market is definitely shifting towards nutrition and in some cases as far as ‘food as medicine’ with people trying to treat themselves for illness such as cancer through what they eat.”

The recent changes in food retail have certainly been a game-changer. Even hard discounters such as Aldi and Lidl now focus on traceability, provenance and selling Irish produce – and it’s a model they’ve adopted very successfully.

How have you enjoyed being on TV?

“In some sense it was a little bit of a return, because I had been on TV in the Superquinn days. Dragons’ Den is a little different, though. For one thing, it’s not live TV – you have the possibility of making a mistake because you can always do it again.”

With over 50 entrepreneurs standing before the dragons in any one series, the pressure is on to ask the right questions and get as much relevant information as possible in the allotted time. The danger lies in missing a fantastic opportunity because of a misunderstanding about the business proposition before them.

“The key to investing is an ability to listen. When someone is pitching, it’s important to identify the gaps, and see the issues they haven’t thought of.”

What should entrepreneurs remember when pitching for investment?

“The crucial thing that is likely to get the attention of investors is an alignment of interests. With early-stage funding, the key is ‘smart money’ – that’s an investor who isn’t just bringing cash to the table but who can offer guidance and mentoring, as well as a good knowledge of your sector that has the added benefits of insight, past experience and an existing network of contacts.”

What should entrepreneurs make sure to avoid when pitching?

“If I think they’re just looking for a job and they want me to pay for it, that’s definitely not going to go down well!”

What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs like our New Frontiers participants?

“Talking your idea through with other people is the very first thing you should do. Even if it’s just friends and family, discuss your solution and make sure that a) the problem you’re solving really exists and b) your solution is an effective and efficient one.

“Test your idea with that initial group of 10 or 15 people, and if you’re still sure it’s a runner you can expand to a group of, say, 50 or 100 people and see what feedback you get from them. If your product or service is niche, make sure you’re talking to people with experience in that area.”

Does it get easier to identify the investments that will succeed?

“It’s not a science, obviously. Some products come in and you think ‘this isn’t going to work!’ but it turns out to be a fantastic success. You’ll always get unexpected shooting stars! But you do see the type of ingredients that make an idea more likely to succeed than not.”

Of course, there’s more to a good idea than just producing a nice product with nice packaging. The unseen hard work that goes into a business is what ultimately makes a difference. Looking back, Eamonn is in no doubt that the successful businesses he was involved in were the ones that paid attention to the details.

“Retail is detail! At Superquinn, stores had an Hourly Order Guide. Every hour, a manager would spot-check a random list of 100 items, which would give a good indication that everything was running smoothly. It’s details like those that are the difference between a good business and an average business.”

How would you describe your guiding philosophy when it comes to business?

“Failure is important. As an investor, you’re going to have more failures than successes, particularly with early-stage investments. There are a lot of things that can break a company at early-stage; sometimes it only takes one thing to go wrong and that’s the end of it. You have to take the knocks. As a rule of thumb, for every 10 ventures, you might be looking at 2 successes, 2 to break even and 6 are likely to fail.”

Clearly, there’s no exact science to investing. Having a culture where failure is simply a learning experience is usually extremely beneficial. Being able to ask why something didn’t work and what you could do better next time will inform your future decisions and help to avoid costly or damaging mistakes in the future.

“Sometimes, it’s just the market that changes – like during the crash – and there’s not a lot you can do about that, of course. But you can bring together the ingredients that give you the best chance: an understanding of your market and an analysis of your competitors and your own competitive advantage (even if it’s just for the short term).”

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Online video: the future of content marketing

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 2014 to over 80% by 2019, with consumer video on demand traffic doubling by 2019.

Online video is now an intrinsic part of how people consume content. Any company intending to grow its brand online in the near future is, in effect, committing marketing suicide if it fails to integrate video into its marketing strategy. Video brings impressive ROI for both SMEs and larger organisations alike – over 50% of businesses are already using the medium, enjoying the benefits and reaping the rewards. 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their strategies in the near future.

Video marketing is no longer a luxury that only big brands with big budgets can afford. It offers SMEs remarkable opportunities to compete with larger businesses for viewer attention. The average user spends 88% more time on a site that features video. Including video on a landing page can help to increase conversion by 80%, and combining video with full page ads can boost engagement by 22%.

Online video over television

Another recent study has shown that two thirds of large businesses are steadily moving budgets away from television in favour of online video. Due to the exponential growth in video technology (cheaper cameras and HD recording capabilities), we have seen something of a levelling effect, making it easier than ever for smaller businesses to create and produce their own videos.

Production costs have also fallen and technical proficiency is not the obstacle it once was. Editing software is now more affordable and easily available through subscription-based models or as standalone solutions, allowing companies to produce their own edits with higher degrees of professionalism.

Being brave and bold

Small businesses often shy away from video marketing because of:

Uncertainty about the kind of video that will engage their audience
Uncertainty about creating a capable script that will inform, engage and motivate their ideal customer
Being ill-equipped or inexperienced in creating video (not wanting to post poor quality footage that may be potentially damaging or unprofessional)
Not knowing how best to market the videos so they are seen by the widest possible audience.

Peerless reach

When it comes to potential reach, video is peerless. YouTube receives over one billion unique visitors every month, trailing just behind Facebook in terms of reach. By posting your video(s) to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, your blog and more, you are guaranteed to reach an even wider audience. If you can engage viewers, they will share your video with others, they will spend longer on your website and more time interacting with your brand.

Video is essential to any social media campaign or SEO exercise. It is crucial for businesses both big and small to offer easy to digest content, otherwise they risk losing potential clients and consumers. Research shows that 7 in 10 people view brands more positively after watching engaging video content from them.

“If a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million.”

Forrester’s researchers

Target audience

If video is an appropriate means with which to deliver your message, you should always consider your intended audience and ensure the video is relevant to them. Make it easy for users to find and share the video and ensure you promote across multiple channels, including social media.

“62% of consumers are more likely to have a negative perception of a brand that published a poor quality video.”

Brightcove

Consider how the end video will be viewed; at least 10% of all video plays happen on mobiles and tablets, so don’t neglect mobile when producing your video. Build your campaign strategies and videos creatively, take full advantage of the unmatched capacity to combine sound, dialogue and vision to create something no other medium can offer.

Engage and create connections with your viewers and bring your stories to life to build identity and loyalty in your brand. It is essential to understand the power of storytelling and to think more like storytellers than marketers. Let video be the medium through which you tell the tale!

About the author

Ray Mongey

Ray was a New Frontiers participant at DIT and is founder and Managing Director of Glue, a visual effects company. Glue specialises in creating videos that present services or products using a mix of 3D graphics and video footage and they have clients in the UK, Ireland and UAE.

Employment contracts: what you need to know as a new employer

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 have set out below some further details on the above contracts and highlighted some of the pitfalls which employers should be aware of when using these types of contracts.

Contract of Indefinite Duration

This is a contract with no specified end date (often referred to as a permanent contract). A contract of this nature will not expire and will only cease in situations such as resignation, dismissal, redundancy, etc. However, when an employer gives this type of contract to an employee, they can include a probationary period (usually of six months’ duration, and not exceeding 11 months). The probationary period allows the employer to decide during this time if the employee meets the performance expectations of the role.

If this is not the case, the employer could look to terminate the employee during the probationary period. It is advisable to hold reviews with the employee during the probationary period to identify any areas of concern. Although an employee with less than one year’s service would not be in a position to take an Unfair Dismissals Claim, there is no service requirement with regard to taking a claim under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2011. As such, employers should keep written records of any discussions had with the employee, in order to show that the decision to terminate the employment relationship during the probationary period was based on performance issues.

Fixed Term and Specified Purpose Contracts

The main advantage of fixed term or specified purpose contracts is that they allow for the termination of the contract once the fixed term or the specified purpose has been completed. Generally, a fixed term contract ends on an agreed date and this is stated in the contract. By contrast, a specified purpose contract is used in situations where the termination date is not definable in advance and is suitable in situations where a person is employed as a replacement for someone who is absent due to illness or maternity leave, or if someone is employed to work on a particular project.

Employers should ensure that they fully understand the rights of employees on fixed term or specified purpose contracts, as set out in the Protection of Employees (Fixed Term Work) Act, 2003. It is important to note that if an employer wishes to renew an employee’s fixed-term/specified purpose contract that they must provide the employee with a written statement, no later than the date of renewal, setting out the objective grounds justifying the renewal and the reasons why the company was unable to offer a contract of indefinite duration.

In addition, there are some limitations on the use of fixed-term/specified purpose contracts and if an employee has been employed on two or more continuous fixed-term contracts, then the total duration of those contracts may not exceed four years. After this, the employee becomes entitled to a contract of indefinite duration unless the employer can justify a further fixed term contract being issued on objective grounds. The Unfair Dismissals Act 1977-2015 also contains a provision to prevent the abuse of fixed-term contracts by employers. The Act provides that where a fixed-term or specified purpose contract expires and the individual is re-employed within three months, the individual is deemed to have continuous service. However, the Workplace Relations Commission* may even look beyond this three month threshold if they feel that the employer’s aim in breaking the employee’s service was to avoid the legislation.

What needs to be included in a contract of employment?

The contract should include the main terms and conditions of employment. The Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994–2014 lists all of the specific terms and conditions which must be included in the employment contract such as:

name of the employer and employee
the address of the employer
the place of work or, if there is no fixed or main place of work, a statement that the employee is required or permitted to work at various places
job title or the nature of the work
the date of commencement of the contract
for temporary contracts, the expected duration of the contract or, if for a fixed term, the date on which the contract expires

As above, there are some terms and conditions that an employer must include in a contract. However, an employer should also consider placing some other clauses in the contract which may assist them in the running of their business, for example probation, retirement, or lay off/short time working clauses. Taking probation as an example, it may be very useful for a new business to have a probationary period included in their contract, as it will allow them greater flexibility when managing the performance of a new employee and assessing if they are the right fit for the company.

When do I issue an employment contract?

The Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994–2014 provides that an employer is obliged to provide an employee with a written statement of terms of employment within the first two months of the commencement of employment. The contract must be signed and dated by – or on behalf of – the employer. The employee should also be requested to sign the contract. A copy of the contract must be retained by the employer during the employment and for a period of one year after the end of the employment.
Employers should be mindful that it they do not issue their employee with a contract, the Workplace Relations Commission can award four weeks pay to an employee.

Do I need to have a Company Handbook?

It is best practice to also issue an employee with a Company Handbook. The handbook should outline the standards of conduct and safety, company regulations and the administrative procedures used to facilitate the efficient running of the organisation. Employers should require employees to acknowledge (in writing) that they have received the handbook, that they have read it and understand its contents. Company handbooks should be checked regularly and updated where required. Employees should be informed of any updates to the handbook and these should be circulated.

There are two policies which must be provided to an employee within 28 days of them starting in the company; the grievance and disciplinary policies. The Workplace Relations Commission has developed a Code of Practice which is a useful resource for employers when drafting these policies. These codes of practice are available on the Workplace Relations Commission website.

To conclude, the importance of a contract of employment cannot be understated. It is the document which forms the basis of the relationship between the company and their employees and it will be used as the main source of reference if any disputes should arise. With this in mind, it is very clear that an employer should carefully develop their contracts of employment to ensure that they have met their obligations under the legislation and that the contracts fit the needs of the company.

* The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was established on 1 October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015. It has taken over the functions of the National Employment Rights Authority, the Labour Relations Commission and the Director of the Equality Tribunal. It has also taken over some of the functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT).

About the author

Ciara McGuone

Ciara McGuone is an Executive at the Small Firms Association, a national organisation that exclusively represents the needs of small enterprises in Ireland. She is responsible for providing advice to members on various aspects of HR and employment law. She also regularly prepares articles on topical employment law issues.

Featured startup: Tim Arits – Intouch

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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, and both had moved to a new country for work, so they had first-hand experience of having to update their contact information with multiple contacts – both personal and professional.

“When I moved to Ireland for Google, everything changed – all my contact information changed, and it was a nightmare. I think the pain is really big when you move country, because all your suppliers and the services you use are going to change. It was really hard to stay in contact with people and the companies and services I interacted with – some of which I still use – my bank, for example.”

Once their idea was formed, Tim and Javier set about developing an app that would easily manage contact information – allowing users to control what information to share and with whom. Tim applied to New Frontiers in 2015 and was offered a place on the DIT Hothouse programme. They made a solid team – Tim comes from a Marketing Management background and at Google had worked in a client-facing commercial capacity, while Javier has a background in Engineering and strong technical experience.

“We got really great support from New Frontiers. It was my first company – although Javier had founded multiple companies, so he had quite an idea already on how to do it and what the pitfalls were – but on New Frontiers we learned to bring our idea or product out to our customers as early as possible.”

Tim conducted multiple user interviews to get feedback on any problems they had with the app and what features that they were expecting. The challenge lay in translating those results into improvements to the product – building a difficult product is easy, but building something easy is usually difficult.

“We thought that some things in our product were really easy, but they turned out to be a nightmare for consumers and had to change. Then there were other things we wanted to see differently, but were apparently really easy for users – so they were things we kept.”

After New Frontiers Phase 2 was over, Tim and Javier decided to look for funding. They were in contact with the NDRC, who suggested another startup that was working in a similar field and might be interested in joining forces. The synergy between the two teams was instantly recognisable, and Tim and Javier decided to join forces with Qreach to continue developing the Bundly idea… now called Intouch.com.

“It was a really good match, because they had some skills that we were missing, and we had some skills that they were missing. They were developing a contact management application that mainly focused on companies, and they had a really strong technical background – it was the perfect balance of research-based scientists and ourselves, with our more commercial background.”

After the merger, the new team went out and raised capital from the NDRC, Enterprise Ireland and some private investors in order to push forward with the development of the evolved version of Bundly – Intouch – which is due to launch very soon.

Available to individuals as an iOS or Android app, it aims to solve potential contact issues by allowing the user to automatically update their contact information with everyone in their network – while keeping ownership of personal information with the owner. The app will be free for all personal users, with revenues coming from the companies people interact with (banks, insurance companies, etc.) who rely on having up to date information about clients.

“The app is going to be for free for users, so we’re not charging them any money, and we are looking into a model to charge companies for the data that they receive. That said, we will never, ever exchange data without your consent, so you as a user are always in control of what information goes to whom, because that’s kind of the business model that we have, and if we don’t follow that then the business is gone.”

Intouch will be working with the Data Protection Commissioners, as well as any parties that are regulated in terms of data. Data protection is clearly an important subject for the company; they even provide services to companies to get ready for the upcoming Data Protection Regulation changes in 2018. Intouch will offer clarity on who has your contact details and where this information goes – which is becoming more and more of a preoccupation these days.

“New Frontiers is one of the very few programmes focused on the very, very early-start. A lot of incubators call themselves ‘early-start’, but you still need a product or a really concrete idea… New Frontiers is also focused on the people themselves. That really suited our needs. The people at New Frontiers were amazing, they really supported us.”

And if you were wondering about the chicken-breeding I mentioned at the beginning of the article… Tim attributes the fact that Google decided to hire him to this rather unusual hobby, which came up during his interview. His Ayam Cemani birds (known as ‘the Lamborghini of chickens’) were eventually sold to a breeder in the USA, and sadly Tim doesn’t keep any chickens here in Dublin ;)

(PHOTO – from right: Javier Mey and Tim Arits pictured above with the founders of Qreach)

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Supply versus demand: how to set your pricing

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 least not for very long.

Costs of production include the direct costs of each item of product or hour of service – such as raw materials and wages – but they also include longer term and indirect costs, such as rent and electricity. An element of profit should also be included as a cost when considering price. No one wants to be in business to just break even.

Looking at costs will give you a floor price below which you should not sell. It is better to do no business at all than to have a loss-making business. Up to this point in the process, pricing is a science dependent on good and accurate information about costs; the next steps are an art requiring judgement about how the market will react to your pricing decisions.

The context for your pricing

The next step for most businesses is to look at the competition and see what they are charging. Most small and new businesses see themselves as price takers. That is, they must charge what the market dictates. This may be true in some cases, but most small or new businesses should be able to use their greater flexibility to position themselves to charge a premium price.

This will depend on the product or service being sold. Every buyer wants the cheapest price when it comes to buying a commodity item (something that is the same no matter where you buy it), but not every item is a commodity.

Everyone wants the cheapest sofa, but no one wants to get their hair done by the cheapest hairdresser in town. How do you know which hairdresser is best? Well, it is probably not the cheapest. The price a supplier charges sends out a strong signal about the quality of the goods or services supplied. There are many areas where buyers want the best they can afford – no one wants the second-best lawyer, for example. And even looking at sofas, people want quality at a price, not just the cheapest on the market.

Charging an adequate price

Charging an adequate price also allows a supplier to pay for a good after-sales or support service, thus reinforcing the quality perception. Where a sale is made at a break-even cost, there is no room to deal with any customer queries that may arise after the sale. The idea that price sends a signal about the quality of the goods or services being offered should be included in every business’s approach to price setting. No business wants to be perceived as expensive, but being seen as cheap is also damaging.

Each business must balance the too-expensive v too-cheap seesaw for themselves, but it helps to understand the needs of your own business. In approaching the issue of price, a business needs to understand its own limiting constraints. It is all very well to charge as low a price as possible if you can increase your output almost infinitely at little or no cost, such as may be possible with a software product or if you have a large number of air plane seats to fill.

Many businesses, however, have staffing, premises or other constraints to resolve before they can increase production; for businesses in this position, increased pricing may allow them to grow profits working within existing constraints.

As a last idea to consider we have the supply versus demand curve beloved of economists. On the left hand side – where the price is low – there are lots of buyers, but nobody wants to sell. On the right hand side – where the price is high – everybody wants to sell, but there are not many buyers. In the theory, the equilibrium point at the middle is where buyers and sellers meet.

For a small or new business, this diagram shows something else: that there are a small number of buyers who are willing to pay a premium price. There can be profit in addressing these buyers, offering them a reason why they should buy from you rather than at the market price. This may be a better service, branded product or simply a higher price.

Key considerations for pricing

Costs set a floor for pricing
Pricing sends a message
Know your own business constraints
There are premium buyers out there

To illustrate these ideas more fully, I thought it would be helpful to share a case study. The names are changed and some of the details reflect experience with more than one business, but the case study does fairly reflect actual events.

Case study: setting pricing for a quality systems company

The problem

Jason had a quality systems design implementation and training business. Jason himself is highly qualified and very experienced in designing and implementing quality systems within a specialised area. His business employed himself and three other people: Jason as a consultant, two associates and an admin person.

Jason would hold an initial meeting with clients and design a solution to meet their requirements. One of his associates would then implement Jason’s design.

Jason was working 70+ hours per week and feeling overwhelmed when he came to me. The obvious first question was: why not hire more staff? Jason felt that what he needed was another consultant at his level, but that the cost would be considerable and the extra income would not be all that much, as a new employee could not be expected to do the 70 hour weeks that Jason was doing.

While expanding the staff was considered as desirable in the medium term, some change was needed in the short term. We looked at the company’s income. Jason was charging 50 hours per week to clients and his two associates were charging nearly 40 hours each. Clearly, there was a limiting constraint in terms of available hours.

The analysis

I suggested that a fresh look at pricing was needed. The business was profitable, though not as profitable as it should have been. Due to the long hours worked at the operations end of the business, very little attention was being paid to cost control. Any issue that arose was solved by throwing money at it.

We looked at the other suppliers that Jason was in competition with. The market involved one major company with about 25% of the market and a number of smaller businesses similar to Jason’s, none with more than 5% market share. Their pricing was opaque, none had a published set of daily rates as they all priced each job individually.

We then looked at Jason’s customers. They were all strong businesses in an expansion phase looking to beef-up their quality controls. I suggested to Jason that they were all potentially premium customers, willing to pay a good price if they were convinced that Jason could deliver a better service than his competitors.

The solution

As a result of this review, Jason increased his rates by 50%. While this certainly increased profits, Jason considered that that was not the most important benefit. The additional revenue allowed him to hire a second consultant and a third associate. He is now working 50 hours, rather than 70 hours, per week himself and devoting his energies to developing the business – with a lot less time taken up in firefighting.

Although Jason did loose some customers, he has a much better relationship with the customers he retained and he has seen no slowdown in new enquires or new business. The increased level of service that Jason can provide to his customers allows him to pitch his company as the best in the business, effectively being seen as the premium supplier with the major company seen as the bulk supplier.

About the author

Patrick O Flaherty

Patrick is a business consultant and Enterprise Ireland mentor. His expertise spans areas such as financing and funding, as well as business development and internal structures and processes – with a particular focus on projections, business plans, costings and pricing.

How to pitch at your New Frontiers Phase 2 ‘Meet the Panel’ stage

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 companies have achieved first sales (domestic and overseas), taken on new hires, secured investment from private equity companies, secured deals with large multi-nationals and have won a number of prestigious awards and accolades. 25 of those companies received equity investment from Enterprise Ireland (20 Competitive Start Fund investments and 5 HPSU investments).

So, at the New Frontiers Phase 2 interview stage you need to convince the panel that you are a credible promoter, that you have a plan and vision for the business, and that you can follow in the footsteps of these businesses.

At the end of Phase 1, and as part of your application form, promoters should be able to articulate the ‘early-stage business case’ as follows:

A clear and concise description of the product or service to be developed
A clear pain statement as to why customers will purchase the solution
Product/service Unique Selling Points (USP)
Research of the proposed market, intellectual property (IP), customers and competitors
Initial route to market assessment
Identified income streams and business model
Initial financial analysis
The promoter/team/advisory panel
A clear set of short-term goals and milestones (for a six-month period) to achieve product and business development

In Galway, I am involved with a meetup group which meets to practice business pitches. Recently, we held an event to enable people to practice their pitch for New Frontiers Phase 2 in front of a live audience. It was a superb learning experience for everyone. The meetup was attended by several alumni from New Frontiers in Galway who shared their experiences with the group.

Another great #Business Meetup session about #NewFrontiers with @donnchadhh today in the @superpixellabs Games Room pic.twitter.com/gETb51C55G

— Superpixel Labs (@superpixellabs) June 2, 2016

Before the pitches, we asked everyone to break into groups and consider maybe six to eight criteria that the Enterprise Ireland panel would look for in a pitch. They were also asked to assign weights to each criteria. Please note that this meeting was not attended by personnel from Enterprise Ireland or GMIT New Frontiers. The infographic below presents the best guesstimate of the meetup group.

The key issue is to provide information to the panel so that they see the scaleability of your business.

The Phase 2 Meet the Panel format

Each programme will use a similar format for the recruitment process. Promoters apply using a detailed application form after completing Phase 1. Shortlisted applicants are then called to meet a panel chaired by Enterprise Ireland, which includes private sector representation. Instructions will be provided to shortlisted applicants in advance. They will be asked to make a short presentation; the time allocated is eight to 10 minutes. A limited number of slides are allowed; this could be six or eight.

Six slides in 10 minutes

Team – your and your team members’ experience
Problem/gap/opportunity being addressed
Product/service solution proposed
Market opportunity – domestic and export
Your proposed business model
Future plans and milestones for the next six months

The pitch is followed by a Q&A, so the total time-slot per person could be between 20 and 25 minutes. The format can vary slightly, so the important issue is to tell the story of your business:

so what… explain your solution in brief as it relates to the burning problem you are solving. If there is intellectual property, briefly mention it.
who cares… who is the customer and how many are there? This feeds into market opportunity, so make sure to hit home why someone will actually buy it (if have time, you can explain about the competition and why your solution is better). If you have reference customers, mention those.
why you… your background and track record with this business and any advisors you have.
business model… the potential to make money and to internationalise – particularly if there is a route to market.
key milestones for New Frontiers… what you hope to achieve over the six months and beyond.

You may notice that the first three slides are So what? Who cares? Why you? – which references the title of a Commercialisation Workbook by Canadian author, Wendy Kennedy. My view is that you don’t have to address every single business issue as there is going to be about 10 minutes for questions from the panel. You also don’t need to have every single answer to every business issue – that is what Phase 2 is for! However, you do need to be confident and credible in what you say, as such my final point is that you should practice your pitch. This should ideally be to a small group of people who have never heard the presentation before. It is also suggested that you should prepare answers for expected questions, so choose people who can ask good questions. Best of luck and hope this article is of benefit. Comments welcome!

Further reading from the blog:

10 tips for entrepreneurs thinking of applying to New Frontiers

Tips for making a successful Phase 2 application

About the author

Donncha Hughes

Donncha Hughes is a former incubation centre manager and has worked with startups for over ten years. A big advocate of Lean Startup, his areas of expertise include: marketing, sales, business models, supports for business, business plans and financial projections. An EI mentor and member of the CSF Evaluation Panel, Donncha specialises in working with early stage startups.

Using SaaS metrics and resources to bulletproof your startup’s growth

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 that they recommend.

The articles here are applicable, in my view, for both very early stage startups in the search for Product Market Fit (PMF) from €0 to €1M annual recurring revenue, as well as post-PMF startups looking to scale from €1M annual recurring revenue upwards.

Why should you bother reading any of what I’m suggesting?

Firstly, all credit for the content must go to the various trail-blazing authors behind the linked articles, and I’d strongly recommend you to dig deeper into the areas where you feel you and your business can learn the most.

Secondly, a disclaimer. I don’t claim to have a complete handle on all of this – far from it, in fact. That’s the very reason I’ve invested time (and some money) endeavouring to give myself that better understanding.

Moving outside our comfort zones

I’ve always believed that it’s critical to push yourself (and others) beyond the comfort zones of our learning experiences to date. How else otherwise do we grow? How do we learn from the mistakes of others without reading about and learning from them?

From a business perspective – and especially a startup business perspective – a theme that runs through all of the resources is this: if you want to put yourself into the less than 1% of startups who’ve a decent chance of making a commercial success of your idea, then you need to think differently. And the best starting point is to learn from others who’ve been there before, who can tell you the things that they dearly wished someone had told them the first time round. To learn from the best.

The resources in this guide are principally focussed on the engine of your business. But it’s how the entrepreneurs (some now venture capitalists) featured here did it that is interesting. They roll up their proverbial sleeves and ‘get their hands dirty’. There’s no corner of your business that they don’t look into. And they do this for good reason. They want to show you that you need to have a complete understanding of every facet of your business; and it’s your metrics that tell you how the business is doing.

Read these resources, learn to love them, and think of them as a trusted old friend who meets you for a coffee every couple of months and asks you: “But seriously, {insert name here}, are you sure you know what you’re doing with this whole startup lark?”

If you learn from these resources, you’ll reduce your risk of failure, and I reckon you’ll be able to look that friend in the eye and reply, with honesty and conviction, and say: “Yes, my old friend, I do.”

Some SaaS definitions

You’re probably already familiar with these definitions, but just in case you’re not, let’s agree some terms that will appear frequently in the resources:

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

This is the lifeblood of your business, and probably the bedrock metric against which all others are measured. There are four generally accepted definitions of Monthly Recurring Revenue:

New MRR: new customers coming on board, and the revenue that they bring with them
Expansion MRR: upgrades from existing customers, i.e. your existing customers buying more from you than they did the previous month. Remember, ‘expand’ means getting bigger
Contraction MRR: downgrades from existing customers, i.e. your existing customers buying less from you than they did the previous month. Remember, ‘contract’ means getting smaller
Cancelled MRR: cancellations by existing customers, i.e. the dreaded ‘churn’ where you lose a customer completely

Net expansion MRR: Coming back to that word I just used in the cancelled MRR definition. One variant on that would be the definition for ‘Net Churn’ or ‘Net Expansion MRR’. This is where Net Expansion MRR grows faster than gross CMRR (Cumulative Monthly Recurring Revenue from that prior period) i.e. more upgrades than downgrades per calendar month, taking into account any downgrades on a monthly basis. This is the sweet spot that as a startup you should be aiming for.

So we can say that “net expansion” is therefore the difference between Expansion MRR (upgrades from existing customers) and Contraction MRR (downgrades from existing customers).

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

One other important definition (and there are of course many more) would be understanding your CAC, your Customer Acquisition Cost. What does it ‘cost’ the business to acquire a new customer? Broadly speaking, this is calculated by taking your sales & marketing costs and dividing that by the number of new customers in (measured quarterly).

Why is CAC so important in a SaaS business? Because your CAC (the cost to acquire your new customer) is pretty much incurred up front. But the return – the revenue that your newly acquired customer pays to you on a monthly (or otherwise) basis – comes in to your business in delayed (probably monthly) stages. So, it can actually take you (depending on your CAC and MRR) sometimes a year or more before your customer has paid you more than the cost incurred to your business in the effort to acquire them as a customer in the first place! That’s expensive.

Economics 101! That sounds like you’re going to have work out how you acquire those customers, when the revenue to acquire them comes in so late. So, without further ado, here’s a list of some of my favourite experts in the area of SaaS, who I wish I’d known about a long time ago.

SaaS resource list

“Pirate” Metrics

Blog name: 500 Hats

Blog focus: Startups, tech, VC funding

Author’s background: Dave McClure is a venture capitalist and founding partner at 500 Startups, a venture capital firm and startup incubator headquartered in Silicon Valley, founded by PayPal and Google alumni with over $250M in assets under management.

Why it’s worth reading: The whole blog has masses to offer, but I’m specifically recommending an article from 2007 called ‘Pirate Metrics’. Pirate Metrics is just a short-hand way to remember McClure’s acronym, AARRR, for what he considers to be the fundamentals to the customer lifecycle. (Go on, say it aloud: AARRR, pretending to be a pirate! Now you get it!)

McClure talks about what he terms the five steps to success in the customer lifecycle. Understanding where your business is at – how it’s measuring up – in each of those 5 AARRR steps, will help you determine your path of the journey towards success. AARRR stands for:

Acquisition: users coming to your site from various channels

Activation: users enjoying their first visit – a ‘happy’ user experience

Retention: users come back to your site, visiting it multiple times

Referral: users like your product enough to refer it on to others

Revenue: users conduct some monetization behaviour

Recommended reading: Startup Metrics for Pirates: AARRR!

Andreessen Horowitz

Blog name: A16z.com

Blog focus: Andreessen Horowitz backs bold entrepreneurs who move fast, think big, and are committed to building the next major franchises in technology. Founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the firm provides entrepreneurs with access to expertise and insights in innovation, executive and technical talent, market intelligence, policy and regulatory affairs, business development, and marketing and brand-building.

Author’s background: See above.

Why it’s worth reading: “The key difference between traditional software and software as a service: Growth hurts (but only at first).”

Recommended reading: Understanding SaaS: Why the Pundits Have It Wrong

David Skok – For Entrepreneurs

Blog name: For Entrepreneurs

Blog focus: This isn’t light reading. But it contains the keys to the kingdom in understanding this area.

Author’s background: Slok started his first company a few months after leaving university at the age of 21, and over the next 25 years founded a total of four companies (Skok Systems, Corporate Software Europe, Watermark Software, and SilverStream Software) and did one turnaround (Xionics). Three of the companies went public, one was acquired, and one initially succeeded, but then failed when he moved the company to the US. After 25 years as an entrepreneur, he became a venture capital partner at Matrix Partners, the firm that had backed his last two companies.

Why it’s worth reading: “This article is a comprehensive and detailed look at the key metrics that are needed to understand and optimize a SaaS business.”

Tomasz Tunguz – Venture capitalist blog

Blog name: TomTonguz.com

Blog focus: See author’s background below.

Author’s background: A partner at Redpoint (VC firm) who writes daily, data-driven blog posts about key questions facing startups, including how to fund raise, startup benchmarks, management best practices and team building. He co-authored the book, Winning with Data.

Why it’s worth reading: Great data-centric unpacking of questions that should be being asked by all startups.

Recommended reading: The Importance of Payback Period for SaaS Startups

Andrew Chen

Blog name: @andrewchen

Blog focus: “long-form essays on what’s going on here in Silicon Valley.”

Author’s background: Andrew Chen works at Uber, where he heads up driver acquisition programmes for the Growth team. He writes about mobile, metrics, and growth. He is an advisor/investor for tech startups including AngelList, Barkbox, Dropbox, Grovo, Kiva, Product Hunt, Qualaroo, Wanelo, and ZenPayroll. Previously, he was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Mohr Davidow Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based firm with $2B under management. Prior to MDV, Andrew was director of product marketing at Audience Science, where he started up the ad network business that today reaches over 380 million uniques. He holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Washington.

Why it’s worth reading: Don’t trust me, trust Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup: “One of the best entrepreneurship blogs of all time.”

Recommended reading: Minimum Desirable Product

Price Intelligently – Price Sensitivity Analysis and your SaaS Metrics

Blog name: Price Intelligently

Blog focus: Helping SaaS leaders align the right product to the right customer for the right price in order to boost revenue and learn more about their customer.

Author’s background: See below.

Why it’s worth reading: The authors drill into you that pricing is a process, and probably the single most valuable and overlooked lever in your SaaS business – many SaaS companies will happily spend thousands of hours building and refining their product, but may only dedicate 6 hours to pricing it – and yet wonder why their business with an awesome product went swirling down the drain.

Jason Lemkin – SaaStr Blog – getting from $0M to $100M faster

Blog name: SaaStr

Blog focus: SaaStr began in 2012 as a simple attempt via a WordPress blog, together with a few answers on Quora, to help share back Jason M. Lemkin’s learnings of going from $0 to $100M ARR with the next generation of great SaaS and B2B entrepreneurs. It has since gone on to become the largest community of SaaS founders and entrepreneurs, with over 3 million views per month and 20 million+ views on Quora, and events hosted throughout the year.

Author’s background: Two time tech entrepreneur (with two successful exits to his name), Lemkin moved into the world of venture capital. Previously CEP of EchoSign, online digital signature tech company acquired by Adobe. What differentiated him was his ability to spot the gap in the resources available to someone interested in the entire journey of a start-up, from idea through to acquisition.

Why it’s worth reading: What distinguishes his blog is his unflinching, searing honesty, his consistent supply of real life examples for the the theories he espouses, and his unrelenting encouragement and infusion of belief in the underlying revolutionary aspect of the SaaS model business model. If you haven’t yet started learning from him, he’d be one of the first I’d encourage you to look at. He’s also co-authored a book called From Impossible to Inevitable with Aaron Ross, who lead the outbound sales and prospecting team at Salesforce which added an extra $100M of revenue. Lemkin’s the founder of arguably the world’s largest pure SaaS conference.

This is the blog of the entrepreneur (exits @ $12M and then $50M) turned VC exclusively focusing on Saas. His writing is compelling and highly educational.

Recommended reading: How to Know When You’ve Hit Initial Traction in SaaS. The Moment When You’ve Got A Real Company. I also highly recommend that you sign up to their weekly articles. For example in his article, The Top 10 Mistakes First Time SaaS Founders Make, point no. 7 is bang on for scaling enterprise level software sales.

Mistake #7: Not going up-market fast enough. Dude. If you have one $100k customer, you can get 2, and then 10. And if you have one $100k customer, you really think the next one can’t pay $150k? Of course they can. Don’t be scared. Don’t be timid. Push up market as fast and as hard as you can. Make the ask. Do it.

Chaotic Flow by Joel York – 10-part guide on SaaS metrics

Blog name: SaaS Blog by Joel York of Chaotic Flow

Blog focus: SaaS, coming from a mathematical background.

Author’s background: CalTech and Cornell scientist and technologist who’s been making and marketing and writing about B2B software (desktop, enterprise, SaaS) for the last 20 years.

Why it’s worth reading: Joel York’s blog contains razor-sharp articulations of all SaaS metrics, and he’s been a pioneer in assisting other entrepreneurs to better understand the area. His illustrations of the maths underlying some of the concepts can help even people who struggle, like me, with basic algebra! He’s written an incredibly useful guide to SaaS metrics.

Recommended reading: In his series on SaaS Metrics and their inter-relating impact on each other, he’s written a great 10 part series of articles which are all in my view well worth reading. It discusses:

Inside Intercom – the blog for Intercom

Blog name: Inside Intercom

Blog focus: Design, customer experience, startups and the business of software.

Author’s background: Irish entrepreneurs build global customer software platform with a suite of products for live chat, marketing, feedback and support – and then write about the experience as they go.

Why it’s worth reading: Beautifully put together posts that are actionable and written from the entrepreneur’s perspective (which is rarer than you’d think).

Recommended reading: SaaS Metrics for Fundraising

See also:

This 2008 unrelated guest post on another blog that relates to the SaaS Magic Number

Why the Quick Ratio is a Crucial SaaS Metric

Paul Graham

Blog name: Paul Graham

Blog focus: All matters startup and technology rated.

Author’s background: Paul Graham is a programmer, writer, and investor. In 1995, he and Robert Morris started Viaweb, the first Software as a Service company. Viaweb was acquired by Yahoo in 1998 and became Yahoo Store. In 2001, he started publishing essays on paulgraham.com, which in 2015 got 34 million page views. In 2005, he and Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell started Y Combinator, the first of a new type of startup incubator. Since 2005, Y Combinator has funded over 1,000 startups, including Dropbox, Airbnb, Stripe, and Reddit.

Why it’s worth reading: Absolute cutting-edge thinking. He’s one of the most influential thought-leaders in technology today.

Recommended reading: Startup=Growth

See also: his book, Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age

About the author

David Miller

David is a New Frontiers alumnus and the CEO and co-founder of Complyfile. A successful litigation solicitor in a previous life, David is now on an entrepreneurial journey to develop a world-class online volunteer recruitment compliance software tool.

Hiring interns for your startup: our top tips

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 and develop.

Interns should leave feeling that:

1. They learned something valuable and had an experience that adds value to their CV
2. They were exposed to experiences that has developed their skills and potential career path
3. They were valued and treated fairly by their receiving company

A question people often ask me is why they haven’t received many applications for an internship position that they have advertised. The answer is usually that they published a boring, generic job spec, solely focused on what the receiving company wants from the person with no mention of what the intern will receive in return. With a regular paid role, the onus is on the applicant to sell their skills in return for a nice salary package, however with an internship the dynamic is different. The receiving company has to sell to the candidate in a compelling way why they should impart their skills and services for a very low or nominal fee and what, besides money, the receiving company can provide to the candidate in return for these skills.

Job specification guidelines

There are many ways a job specification can be put together. The following section outlines some headings that some startup companies I have worked with have found useful in developing specifications for roles that have arisen within their companies.

1. Job title & type

A descriptive job title (try to come up with an interesting title that an intern may find useful to have on their CV when they eventually are looking for gainful employment, and also one that will garner some interest amongst potential applicants!). Also mention if the internship is full time or part time, and the contract duration.

2. Location

Company name and address of the offices where the intern will be posted.

3. Description of the company

Give a 100 word overview of your business; where you’ve come from, where you are going with the business and the type of culture that exists within the organisation. Keep this fresh and interesting and avoid using jargon!

4. Description of the role

Include a bullet point description of the areas of responsibility that the candidate would have within the role. When complete, read it back to yourself; does it sound enticing and interesting? If you were a 22 year old graduate, would it make you want to apply? Get the views of others, maybe even ask some interns that are working in other startups in your network. You will probably get some great advice!

5. Learnings & rewards

Remember, an internship doesn’t come with all the bells and whistles that a paid graduate roles comes with – therefore you need to sell the role and incentivise people to apply by positioning the role in an attractive way. In this section, you will list what the intern will receive in return for their commitment to your company. Include the areas of development that they will encounter, the exciting innovations they will be exposed to, the dynamic nature of being involved with an SME, the background of the person they will work most closely with or learn from, the networks they will get to mix with, the possibilities for progression or future employment, future possibilities within the firm, learning and/or training opportunities, as well as expenses or payments or bonuses awarded. Perhaps €50 p/w expenses or a performance-related bonus could apply. Include whatever is appropriate for the situation. Read it back, put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself again: if you were a graduate, would you apply?

6. Experience & qualifications required

Make sure to be clear about any experience that is required – e.g. previous office environment experience, or whatever is appropriate for the situation – and what qualification you would like the candidate to have (diploma, degree, masters, etc.).

7. How to apply

Include full contact details, method of applying and closing date in this section.

Happy Recruiting!

About the author

Claire Mac Namee

Claire is the New Frontiers Programme Manager at the Institute of Technology in Blanchardstown. New Frontiers at Blanchardstown is run from the LINC (Learning & Innovation Centre) where Claire is also Enterprise Manager – taking care of the marketing, communications, events and incubation services for the centre. Claire has worked with over 300 startup companies since joining the LINC in 2008.

UK markets and beyond: think before you leap

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 greatly. In my experience, too many home-grown companies treat the UK as an extension of their Irish market place and are left wondering where it all went wrong or why they did not achieve the progress and success in the UK that they had originally anticipated.

Some common mistakes best avoided

Rushing in and not carrying out adequate market research and planning from a quality perspective
Underestimating the cost of go-to-market and in-country activities e.g. number of meetings, travel, accommodation, etc.
Underestimating the timelines required to achieve success – leading to frustration & impatience
Assuming the length of your product, solution or service sales cycle will be the same as that experienced in Ireland
Not being cognoscente of the subtle cultural differences and buying behaviours, patterns and preferences
Spreading yourself thin by attempting to cover too much geography too soon – this is very common mistake; travelling to a meeting from Dublin to Galway is not the same as travelling between, for instance, Bristol and Norwich

In order to provide you and your organization with the best chance of success in your UK target market, there are key considerations and activities that must be taken on board prior to, during and after market entry. As many of you will be aware from day-to-day experience, getting domestic business decisions wrong or merely misjudging them can prove costly. This experience will be amplified significantly in the UK.

Therefore, a well thought out market entry and market activation plan is essential.

Think before you leap

Some organizations enter new markets and pursue a large contract or opportunity based on a loose strategy commonly referred to as ‘gut feel’. Over the years, I’ve heard many explanations of UK market entry decisions – based on what can only be termed as misguided assumptions, such as:

“We’ve grown our business in a small market like Ireland, so imagine what we can do in the UK.”

“Let’s open an office and see how we get on. Sure how difficult can it be?”

“They speak the same language and we are only an hour away by plane.”

“We have been looking after one customer in Leicester so let’s get over there and sign the rest of them up.”

This type of logic would never be entertained if it was the US, China or mainland Europe that was under consideration – so the strong advice is to adopt the same mindset when looking at our nearer neighbour.

Evaluate, activate, execute

This three step approach ensures you challenge your beliefs and try find answers to important questions that will help to support you before, during and after market entry…

Market evaluation

Have you:

assessed the overall market opportunity and size, defining your specific target market(s) by sector, region, company, etc.?
decided on the level of resources required to maximize the market opportunity?
developed a clear and compelling value proposition?
identified your ideal customer across selected criteria?
gained a clear understanding of your buyer behaviour and expected sales cycle?
decided on where and how you need to differentiate against the competition?
considered the most effective channels to promote and sell to your ideal customer?

Market activation

Have you:

created a sales delivery plan with clear accountability and ownership?
introduced key performance metrics and milestone management?
adopted the most appropriate market awareness campaign?
aligned internal sales, marketing and product team(s)?
introduced a sales and pipeline management process?
successfully recruited and on-boarded UK sales or partner representation?

Market execution and management

Are you:

actively reviewing and monitoring sales progress?
constantly driving the critical few activities?
being effective with the remote management of UK employees and partners?
expanding your customer/partner base?
planning for the next growth phase?

The above are far from exhaustive lists of considerations, however hopefully some of the content and tips will prove helpful and be of some value to any organization with an eye on the UK – or any overseas market for that matter. As they say, the only source of knowledge is experience and I am happy to have shared some of mine.

About the author

Barry Moylan

Barry Moylan is an Enterprise Ireland mentor, and co-founder and Director at Sales Transitions Ltd. He has 25 years of sales, leadership and executive coaching experience. Barry is an expert in delivering strategic and operational sales growth – working with startups and established/multinational technology companies in both domestic and overseas markets.

Getting paid on time: advice and guidelines

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 Ireland.

Should I offer my customers credit?

Firstly, if credit is not required, don’t give it.

If you do extend credit to customers, make sure you do your homework. Assess the risk by gathering information from the company itself as well as from external and independent sources. These could include trade references, bank references and even credit agency reports. Remember, in the management of credit, information is power.

Categorise new customers according to risk. Vary the credit limit and payment terms accordingly. Be wary of letting the purchaser impose their own terms and conditions of trade.

Ideally, put contracts in writing and ensure they contain a fair payment period that both sides can live with, details of interest to be paid and a mechanism to deal with disputes.

Don’t forget to monitor and review existing customer limits. Consider their payment performance, the value of the trading relationship and its profitability. On this basis you may decide to offer them exclusive terms as a valued customer, maintain the existing relationship or put them on a stop list.

How should I manage that credit?

Proper credit management practices are a must in all businesses. Know who owes you what and when they should pay by continuously tracking the type, amount and due date of invoices.

Statements, regular telephone calls, emails and reminder letters should be used routinely in the collection process, even before the account is considered to be overdue.

When phoning, always try to speak to the person responsible for payments. Find out their payment system (e.g. the frequency of online payment or cheque runs). Take a note of the conversation and the commitments made and put a note in your calendar to follow up.

If a final reminder is required, it should be addressed to a senior official, such as the Finance Director, notifying them that if the debt is not paid by a certain date, it will be passed to a solicitor or collection agent.

Can I charge interest on late payments?

Interest can be applied to late payments – although almost three quarters of Irish firms decide not to do so. This can be from fear of losing business, gaining a reputation as a difficult supplier or because the customer is perceived as too big to challenge.

Remember, if they are allowed, others will use you as their cheapest source of credit. Decide your policy on late payment interest and stick to it.

Interest can be charged automatically if the supplier has not been paid within 30 days (if there is no written contract) under the Late Payment in Commercial Transactions Regulations 2012. The rate is set for six months based on the European Central Bank interest rate on 1st January/July, plus 8%. The current late payment interest rate is 8.05% until the end of 2015. Penalty interest should be calculated on a daily basis and equates to a current daily rate of 0.022%.

Aren’t late payments just part of Irish culture?

The European Payment Report 2015 shows that Irish companies suffer more late payments and bad debts than their European counterparts. Irish companies write off an average of 7% of their yearly revenue, compared to a European average of 3%. So, getting paid on time also depends on the prevailing payment culture.

An important new initiative was launched by Government this month, supported by the Small Firms Association, which aims to drive Ireland towards a culture of paying bills on time – the Prompt Payment Code.

By signing up to the code, companies agree to pay on time and give clear guidance to suppliers on payment procedures. The ultimate aim is that companies will choose who to do business with on the basis of whether or not they have signed up to the code.

Mostly, when small businesses fail, they don’t run out of ideas, customers or products – they simply run out of money. Managing cash flow and credit is a challenge for any small business; but by putting in place clear policies and adhering to them, you can put your company at the top of your debtors’ payment lists. And by signing up to the Prompt Payment Code and checking if your customers have signed up, you can steer Ireland towards a payment culture based on certainty for all parties.

About the author

Linda Barry

Linda Barry is Assistant Director of the Small Firms Association, a national organisation that exclusively represents the needs of small enterprises in Ireland. She is responsible for policy & lobbying, “NOW” Magazine, surveys, committee representation, business queries, and SFA events (including the SFA’s Annual Lunch, Annual Conference, and Business Bytes events).

With a strong background in European affairs, Linda worked with Publicis Consultants as an EU Public Affairs Consultant; her role involved designing and implementing advocacy strategies, writing position papers, organising events, and maintaining relations with the European Commission and European Parliament.

International growth: how to get started

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 a distance. We’ll look at how to achieve those first international customers and then how to consider the major intermediaries – agents, wholesalers, and resellers – that you might take on and looking out for key differences and watchpoints for your international growth strategy.

Startups today are growth-oriented, and it helps your vision and investment narrative to be so. However, it is useful to look at some scaling international companies to see some of the effects that international growth has had on their product/service offering.

The US example

Looking at US companies, language is an interesting issue. For their home markets (which remember, might be a state such as California with ~38 million people), a common English language allows them to scale to much larger markets than a European or Asian equivalent. When they do start to internationalise, they manage their UX very carefully (for instance, by using symbols and pictures such as an envelope to indicate mailbox, or an avatar to represent personal settings). This leads them to think about customer onboarding, which might involve the delivery of online training and certification, like the Salesforce University.

Looking again to the US for a lead in this subject, we can look at large urban regions as proxies for our international efforts. If a startup operates in the Los Angeles area, they have a population equivalent to the Netherlands and Belgium within two hours, or in the New York region, a population equivalent to the UK within three hours. Think in these city terms as you internationalise in Europe. The UK is too broad a target to have as a vision, try a market entry point such as Manchester/Liverpool or Newcastle/Edinburgh – two regions with populations (i.e. a market) the size of about 5 Million people. This gives you an accessible target to aim for.

Understanding and managing your network

Internationalising will offer you many options to scale your customer acquisition, from agents, wholesalers, distributors, and resellers. All good options, if you appreciate the differences between them and manage them as tightly as you would your first customer. Essentially, their roles can be defined as follows:

Agents – they will act on your behalf and get a margin of the sale
Wholesalers – they will buy your product and sell it on to their network
Distributors – they will move your product to customers but won’t buy your product off you in advance
Resellers – they will have authority to act for themselves, selling your product directly and passing a margin back to you

As you can see, there are significant differences in who owns the product, who tracks the cashflows and who owns the actual customer.

Filling the gaps in your knowledge

Finally, it is worth noting that doing or operating business internationally exposes you to risks that are not that easy to ignore, such as different legal codes, local practices and competitive bidding that you might not be used to. It is hoped that you probably do achieve early market adoption in your home market, allowing you to somewhat perfect your product-market fit, achieve seed funding and get good legal, corporate finance and taxation advisors with good experience in international markets.

In technical sales, enterprise sales and equivalent, international sales also means a harder-to-reach customer in terms of training, development, the understanding of their actual usage and remoteness from up- and cross-selling. On the other hand, international sales means that you are able to compete with local players in the market, suggesting you have a defendable and sustainable USP.

Remember though, that internationalisation is not a goal in itself for your startup – it is a process that needs to be managed, in the same way as marketing or product development, so that you can build value for your customers, your investors, and your team.

About the author

Alan Costello

Using data analytics to make better business decisions

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 the little things in our lives – though sometimes the accuracy of the rainfall does leaves a little to be improved!

We started our company, EnergyElephant, with this idea in mind. A simpler world made easier with the power of technology. Every day, we are bombarded with more information than most people would have experienced in a week just a few years ago. This has led to some data analysis paralysis or, worse, data collection with no actionable intelligence derived from it (or as I like to say, data collection for the sake of data collection).

Start seeing data as an asset

In my own experience as an engineer, I found more and more of my time was being consumed by excel spreadsheets and carrying out analysis of data sets for small and large companies. What interested me most was watching how energy assessments were carried out and how inefficient they were. An energy assessor would spend a few hours just extracting data from electricity and gas bills into spreadsheets to produce graphs on how the energy was used and where savings might be found.

Then they would spend the remainder of their time walking around and reviewing options for improving energy efficiency. Up to half their time was spent on data extraction and analysis, meaning that the real objective – finding areas for improving energy efficiency – was losing out. We also noticed businesses with large energy bills of up to €70,000 per year that did no analysis of their bills to see what savings they might be missing out on.

Our solution was to build a software platform where anyone could upload their electricity or gas bills and get the insights into their usage immediately. This system could be used by anyone – from the lay person up to the best energy professionals – to help them become more energy efficient.

Every business is a digital business

Businesses are faced with these similar problems every day. Many times they can take from the real work to be carried out. How many businesses spend time trawling through spreadsheets when they could be out doing far more productive things, like keeping their customers happy or gaining new ones?

The future of data will be one of continued exponential growth. Businesses must learn to deal with timely actions from the insights these data sets create. Increasingly, real-time actions are required but this really depends on the business type and whether what they do is time-critical. Website owners know this only too well – by the time they have reviewed a spike in their traffic it is too late to action moving these viewers through their on-boarding funnel.

But real-time or not, data is changing how we do business, and companies that successfully combine their domain expertise with data science will out-compete their rivals every time.

Use data to make better decisions

Every business generates data; no matter how small it is and regardless of what it does. If you have a website or social network accounts, if you have clients and take payments… all of this can provide you with data that can be analysed. By collecting this data in a systematic way, you can start to inject analytics into every business decision you make.

There are a huge number of analysis tools, and many of them are either free or have a free trial. Storing data has become easy and cheap, so you can complete your data with as much information as you have access to. You might be able to record customer complaint messages, access logs, abandoned carts, GPS information, etc.

My advice for data analytics would always be start with what your end objective is. Decide what question you have and what type of answer you need. Then identify the data you’ll have to collect and how you will analyse it. The next step is to source that data, structure it and query it – if you don’t have the expertise in-house to do this, there are thousands of platforms out there to cover any area of interest: marketing, customer relations, search and web traffic, business intelligence, finances, sales, etc. Once you start to get results, you need to validate them and apply the answers you’re getting. Once that’s done, you’ll be able to measure your results.

About the author

Joe Borza

Joe Borza is a New Frontiers past participant, and CEO and co-founder of EnergyElephant, a smart energy assistant.

Joe graduated from Trinity College with a degree in Engineering and went on to obtain a Masters in Sustainable Development at DIT. A chartered engineer, he has worked for over a decade as an consultant in Ireland and abroad, and lectures part-time in Trinity College on smart energy technologies, energy use in built environments and entrepreneurship.

How to build a successful startup recruitment process

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 a new position. You may find the proposition of creating a new role daunting, but remember that you are potentially creating a competitive advantage that was previously untapped!

The recruitment process

There are five stages to recruitment:

Vacancy verification – What is the position to be filled?
Person specification – Who is the person to fill the position?
Sourcing candidates – Where is the best place to find the best candidates?
Interviewing and selection – Is the candidate as credible as their CV?
Job offer – The right package for the right candidate.

An aspect of recruitment which tends to be over-looked is the expense that recruiting the incorrect candidate will generate for the organisation – in terms of re-advertising, low productivity, and increased training costs.

A person who has been recruited into a position that is unsuited to them will suffer from low morale, excess levels of stress, and may leave the job within the first few months of starting. To get the most out of it, it is imperative that you invest enough time and thought when creating the position.

Vacancy verification

The first step in this process is to decide what you want:

What are the responsibilities of this role?
What are the targets and objectives of this role?
Is this a full-time or part-time position?
Does this project have a time frame or is it an on-going role?
Who will this position report and be accountable to?
Could this position be out-sourced?

Spend 30 minutes considering these questions. You know you want somebody to work for the company, but what do you want them to do? It must be clear to you what you want or it will never be clear to the employee.

Person specification

Once the parameters of the job have been considered and developed, it is time to look at the person who will fill this role. What personality best suits the role? What education or experience levels would you prefer, or indeed does the job dictate? It is important to consider that we inhabit a culture that places immense emphasis on educational qualifications; however qualifications do not equate to experience. In my experience – if you have to decide between the two – qualifications can be gained in a short period of time, but experience cannot be bought.

Sourcing candidates

Next, you need to consider where the most appropriate placing of this vacancy is. General positions such as retail, tradesmen, hospitality, general operatives, etc. can be sourced from a relativity small pool; in this case the local newspaper may be the most useful tool. As the position becomes more specialised, jobs websites may become more appealing and these can reach a broader pool of talent. However, if this is unsuccessful it may be desirable to use a recruitment company to take the effort out of sourcing.

It is worth noting that recruitment company fees range typically range from 17% to 27% of the total annual salary of the prospective candidate. So, for example, if you are hiring an engineer with a starting salary of €60,000, you could pay anywhere from €10,700 to €16,200 in finder fees. You’ll need to consider what would be the best return on investment in this situation.

Interviewing and selection

This is your opportunity to flesh out the applicant’s CV, and a great chance to understand the applicant and their experience, as well as their expectations of the role and its future development. It is important to consider the CV and the person separately from each other and to make a list.

Firstly, based on the information contained in their CV, which candidate would you be most likely to hire? Secondly, after meeting with the applicants, make a list of which candidates you would be most likely to hire based on personality and the interaction of the interview. Is the same person at the top of both lists? It is very unlikely that they will be.

You need to consider what you value most from each candidate and their role within the organisation. The recruitment of candidates based only on intuition leaves the organisation vulnerable. As highlighted at the beginning of this article, employing an unsuitable candidate is expensive and time-consuming.

Job offer

At this stage, you have chosen the person you feel best suits the role you have available and now you need to make them an offer. A job offer is generally about more than money – depending on where the applicant is in their professional life cycle – however you will have to work within industry standards to attract the right talent.

Packages for employees can be expensive if you start to consider medical plans, pension plans, employee assistance programmes, etc., but at this stage of your business you have something that bigger organisations don’t have: flexibility. Work is no longer nine to five, and life no longer exists outside of this time frame either. You know this, it’s what you live. This is something people want in their working life, and the goodwill that can be generated from this will be incalculable.

Conclusion

Employers need to consider the recruitment process as a business transaction; you wouldn’t buy the wrong piece of machinery, or a computer package that didn’t meet your requirements. Similarly, you shouldn’t recruit someone just because you like them or have a ‘good feeling’ about them or because they have an attribute on their CV which you feel is missing from your own skill set. You can return or exchange a piece of equipment that doesn’t work correctly or is unsuitable for your needs, but you cannot do this with an unsuitable appointment.

The recruitment process is a reflection of your company’s standards and creates your employee’s expectation for the tasks ahead. A successful recruitment can add huge value to your startup and drive your business forward. It is well worth putting in the ground-work!

About the author

Katie Murphy

Katie Murphy is a Human Resources professional and current New Frontiers participant at Waterford. Katie has particular interest in employee relations strategies, entrepreneurship, employee law and economics.

Katie’s early-stage startup, Clún-Ór, is an agri-business inspired by the 50 acre field opposite the Murphy house which Katie wanted to rent, but simply couldn’t afford.

New tricks: my journey from administrator to entrepreneur

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 in what areas I would notice the differences between life as a salaried school leader and that of an entrepreneur. Some of the skills from my previous life were useful, which is just as well, as the necessary change from the administrative to the entrepreneurial mind-set does not happen overnight: I knew how to plan, budget, structure, communicate, and write – all skills that were useful in setting up the company.

New learning: Part 1

The first major difference was, however, that as a self-employed company director and shareholder, you are your own support team. No PA. No IT manager. No in-house accountant. No website manager.

Learning the auxiliary skills takes time, and you can’t just ask someone to: run those numbers for me, please, or write a short report: what if we did this, instead? You go through a phase of feeling uncomfortably out of control over things that you used to take for granted. The accounts. The invoices. The receipts. The reports and web updates.

But then it gets better. Until you realise that mastering these skills will not, of themselves, pay the bills.

New learning: Part 2

It is very easy to stay busy just keeping things in order, but it is vital to move on quickly. Unfortunately, there is no magic wand to create an entrepreneur out of rough administrative clay – but sooner or later this must happen. You have to sell. You have to market. Perfecting administrative systems is a hard habit to break.

But fine tuning a great product that people do not know about or might not want to buy is time wasted. Develop the concept, try it out on a few (only a few will respond), get the feedback and then get it in the marketplace. We went too quickly with certain ideas, wasting time and money. We had to be patient with others, and all the time instead of just perfecting something, you are pitching and selling a new product that your research tells you people might buy.

A new support team

Like my former students, and as a new learner, I looked for support and affirmation. Our shareholders provided a good deal of this – but they were also looking to me as we got the business going. I found the direct support I needed in three ways:

From the Local Enterprise Office in Donegal
At CoLab – a superb business incubator attached to the Letterkenny Institute of Technology
Through the New Frontiers programme and with the help of Enterprise Ireland

The great thing is that you do not have to attempt this kind of transformation on your own. The Donegal LEO was in some ways a hard taskmaster, but we learned a lot very quickly as we applied for and then received a Business Priming Grant. We heard about CoLab from our graphic designer – and in a month or so we had been allocated a hot desk. You cannot begin to estimate the positive effect of the environment that this provides – the stories, the experience and the inspiration of people all of whom had ideas and were ‘going for it’. The younger ones knew things we needed to learn, and we had one or two things that our fellow risk-takers might find useful in return.

The training and discipline that New Frontiers Phase 1 and the application for Phase 2 provided accelerated the whole process. As we entered Phase 2 of the training, the company was using both the skills and knowledge brought from the world of education, and applying the new mind-set from the world of business, first to generate and then convert new leads.

The transformation of the old dogs is by no means complete, but we feel privileged to be working in this environment and to have the opportunity to learn the new tricks that will transform our lives while enabling us, we hope, to shape the world of international education in rather a different way than we did before as teachers and administrators.

About the author

Andy Homden

Andy trained as a teacher in the UK and Australia, and has worked in international education for most of his career. As a teacher and school leader he specialised in curriculum design and school start-ups. He is now CEO of Consilium Education, an educational consulting company of highly experienced education professionals offering support with school start-ups, strategic planning, preparation for inspection or accreditation, feasibility/bench-marking studies and campus refurbishment. They also offer professional development programmes and careers advice for teachers who wish to work internationally. Consilium also publishes International Teacher Magazine.

Goals & milestones for growth-focused businesses

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 is evaluated both in terms of career to date and track record with the current business of the collective team. Progress to date can be judged by viewing milestones achieved and quality and credibility of the plan going forward: has the business achieved market traction?

Enterprise Ireland gives 10% of the marks during the first phase of the evaluation of Competitive Start Fund (CSF) applications towards the ability to deliver key commercial and technical milestones; as they define it:

Looking for a well-defined strategy and roadmap with very clear achievable and measurable technical and commercial milestones.

With the growing popularity of tranched funding (financing agreement in which the agreed upon sum is advanced in stages depending on achieving specified targets or milestones), setting ambitious yet realistic and deliverable milestones is a hugely important issue for startup promoters at every stage of their development.

So what is traction?

According to Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares, (Market) Traction is quantitative evidence of customer demand. The book defines it as:

A sign that something is working – if you charge for your product, it means customers. If your product is free, it’s a growing userbase.

The book Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers talks about the power of setting Traction Goal(s) – this could be 1,000 paying customers, 100 new daily users, or 10% of your market.

What is a milestone?

A milestone is a significant achievement toward a major goal by which project progress can be measured, in this case business success. Generally they build – later milestones are dependent on earlier milestones, representing something of value being completed. So any discussion of milestones requires an understanding of the stage of development of your Startup.

Ash Maurya’s Three Stages of a Startup

The 3 Stages of a Startup is a perfect framework to set milestones in context.

The following milestones are implied by Lean Startup:

To use fast, iterative development practices to:

Validate core hypotheses (customer problem-solution).
Develop the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Achieve Product-Market fit
Produce a development and marketing roadmap for scaling

Product-market fit

Accordingly, advocates of Lean Startup describe Product-Market Fit as a critical milestone. This is defined as being when a product shows strong demand by passionate users representing a sizeable market.

Achieving Product-Market fit requires at least 40% of users saying they would be “very disappointed” without your product… Sean Ellis, Lean Startup Marketing

The Startup Pyramid sees the achievement of Product-Market Fit as a prerequisite before significant resources is invested in marketing and sales to scale the business.

Ash Maurya’s 10x Product Launch

Ash Maurya sets a challenge for very early-stage businesses to get 10 Customers, and then to get 10 times or 100 customers, and so on.

The Business Model Canvas

Appropriate commercial and technical milestones should emerge from the startup Business Planning activity.

The ideal tool to list and test your business assumptions is the Business Model Canvas, which identifies 9 building blocks to a business.

An evolving business

While your traction goal, stage of development and business model will determine appropriate milestones, it is also very important to understand that your business model will evolve over time. Paul Graham advises businesses to do things that don’t scale.

Pulling it all together: The Milestone Mix

Every startup business founder and team – where ultimate responsibility lies – must focus on a small number of stage appropriate priorities to bring their business to the next level. SMART goals are called for – goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound.

A balanced set of goals is also required. I suggest that the balance of any startup business can be evaluated in terms of balance across four areas: Product, Marketing, Finance and Team – which I refer to as the Startup Milestone Mix.

I suggest that startup promoters should set high-level goals in each of these areas. It should also be part of their job description to ensure that the business is developing in a balanced fashion – using this as a high level framework allows a business to judge if sufficient attention is being given to all critical areas of the business.

For New Frontiers and Enterprise Ireland, the critical milestones to exhibit traction relate to: intellectual property, early reference customers, route to market, internationalisation, engagement with investors, and building a core and non-traditional team – as appropriate to the stage of development of your business.

My conclusion and Call to Action

As Lean Startup says: Life’s too short to build something that nobody wants. Your job, with the support of your New Frontiers network, is to build a business, not just a product. It is all about gaining market traction.

Set goals and prioritise milestones that work for your business; that excite you and act as a calls to action for investors, potential employees and other stakeholders. I hope that you find this article of value as you set about this task!

[Some related articles by Donncha (external sites):
How To Write Your ‘Job Description’ As A Startup Promoter
My favourite Startup Marketing Books for Fast Growth Businesses

About the author

Donncha Hughes

Tips for making a successful Phase 2 application

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 Programme Manager for a number of years now, I’ve come to the conclusion that where there is a mismatch in understanding such as this, it’s usually down to communication. The entrepreneur doesn’t hear what the programme requirements are, and those reviewing the application don’t see what they need to know, written down in black and white on the form.

The Phase 2 application form

It’s a form with two sections: Section A is for your personal details and Section B has 14 questions covering your business proposition, market, past experience, business model and proposed implementation. It’s a lot of detail. Given the very competitive nature of the application process, you need to put your best foot forward. Complete ALL the questions, do not leave blanks. Give sufficient detail to answer the questions, and do not just copy and paste texts from elsewhere.

Relevant, in-depth answers

Read and answer the actual question asked. For example:

In Section 1.2, you are asked to describe the attractive & credible market opportunity you have identified. This does not mean that you should describe the product/service features again; it means identify the scale, value and possible growth of your identified target markets.
In Section 3.2, you are asked to give details of your primary competitors. This does not mean that you should list three company names; instead provide a comparison/landscape, and demonstrate your Unique Selling Points and sustainable competitive advantage
In Section 4.2, you are asked if you have any current or potential reference customers. ‘No’ is not an adequate answer, even if you are at concept/pre-startup stage. You need to show that you can think of a customer, as well as think like one.

Convince and convert

The questions on our application form are designed to elicit answers that enable you to show that you are the one who can build a strong, sustainable business – from where you are now to where you plan to go, with the help and support of the New Frontiers programme. It’s about selling you (and your team, if you have one) as well as the business – not just about the product/service.

Phase 2 is all about preparing participants to make their case to external, professional investors. You must be able to show your ability to communicate what you are setting out to achieve – clearly and professionally, in both your writing and presentation. It’s good to be positive and ambitious, and have substantial goals, but you also need to be credible and prepared to back up your claims.

The pitfalls to avoid

The most common mistakes that let an application down are as follows:

Typos

Please re-read your form one last time before you send it – spelling mistakes and other errors at this level are indicative of a lack of professionalism. It’s not an English exam, but error-free text helps to create a positive initial impression.

Using an application form for a completely different programme

I have received applications clearly mentioning other agencies and even jurisdictions.

Not updating copied and pasted content

If your text comes from somewhere else, the chances are that you aren’t providing us with the relevant information we need to make our decision.

Not showing the innovative nature of your idea

Innovation is the fundamental differentiator for New Frontiers participation and is specifically referenced in Section 1.1. Make sure your application is clear about how and why you consider – and your customers/the market will consider – your product/service to be innovative. Many weak applications fail to address this point at all.

Not enough progress

Many applicants do not show enough momentum achieved to date (Section 4.3) or a detailed set of SMART goals for the six months ahead (Section 5.2), all of which have and will contribute to the success of your business venture, as well as a positive outcome for your participation in the programme.

If you want a positive outcome for your application, against very strong competition, remember what you’re doing, where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. And then tell the reader.

The New Frontiers programme is designed to support entrepreneurs as much as the business idea itself and we want to say YES! It’s worth taking the time to communicate your proposition in terms that address all the elements of the whole programme, which incidentally are also the elements behind a successful startup venture. Good luck with your application!

About the author

Colm Ó Maolmhuire

Colm is the New Frontiers Programme Manager at Blanchardstown. He has nearly 20 years’ experience operating as an independent, professional management trainer, mentor and consultant. His main areas of expertise are in finance, business planning/analysis and management skills.

Building your brand is about sharing your vision

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 a patent application for our product, Scriba, we were finally free to show people what we were doing and therefore get proper feedback from them. This freedom, and the input of others, really allowed us to start thinking about the long-term possibilities of what we were doing.

The bigger picture

Companies like Google can be incredibly open about their vision and ideas, because what they are doing is so huge and so hard for others to replicate that they don’t really run any danger of being copied. But it isn’t the same for small companies, who have to walk a tightrope between getting validation and feedback and having their concepts stolen!

How you describe yourself and how you position yourself changes as much depending on who you are talking to as the context in which you’re speaking. Being on the New Frontiers programme, I benefitted from regular interactions with the other participants, all of whom were free to discuss their own experiences and challenges. This liberation and interaction with others who were in the same boat allowed me to talk openly about both the detail and the big picture. It was great to be challenged on my vision from day one, and of course within this group I didn’t have to be secretive about my idea!

I come from an architecture background, and we work in a different way on projects. With implicit deadlines and demands, we spend much less time working with an amorphous idea. Parameters are fixed earlier and the development is really only refined over time until it finally becomes a building. So, with this startup, I was conscious of trying to keep the idea loose and open for as long as we could, which allowed other people to give us their input.

Turning the vision into a tangible product

Hardware development involves many complex and time-dependent processes, including design, testing, technologies, manufacturing and distribution that develop at their own pace and can sometimes go out of sync for all kinds of reasons.

At any given moment, one element of the project might be more advanced than another – the hardware, the electronics, the business plan (market, price point, positioning, etc.). It became a time versus effort balancing act. Right now, we’re really happy with the electronics, we’re trying different materials for the hardware and we’re confident about our value proposition… so the current balancing act is looking at other applications that the product could potentially have and quantifying the user benefits that they might provide.

When I first came up with the idea for the Scriba, I wanted a stylus that would be really comfortable to use and give me a more natural interaction with my iPad. I had made a simple design and turned it into a 3D model which I carried around with me… but I really had no idea what direction that this was going to take.

To create a working prototype, I taught myself some basic electronics. I started with a Galileo Board that I had picked up at Hackathon; I managed to get it working, but electronics was a black art to me and I struggled on a daily basis. Staged progress through ten prototypes suddenly made a big leap forward when I switched to a Bluetooth development board. Suddenly I had something in my hands that would actually work!

Maintaining your vision is therefore key to always being able to see the bigger picture and focus on your end goal, especially when you have to change direction because the route you had chosen is no longer open to you.

Build a vision, build a team

Vision is about dovetailing your business idea with your own passion, goals and expertise. You build a vision. My approach to this has been greatly influenced by my experience as an architect – where you have to have an overview of all your projects whilst also keeping track of the little details. When your vision is truly a mix of passion and goals, it becomes easier to maintain and follow through with daily milestones.

Your vision also needs to allow for some flexibility so it can accommodate, and be enhanced by, other people’s ideas. Sharing that vision with other people is key to establishing the business in the first place. I shared and shaped my vision with the other participants and mentors on the New Frontiers programme. Once the patent for Scriba was lodged, we contacted around 5,000 people directly through Twitter – people we had researched as being our target market – and asked them for advice on what really mattered to them.

Around 600 people came back to us with incredibly detailed responses: what they used styluses for, where they used them, how many they owned, where they bought them and what would be valuable features to have. These responses meant that we suddenly had real data we could use. As the product developed we did product testing with small groups of creatives, observed by an ergonomics engineer. We gave people a prototype of the product, but no instructions, and watched how they picked it up, investigated it and used it.

Building a wider community

Sharing your vision is as much about validating your ideas as it is about finding support to bring those ideas to commercial reality. You need to be open to learning through networking, asking questions, sounding people out and, above all, listening. Keeping an open mind and being positive, enthusiastic and helpful can open doors and bring opportunities you had never dreamed of.

I have gained a lot from this process and benefited from:

learning how to communicate my vision as clearly and as simply as possible
learning how to tell a story well (but remember, the more truth it contains, the easier it is to tell!)

It is very important to talk to others about your vision: share enough information about your idea to arouse curiosity, but not so much as to risk it being stolen. Also, people will be as interested in you as in your idea, so don’t forget to share your own personal journey as well.

Regularly assess what you are learning from the process and how, or if, it is helping you move forward. Sometimes this will mean a pivot for your startup, although for us it was more a case of many, minute pivots – such as changes in positioning or changes in the design – which occurred naturally and continually along the way.

Sharing our vision has been a key factor in building an in-house team and in attracting wide network of advocates whose input has been instrumental in moving our business forward.

[If you’d like to see a video of Scriba, click here.]

About the author

David Craig

David is founder and CDO of Dublin Design Studio and a New Frontiers alumnus. An architect by profession, David decided last year to explore his earlier passion for product design. His startup has created Scriba, a new concept in tablet styluses.

Storytelling in Sligo: building a media startup in the North West

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 PR and marketing was shifting to quality, paid-for content. On another level, smaller businesses and brands are feeling overwhelmed by content requirements and require specialist assistance to bring their content up to scratch.

Both Martha and I have worked at senior executive levels on newspapers, including The Observer in London, the Sunday Times and the Telegraph Media Group. With this kind of experience, we felt that we could offer brands the insights and access to networks they need to really stand out.

StoryLab: a new style of high-quality storytelling

We spoke to people at IT Sligo and applied for Phase 1 of the New Frontiers programme. I knew that New Frontiers could help to lay the foundations of a solid business with export potential, based in the North-West, home to a cluster of highly creative, dynamic businesses.

Although we were familiar with the target users and the needs, Phase 1 provided us with the tools and guidance to refine StoryLab’s offering and develop a business model.

New Frontiers made sense on every level. It offered the space and expertise to help us develop a business and it also applied to our location in Sligo where we are trading successfully as a national and international business.

Phase 1: Testing the business idea

Once on Phase 1 of New Frontiers, I devoted time to validating StoryLab’s target customer base and the ‘pain’ the business was solving for customers. It was also a great chance to refine our elevator pitch, which for StoryLab is: We tell your stories, we get you noticed, we show you how.

After Phase 1, we entered the highly competitive application process for a place on Phase 2 of New Frontiers, with a handful of happy customers already on board.

Phase 2: Business planning

On Phase 2, we began the process of more clearly identifying StoryLab’s customer base across regional, national and international lines. The workshops assisted greatly with identifying market segmentation and serving the company’s many varied customers. We established the value of our service, with an hourly, and by project, pricing structure. We looked at the route to market. The workshops also helped us devise a separate, more templated content product for SMEs – which gives smaller businesses a single media package for a one-off fee.

By the time I had finished Phase 2, StoryLab was a fully-trading, profitable company looking to build the team by adding a third member. The programme also helped us focus on developing a high-quality network of associate writers and editors, who assist with delivery of the company’s many content projects each week. StoryLab exited Phase 2 with a roster of more than 10 regular clients in Ireland and Europe who seek regular, specialist content support across a range of different areas.

The right tools and support

With a tested business model and an investor-ready business plan, StoryLab is continuing to establish itself as a trusted content partner to some of the biggest brands in Ireland and the UK – as well as offering its expertise to smaller businesses.

New Frontiers helped us formalise our business model but also our business practices and protocols, which has helped us greatly in our day-to-day management of the company. We would never have advanced so quickly without the programme. The tools and access to the different workshops and mentors have been invaluable.

It also showed us that a business with the right skills can migrate from Dublin to the North West, in our case Sligo, and still ably compete on a national and international basis.

About the author

Ciaran Byrne

Ciaran is a New Frontiers alumnus and Content Director at the startup he co-founded with his wife, Martha Kearns. Their company, StoryLab, gives brands a route into a new style of high-quality storytelling and journalistic content in a business setting, producing stories that people will want to share and consume.

Ciaran has reported from Africa and was in Kosovo in 1999 as NATO forcibly removed Serb forces. He also covered the US presidential election in 2000 and, as deputy news editor of The Observer, helped shape the paper’s coverage of the 9/11 attacks in America and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

New Frontiers workshop: How to find customers

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 our entrepreneurs may be dealing with, and how to design and manage the sales pipeline, taking into account factors such as:

Product vs Service
B2B or B2C
Pricepoints
Regulatory impacts
Cycles of the year

He also talked about ways to build an integrated process to manage marketing, sales and service, before discussing the sales process itself: the attributes of a good sales person; how to make a proposal; why deals are lost and the principles of selling, such as:

People buy people, not products
Sell the benefits, not the features
Present your solution from their perspective
Remember that buying is emotional and not logical
Make your solution easy to remember
The best place to validate your offering is in the market
Think about the personal wins of who you are selling to
Know what stage you are at and focus on getting to the next one

According to Alan, it’s also important to have a trade show strategy. You don’t necessarily have to go down the expensive route of paying for a stand; if you have clear objectives and are focused you can simply attend and make the most of the networking opportunities available during meet-and-greet sessions and coffee breaks. Trade shows should be part of your sales strategy: make a plan, research who will be there, be prepared and then network as much as you can.

Don’t think of trade shows as part of your marketing strategy and sit around waiting until your startup hires a Marketing Director before you hop on that wagon. Trade shows are an invaluable sales opportunity that you should be taking advantage of as early as possible.

Our participants also had the chance to hear personal stories from two entrepreneurs with very different companies, followed by short Q&A sessions.

Michael Culleton – Stayhold

Michael Culleton’s company, Stayhold, developed a simple but elegant solution to stop things rolling around in the boots of cars.

The original Stayhold product went from brainstorming session to manufacture in China in an incredibly short period of time. Michael mapped out the journey from production to launching and marketing the product and talked about how he manages distribution to markets around the world.

David Hurley – Tel Magnetic

David Hurley started Magnetic Solutions Ltd with his university professor over 20 years ago, and they were recently acquired by Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL).

Tel Magnetic produces the machines that are used by computer manufacturers to build most of the world’s hard disk drives and other semiconductor devices. David talked about the sales process they have developed – sharing the template used at Tel Magnetic to plan the objectives of every sales meeting – as well as how they manage their ongoing relationships with clients.

Inspiring insights

I’ve obviously only touched on the ‘highlights’ of what was covered during the four-hour session. Training and workshops form a vital part of the New Frontiers experience. Bringing participants from a variety of sectors together to meet seasoned entrepreneurs who bring real-life insights is crucial for developing skills and knowledge. The participants really valued the workshop and hopefully this format will be repeated at future events.

It was invaluable to hear advice and tips from experienced sales people who are familiar with the sales and client issues we face every day.

Shane Lynn, CEO, KillBiller

I found the meeting plans segment from David Hurley very useful, as I have sometimes finished meetings and only later realized I should have done or said things differently!

Eoin ó Fearghail, CTO, EnergyElephant

If you have a business idea and are interested in accessing the best quality support to help develop your startup, register your interest in New Frontiers today!

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

John Teeling on entrepreneurship and the future of business

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 been a force of nature in the business world since he left academia at the age of 41, after a lengthy teaching stint at UCD.

The serial entrepreneur

Although many people describe him as one, Teeling doesn’t really approve of the term “serial entrepreneur”. He is, he explains to me, a “portfolio entrepreneur”.

The first time you do something it’s incredibly difficult, but once it’s done you realise just how easy it was. And if you’re entrepreneurial already, you tend to see more than one opportunity.

And, having spent a lifetime as an entrepreneur, Telling says he has more opportunities now than ever.

Anatomy of an entrepreneur

Everyone has their own theory as to what “makes” an entrepreneur (there are 100 Million hits for that question on Google, if you’re ever at a lose end). For John Teeling, it’s a simple mix of four things:

Having an idea

An entrepreneur has absolute faith in their idea, and isn’t swayed by the opinions of banks, accountants or other interested parties. They have a visceral belief in their vision. And the real superstar entrepreneurs – the Steve Jobs of this world – see quantum leaps ahead of everyone else. Self-belief is the key.

The ability to gather resources

The ability to recognise and pull together resources is the key to succeeding in business. That’s not just about funding, it’s also about people and technology. You don’t always need to have the money in place to try your idea – you can lease or rent technology, and if there are gaps in your knowledge you can hire someone with the skills you lack.

You won’t find Teeling on LinkedIn or Facebook, but he’s no technophobe and embraces technology where it can bring benefits to his businesses. The Dundalk distilleries, for example, are 98% computer controlled and he’s happy to explore any solution that can improve efficiency and processes.

The ability to handle uncertainty

Uncertainty is “not knowing what you don’t know”. Whereas risk is measurable, there are also things that can happen which you could never have anticipated. Be prepared and expect something to go wrong!

Energy and determination

Follow it through to the end and don’t ever give up.

Building the team

Teeling is responsible for the creation of a staggering number of companies and sits on the board of many. He describes his job of Chairman as one of “acting in times of crisis”. Once he has set a company up, and laid out its roadmap, he likes to take a very hands-off approach to managing the day to day.

But he’s only able to do this if the right team is in place.

I trust the people I hire unless they give me a reason not to. The right people are out there, you just have to go and find them. But expect to make mistakes. And if you’ve made a mistake, fix it as soon as you can.

Teeling is a tough recruiter. As a former academic, he likes to see good academic achievement and technical ability. He believes that entrepreneurs are born, not made, and that education brings that out in them – that they “self-select” by getting the technical qualifications they need.

A lot of entrepreneurs have Type A personalities and are very hard to work with. So finding someone who can work with you is an issue. Choosing the right person is really about having an educated gut instinct.

The future

Teeling sees a few key areas with huge potential for growth in Ireland.

Food and drink

Identifying ways to add value is a big opportunity in the food and drink sector. Whiskey, for example, is sold for nine times the value of its raw ingredient, grain. Teeling sees a wealth of opportunities in the dairy sector, such as whey-based products (protein drinks, sodium lactate and even plastics). Another under-exploited resource is in the meat industry. Because of low domestic demand for offal, most of it is currently disposed of, but Teeling believes that in the future, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals will evolve in this area.

Energy

Tidal energy will be a big opportunity for Ireland, as will energy storage.

Tourism

Special Interest Tourism offers huge growth potential in Ireland. Organised, themed trips are becoming increasingly popular with affluent tourists, who’ll spend a few days totally immersing themselves in a particular area. The example he gave me was of a special interest tour in Mexico, accommodating groups of up to 10 people, who have paid an eye-watering amount of money to spend three days at a tequila distillery. Here in Ireland, such tours could focus on our outstanding food production sectors, music and languages.

John Teeling’s advice to young entrepreneurs

Never look back. If you make mistakes, just move on. You can’t change the past.

Creating a startup is an adventure. Enjoy it, enjoy even the bad times. You’ll look back on them with an enormous sense of achievement. Of course you’ll make mistakes, but if you really feel you have the urge and don’t go for it, you will regret it.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

Innovation Vouchers: helping SMEs to develop creative solutions

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 leading academic expertise (ROI and NI).

As the name suggests, vouchers can be used for any kind of product or application that is truly innovative, such as:

new product/process development
new business model development
new service delivery and customer interface
new service development
tailored training in innovation management
innovation/technology audit

Innovation Vouchers are the only Enterprise Ireland funding you can cumulate with the New Frontiers grant of €15,000. A company can apply for up to three vouchers, if one of those is a co-funded voucher (see below). Vouchers are only redeemable against the net cost of the services provided, so the company will have to cover the VAT cost of the voucher – which will be billed by the knowledge provider in question.

How does it work?

There are currently two main types of voucher:

Standard Voucher (€5,000)

A standard voucher is valid for 12 months and can be used with any of the registered knowledge providers. You must apply for a standard voucher during one of Enterprise Ireland’s open calls. There are usually three calls a year, in Q1, Q2 and Q3. Dates are published on the Innovation Voucher page of the Enterprise Ireland website. N.B. The latest call has just opened and closes on Wednesday, 20th May at 3pm.

Co-funded Fast Track Voucher (€5,000)

This option is suitable for companies that have already been awarded two Standard Vouchers and are not eligible for more; OR where timing is short and the company cannot wait for the next call for a Standard Voucher.

The co-funded voucher is for projects costing up to €10,000, paid for on a 50/50 basis by the Innovation Voucher and the company. For these projects, the company and the chosen knowledge provider must jointly agree on the programme of work before submitting the application. Applications can be submitted at any time, and a decision can usually be given within three weeks.

The rules

To apply for an Innovation Voucher, the company must be:

An SME (fewer than 250 employees and a turnover below €50 Million/balance sheet below €43 Million)
A registered Irish company, in any sector other than the agricultural sector (specific supports are available to this sector from the relevant agencies)
A for-profit privately held company (non-profits, charities, semi-states, trade associations, sports clubs, company representation bodies and non-commercial organisations are not eligible for Innovation Vouchers)

Other points to remember:

Applications can only be made online via the Enterprise Ireland Online Application system.
You don’t have to be an Enterprise Ireland client or have an Enterprise Ireland Development Advisor to apply for an Innovation Voucher.
Vouchers may only be used for work with one of the registered knowledge providers – they are publicly funded organisations such as Universities, Institutes of Technology and research centres.
Companies can only have one “active” voucher at any time. A voucher must be redeemed by the knowledge provider, and the VAT costs paid in full by the company, before another voucher can be applied for.
The intellectual property developed during the project is owned by the company, unless agreed otherwise.

Innovation vouchers have been used in areas as diverse as retail, business services, forestry, telecoms & software, engineering, life sciences, electronics and food.

Maximise your chances of a successful application

Applying for an Innovation Voucher is very straightforward, but as always a little preparation can save you wasting your time on an application that has no chance of success:

Read the comprehensive FAQs on the Enterprise Ireland website (PDF), it explains all the criteria and procedures involved.
Make sure that you are eligible. You must be a registered company (not a sole trader) and meet the eligibility criteria.
Make sure that your project is eligible. The vouchers are available for a wide variety of solutions, but activities such as software/web development and marketing/advertising are excluded.
Make sure you complete the application form fully. You need to demonstrate the highly innovative nature of the solution you intend to develop, and the benefit that this will bring to your company.

Examples of companies that have benefited from Innovation Vouchers

Monford Ag Systems – GrassOmeter

Steven Lock is an award-winning TV producer and director. It was in 2010, while filming the series Farmers – A year on the land, that Steven first saw what an issue grass measurement is for farmers. Most use a plate meter – as the name suggests, it is essentially a large disc that moves up and down a pole, allowing an average height reading to be taken – which is cumbersome, slow and not very accurate.

A chance conversation with Dr John Whelan, from Trinity College, led Steven to look into the Innovation Vouchers scheme. He applied, and the voucher allowed him to have the resources of a researcher for a month to look at developing a different way to measure grass. A second voucher was obtained, allowing a mechanical engineer to look at replacing the plate with sensor technology so that the product works as effectively on slopes as it does on the flat.

The GrassOmeter, as the product is known, is currently in the last stages of testing. Steven has secured €1.4 Million in funding, registered two patents and brought on board legendary Apple designer, Jerry Manock, as Head of Design. Steven’s team is now working hard on the final touches that will bring the GrassOmeter to market

It’s a wonderful scheme, because it really does encourage innovation. It’s what prompted me to wonder if there was a better solution to grass measurement. If the vouchers didn’t exist, then neither would the GrassOmeter.

Equiniche Sciences – Harmony Feeder

Dr Michelle O’Connor is a Veterinary Physiotherapist. She had a concept for a hay feeder that would enable stabled horses to eat at ground level and throughout the day – solving the physiological and behavioural problems associated with intermittent feeding and eating in an unnatural position.

Having successfully applied for an initial voucher, Michelle worked with Athlone Institute of Technology’s Centre for Industrial Services and Design to develop and prototype the main polymer body of the feeder. The following year, 2012, a second voucher was used to develop the rubber mesh system which controls access to the hay (both the material and the configuration of the mesh were researched).

The Harmony feeder can be secured at ground level in the stable and holds enough hay for a day, which the horse pulls out from the bottom – mimicking the natural grazing position. The product has received three patents – in the US, the EU and New Zealand. It was launched in the Irish market at the Equus Live Exhibition, Punchestown, in November 2013 and won the inaugural Innovation Award.

As we had limited funds, the scheme gave us the impetus to get started. Without access to the expertise provided, we would not have been able to visualise our product and bring it through development.

About the author

Scarlet Bierman

What I learned from the New Frontiers programme

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 ways. First of all, it challenges you to dismantle your idea and test to see if it’s a viable business model. This happens with group discussions, one-to-one meetings, review stages and presentations. Secondly, it helps you to build your idea from the ground up, while putting proven business theory into practice.

Creating processes

Establishing business processes was the most important aspect to benefit Glue. We have now developed processes and backend structures that allow us to keep track of projects and to clearly show both staff and clients how each project is progressing at the various stages. Not only this, but putting solid terms and conditions in place for new customers helps avoid confusion down the road. For us, it’s a simple ten-line document which lets both parties know where they stand before work commences. The help given by New Frontiers in streamlining this process alone has been invaluable.

Core team and culture

I also believe that culture is incredibly important, even at early-stage. I think every startup should make clear decisions about how their company will behave and ensure that all staff enjoy what they do and are happy with the work they’re producing.

So much of these thought processes have benefited from specific personality tests given during the programme to identify how an individual ticks and to develop symbiotic relationships between staff, based on their particular strengths and insights.

Knowing how you think and what type of person you are will allow you to understand how others perceive you. I have applied some of the lessons learned from the personality tests given throughout the programme to my whole team – with great results. This allows you to plan more efficiently and allows staff to identify qualities in each other that are necessary for delivering the best product.

Pitches and sales

There is a lot of great advice given regarding presentation skills, something I was quite poor at in the beginning but which I quickly improved upon through pitches to the class and at review stages. Basic things, such as having your pitch video recorded so you and your colleagues can dissect it and give constructive feedback, or being supplied with templates and pacing advice all come together to help you pitch better.

One very important factor in running a business is, of course, sales. How to successfully sell is paramount to the success of your business. There were many great tutors on the programme, such as Andrew McNeille and Dermot McKonkey, who both opened my eyes regarding sales and negotiating. I would happily purchase training videos from the tutors on this programme, simply because the information given is so in-depth; I still find myself looking over class notes from time to time.

Learn

A lot comes down to the individual entrepreneur, but if you are driven to make your business a success you’ll find that there’s a huge amount of information available to you on the programme. From the basics of structuring everything you do to clearly defining goals and milestones, you will learn many elements to help you set up and run your business.

Mentoring was a great help, as were the one-to-one sit downs with experienced professionals – which allow you to review each stage you have reached and gain great insight and knowledge.

Focus

The €15,000 grant paid over the course of Phase 2 (six months) gives you the space to concentrate on your business idea and give it the time and focus it needs to develop.

Network

For a digital video creation company like mine, the networking aspect has been especially helpful. Not only to share experiences and advice with like-minded entrepreneurs, but also as a test bed for us to sell our services.

New Frontiers gives you information on many business events throughout the course. Managing your time effectively is certainly one of the most difficult aspects, but ultimately the most rewarding as you learn and develop under their structured guidance.

Anyone can learn how to start up a business, but having the right mentors and structure around you will make the process easier and help it to happen sooner. Even if you know that you have a viable product or service, it requires a certain mindset to take the leap – especially if you have been working for someone else for years. It can be daunting at first, but my advice is to jump!

About the author

Ray Mongey

Ray was a New Frontiers participant at DIT and is founder and Managing Director of Glue, a visual effects company. The vision behind Glue was to combine techniques and technologies from video games, animation and filmmaking to provide the kind of blockbuster effects usually only available from big studios. They work on all types of project – from films to exhibitions, safety training videos to service/product explainer videos and anything in between. By enhancing videos with 3D animation, Glue creates a more engaging, immersive experience – although always with an eye on keeping production time and costs down.

Choosing the right business mentor

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 worked with, or sold to, a dominant player.

A mentor who understands how the industry works, how to access decision makers, the key factors that influence decision makers, the buying process and cycle, etc., may be the mentor you are looking for.

Understand the likely business model

Understanding the business model and the buying process of your potential customers (licensing, online, through resellers, through agents/distributors, through retail, by tender, etc.) will also clarify the mentor experience you are looking for.

Understand your weaknesses

Seek out a mentor with complimentary skills. For the early-stage entrepreneurs I deal with, this usually means finding someone with commercial experience.

Promoters who are technically very competent are often drawn to mentors who are similar and “get them”. Instead, you should seek out mentors that have complimentary skills to yours. For instance, match your technical skills with a mentor who has strong commercial skills.

Consider what you would like to achieve

Consider what you hope to achieve from the mentoring relationship. Ideally you would like your mentor to be further down the road you hope to take.

I deal with all types of mentor requests, ranging from “We require a mentor who can guide us, from a strategic point of view, to scale the business in EMEA and USA” to “We want a mentor to advise us on export licences”.

I believe that the former is too broad, with an over-ambitious expectation, and the second isn’t ambitious enough and would lead to you under-using a valuable resource.

A lot of specific expertise, such as knowledge of export licences, can be mastered by simply doing a little research, or through training programmes. Don’t waste the opportunity of working with a strategic mentor or trainer. A mentor who has been down this path will also know where you can access help on technical issues.

Not a shopping list and not a consultant

As an early-stage business owner, there are probably many issues that you would like clarity on – however describing your mentor needs as a shopping list, such as “We need a mentor to help us with funding, marketing, branding, human resources and logistics” shows a lack of thought and insight. Mentors will probably come with a wide variety of skills, but you must give thought to your pertinent, break-through needs.

And lastly, don’t describe you mentor as you would a consultant. Saying, for example, “We need a mentor to help us write a business plan” or “We need a mentor to get us in the door of the companies X and Y” will not only fail to secure you the appropriate mentor – it will put off the very mentor who could support you in driving your business forward.

If you’re lucky enough to be a New Frontiers participant, the process of finding a mentor is greatly simplified. One of the benefits of the programme is that Phase 2 participants have access to the Enterprise Ireland mentor panel – composed of the highest calibre business people – to guide and advise them during the early stages of their startup.

About the author

Auveen O’Neill

Auveen is an Enterprise Ireland mentor and the Mentor Coordinator for the lifescience and cleantechnology sectors. She also runs a sales and marketing consultancy.

An engineer with 15 years’ experience in international sales and marketing roles, Auveen has worked at management level in the lifescience and utility sectors across the UK and Europe. She has strong business development experience and in-depth knowledge of public sector tendering and procurement – her particular areas of expertise are focused around sales development, public sector tendering, commercial due diligence and technology commercialisation.

Getting your fundraising strategy right

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 and expertise are in place to properly execute the plan and meet any due diligence requirements.

Once the strategy is clarified, focus on the key priorities that will get you there!

Match the right investors to your opportunity

Fundraising is a time-consuming and lengthy process, so focusing on too many investors is a costly mistake. Start by identifying the type of investors that are interested in your sector and companies at your stage of development. Put together a list of potential parties, based on strategic fit and financial strength. Ideally, you want a backer who brings industry know-how and contacts, as well as money (including follow-on money) – so choose wisely.

Tell a compelling story

Investors want to see a scaleable business with a huge addressable market in which you can have a defendable market position. However, this is of no value unless the funders believe there is also a strong management team in place that can deliver on the opportunity.

Make sure that the business proposition and management strength is clearly communicated in your business plan and presentation. This, along with a realistic valuation and plausible exit strategy, is a winning formula for all financiers.

How much?

Simplify, simplify, simplify! Streamline the business plan by splitting it up into easily understood milestones. Quantify the resources and monies that need to be raised for each milestone. Remember that at early-stage funding you give away more equity to investors, so it makes sense to match your subsequent funding rounds to key milestones so that later money can be raised at a higher valuation.

Focus on building relationships with potential investors

It’s good to start the process early – i.e. before your funding needs become urgent – so that you can determine if a particular funder is a good fit for your company, and vice versa. Aim to get introductions to your target investors through your network and work on building trust through every interaction.

Follow-up regularly with interested parties, letting them know that you have achieved certain milestones. However, for many successful companies, a change in strategy may be required along the way and don’t be afraid to communicate this – after all, agility and the ability to “pivot” the business illustrates a capable management team.

Keep it going…

Never think of raising money in isolation – always have your eye on the next round. Use PR to promote the business, new products and customer wins to create the “sizzle” factor that will ensure potential investors are always watching your space!

About the author

Jackie Quinn

Jackie Quinn is an Enterprise Ireland mentor and founding Director of QCF Corporate Finance, an independent corporate advisory practice that handles acquisitions, disposals, fundraising and strategic planning.

Jackie has over 20 years’ experience in a range of corporate transactions – from acquisitions to disposals, mergers and financing. She has worked with companies across sectors such as technology, energy, manufacturing, food, waste management, construction, retail, distribution and services.

Generating your startup’s first sales leads

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 main options for building a repeatable flow of sales leads – outbound lead generation and inbound lead generation. But before looking at your lead generation, there are two initial steps you need to take: identify who you are targeting and clarify what you are selling to them.

Who are you targeting?

Define your ideal customer profile

Should you go for a broad sweep of targets or focus narrowly on one niche? My suggestion is to narrow down your focus to a few specific kinds of people within one or two market sectors. This is because, as a startup, you have limited resources (money and people). So, it makes sense to focus those resources on one or two sectors rather than spreading them thinly across multiple sectors.

We also need a clear definition of who we are targeting when we start “prospecting” – the process of researching the names and contact details of potential customers. We’ll look at this again in a moment.

What are you selling?

Your value proposition

Your value proposition is the value a customer obtains when they use your product or service. You will be using this as part of your pitch in all your lead generation activities, so it’s important to get it right. If someone is left confused or unclear by what you’re selling then they won’t buy. And if customers are aware of your competitors then your value proposition needs to clarify why you are different and better.

See the article How to craft your Value Proposition – a tool and a formula for more information

Lead generation and lead conversion

Acquiring your first customers involves lead generation and lead conversion (converting leads into paying customers). Lead generation is problem number one for most start-ups.

There are three kinds of leads – warm referrals from existing contacts and customers; leads generated online; and leads you generate through “outbound” activities. We won’t concentrate on referral leads in our discussions because these are hard to scale up for a new startup. Instead we will concentrate on online (“inbound“) and “outbound” lead generation.

Outbound lead generation

For a lot of start-ups outbound lead generation should be the first area to look at. This is because it requires less lead-in time than inbound/online lead generation. It is also because you can target the lead generation efforts more precisely and, in the case of B2B, it may produce results faster.

This doesn’t mean that I think you can ignore online lead generation activities. Instead, I suggest that you kick off outbound lead generation while ramping up your inbound lead generation in parallel.

Outbound lead generation consists of:

Using your target customer definition to research a list of prospects. You can use a combination of Google, LinkedIn and online list sources to compile these contact details.
Review the value proposition or pitch you plan to use specifically for this outbound lead generation campaign.
Draft your introductory emails – short and snappy emails that introduce your company and ask for a call or meeting. Don’t try to sell in these emails, don’t use graphics or logos and don’t include attachments. Keep the text to a bare minimum to obtain a response. You should expect to send out a first email and three or four follow-ups in order to make contact.
Prepare follow-up materials for interested prospects – a presentation or document that you can send them if they express interest in your pitch.
Send the emails in batches – there are a number of tools that plug into Gmail and Outlook that can automate this process.
Manage all responses immediately – if they are positive, make sure to schedule a follow-up call or demo straight away.
Qualify the lead – during a call or demo make sure they are actually interested in your type of product, have the ability to buy it and have a time-frame in mind. If they are not qualified, then get them off your list and move on to the next prospect.
Handle objections and questions – if a lead is qualified, handle any questions or objections they have, moving them through to the sale.

A lot of the steps in this process can be automated, from tools to help with prospecting and email automation through to CRM systems for recording calls and follow-ups.

And you can monitor four or five key weekly metrics to keep yourself on track – for example number of new contacts researched this week, number of leads added to pipeline, number of prospects converted to opportunities and so on.

Inbound lead generation

Inbound lead generation means using a combination of your website, blog, social media and content to generate inquiries and sales leads. Online leads should account for a third or more of your leads in the longer term – four out of the top five sources of leads are online:

corporate website
email
advertising (banner ads, search engine marketing)
social media (including videos)

The first step when looking at online lead generation is to ensure your website pages include clear calls to action (CTAs). For example, “Register for a free trial” or “Download our white paper”. Each of these calls to action should link to registration pages known as landing pages.

You also need to ensure that your website clearly communicates who you are targeting and your value proposition. It should act like your best sales-person, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Once you are sure that your website is ready to capture leads, you can focus on driving increasing numbers of relevant visitors to the website (traffic) and getting people to register on the site for content or for demos (conversion).

Once visitors have registered, you treat these registrations as leads and define the most efficient way to convert them to customers. This could be through direct phone or email contact, or by encouraging them to sign up for a trial online.

The main tools to drive traffic are:

Content (e.g. documents, presentations, videos, graphics)
Pay-per-click ads (PPC)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Social Media
Email marketing
Online paid ads/display ads

Your start-up needs to focus on generating leads and acquiring customers. You have two main options for generating leads, inbound and outbound lead generation. I don’t advise that you try to choose one or the other – you need both. There are lots of great resources online to help, from guides on landing page design through to tools for automating outbound lead generation. Getting it right will take focus and a little trial and error. The reward will be a steady stream of sales leads and new customers, delivering revenue and increasing the value of your company.

About the author

Michael White

Michael White is an Enterprise Ireland mentor and Managing Director of Motarme, a sales and marketing automation startup, which he co-founded in 2011. Michael has delivered numerous seminars on startup marketing for the New Frontiers programme and NISP Connect.

Michael is a specialist in complex B2B technology marketing and lead generation, with a previous background in software development and product management. He has successfully developed and launched enterprise technology and software products in sectors including finance, telco and government. He has managed technology promotion campaigns across Europe and in the US, and has managed enterprise system implementations in the UK, Holland, Sweden, South America, the Caribbean and Africa.

Storytelling in business: how to connect with your customers

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 do they really connect with what you’re all about? Simple. With stories.

Humans are hard-wired for stories

70% of what we learn is through stories. Stories are how we make sense of the world and, crucially for business, it is what we remember. Inside our brains, we are hard-wired for stories, we have “story templates” ready and waiting to insert the information we receive.

Stories are memorable; they support the retention of the business information, as well as the retelling of it. At the end of a sales presentation, the stories told by the salesman might be the only information remembered and passed on. Good sales people will tell you that people buy on emotion and justify their purchase on logic. Stories are emotive and persuasive… without the hard sell.

What is storytelling in business?

Business communications using stories tend to be less bland and more emotive. They connect us, human to human, and in business they put a human face on information. Stories improve the overall comprehension of what exactly a business does and can simplify complex ideas. Think TV ads, good graphics, animated business explainer-videos, business owner interviews or a press story you would actually read. Think of the role of clever before and after photos by an architect or interior designer, think customer testimonials written as you would talk yourself, that speak to directly to you as someone with the same problems, think of engaging web content. They mostly have a storytelling element in common.

In business, you need to convey to potential customers not only what you are about, but also the “why”. This is the human story bit. What inspired you? Why do you care so much? What are your values in terms of how you conduct your business? Are there any customer or employee stories that back this up? How can you convey these points using a story? Instead of you listing a page full of bullet points that sound rehearsed and bland, what is the “everyday speak” customer testimonials that might make your points easy to understand and memorable?

Show how you are solving your customers’ problems

The About Us section on a website is one of the most visited and neglected pages. You might want to consider how your business got started, your passion story, your values and ethos in doing business and what story might demonstrates this.

“We see the world not as it is, but as how we are” – Anais Nin

Businesses make the mistake all the time of talking too much about their services or product features instead of their customer’s problem. In the stories a business tells, customers need to identify with the problem being solved. They need to see themselves as the customer you describe, as the person who needs that exact problem to be solved. Use a case study to tell the story, or a Work We’ve Done section on your brochure or website.

I’m always trying to get clients to put more of who they are and who their customers are into their communications. It’s how people connect in the real world and it’s no different for how people connect with businesses. Prospects are looking for a natural fit.

You don’t need lots of stories. Just one about yourself and some about the customers you’ve served or the work you’ve done. Ideally, these should be told from the perspective of your customer, as they hold more sway.

Whatever stories you choose, make them inspiring. Share your story. Connect with your customer. Build your business.

About the author

Síodhna McGowan

Síodhna is a marketing consultant and a Phase 2 mentor with the New Frontiers Programme. With a focus on food, retailing and professional services sectors, she helps participants to create strategic marketing plans and engaging communications that sell.

What makes a successful startup entrepreneur?

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 – neither the promoter nor the programme managers – knows if an idea will float and the purpose of this first phase is to help determine whether it could.

Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee

So, Phase 1 provides the sparring ring that allows participants to start to learn about their opportunity and to discover their skills. Is there a market? Will people buy? Can I sell to them? Can I make money? How much will it take to get something to the point where it can be sold? These questions are jabs, discovery punches, that allow us to size up the opposition. It allows us to determine the gap the business will have to cross to land a winning punch.

But that is only half of the yardstick; the second element is about the sting. Is the promoter determined to succeed? Does he or she have the necessary drive and commitment to make it happen? Does the promoter show real ambition? Phase 1 helps me to answer those questions, as I get to spend time observing and interacting with the programme participants.

How to prepare for Phase 1 of New Frontiers

With limited places available, what can a promoter do to strengthen their position before applying for Phase 1? I believe it’s important to have answers to the following:

What’s the real pain?

Talk to people (including some you don’t know) about your idea. What do they think of your offering? Is it solving a real world problem?

What’s the idea?

How will you solve the problem? How is it being solved at the moment? What makes your approach different? Brainstorm as many possible solutions to the problem as you can at this stage. Often, this can produce a much stronger proposition, which will help you get the support you need.

Go beyond your comfort zone

Don’t just discuss things with friends and family. Are you comfortable doing this? Get to know yourself; it will help you to honestly assess what skills you bring and those that you may need to bring on board.

Show commitment to the project

Keep a record of the time and cash investments you’ve made in the project to date. How many meetings have you had and with whom? Have you bought software, equipment, registered a domain, etc.?

Can you take the pain?

Starting out to build a business is not easy and getting into the ring will result in you taking punches. Are you willing to pay this price? Are you resilient enough?

Be under no illusion, to succeed in business and to progress onto Phase 2 of the New Frontiers Programme, you will need to learn how to float and sting. And to prove to others that you can.

About the author

Garrett Duffy

Garrett is the New Frontiers Programme Manager at Dundalk Institute of Technology. An Electronic Engineering graduate from Dundalk Regional Technical College (now DkIT), Garrett has held management and senior engineering roles in a number of multinationals in Ireland, the UK and France. He also ran his own engineering contracting business, with a customer base in Ireland and the UK.

Market Research: a key component of business strategy

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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”) and involves the gathering and summarising of primary research.

Enterprise Ireland subscribes to over 30 premium online sources of commercial information, prepared by sector specialists from some of the leading analyst houses, in order to assist clients with secondary research work. These sector reports and directory sources cover market, company and country information in global industries ranging from medtech and pharmaceuticals to pet food and everything inbetween.

Who can use the Market Research Centre (MRC)?

The MRC’s service is available to all established clients of Enterprise Ireland, as well as Phase Two participants of the New Frontiers Programme.

Anne Walsh is a New Frontiers Programme participant. Her company, Allergy Lifestyle, provides a range of products for the management of allergies & anaphylaxis. After using the MRC, she commented,

“We found that Enterprise Ireland Market Research Centre reports are an invaluable resource not to be overlooked in helping us research our market and profile our competitors. Staff were extremely helpful in assisting us access the many industry standard reports available.”

What’s in it for me?

The American anthropologist and author, Zora Neale Hurston, said that “Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.” There are many benefits to taking the time to conduct market research. For those of us working in the MRC, our job is to assist clients in their research for market, company and country information. We do this by talking clients through their request, so that both parties can clarify what exactly needs to be researched and what direction will be taken. As I have mentioned earlier, we specialise in three main areas of market research:

Market information deals with the sector size and share as well as its growth rates. We also have resources such as www.marketline.com which gives top-line information about industry structure and overview. Drivers and restraints, SWOT analysis and information on trends and forecasts are also a very important part of researching specific markets.
Company information involves researching your competitors, potential customers and the players involved in the route to market (e.g. suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, etc.).
Country information is concerned with regulations and legislations within a particular country, how to do business and PESTLE insights.

By conducting research in these three key areas, you will gain great insight into the markets you wish to enter and develop your existing knowledge about the industry you are situated in.

It has been proven time and again that companies that undertake effective market research have a huge competitive advantage over their competitors and often become leaders in their sector. Needless to say, good market research will also help your business to save money, time and headaches in the long run.

Katja Bressette, a leading qualitative market researcher, said that “to understand how consumers really think and feel, it is vital to go beyond words.”

Let’s get started!

If you’re interested in using our Market Research services, you can call us on 01 727 2324 or email us at market.research@enterprise-ireland.com. There is also a full list of our resources on the Enterprise Ireland website (click on “All Databases” in the Global Research Databases section).

Once you have contacted us, a member of the Market Research Centre team will assist you in deciding what to research and how to go about it. We will look into your query and gather relevant information, arrange an appointment for you to visit the Market Research Centre and when you visit we will show you how to use the research the available information in our resources and databases.

Carl Sagan, the famous astrophysicist and astronomer, rather poetically said that “somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” I believe that to be true, whether you are researching the stars or simply reaching for them!

About the author

Dearbhla O’Dwyer

Dearbhla is a student in Law & Business at Maynooth University. She is currently on an 11 month internship as an Information Executive in Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre in Dublin.

Top tips for startup entrepreneurs

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 the right person to do this. This will help you build the right team, the right product and bring the right customers.

Learn from the best

Educate yourself by learning from the best. Learn from experts in your business domain.

Have a clear vision of the future

Planning the business journey is like planning any other type of journey: it requires a destination (or goal) and a clear path (or direction). Apply this to your business at all times… and don’t begin until you have it clear in your head. Visualize your goals and how you will get there, often. Imagine how it will feel to achieve your goal.

Plan your time

Prioritise and plan your day and week. I spend 15-30 minutes every Sunday evening planning the week and it puts me in control of my business and my life, not the other way around.

Challenge yourself & get out of your comfort zone

This may be difficult at first, but when you apply it regularly you will see great results and you will be amazed at how much more you are able to do. Do the things you feel are a challenge and watch yourself grow.

Surround yourself with positive, like-minded people

Getting a good mentor is an important part of this. You also need to build a team that shares your passion, goals and philosophy.

Trust in yourself and others

Have faith in your choices and follow them through. You have the amazing gifts of choice and free will, so the only wrong choice is to not make a choice at all.

Look after your health

It’s crucial to find a work/life balance that keeps you healthy. Exercise and good diet are great places to start. For me this involves getting outdoors, keeping fit, eating plenty of ‘live’ foods, drinking lots of water, prayer and meditation.

Get the right plan & funding in place

Be prepared and plan early for funding so that your idea doesn’t become sabotaged by a simple lack of cash flow. Seek advice from experts and talk to other entrepreneurs who have been successful getting funding.

Enjoy the journey and stay strong

It’s all about persistence… with a smile.

Daunting? Initially. Impossible? No way!

The important thing to remember is that you are in complete control of the journey, where you go and how you get there.

You decide who (your customers) you will take to where they want to go. You decide when to start the bus (begin your start up) and when to switch off (when to stop or when to step back and unwind). Which road to take (your business model) and how fast or how slow (when to put in extra hours or make quicker decisions). When to invite new passengers (your team) on board. You’ll see signs along the way (advice and choices) that will help you. You will have markers (targets) along the way too and every time you pass them you’ll know you are getting closer to your destination (your goal).

I have used this and it has worked and still works brilliantly for me as an entrepreneur.

So get on the bus, take the wheel and begin this amazing journey. Go for it!

About the author

Anthony Carroll

Anthony is a New Frontiers participant. He has a passion for sports, and has combined careers in sales and business development with football coaching and training. He was also a professional football player. Anthony’s startup, Gateway Sports, is an online asset management platform for grassroots/amateur sports bodies and sports organisations.

My two babies: being a parent and running a business

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 she sleeps, I don’t. When she naps, I go back to my desk and work. There is always work to do. I will sleep when Rosie is an adult and when my business is where it needs to be, i.e. the successful children’s publishing house that I know it can be. Slumber is over rated anyway, isn’t it?!

2. If I don’t do it, who will?

My daughter Rosie is glued to me at all times. She is a mummy’s girl and although she has an amazing dad and we both have supportive families, sometimes she just wants me and no one else will do. My business is the same. It needs me all the time and delegating is tough when you have nobody to delegate to! You have to be a master of all trades to run a startup. If I’m not working, the business isn’t working. It is normal to be stretched in the early days of a new business and it is often easier to do things yourself rather than explain what you need done to somebody else. Prioritisation is the key! My daily to do list is my best friend.

3. Social life

Obviously, I mean the lack of of a social life. Although I wouldn’t say that I have no social life, I would say that it is a whole new social life. Two new worlds of socialising have opened up for me: with Rosie I see my friends much more in the daytime, which is lovely, and since starting a business I have been exposed to a huge secret start up world and culture. You learn a new start up language, eat start up food and suddenly you have new idols and new friends. It really is an adventure.

4. The future

The worry! I worry about Rosie all day. Most of the time it is sweating the small stuff: her next bath, what I have in the fridge, if she’s getting a varied diet, if she’ll behave for my mum when I go that meeting… On top of that, I worry about the world. I am not just worried about my little bubble, but the whole world. I feel so vulnerable in it. I want the world to be a better place for Rosie. I worry about pollution, waste, war, child and animal rights much more now than I did before. The future needs to be carefully planned when you have a child, Mick and I must select schools, save up, look ahead.

That is similar to the worry and planning involved in a business. I worry about the business every second; again, most of the time it is the small stuff, but I worry nonetheless. The future is a little hazy in the startup world, I plan as much as I can, but every day there is a new opportunity, or a new disaster to fix. So my plan is to plan as much as I can!

My advice to a new start up is to try to embrace the unknown. It is exciting to steer your business in your chosen direction, but there are icebergs, storms and sharks waiting for you. Plain sailing it ain’t. But there are also sandy beaches, calm seas and glorious sunshine ahead.

5. Love

Love, love, love! As the Beatles said, “All you need is love.” This song also has some other inspirational messages, they could be words of encouragement to new mums or to new businesses:

There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done.
Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung.
Nothing you can say, but you can learn
How to play the game
It’s easy.
Nothing you can make that can’t be made.
No one you can save that can’t be saved.
Nothing you can do, but you can learn
How to be you in time
It’s easy.

OK, it isn’t easy. You’ll need a lot more than love, but it is a good place to start. I love being a mother. I could not love my daughter more. She fills me and all those around her with so much love. You also need to love your startup, which I do. It is a childhood dream to do this – to write children’s books. Like a baby it can be challenging, tiring and all-consuming. Nevertheless, you need to be passionate about it and to believe in it. If you don’t believe in it, who will? Without love, you cannot survive in this start up world or in the parent world. No, it is not easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is.

About the author

Gail Condon

Gail is a New Frontiers participant at DIT. Her startup, Writing for Tiny, creates personalised books to help children understand important life events and situations. The inspiration for her business came from Gail’s experience as a paediatric nurse, when she would draw illustrations to distract patients from unpleasant procedures or explain their condition to them.

Tendering to win: the importance of competitive intelligence

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

“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 on the knowledge that you can acquire from and about your prospects and market competitors. Public sector procurement is becoming increasingly transparent and the victors are those that can demonstrate that they understand their clients’ needs and have positioned themselves favourably in comparison to other suppliers. It is not overstating the case to say that embedding competitive intelligence as a core management process is increasingly essential towards survival and growth in the 21st century.

Embedding CI into my organisation

Make the acquisition and safe-guarding of CI part of your normal business operations. Create profiles of your target customers, as well as your main competitors. Collect data from the companies’ own websites and their published case studies; add to this aggregate from news and social media websites and also flesh out from your real world connections. Finally, use your organisation’s own human intelligence to identify the areas that you have competitive advantage in and work on your weaknesses to improve your overall ability to compete.

Best practice for managing CI

Qualify your Tenders:

Tendering is expensive – compete only where it makes good sense and learn as much from losing as from winning
Make intelligence gathering systemic – Know your customer, your competitor, your partner… and yourself
Procurement history – Identify buying habits, incumbent suppliers, decision makers, previous purchases and evaluation criteria
Maintain an information repository – Protect your corporate knowledge and facilitate fact-based decisions

Remember that CI is more concerned with understanding the big picture and having the right perception of the marketplace that trying to precisely quantify or qualify competitive threats and business opportunities.

How do I get started?

A good first step towards increasing revenues is to identify your competitive landscape. Identify the clients that you want to work with, the competitors you want to take business from and the type of business that you want to be doing. Next, consider how well-positioned you are to be successful – do your target clients know and like you? Are your competitors better than you? Do you have the capability and capacity to service the needs of those clients? The answers to those questions will evolve over time as you become more attuned to the dynamics of the competitive landscape.

While you’re working on that, it’s also a good idea to try competing for some business; the public procurement portal etenders.gov.ie is a good place to start. By writing proposals, your value proposition will be critically evaluated against the value propositions of your competitors, by actual buyers. That’s incredibly valuable information that tells you exactly where you need to improve, shows you what the expectations are in your industry and where you rate against the competition. After that it’s up to you to create a strategy to address that feedback and start winning more business.

Each time you participate in the tendering process, you learn a little more about what it takes to win. As Sun Tzu noted, “Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”

About the author

Tony Corrigan

Bootstrapping too far: the dangers of overtrading

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 to the amount of long-term reserves in the business. A business that is overtrading doesn’t have enough capital for the amount of trading it’s carrying out.

How do you know if you’re overtrading?

High rate of sales growth
Low profitability – Are you reducing your gross profit margin to increase your sales? Are your expenses getting too high (e.g. administration costs) in relation to the increase in sales.
Insufficient reserves – Are retained profits low?
Large increase in inventory and trade receivables – Systems that worked well to control inventory and receivables may not work efficiently with a larger business. Inventory takes longer to clear and collections take longer.
Financing the company using current liabilities – Are you taking much longer to pay suppliers, or is your overdraft increasing significantly?

Why is overtrading a problem?

In a word, insolvency. If your sales keep growing, and your company cannot finance that growth from its own resources, your bank may refuse credit and suppliers may refuse to deal with you. Also, suppliers that provide you with goods on credit may get frustrated and stop supplying you with the key products you need to continue trading.

If your company can’t pay its bills and invoices as they fall due, you may be insolvent. All of this could be because your company has inadequate liquidity due to insufficient long-term capital funding and reserves.

How to fix overtrading

There are two key ways to reduce the risk of insolvency by overtrading, namely:

Increase your capital: Take on additional investment or long-term borrowings.
Reduce the volume of business you’re conducting: Although this sounds counter-intuitive, if your business can’t support the level of business you’re currently getting, it’s a good idea to slow things down a little. Focus on more profitable contracts or pieces of work. This will allow your company to increase its reserves in a timely manner, and go for the bigger jobs when it has the resources to take them on comfortably. Use this time to plan out how you will cope with larger quantities of work, so that your costs don’t dramatically increase with additional sales.

Whatever method you do take, make sure you keep your bankers and suppliers on side at all times. Because no remedial action will be enough if they decide to pull the plug.

About the author

Pete Friel

Pete is a chartered accountant with expertise in Financial Reporting, Management Accounting, Corporate Restructuring, Liquidations & Examinerships. With four years’ experience working for international professional services giant, Ernst & Young, Pete decided to found his own company at the beginning of 2014. This venture has already earned him the titles of ‘Best New Start Up’ and the ‘Overall Best’ in the Donegal round of the Best Young Entrepreneur competition.

The importance of support in early-stage startup

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 for someone who could help me determine if my idea was viable and had commercial value, but also to provide me with some initial direction. I started looking at various options, including banks, angel investors, VCs, as well as government agencies.

I did some research on the Enterprise Ireland website and came across a program called New Frontiers that I felt might suit me at this stage. I looked at the programme content and found that it provided exposure to most of the components involved in the initial stages of setting up a business, including directions on how to validate an idea in the market.

Business validation and business models

Anyone looking to set up a business should validate their idea before spending any further resources on it. Validation provides initial direction and the opportunity to refine the business model at the very early stages, which is less easily done once the business is underway.

My company is a web-based market place that operates within a complex tutoring market. We have refined our business model a number of times using the tools and techniques we came across through the New Frontiers program. For example, we came across a tool, called the Business Model Canvas, which helped us to break down our business model into difference components and visualize it to establish which components were missing or under-developed. The financial models taught were also very helpful for understanding our financial needs. Having no previous financial experience, I thought these tools really allowed us to shape our finances and analyse our investment needs.

New Frontiers combines support and training

We also had opportunities to speak and discuss our business idea with a large number of experts; they provided valuable advice which helped us formulate a short and medium-term strategy for our business. One such valuable contact was Ian Cleary, who delivered the digital marketing sessions. Having come from a technical background, I had very little exposure to sales and marketing training, which are the fundamentals of any business. New Frontiers provided me with opportunities to attend well-structured training sessions that gave me much-needed exposure to digital and inbound marketing techniques.

[Getting support] has given me the encouragement and direction to take my business forward with self-belief and confidence.

My mentor, Alistair Kidd, was also very knowledgeable and always had ideas to improve the business. Getting basic training related to setting up business, meeting experienced mentors and advisers and having an unlimited number of discussions with peers related to my business has given me the encouragement and direction to take my business forward with self-belief and confidence.

I believe that, without this exposure, the progress of my business would have been much slower and I would have gone in numerous directions that proved less effective – learning things the hard way instead of hitting the ground running.

About the author

Adnan Ajmi

Adnan is a software industry professional with over 16 years’ experience. He is a New Frontiers participant at Blanchardstown; his company, Tuition Desk, is a web-based marketplace that connects students with quality online tutors and provides them with useful online collaboration tools.

Finding your feet as an entrepreneur

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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!

There’s a difference between doing something, and doing it well

Becoming an entrepreneur is easy, becoming a successful entrepreneur is hard! Lots of people call themselves entrepreneurs; for instance, I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was a child. From selling my old toys at age 5, organising a community cycle at 7, making bathroom soap holders from building site wood and beach shells at 12, distributing sport supplements at 19, experimenting with a multi-level marketing company at 21… and many other endeavours along the way. The only problem was that I wasn’t doing one crucial thing – making money! Yes, I paid for some trips to the cinema, funded a car and a holiday, but really they were all just steps on the journey. A journey that I’m still on – becoming the best entrepreneur I can be.

In business, as in life, we often talk about your ‘slice of the pie’ – It often relates to money and how much you’re getting in a deal. I want to show you what the P.I.E. represents for to me. Each aspect of the P.I.E. determines the success you have/will have (or in other words, your slice of the pie).

Passion

Do you care about the industry you are entering? Is it in an area you would spend your time in, even if you weren’t getting paid? Do you really love it?

Personally, I love sport. I train well and I want to run as fast as I possibly can. This passion gives me an understanding of the sporting world and I have set up a company that makes it easier and cheaper for sport enthusiasts to enjoy their sport and achieve their goals. There are a number of elements to this: corporate sponsorship, crowdfunding and community building. The aim is to make athletes at the top of their sports more attractive to sponsors.

Having a passion for what I do makes it easier to make things happen. Because I’m on a quest to create change that I believe in, it means that when it comes to putting in the extra hours, I get stuck in and get it over the line.

Intensity

So now we know you care and you’re passionate about it. The next thing you must bring is the intensity. Imagine you’re playing a match; you go out on the pitch all guns blazing, full of enthusiasm and ready to win, but in the first minute you get winded and now you have two choices:

Whimper away and let the game slip by.
Suck it up and dig deep for the rest of the game – grind out a winning performance.

In business, this is the point at which you’ve had 10 rejections in a row, but you continue to pick up the phone and make calls. It’s easy to look at a person who has made it and think “Sure, they have that great client who brings in loads of sales for them.” Or, “They have it easy – their product/service sells itself.” The reality is that they have taken the hits, sucked it up and kept making the sales.

Paul Kenny sold cobone.com for an estimated $40 million and he made a great point. Once you have a customer, you have a business. It’s then your role to find more people like them who want to buy from you. To me this is the intensity. Keep doing the right things and you will get the breaks.

Expertise

This is a vital part to any business. Are you the best at what you do? If you were in the buyer’s shoes, would you buy from you?

It’s your job to know your industry inside out. Stay up-to-date with the latest trends, evolve, pivot and be the best at what you do.

At an ITLG (Irish Technology Leaders Group) event in Limerick, John Hartnett made the point that Nokia used to have the mobile market, now Apple have it, but maybe Samsung could win it next? If you’re an expert in your field, you can compete and win, but if you become stale and allow others to catch you then you will lose the battle. And it is a battle. You must use your passion and intensity to make sure you become – and remain – an expert in your field.

So how much P.I.E. do you have and how much of the pie will that get you?

About the author

David O’Shea

David is an international sprinter and entrepreneur. He represented Ireland in the 60m and 100m sprint (with a personal best of 6.95 and 10.78 respectively). Having experienced the difficulties of funding an elite sport, David saw a gap in the market and created a platform for raising money for training and equipment needs: nTrai.com.

Managing your cashflow: funding your startup after the programme

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 success

Participating on the New Frontiers programme provides entrepreneurs a six-month financial lifeline. But too many startup entrepreneurs focus on getting the BIG investment and forget about the day-to-day costs that can’t be put on hold. Investors always take longer than you think; they don’t just drop the money in your bank account.

So, while you’ve spent the last six months developing a compelling business plan and investor pitch, you’ve also spent all your cash getting to this point. For the best chance of survival, you need to have a game plan for what happens next, at least three months before the end of any support/cash.

Starting a business always takes more time than people imagine and things don’t always go according to plan, so you should work on a strategy for paying the bills (both business & personal) for at least another six to 12 months (as it can take that long for investment to materialise).

To make a compelling case, you need accurate forecasts that are backed up with sound reasoning:

What for?

You need to be clear as to what you will use any funds for – further product development, testing or trialling, customer prospecting, equipment, office facilities, inventory/stock, staff. Make a wish list, with a timeline (at least monthly) beside each item, just as you would for your business roll-out plan.

How much?

Beside each item on your wish list, give an accurate cost and identify if it is a one-off or ongoing expenditure. Add these together and you get a total – which is probably way too high!
Now go back and review every item on the list.
Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you really need it?
What benefit will it be to your business now?
Could you defer buying it until later?

Prune your wish list as necessary and revisit that total amount, with a strong justification or business case for each line.

I’ve included a template you can use to plan for your short-term funding needs. (Word document).

Make a balanced case for your funding needs

With this work done, you have a better chance of identifying who could support that kind of expenditure for a startup. That is, what mix of sources will you now approach in order to keep going, while at the same time setting up bigger investment channels for the long-term future of your enterprise?

The main thing to bear in mind when looking for money is preparation. If you leave it to the last minute to ask for money, it’s the easiest thing in the world for someone to say ‘No’. You want to give them more reasons to say ‘Yes’. Then you can keep going, in the short-term, while planning for a bigger, brighter future – which is the next part of your journey from startup to scaling business. The New Frontiers programme provides just the set up to enable you to do that successfully.

About the author

Colm Ó Maolmhuire

How to craft your Value Proposition – a tool and a formula

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 that matters to customers. One of the primary objectives of marketing is to generate awareness of and interest in your solution in a target market that is being constantly bombarded with marketing messages.

Ash Maurya, author of Running Lean holds that the definition of UVP needs to be redefined. He challenges startups to ‘distil the essence of your product in a few words that can fit in the headline of your landing page’.

First-time visitors spend eight seconds on average on a landing page. Your UVP is their first interaction with your product. Craft a good UVP and they might stay and view the rest of your site. Otherwise they’ll simply leave.

Ash Maurya, Running Lean

Remember, you’re not trying to tell the entire story in one line, but get across that you have a story worth considering. The reaction to your UVP should be ‘How does it do that?’ or ‘Tell me more’.

Value Proposition Canvas

I use this value Proposition canvas from the Business Model Foundry as an exercise with Phase 2 participants in Tralee and Dundalk IT and it has received great feedback as it provides a structure for considering all elements. My advice is to start with the Customer Segment and the jobs that customers want done and then work through the rest. Then write your one or two line UVP.

There is a detailed explanation of all six elements in the Canvas in their pdf download.

A UVP Formula

The classic formula for crafting your UVP is:

Instant Clarity Headline = End Result Customer Wants (+ Special Period of Time + Address the Objections)

And the classic example of this formula in action is:

Hot fresh pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or it’s free (Dominos)

The entire formula won’t be relevant or applicable in every situation, but the headline should definitely reference the target customer and their wants. It is also important to consider if the objections of the target buyer can be addressed.

Crafting your UVP

When creating your UVP, the key is to focus on the benefits your customers derive from your product. These ‘finished story benefits’ will ensure that your UVP gets inside the heads of your customers. For example, consider how to formulate the proposition of a resume-building service:

Feature: professionally designed templates
Benefit: eye-catching CV
Finished story benefit: landing your dream job

I think that the finished story benefit will definitely grab attention. It is then up to your product solution to deliver, which is a sure way to delight your customer.

Test and refine your UVP

The first step in testing your proposition is to discuss it with a trusted business advisor or mentor. It is also important to verify your customer assumptions, so you’ll need to engage with as many customers as you can and find out if their priorities, pains and gains are as you have described them. Once you have done this, you’ll be able to tweak or even change your proposition based on these insights. Here’s a great example:

I don’t play golf, but I love Golf Voyager’s value proposition. The key problem they are trying to solve is the hassle involved in organised group golf trips. A New Frontiers business in Limerick in 2013, they have a brilliant hook to their model in that they pay part of your next year’s golf membership if you book trips and hotel stays through their website:

“Book all your hotel stays and golf holidays through Golf Voyager and save on your membership fees next year.”

My Conclusion and Call to Action

One of my favourite quotes from a business book that I highly recommend, The Jelly Effect, is:

AFTERs – People don’t care what you do. They only care about what they are left with after you have done it.

Andy Bounds, The Jelly Effect

This might seem a bit harsh, but it’s definitely true! My final example is from Olive O’Connor, a New Frontiers participant in 2013, who has developed a Filofax-type medical organiser for people and carers managing chronic illnesses. The MediStori gives people who don’t wish to use technology an easy-to-use, paper-based solution. On one level, this allows people to record their medical history and keep a daily medical record which can be easily shared, and on another level it gives them back a sense of control over their own lives. The result is a prototype that has garnered endorsements from charities, doctors, pharmacists and patient groups. Olive has used her UVP to produce a video to promote MediStori (see below).

My challenge to you is to craft a value proposition that works for your business. I hope that you find the UVP formula and the value proposition canvas useful as you set about this task!

http://youtu.be/FDXfO5v3YdA

About the author

Donncha Hughes

Mentorship: aiding entrepreneurs on their startup journey

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 demands and take advantage of opportunities which may fall outside of his or her experience. The figure of a mentor is key during this process. A mentor is able to create an enabling relationship that facilitates another’s personal growth and development. The mentor is usually the more knowledgeable and experienced individual in the association. This two-way relationship develops over time.

Through mentorship, the mentor assists the entrepreneur with career development and guides him or her through a variety of networks, which include organisational, social and political networks.

Mentoring v coaching

Mentorship is a much more profound and deeper relationship between mentor and mentee than exists between coach and coachee. Mentorship aims to bring about fundamental and long-lasting behavioural change and achieve broader learning, while coaching focuses on increasing the productivity and effectiveness of an individual. Mentorship, on the other hand, prepares the entrepreneur for the journey ahead and ensures that they are able to explore the opportunities and cope with the challenges associated with starting and growing an enterprise.

The mentor prepares the entrepreneur for the future by becoming a sounding board, by offering guidance, sharing wisdom and experience – all of which result in the personal and social development of the entrepreneur. The social interaction between the mentor and the entrepreneur stimulates learning as well as the personal and professional growth of the entrepreneur.

An important ingredient in mentoring success is trust between the mentor and the mentee. It is crucial that the mentor and the entrepreneur communicate their expectations and agree on the goals of the relationship prior to commencement. Without clear communication and mutual understanding, the entrepreneur will not gain from the relationship and may disengage during the process.

It is also important to remember that the mentor acts as a facilitator. The entrepreneur must undergo the learning through active engagement in the relationship. Before selecting the mentor the entrepreneur should assess his or her needs with regards to expertise needed, as well as a broader skill set that s/he may be lacking e.g. achieving work-life-balance, communication skills, etc.

How mentoring helped me in my development

My interest in mentorship stems from my own background. I have been mentored for the past eight years and believe that without a mentor, I would not have achieve as much as I have done in such a short period of time.

My mentoring journey began at the local rowing club, where I gained an informal mentor – my first rowing coach. Having moved to Ireland at 16 with no word of English and having never rowed before, my coach actively challenged, guided and supported me in my endeavours. He helped me to progress through the national ranks and after a year of rowing I made the national junior team.

But this was only the beginning of our partnership. He advised me on rowing and self-management as an athlete, but also provided me with many life lessons and told me of his personal experiences. He prepared me for the journey ahead, for my international career and the potential challenges I would face. As with any sport, rowing has its ups and downs and he was always there to pick up the pieces or advise me what to do next.

And over the years, the way he mentors me has evolved. Whereas at first I was guided to approach a problem in a given way, now I am given an opportunity to examine the situation, come up with alternative solutions and then use my mentor as a sounding board to make the right choice.

A mentor who is able to understand your challenges and goals, with the skills and experience to advise you on how to overcome hurdles and achieve your potential, can have a significant impact on your path to success.

Of course, it has not always been an easy relationship, and is constantly developing. I have worked very hard; I have had to develop an understanding of rowing and acquire skills which took years to master. I also had to trust my mentor’s judgement and while communication was initially difficult, it has become open and stimulating with time.

As a competitive rower (I am a member of the Irish elite rowing squad, representing Ireland in the Women’s Double Scull event) I have experienced the difference an effective mentor can make. Coaches (our mentors) often change with every Olympic cycle and not all coaches engage actively with their athletes’ personal, as well as professional, development.

A mentor who is able to understand your challenges and goals, with the skills and experience to advise you on how to overcome hurdles and achieve your potential, can have a significant impact on your path to success. I believe that mentorship made me the athlete and the person that I am today.

The endeavours we undertake are full of challenges that we need to overcome to reach our end goal. Why to go on this journey alone, if someone else went there before us?

About the author

Monika Dukarska

Monika has recently completed a research Masters in Entrepreneurship, which examined the role of formal mentorship in the identity construction of a nascent entrepreneur (an individual who is in a process of setting up a business). She included New Frontiers in her research as it is a national programme that facilitates such mentorship. Monika is also a high performance athlete, currently working towards qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games.

10 tips for entrepreneurs thinking of applying to New Frontiers

By Scarlet Bierman New Frontiers blog

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 is likely to be a good match for you and explain the next steps to take.

3: A key element of the programme is that it is standardised across the country. Although Programme Managers have the freedom to adapt the programme to the profiles of their candidates, you can be sure of receiving the same high-quality support and training – from Cork to Letterkenny. We always advise entrepreneurs to apply at the Institute of Technology closest to where they are based, as the benefits of staying close to your support network during the sometimes trying early stages of starting your business is inestimable.

4: New Frontiers participants often find that their business idea changes as they progress on the course. We’ve had cases of entrepreneurs embarking on Phase 2 of the programme with a beta version of their product already created, only to discover that a different direction was needed and that they had to go back to the drawing board.

5: A key consideration for programme participants should be to use their time wisely. Sometimes, entrepreneurs don’t get in front of their potential customers quickly enough and can find that they have used up their six months and their stipend without having checked whether their product or service is worth enough to customers. Constantly perfecting the idea – before perfecting the value of it to the customer – is a reason why some New Frontiers projects don’t reach their full potential.

6: New Frontiers focuses mainly on the individual, rather than the business idea. Typically, the programme looks for a participant who has a good education, a good employment history and a strong technical background (although there are no required educational attainments).

7: Entrepreneurs need to show an immense amount of tenacity, because for every ‘yes’ you’ll get 19 ‘nos’. It’s an environment where you have to be extremely flexible and dynamic. A competitor can come into the market tomorrow, and you’ll have to change, move and adapt in order to grow and survive. You have to be a great people person, and you’ll need charisma to get people to buy into your dream.

8: New Frontiers looks for entrepreneurs with an innovative idea for a business that is scalable across export markets and will provide employment. The programme’s aim is to find people with the capability and commitment to become the industry leaders of tomorrow.

9: Participants are selected by an independent panel – chaired by the Enterprise Ireland regional manager – in conjunction with the Institute of Technology. The panel is agnostic as to the sector of the proposed companies, although a higher proportion of businesses tend to be in IT and social media related projects, as well as engineering, medical devices, food and services.

10: You don’t have to be Irish to participate on the programme, but you must be an Irish resident with a PPS Number.

About the author

Declan Lyons

Declan is a manager with Enterprise Ireland. He is responsible for programmes which enhance collaborative research between industry and the Higher Education sector.

New Frontiers blog

Question 1: What was the biggest challenge you faced in launching and growing your sustainable business, and how did you overcome it?

Question 2: How do you balance profitability with sustainability, and what strategies have you found effective in aligning these goals?

Question 3: How do you engage with and educate your customers and prospects about the importance of sustainability?

Question 4: What future trends in sustainability are you most excited about, and how do you plan to incorporate them into your business?

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