Like many others during the recession, Dave McGeady found it difficult to secure employment. But Dave had an idea. Knowing how difficult it was to find healthy snack foods and preferring his mum’s own snack mixes of nuts, seeds and fruits to anything that was available, he started his own company in 2012. He called it “Wyldsson” after his "wild-son" days.
He started with his own natural version of a ‘trail mix’ snack. Dave experimented with different ingredients at his kitchen table and attended trade fairs across the world to source his ingredients. He expanded the range to 30 products, all of which are gluten and dairy free with no added sugars, and which are produced in Tallaght.
Wyldsson’s customers include many professional athletes. Dave and company co-founder Daragh Whelan knew the basic webstore which opened in 2014 had to be updated. Dave engaged with his Local Enterprise Office, applied for, and was successfully awarded, a Trading Online Voucher.
Wyldsson team pictured with Jacqueline Sweeney from LEO Dublin South
Dave values the support his business got from Local Enterprise Office South Dublin. "We’ve had a huge amount of support from the LEO from day one. They’ve supported us throughout this journey. I’ve always been really impressed with them. They really care about helping us grow. Any time we’ve faced a challenge, we’ve got in touch with them and the range of supports that they offer is amazing. We heard about the Trading Online Voucher at the ideal time, because it was time to raise our game and improve our webstore. The application process was very straightforward," he says.
“Not only is our new webstore more solid from a technical point of view, it also looks far more professional than our old one. It comes down to all the little details. We got our product photographs redone, and edited a lot of the text. It’s also designed to be used on mobile too, which is very important as more and more people are now using their phones to shop online. We’re a growing company and the new webstore has really helped us to take our business to the next level.
“With help from the Trading Online Voucher, Wyldsson has experienced an increase in sales and we now employ an additional 2 people full-time. Today, exports now account for 35% of sales.”
With plans to expand further into the US market, this is one company with a very healthy looking future.
For more information
Check out Wyldsson's website.
Learn more about Government's Trading Online Voucher.
Find your Local Enterprise Office.