Throughout the year #allaboutjobs has showcased some successful Irish start-ups and businessses and spoke to the entrepreneurs behind them. Here we have compiled a snapshot of some of the nuggets of advice and tips for success from business people to help anyone thinking of starting a new business or looking to expand their business.
What's next for the creative industries?
Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon is a double Academy Award-nominated animation studio founded by Paul Young, Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey in 1999. From award-winning short films to TV series like Puffin Rock and Oscar nominated Features such as Song of the Sea and The Secret of Kells, Cartoon Saloon has carved a special place in the international animation industry.
Asked about what the future holds, managing director Gerry Shirren says that as consumption of film and TV products changes and migrates to other platforms than traditional cinema and TV, there are more opportunities and challenges for those creative industries but to exploit these opportunities, the company has to be control of its own IP.
"Irish animation studios including Cartoon Saloon have customers that are the top drawer of the media industry worldwide with household names like as BBC, Disney, Nickelodeon, Netflix etc. in Europe, the US and Asia."
Find out how Cartoon Saloon carved out a niche for themselves in the Irish animation industry. Read the full #allaboutjobs interview with Cartoon Saloon.
Thinking about starting a business?
Niamh Bushnell is an Irish entrepreneur who returned from the thriving tech scene in New York to take up the role as the first Dublin Commissioner for Start-ups last year. Niamh says she sees great potential for start-ups in Ireland, and has ambitious plans for the start-up scene in Dublin. She sat down with #allaboutjobs to give some key advice to start-ups in Ireland.
"From my own experience, focus is the first thing. Focus, focus, focus. One feature or functionality, one way of measuring it, one outcome or benefit to your customers. You don’t need to have many features and many things that your product can do. You have one thing that "kills it", as they say in the States. One killer app, or one killer feature. So the person you’re talking to can understand the value and what’s compelling about what you do for them. Getting that down is very very very hard, much harder than it sounds and it took me a very long time to do it even though I knew the theory of how to."
"Secondly, connect with your key target market as early as possible. That doesn’t mean spending a lot of time or money necessarily, although that's even better. At the most basic level it means being knowledgeable about it. It can be over Skype or email; it’s so easy to join the dots but if the States, for example, is your target market then be there as early as you can either physically or virtually or both."
Read the full interview with Niamh Bushnell here.
Not sure how to get started?
Earlier this year Panel Duct took home the top prize at Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards. Asked at the time what advice he would give to other businesses, Research and Development Manager Conal O'Neill said:
“I encourage anyone with an interesting concept for a product that will save time labour and/or money to get in touch with the Local Enterprise Office and talk to them about the vast array of supports that they offer, not just in terms of financial aid, we’re talking about access to advice, encouragement and mentorship from genuine industry professionals.”
"Panel Duct have spent considerable time and effort working this innovation through the development process and can now reap the benefits of going to market with a genuinely unique product."
Read the full interview with Panel Duct.
In just ten months, Ayda has secured $600,000 in funding, established a partnership with Ammunition - the same design firm which created Beats headphones- graduated from the PCH Highway1 and Orange Fab accelerator programs in San Francisco and won Best Start Up and the overall title at Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur awards.
Read more about Ayda here.
Last year's IBYE winner, Eamon Keane of Xpreso, said, "I’d say try and find good co-founders. I was lucky that I had a couple of good people around me that I was able to persuade to join at the start and that helps you to basically keep your costs low and have other people to help you get it off the ground.
I’d talk to lots of customers, do research and talk would you buy this product, profiling of costs required?
We were in touch with South Dublin LEO during the competition, we found the office great and just knowing what’s there – to apply for funds, such as Enterprise Ireland, and help during the competition."
Read more about the 2014 IBYE winner here.
Looking to grow your business online?
Micks Garage's began in a bedroom in Mayo "surrounded by sheep, cows and a great view of Lough Conn". Fast forward ten years and the business has grown from a website with 3,000 car accessories to over 1.5 million car parts and accessories listed and shipping more than 1,000 products per day to over 70 countries worldwide.
Founder Mick Crean spoke to #allaboutjobs about the challenges and opportunities of running an e-commerce business in Ireland.
Two key challenges the company encountered as an eCommerce business were fraud, and shipping internationally from a small island. The company built their own systems to combat fraud and, in a show of Irish perseverance, Mick's attitude to the challenge of international shipping is, “What we lack from a geography point of view we make up from a determination view point." Challenges aside, Mick says that the big advantage of an online business is that “our market is not just the high street - we can place ourselves in front of any customer anywhere in the world at the touch of a button.”
Find out how Mick grew his business to export to 70 countries. Read the full interview with Mick's Garage.
Thinking about exporting?
Software company DeviceSmart is considered a high-potential startup, which means that it has technology at its core and its main markets are overseas. Asking about breaking into international markets Garvan Quish, DeviceSmart’s commercial director, said that trade missions are a great first step.
“The beauty of a trade mission is you get to meet lots of potential partners and customers in the one go – it’s like hitting multiple birds with one stone. Lots of tech companies try to save money doing calls online and video conferencing to save on the cost of a flight. Small companies want to meet customers; it would have to be a really good meeting to be worth the travel.”
“This is the best way to dip your toe into international markets without huge financial commitment. Enterprise Ireland’s overseas offices have Irish staff as well as local staff and they are invaluable as they have contacts in the market. Looking at market, that should the first step, as it’s easy and cost efficient. It’s a great starting point.”
Find out more about breaking international markets here.