Now is a very good time to consider starting a business in Ireland

The Irish economy is performing very well with strong growth in the past few years. There are many government supports in place to assist start up companies, in particular companies, which have the potential to grow quickly, and companies which plan to export.

Here are the key steps involved in taking your business idea from a dream to a reality, with sales and profits!

1) Ask yourself if you have the temperament and patience to be your own boss – setting up a successful business involves taking risks, working really hard and being lucky. It is not for everybody.

2) Find a business idea. This can be something you have thought about for a while or some recent gap you have spotted in the market. The internet has many resources, which can guide you in looking at various new business ideas

3) Do some market research. This will involve finding out about the market for your business idea, and will involve asking the following important questions
– who will be your customers ?
– who will be your competition ?
– how will you make or deliver your product or service ?
– how much can you charge your customers ?
– where will your business be located ?
– how will you market and sell to your customers ?
– what staff will you need ?
– what online resources will you need ? (Website, Social media etc)

4) Start to prepare a Business Plan- this will pull together all the research work you are doing, identifying any gaps and force you to explain you business in plain words.
Many entrepreneurs use the Business Model Canvas to develop a 1 page business plan summary (see attached).
Writing a good business plan can be difficult and you may need to get some help with preparing it. You will need it for any discussions with banks, investors or business partners.

5) Find the money needed to get started. Your business plan should have identified how much money the business needs to get started. If you don’t have this money you will have to try get funding from a bank or from outside investors

6) Identify and access sources of assistance for business start ups – the Local Enterprise Offices are the main source of assistance to start up companies.  (https://www.localenterprise.ie/ )They run regular ‘ Start Your Own Business’ courses and provide access to some grants which start up companies can apply for (The Trading Online Voucher scheme for example). Some of the banks in Ireland will also provide some business start up advice. ‘Stripe’ the online payments company also provide business start up tips to new online businesses

7) Get started – now it is time to implement your business plan, open your door and start selling to your customers !

If you are interested in starting a business in Ireland and you need some help or advice please get in contact brendan@innovation21.ie or fill the form