Irish Entrepreneur Blog

Every Sunday on RTÉ one we see hopeful entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to the dragons in the hope of receiving investment and mentorship in return for equity in their business. Gavin Duffy, Barry O’Sullivan, Alison Cowzer, Eleanor McEvoy and the newest dragon Chanelle McCoy are the Irish Dragons who each boast an impressive book of business across a number of different industries. One hopeful entrepreneur who entered the den was Niall Moloney, founder of Pow Cow, a high protein frozen yogurt. I caught up with Niall to hear about Pow Cow, what his experience of entering the Dragons Den was like and how exactly does someone in Ireland go about starting a food business.

Rory O'Connor tells us about his experience of setting up his first business, The Health Factory. Rory has an honors degree in nutrition science from Cork Institute of Technology as well as years of experience of working in both health food shops and pharmacies giving advice on products and nutrition. He believes that The Health Factory can work with it's clients to build a better life through education and nutrition.

One of the basic concepts of inbound marketing is offering a piece of content in exchange for contact information, usually an email address. This usually happens when someone reads a blog post, sees an offer for a free guide or similar, clicks it and is brought to a landing page which asks them for their email address in exchange for the content.

This works great but people are becoming more and more protective over their email address. I personally only ever sign up for content with my email address which I see as really valuable. Otherwise you end up with an inbox full of marketing communications that you don't want.

If you're a blogger, whether it's part-time or full time you've probably found that you need to put a lot of time into it in order to be successful. If you're looking for a magic wand to do all of your work for you then you've come to the wrong place. I think it's important to use your time effectively and so I'm constantly looking for ways to automate parts of my life and job. Integrating the software that you use for blogging together is a great way of automating processes and taking manual, time consuming tasks out of your way to let you be productive.

If you've found this post you're obviously interested in how to register a company in Ireland. This is a process that many people find confusing including myself. Googling 'How to register a company in Ireland' brings up a lot of complicated articles from the CRO (Company Registration Office) that can be confusing. I have attempted to wade through all the legal mumbo jumbo and create an easy to follow guide. But before we get into it, there are some things we need to discuss.

Google Adwords is something that any entrepreneur has heard about but may not be totally clear on what they are or how they work. You know when you google something and you the first 3 or 4 hits you get have 'ad' beside them? These are google ads that companies pay to make appear at the top of your search. After that you get all the search results that appear because they've been optimised for your specific search term otherwise known as SEO. (Blog post coming soon!)

"I want it all and I want it delivered!"

Owning an online store is something a lot of people aspire to do - Irish Entrepreneur Nicki Hoyne moved home to Kilkenny from London to build her brand My Shining Armour. She's built a brand that sells fashion accessories, jewellery, home ware and more; her products are shipped internationally to 33 countries. Here's how she did it. 

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A business plan is essential for any business. Without a plan your business is doomed to failure. Although it's not always easy to find all the information you need. This guide will teach you how to write a business plan and outline the essentials that are needed to make a great and comprehensive plan that can be used for your own personal planning or presenting to other.

If you're interested in setting up a business in Ireland you've come to the right place.  This is something that can takes years of research before launching into it. Luckily for you I've laid out your starting point. Here are the 5 considerations that you need to make before setting up your business.

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I met with entrepreneur Chris Lynch to hear his story of starting a business in Ireland. Chris has founded DwellDown, a company which helps people make informed decisions about where they rent a home. If you're interested in starting your own business check out Chris' advice, how he stays motivated and what he's learned along the way.