Tweak Your Biz » Growth » A New Business Idea – Now What?

A New Business Idea – Now What?

by Barney Austen on November 16th, 2009
6 Comments



So you’ve decided to start a business, congratulations! You’ve answered all the questions that you need to in your own mind, and decided that you want to pursue the idea.

Now what…?

Many starting out fresh in business find this question very difficult to answer. Unfamiliar with the state agencies processes, unsure of how/if financing can be come by, how to conduct market research, how to attract customers, not fully understanding the accounting side, the list goes on and on.

So where do I start?

The best place to start when establishing the business is to get in touch with your local Enterprise board, or Enterprise Ireland if you have export potential and the ability to generate jobs over 3 years. This may seem an over-simplification, but as someone who didn’t really understand the role of the CEB and delayed going to see them, it cost me both time and potential funding. Why didn’t I go earlier? No-one told me too and I didn’t know where to start.

Our CEB in Wicklow is superb and I’m sure that others around Ireland are just as effective. They are not just about grants. They provide training, networking, mentoring and advice on a whole range of business topics of relevance.

Can I get a grant?

Yes, with a few conditions. The most important one is “Do I directly compete with anyone in my area? Or will what I do put others out of work in the area?”  If the answer to either of these questions is yes – then you will not get a grant from the CEB. If the answer to these questions is “no”, then you should be going in to talk to them. There are some other conditions and you should be familiar with them but your local board can advise you of these.

Oh, and if you are planning on validating your business idea, don’t forget to ask about the feasibility grant to help assess the market potential.

What do they want to see?

For the first conversation, a simple plan of what your business is about and where you see it going. You do not need War and Peace at this stage, keep it simple. If the CEB is going to help you, they will then steer you on what you need to do next.

There is lots of other things I could cover here, but the CEB can do it far better than I. I just wanted to give you the nudge that I wish someone had given me.

Go on, call them, they are highly unlikely to offer you no help at all!



Category: Start-ups

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Author:

Budding entrepeneur working on software product solutions for business. My background is mainly operational and senior management roles in mobile telecoms and software houses. Areas of expertise include professional services, out-sourcing, team management and general operations management. I've made the conscious decision to create my own company having spent the last 20 years learning in the corporate world. In my contributions to this forum, I will share some insights and learnings that I've picked up along the way and hopefully they will be useful to some or all! http://www.myprojecttracker.com

Read more and connect »

Add Your Comment

  • http://www.heartyimc.com Sharon Hearty

    Gerard, this post is on the money. To flesh out a little more for the ‘Start up business’, as they are managing to do so much in the operation of setting up their business, often the area of branding is somewhere near the bottom of the ‘league of things to do table’. So for these very busy people if they think of one thing outside of the main operation and getting all their ducks in a row they need to believe that they are in the ‘people business’ building relevant relationships builds brands – humanise your offering/service – think of your customer as someone you know or if you don’t know them then someone you want to get to know and pull out all the stops to ensure you are relevant in everything you do to get their attention and then to keep it. Love your prospect customer and your existing customer and you will have a winning brand and a successful business. More importantly a ‘Start up business’ will be creating value in the eyes of their audience and creating a unique point of difference to the competition.

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    Thanks for a great post Barney – and connecting to the other posts – they are all well-related. I completely agree that we should look for assistance when we plan to start up something. It’s really difficult to go it alone, especially when we have very little experience.
    Every potential business owner/entrepreneur needs to know that there are lots of resources out there (including Bloggertone) just waiting to provide assistance of some kind. And it’s better we tell them as soon as possible, so time and money is not lost.

  • Pingback: uberVU - social comments

  • http://twitter.com/aileen456 aileen456

    This is all true. We have had a good relationship with our Kerry county enterprise board and our local partnership and leader group South Kerry Development Partnership. Enterprise Ireland were also helpful to us over the years. Also Microtrade http://www.microtrade.org is great for cross border initiatives.

    It is mad to start up without approaching them all and letting them know you exist, you never know what opportunities will arise once you are on their radar.

  • http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

    Thanks for the comments Elaine. You are absolutely right, there is plenty out there to help everyone, it’s just knowing where to look and not being afraid to ask those who have done it before.

  • http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

    Hi Aileen – sorry for no responding faster(!). Thanks for the comment – and you are quite right – it is mad not to approach them. The work involved is really not that taxing compared the results that it can produce. Have a Happy New Year!

Related Posts


«
»