Planet Beach :Donal Coade blogs about mentoring from Brody Sweeney of O’Brien’s Sandwich Bars.

Planet Beach launched on the Irish Market in December 2008 in the midst of the worst Recession this country has ever seen. Despite the economic climate we have been able to build a fantastic client base and numbers are growing all the time.

 We were quietly confident that this business model would be a success even in a struggling economy due to the fact that it is a recession proof business because of the affordability factor. We modeled ourselves on being the Ryanair of the Spa Industry from a value for money perspective.

 We worked hard to get the name out there and The John Murray Show really kicked things off for us. We met up with Brody Sweeney and he gave us some great advice but most importantly reassured us that we were doing most things right. This was a huge boost to our confidence levels.

The Radio Show itself was an unbelievable boost to the business. I slipped in a phone number at the end offering 3 Free Spa Services to the listeners and the phone never stopped ringing for 2 weeks solid. We were booked out for a month. Even up to last week I met people who told me that they heard me on the John Murray Radio Show a few months ago.

Since the show we have been on XPOSE on TV3 twice in the last few months, Ireland AM last month and we have featured in several national Newspapers. We were voted as No:5 in the Beauty Business to look out for in 2009 by the Irish Independent.We ran a promotion with Supervalu in 30 stores around Dublin and got huge benefit from it. It is all about looking at new angles to get the business name out there. We believe that from a standing start we have achieved massive exposure and this was all kicked off by the John Murray Show. We are extremely grateful to the show and the producers for this huge boost and in particular for teaming us up with Brody Sweeney.

Donal Coade.

Des Mulvihill blogs about Louis Copeland, His mentor on RTE Radio’s The Business

Since featuring on RTEs “the Business” we were partnered with well known tailor Louis Copeland. Although it may seem like an unlikely pairing I have certainly learned a great deal from Louis. I suppose the basic rules governing running a shop are standard,

• Keep costs low
• Keep a close eye on what your competitors are doing
• Give excellent and personal service to your customers.

The retail experience is changing and I believe there has been a movement back to the belief that the Customer is Always Right.  Listen to what their saying and behave accordingly.Louis has kept a close eye on us since we were introduced on “The business”. He telephones once a week usually on a Friday for a chat. its good to get his input especially when we are struggling during a quiet week. 

 Its nice to know we are not the only ones and this is a national and international recession.His input has been beneficial. He has given us some good ideas such as taking a note of customer’s e-mail addresses to notify them of special offers available in the shop.

He also suggested hosting an evening for our customers. We arranged for Gavin Bate, Mt Everest mountain climber/guide to come to the shop to give a talk. The evening was a resounding success and will be followed up with more events.

So far the mentoring has been something that I have learned from and hopefully will continue to do so throughout the year.

Des Mulvihill

Outdoor Sports Mullingar

MullingarCo. Westmeath

www.outdoorsports.ie

The Summer isn’t bad for all businesses

Martin O’Dwyer of Odryer blogs about the experience of being mentored on ‘The Business’. Martin and his wife Jeanette are mentored by Michale Burke Of Stira.

 

We were on The Business show on the 8th March introducing the Odryer all weather clothes line to the nation,  The Business was running a mentoring program and we were lucky enough to be guests.

 

Mentor (an experienced and trusted advisor according to my computer dictionary) that’s exactly what Michael Burke of Stira is and we are fortunate to have his knowledge, to tap into, for our fledgling new business. On our first meeting with Michael he was straight into helping us. It gives us great confidence to know that we are not on our own, and that when we need advice and guidance we can pop an email or phone call to get a second opinion.  Getting good leads into the world of business is very difficult and time consuming and this is where we are getting the most valuable advice. I would love to have Michael as a mentor for as long as possible. 

 

The Odryer clothes line has taken on a life of its own now with customers being its biggest advocates, even people taking  time to come and talk to us with helpful advice and good wishes, maybe I can call them mentors too.   Regards Martin O’Dwyer  www.odryer.ie     

Leo Hassett The Golf Voucher Shop

Leo Hassett  is mentored by Ted Dwyer as pasrt of The Business mentoring series on RTE Radio One, Sunday mornings at 10.00am. 

Getting an idea to a working business with actual products and services being sold for consumer’s hard earned cash is a huge task, and The Golf Voucher shop was no exception. Many people have many ideas, lots of them feasible and many not so feasible. The first and most crucial thing I did before putting my savings (and a bit more) into The Golf Voucher Shop was research – and lots of it. Everyone believes in their own idea but you can’t beat accurate and relevant research facts to identify if there is actually a market for what you plan to sell.

 

In our case the market was the Golf Gift Voucher and Golf Prize market. Once we applied all this information to a detailed Business Plan, our research pointed in one direction – this has to work! At this stage, with out having invested much money in the project we had a fairly accurate idea of the cost involved to bring The Golf Voucher Shop from an idea to actually trading. My own cash nest wasn’t sufficient to bring the business to where it is now and getting business finance was a challenge in a recession, but thankfully Bank of Ireland rolled in behind us. The West Cork Enterprise Board was also a huge help in the form of grants and advice.

 

I committed myself to the project and moved on to website name, business name, logo’s, product and website costing and design after that. From my experience there will always be a few unforeseen costs and delays, especially starting a business in an area which I had never done before – ONLINE! So began an eager process of learning – Fast! This was probably the toughest & most constant challenge I faced – getting The Golf Voucher Shop to No.1 in relevant search results with search engines (without paying for sponsored links) is critical and was a serious challenge. I would seriously recommend Enterprise Board courses (West Cork Enterprise Board in my case) for any learning staff or owners may require. A web site is a seriously efficient method of trading i.e. no large rents (€180 a year will get you good hosting), open 24 hours a day 7 days a week etc – but mastering the rankings and getting a presence on the internet is a constant challenge.

 

When your buried in all aspects of the business all day everyday it is absolutely vital to have a source of clarity, assessment, direction and sometimes redirection about your business. I was very fortunate to have been put in touch with a well known Cork Business man Ted Dwyer by The Business Show. His role as The Business Show mentor to The Golf Voucher Shop was invaluable. His years of successful business experience and drive shun through instantly. What I loved about having Ted as a mentor was that he ever only advised me on a few parts of the business each time we met (not sure if he was holding back or if I though I was too stressed to handle much more). It was always a case of quality more than quantity and it seemed like I was listening to the Michael o Muircheartaigh of the business world sometimes. The advice has always been up beat, clear, relevant, and accurate and has made The Golf Voucher Shop – its products & services better. I always felt I could call him – about anything…

 

While it has been a tough journey to date and The Golf Voucher Shop definitely faces challenging times ahead to survive and become a truly successful business. There is however no greater reward than seeing your finished products being put into envelopes and shipped to customers. What started out as a few notes and drawings on a small piece of paper in the middle of a recession is being sold on our website and bringing great joy to recipient golfers all over Ireland. Great Gifts don’t have to break the bank. Euro for Euro there is no greater gift that can be given to golf enthusiasts all over Ireland, than the Gift to Play Golf Nationwide from just €50 with the recipient choosing when and where they play. With nearly ¼ of a million golfers in Ireland – let’s give them golf this year! Visit: www.golfvouchershop.ie