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.

• 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

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     

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

 Starting a new business is never easy it needs so much effort and imagination and a considerable amount of planning. But most importantly it needs to have a product or concept that people will buy into.

 Women love receiving a gift of flowers or perfume. Men and women who play golf will also enjoy the gift of a round of golf on another golf course and even better if they can get to play on a course different to their own club a course perhaps that they have never played before but one they have seen the top players play on television. Perhaps for example the gorgeous seaside links at Baltray where the amateur Shane Lowry before he turned pro beat all the top professional against of the odds.

And this is perhaps the magic in the business that Leo is trying to create. Someone who receives the gift of the voucher can have weeks and months of planning with anticipation, where and with who he or she will play their golf and then of course the enjoyment of the actual experience of playing golf on the course of their choice.People might say that right now is an impossible time to start a new business but in many ways what is happening in relation to major reductions in green fees on Ireland’s golf courses is quite brilliant for Leo’s golf voucher business.

 Over the past 10 to 15 years most of Ireland’s golf courses have become too expensive for the majority of Irish golfers which was a pity because all of us keen golfers like to play other challenging courses in Ireland from time to time.It is hard to pin point exactly when this happened but to me it would seem that when the exciting course at the Old Head of Kinsale opened more than 10 years ago and tee times were costing €1,200 or more then it wasn’t long before Waterville, Doonbeg, Lahinch and Ballybunion and many others started to jump their green fees so that the Irish golfer was in effect being priced out of the market. These business models were being sustained by wealthy Americans in the main and the corporate Irish market.

 Fast forward now to 2009 and we see a very different golf market and we see great value appearing all over the place in the green fee market. Yes a dose of reality has arrived and the management and the owners of golf courses have started to realize that if they don’t look after the ordinary Irish golfer then they are going to find it very difficult to survive as the costs of maintaining golf courses to high standards is very expensive.

 This is great news for The Golf Voucher business however as most of the Irish courses can now be played at reasonable prices. The following are just some of the deals that I have heard that courses are prepared to offer right now;

• Ballybunion….Pay the fee on the Old Course and get to play the wonderful Cashen course alongside for free.
• Old Head of Kinsale…put a little group together and pay €60 per round instead of €250 or more
• Cork Golf Club….€50 Monday to Friday before 10.30am
• Lahinch…. 50% reduction on normal fee for members of the Irish Golfing Union
• The K Club…€275 for the month of May for two rounds of golf including accommodation and food
• Killarney…major reduction on fees for all three courses

 What is happening is so positive for Leo’s business and indeed for Irish golfers because even though all businesses are struggling just now most people will keep their jobs, most businesses will survive. Once again Irish golfers will again have the pleasure of playing their favorite Irish golf courses at competitive prices, hopefully by using a golf voucher that they got for their birthday or for Father’s or Mothers day or as a Christmas present from the Golf Voucher Shop.The challenge for Leo now is to get the top courses who are giving reasonable value signed up and hopefully the programme will help him to do just that.Well done in the mentoring aspect to The Business it is very important in giving start up businesses some badly needed exposure

 Regards

Ted Dwyer

I’m thrilled to say that Mark Nixon has agreed to let me spend time with him in his studio in Clontarf. I’ve been a fan of his style of photography for years and he’s been very helpful in the past advising me via email on camera gear and suppliers of the best quality products. I’m really looking forward to finally meeting him in person.

This is really a fantastic program to be involved with. The number of people Jerry has introduced me to is widening all the time as they in turn put me in touch with other industry professionals and the wealth of advice and information on every aspect of this business that I’m getting from them is invaluable. Each new person I meet has their own wonderful ideas and I’m able to leverage from them what I think can work for my own business model.

One sure fire way to succeed in any business is a fire in your belly. I spent the past few days with one woman who is as fired up and passionate about photography as anyone I know. Tara Keane, formerly a globe trotting Pfizer employee decided that she needed to follow her heart after a life changing illness and aputation of a foot.

 In the few months since I’ve gotten to know Tara through The Business, myself and a few pals in the creative industry have given her our few cents worth as she launches her Keaneeye Photography business. Tara’s passion for photography is matched by her desire to delight parents of her child subjects. “I get a great buzz when I hand over framed prints to parents. I know that these pictures record a moment in life’’ Tara told me. ‘I am the youngest in my family  and have only a few pictures of my childhood”.

I’ve been working with some colleagues on my late Mum and Dad’s professional photographic collection which dates from 1953. As I worked on these awe inspiring images, I found a treasure trove of family photos of myself and my brothers which I’d never seen before. 

But back to Tara’s business. She’s been learning from a few photographer pals who have generously given their time including Belfast based Ciaran O’Neill, fellow Kerryman Gerry O’Leary and my former Stockbyte colleague George Doyle who worked as my Director of Photography for nearly a decade.

 Gerry is a very successful architectural photographer and a sharp businessman and he introduced Tara to the Irish Professional Photographers Association of which he is a former President. The IPPA have a National competition every year and hold regular workshops on lighting and business elements of photography. Tara’s goal is to one day win a prize in those contests, something I’m certain she will achieve.

 Ciaran is a successful photographer in Belfast where his work includes portrait photography, the very core of Tara’s business model. He shared his secrets on lighting set ups, posing and other tricks of the trade to make people relax and look their best.

 George is among the top echelon of stock photographers in the world, now producing thousands of images every year in his Neustock business. Every week, thousands of the images which he conceives and shoots around the world are licensed by users throughout the world.

What we all were trying to achieve with Tara was the the creation of ‘systems’ which all photographers use to ensure that the technical element of photography is covered allowing the photographer to concentrate on interacting with their subject.  This involves simple lighting systems which will allow her to shoot quickly using consistent high powered studio flash units, freezing the movement of her young subject in 1/10,000^th of a second.

Tara’s strength is not only her passion, but her engagement with people, which is an essential for any photographer. She works mainly with a lens that is a favourite of George and myself too – a Canon 85mm1.2 which produces lovely blurry backgrounds and allows easy use of artificial light to ‘freeze’ the subject in situations where flash might kill the atmosphere of the photo.

 But  enough of the joy of photography! Is there a buck in this game or not?  Tara is building a ‘recession proof’ business where she is avoiding the cost of a premises and fixed assets.  Instead, she’s bringing a new model to her clients. We are all comfortable in our own homes and Tara will come into the home and shoot pictures in our own surroundings.  Changes of clothes are near at hand and this type of approach provides a really personal touch to photography that is unusual. Studio photography is very convenient and relatively easy for the photographer, but shooting in people’s living rooms presents some technical challenges which Tara has overcome.  Coupled with her photojournalistic approach of capturing the life of a child over a period of a year, this gives her clients a real chance to have a set of pictures which affectionately capture moments which will be treasured forever.

 Tara has learned new skills in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom which will allow her to have total creative control over her images and will her archival materials in her high quality inkjet printer to produce images that will outlive her subjects. She’ll be targeting neighbourhoods for her marketing campaign for her portrait service and she’s also negotiated a deal with Liam Hayes, CEO of Gazette Group newspaper in Dublin to promote a Child Portrait Competition in the local communities which this dynamic group operate. A real win win deal for Gazette Newspapers and Tara who has made the transition from photographer to businesswoman with consummate ease!

I was impressed with Tara’s ‘call to action’ offering The Business listeners a free portrait session. Of course, the pictures will be so compelling that the subjects will be sure to buy a few prints. That’s the sort of confidence that gets you places.

Jerry.

Check out Tara’s offer on her website http://www.keaneeyephotography.com

Because I’m self taught I didn’t even realize what I didn’t know and how much I had yet to learn but I’ve learned so much from the guys and already I see a big improvement in my photos. I’m thoroughly enjoying the process and am looking forward to spending time with Jerry and George Doyle in Kerry in the coming weeks.

Tara.

Despite her defensive attitude to criticism Clodagh was impressive. She was driven, propelling herself forward with a passion for the product and a will to succeed. It was these un-teachable attributes that encouraged me to hang on in there when every other instinct was telling me to walk away. My role would be this- encourage Clodagh to remove the blinkers and widen her vision,  this in turn would allow her to see the logic of taking a step back in order to properly define her product before running like a headless chicken into the foxes den. 

Following the programme and after considering Clodagh and her product in detail, I sent her a no punches pulled email setting out in my opinion what she needed to consider and action in order to achieve the success she was so hungry for. As any one who knows me will tell you, don’t ask for my opinion unless you are prepared to hear what I really think. In a business world full of egocentric backslappers, honest opinions are priceless.

Another bout of sparring took place when we returned to the Show some weeks later and I despaired that Clodagh had taken none of my advice on board, worse than this, the defensive walls had been built higher than ever. “Why could Clodagh not see that I had her best interest at heart? I had all but given up on ever getting through to Clodagh but a trip to the R.T.E canteen changed that. What a difference a pot of tea can make!

Away from the studio and the cold communication that is email and over that pot of tea Clodagh opened up for the first time. Now I saw the real person behind the product. My ears nearly popped when I heard Clodagh say “Noel, I am sitting here now and I realise that everything that you have been telling me is correct.”  Whether I am correct or not, time will tell, but now, at last the blinkers were gone and we could at last draw up a new plan of action that would give the product and Clodagh the best chance possible for success.

A new name – new logo – awareness re positioning of the product – new packaging – better awareness re price point – sourcing manufacturing etc… have all come about since that last meeting and our now ongoing contact.

Going forward  Clodagh has now given herself the maximum chance for success. She is making informed decisions pulling together all the elements that will make her business a success

• Her product will stand alone and no longer be confused with others in the market Place

• The product will be very competitively priced offering real value in times when value for money is most important.

• Like all businesses in this current economic climate Clodagh is going to find the going tough, especially since she is a new start up. She will be pushed very hard on price by buyers who are under increasing pressure to buy as cheap as possible.  That said, as long as there are babies being born there will be a market for baby rugs. The fact that Clodagh will now be competing on price with conventional baby rugs but offering the “added value,” of the “hug,” in her rug, I am very confident that with the right marketing behind it, this product will succeed. 

The Mentoring process is one that I enjoy immensely. Thinker’s – Innovators – Men and Women of action – they are the life blood of this country. They need to be and must be encouraged and supported on every level. And more importantly they must be allowed to fail and not fear the repercussions of failure that can be so severe in this country when sometimes it goes wrong. As Thomas A. Edison so wisely said, “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that wont work.” Or as another not so well known inventor called Noel Donegan says, “Being afraid to fail is to be afraid of life. A man who never failed is a man who never tried.”

Keep cosy with the blanket that won’t slip off!

If necessity is the mother of invention – then I am that mother. Having been completely fed up with blankets falling off the buggy and no suitable product available in the market place. I designed my own. SnuggleRug – the Rug with a Hug! And LapWrap (for adults) were born.

 On the 20th of November 2008 the blankets hit the shops. By January every one of them had sold out. Also in January I had my first Radio Interview with John Murray and my first meeting with Noel Donegan my mentor. It was very exciting going up to RTE and a little strange sitting in reception hearing John live on the Radio on the same show I was about to be on. I wondered when I was going to be asked down to the studio and told what was going to happen.

I found it all very professional and like clockwork. Noel and I were whisked into the studio and John introduced us. John then played the recording my interview with Richie in Athlone. While this was playing John explained to us what was going to happen next. I was listening to John explaining what was going to happen live and at the same time I tried to listen to the recording. I was conscious that I didn’t want to repeat everything that was just played. I found it very exciting, minutes were passing like seconds, my head was trying to sort it all out – what was in the Interview just played, 9 minutes to chat with Noel and what was I going to say live on air. I simply told myself that “this is my baby; I know all the many merits of the products – just relax and speak slowly”.

 The interview went very well and the websites www.snugglerug.ie and www.lapwrap.ie received a huge amount of hits and orders. I was thrilled and also a little nervous – people had only heard me talk about the product and were buying it based solely on how they had heard me describe it. Would they like it? Did it meet their expectations? How did they find it worked for them? – I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Within days I was receiving many emails, letters and phone calls from customers telling me that they loved the products and how well they worked. I am very grateful that so many people have taken the time to contact me and let me know how well the SnuggleRug and LapWrap are working for them. The huge positive feedback has given me great confidence; I really know the products work very well.

 The following Saturday after the Radio interview – SnuggleRug was featured in the Irish Times magazine. 5 days later I received a phone call from the Late Late Show. Would I come on the show and talk about LapWrap and SnuggleRug tomorrow night?

 The Late Late experience was very exciting. The attention to details on the show is amazing. Pat was very quick to grasp the concept of the products and made it all very easy by asking very relevant questions.  We completely sold out after the show and at this stage I already had part time help to keep the orders going out.

 Then there was the challenge –time management. I feel I am an organised person but there were a million things to get done. Dispatch online orders, get professional photography arranged, contact more shops re. stocking the product, ensure that the disability sector are informed of the LapWrap, do mail shots etc,etc Never mind look after my children, dinners etc. It is a very busy house and it is great to have the support of my husband Neil.

 Next it was back to RTE for an update. I was nervous meeting Noel again as he had sent me an email detailing the reasons why I should drop the idea. After the interview we had a nice cup of Tea and started over. I look forward to working with Noel and Luz and bringing the products into a bigger arena.

 I am actively working on getting the products into the UK market and ideally at this stage I would welcome a business partner or an Investor to come on board.

SnuggleRug and LapWrap are selling well and I have a lot to do to get organised for the winter market.

 Looking forward to having more news to report in the near future. Many thanks to all those who have taken the time to let me know that they are happy with their products and have wished me well. It is very much appreciated. 

Clodagh Flannery.

Flannovations Ireland,
54 Bloomfield Drive
Athlone
Co Westmeath
Tel; 0906 479162
Email;orders@lapwrap.ie
www.lapwrap.ie