Enterprise Start
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008I haven’t updated the blog in a couple of weeks. Kind of defeats the purpose of blogging about developing the business. I’ve been very busy, Honest!
The most interesting update is joining the Enterprise Start programming being held in Macroom. I first heard about this progamme from Paul Walsh in the Rubicon centre in Bishopstown. I rang up a few times to get some information on the Genesis programme, asking was it too late to apply. It was. I had a feeling the time to apply had passed but I chanced my arm anyway. I’m glad I did.
After talking to Paul for a few minutes about my aims with eWrite, he told me about the Enterprise Start programme. Being held in Macroom was all the incentive I needed, its only a few minutes away from where I live and work most of the time.
The Macroom-E building in Macroom
The aim of the programme is to help you develop a sound business idea and business plan. Paul sent me the form and I signed up. It started on Friday May 23rd and is held in the Macroom E building in Macroom. It last 6 weeks with 2 sessions per week, 6pm to 9pm on Fridays and 9am – 12pm on Saturday mornings. A bit of a dent into the unwinding time of the weekend, but I can unwind when I kick the bucket.
On the first Friday session, Paul went over the do’s and dont’s of business plans. What do interested parties really look for in a business plan. The air conditioning was broken or off, which made the closed in room quite warm. Luckily I sat right next to a fan and blocked everyone else from being cooled down.
We also received a shiny new book to read called ‘The new business road test’ by John W. Mullins. I have yet to read it, still reading Richard Bransons ‘Screw it, lets do it’. It was a fun morning asking for that book over the counter in Waterstones.
The Saturday session was even better. An Entrepreneur named Pat Lynch of Compliance & Risks came in to talk to us about his first business. How he developed it, the good and bad times and how he went on to sell it 3 years later for a sizeable sum.
Over coffee we talked about various stages of a business. I asked him about getting money from family. I had a recent offer from my brother-in-law to invest in what I’m doing. I asked Pat if he would recommend taking money from a family member, knowing many of the potential problems it could raise. He mentioned he had been offered money by his family in the past that he thankfully didn’t have to use. His answer was to go for it if I firmly believed in what I was doing and if I could make a return on it.
At that first session I also met Kieran Dowling of Innovative eBusiness. I met with Kieran today to show him eWrite Lite hopefully to encourage him to recommend eWrite Lite to his web design clients. It was good to talk to Kieran, he was very open about the software they currently use and recommended others I could talk to about eWrite Lite to compliment their existing services.
To compliment the Enterprise Start programme, I also met with Audrey Burke McCarthy of MotivAction based in Cork. Motivaction specialise in business coaching, adding value to your business and more. I met Audrey through BNI in Cork and she is now one of the users of eWrite Lite. Audrey is helping me develop a solid business plan for eWrite Cork and I’d recommend anyone thats in need of a business plan or similar services, talk to Audrey.
I don’t know if Paul Healy would ever read this blog but I’d like to thank him for mentioning the Enterprise Start programme that day on the phone. Its been a very worthwhile set of circumstances since.
