“I got the call from Garrett Duffy that confirmed my place on the NEPP 2009 to 2010 program which was the start of an interesting and very useful journey of commercial development.

“Apart from the useful classes I attended, which ranged from marketing and company identity as well as focus, what I found best of all was the interaction between classmates.  The criticisms and comments were frank and at times tough but if I couldn’t explain my services and vision to them, it was going to be a struggle with the general public.  I have also ended up collaborating with some class members which is leading to real innovation, synergy between normally separate unconnected technologies and services.

“This is a great program and would recommend it to any start up.”

“Working for yourself is a liberating experience. Of course, there are never enough hours in the day or days in the week but being in control and master of your own destiny is a fantastic position to be in. But it can be a lonely spot as well.

“When I left employment to set up meedja ltd. I had mixed emotions. Happy to be getting off the treadmill and away from the daily commute to Dublin but anxious as well about the viability of the business and always questioning my own decisions.

Peter Mee of meedja and Damian Purcell of RecordIt

“Participating in the NEPP at DKIT with the help of an Enterprise Ireland CORD grant provided an excellent transition from full-time employment to self-employment, helping in the initial stages of an R&D project and plugging me in to the local support infrastructure.

“However, as with any good programme, you end up learning as much from fellow participants as you do from the course content itself. The single main benefit I gained from participation was access to both participants and tutors who all had a similar mindset. This group became a support system; a group or, sometimes, individuals, that I could bounce ideas off, that would contribute and comment, and help in validating those critical decisions.

“And it doesn’t stop at the end of the programme. I was fortunate enough to graduate to office space at DKIT where infrastructure and supports are second to none and continue even beyond tenancy.

“If you’re thinking about starting a business and need time, space and support to develop your ideas, you can’t do much better than NEPP.”

“I am a graduate of the NEPP programme in the Regional Development Centre which I found to be an incredibly useful and fulfilling programme in developing Aqua Fresh Fish. In this company, we are striving to push the boundaries in the Irish aquaculture industry by farming an exotic table fish called Australian barramundi.  This is a premium quality white flesh fish, high in Omega 3 and prized by chefs all over the world. It is a very versatile fish and can be cooked in a number of ways including; oven baked, grilled, boiled and pan-fried. Australians also love to stick them on the barbie and chase them down with a few tinnies!”

“I would have no hesitation in recommending and encouraging any budding entrepreneur that has a qualifying business proposal to undertake the NEPP programme. Most entrepreneurs have a scarcity of time as there is always a lot to do and never enough time to do it.  NEPP is structured with this in mind and sessions are generally for one half day a week so the entrepreneur still has plenty of time to devote to their business. The programme covers all aspects of starting-up and running a business in a successful manner.  Some of the aspects covered were: selling, sales and marketing, accounts, taxes and legal issues, presentations and presenting, business plan preparation, Intellectual Property and trademarks, among many other useful topics.  The sessions are delivered by top-class professional people with real-life business experience, which I found to be a very effective delivery method.  There is also one-to-one mentoring sessions, again delivered by very professional people who can guide, advise and encourage you on many business issues, I found their experience and advice to be an invaluable resource.

“Since completing NEPP, Aqua Fresh Fish has achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first farm in Ireland to secure a license to farm an exotic table fish. There are only three other farms in the whole of Europe farming barramundi at this time.  This license facilitates us to farm barramundi in an indoor recirculation aquaculture system (RAS) on our 8.5 acre site in Kilkerley, three miles outside Dundalk, Co. Louth. The site also has planning permission and a discharge license for a 700-tonne fish farm. We are currently raising funds to build the first phase of the project, which will farm 95 tonnes of barramundi.

One might wonder how do you farm an exotic table fish in a country like Ireland…

The answer lies in the technology that will be employed.  Aqua Fresh Fish has commissioned a world technology leader to develop a custom designed state-of-the-art RAS facility to farm barramundi.  RAS facilities use mechanical and biological filtration systems to clean the water to pristine condition so as it can be reused to a very high degree.  RAS facilities are globally recognised to be the most environmentally friendly and sustainable method of farming fish.  The biological filter utilises naturally-occurring bacteria to clean the water and in addition to this, UV lighting is used to kill off any harmful bacteria and thereby reduces the potential for an occurrence of disease in the system.  The whole system environment is controlled to give optimal growing conditions for the fish which will allow us to produce fish on a year round basis.  The buildings to house the fish are pollytunnels which are widely used around the country for growing mushrooms. The pollytunnels sit on top of large concrete tanks which hold the fish and a large concrete or PE Plastic construction is used to construct the biofilter which also is situated inside the pollytunnel.

I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending any budding or existing entrepreneur to look into NEPP as a means to set them off on the right foot into the challenges that they will face in developing their new business. The skills and knowledge that they will attain over the course of the programme will be applied by them over and over in the rest of their business life.

Last but not least, a special mention to the staff at the RDC whom I found to be very professional in their approach.  The whole process was made as simple and as effortless as possible with no unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy.”

There was such a terrific reaction to his presentation that we asked him to share some of his wisdom with entrepreneurs who couldn’t make it to the RDC that Friday through our blog.  David generously agreed and here are his tips:

Cost Reduction Versus Income Growth

With the change in the business environment over the last two years, the focus of so many businesspeople is on cost reduction. Working long hours just to save a wage, cutting costs just to make ends meet. Now don’t get me wrong, keeping your costs down is still one of the most important areas of business.

But if you really want to make money, you must put more of your time into income generation than you do cost cutting. Just a few hours a day focused on income generation can pay for the wages of several people. Making ten times more profit than you do right now is more about increasing your income than it is about decreasing your costs.

By the way, if you were to cut your costs by as much as you possibly could and still leave your company running, you’d probably only add about 10 or 15 percent to your bottom line. Yet through building your income, the bottom line jump is limitless.

Distribution and Marketing

It’s important noting that business has two major parts – and both of them are equally as important as the other.

You’ve got to put 50 percent of your time, effort and investment into distribution – getting your products and services to the marketplace. The other half of your time should be spent on sales and marketing – getting the marketplace to your products and services.

The challenge is that most business owners, and therefore their entire businesses, put about 90 percent of their time into distribution and only about 10 percent into marketing. You’ve got to market if you’re going to make real money.

Education and Knowledge

I recommend The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

Thought for the day

If you keep doing the same things, you keep getting the same results ….
What action will you take today to drive your business and your life?

by David Forrester of Action Coach

In the past decade, NEPP has:

• supported over 100 high potential start-ups
• combined turnover exceeding €27 million per annum
• over €39 million raised in Venture Capital Funds
• Intertrade Ireland Seedcorn winners in national and regional finals

Here are some of the entrepreneurs we’ve supported:

Former participants on NEPP

For more details on NEPP, click here

You still have another couple of weeks to submit your application for NEPP 2010 to DkIT’s Enterprise Development Manager, Garrett Duffy:

garrett.duffy@dkit.ie

Anne Reilly (front row, right hand side) and the rest of the participants, trainers and manager from NEPP 2009

As MD of Paycheck Plus, I was honoured to be offered a place on the NEPP in Dundalk and join a fantastic group of like minded entrepreneurs focused on driving our businesses forward. During our time together we had excellent workshops, seminars, talks and presentations from a diverse range of professionals ranging from Sales, Business Planning, Motivation, Leadership, Finance and Personal Development and Management skills.

The support and interaction of fellow group members, tutors and business coaches led to positive growth in my business providing Payroll Outsource Services for clients not only in Ireland but across the globe. The knowledge and confidence gained has led to a significant development in my business and enabled me to focus on the long term plan and future strategy of the business.

While the programme requires significant commitment, energy and engagement I have no hesitation in recommending the NEPP for any business owner who is focused on driving their business forward. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all involved for their commitment and enthusiasm particulary to Garrett, Sean, Gerry, Karen and Paddy who worked tirelessly in supporting me personally and professionally. I wish every success to my fellow participants – I have no doubt that they will be very successful in the future.
Sincerely,
Anne Reilly, Managing Director of Paycheck Plus

€500m – Innovation Fund Ireland

In the meantime, there’s lots of useful information about enterprise and innovation in this latest issue of Link magazine from Dundalk Institute of Technology’s Regional Development Centre.

Bright Ideas Day 1

A group of DkIT Students recently completed a month long commercialisation feasibility programme in the Regional Development Centre called Bright Ideas. The programme was sponsored by the Dundalk Credit Union and ran throughout the month of June. Most students had an existing idea they wished to work on, but for some the early part of the programme provided tools to identify and evaluate opportunities.

The final day saw the students present their business idea to a panel who will signpost further supports to help these young entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses. It is expected that a number will apply for the Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund for DkIT students which has helped over 10 student led businesses over the past 12 months.

Certified Bright ideas

Problem Solving Bright Ideas

Emma Brabazon, on left, with DkIT students who received funding from Dundalk Credit Union

Student Enterprise Interns Ronan Lynch and Emma Brabazon appeared on “The Changing Workplace” on Dublin City FM  last week. They were invited by presenter Peter Kearney, to speak about their exploits promoting enterprise to students in DkIT over the past few years.

Joined by Sean MacEntee, Incubation Centre Manager, they also outlined the activities of the RDC and how students are benefiting as entrepreneurs from structured programmes such as “Bright Ideas” which will run in June but also from competitions which are developing their intrapreneurial skills which will benefit organisations they join after their studies.

The full Podcast can be heard here……http://peterk.podomatic.com/player/web/2010-05-27T10_03_21-07_00