Tags: Entrepreneur Tips, National Enterprise Week, Networking, Norah Casey, Women in Business

The sun was shining on Thursday when over 150 women gathered at the stunning Carton House to hear three inspirational women - Norah Casey, Joan Burton and Terry McDermot - speak at the Women in Business Enterprise Week event.   Joan Burton, Minister for Social Protection, was the first to speak and opened by saying that the women in the room were inspirational Mna na hEireann 2011.   The numbers of women working and leading in business and politics have shown incremental growth in the last decade. Minister Burton was quick to point out that there are far more women in business than in politics in Ireland but that she was ‘working on it!’   Minister Burton commented that women have a tremendous capacity for working and supporting each other in business and that is why women’s only events are so important. She also spoke of the recently announced Jobs Initiative and the importance of encouraging internships in all areas of business. read more

Tags: Bank of Ireland, Enterprise Week 2011, Europa Academy, Gabriel Bannigan, Is féidir linn, Leinster Rugby, Mark Cunningham, Michael Dawson, Seán Weafer, Time To Fly Ltd

On Wednesday 25th, the Enterprise Week event themed “Personal & Business Effectiveness and Networking” event took place at The Europa Academy in Swords to a packed and engaged audience. Prior to the event, entrepreneurs and business owners had the opportunity to network and mingle with SME exhibitors who were showcasing their products and services as part of Enterprise Week 2011. The main event started at 6.30pm with over 380 people taking their seats to listen to an uplifting welcome message from Gabriel Bannigan, Regional Manager -Dublin, Bank of Ireland. The positive energy from the recent Barack Obama visit was present in the room and the message of “Is féidir linn” was felt throughout the night. The first guest speaker was Neil O`Brien, Owner of Time To Fly Ltd who spoke on the topic of Mental Fitness. Neil made the point that when times were great in Ireland that we forgot the basics, and now it was time to get back to the basics. Gabriel Bannigan summed it   [...]
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Tags: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Tips, Innovation, National Enterprise Week

There was standing room only at the Enterprise Week event at the House of Lords on Friday morning. Over 300 entrepreneurs and SMEs gathered to hear keynote speakers such as Paul Rellis from Microsoft, Justin Keatinge, Managing Director of Version 1 and Nicola Farronato, CEO of b.sm@rk   Paul Rellis in Microsoft spoke about the technological transformations that are taking place and how natural user interfaces such as Kinect will become more pervasive in the near future. It is predicated that in three years time 50% of phones will be smartphones, and according to Rellis one third of those will be on the windows phone platform. Enterprise Week Presentation  View more presentations from read more

Tags: Economic Growth, Michael Noonan, National Enterprise Week, Richie Boucher, Small Business News

Enterprise Week started with a bang on Friday! The national launch was held outside Dublin for the first time, in Limerick. There was a great buzz about the Strand Hotel where over 350 local business people gathered to hear speakers Richie Boucher, CEO Bank of Ireland, and Michael Noonan, Minister for Finance. Commenting on the launch, Gillian Horan, All About Business Contributor, said “I thought the event was a great start to this years Enterprise Week! As an SME owner/manager it was not only an informative event but also a great chance for me to network. Enterprise Week is important because it not only provides me with updated business information but it also allows me to promote my business in a positive supportive environmen  [...]
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Tags: Entrepreneur, Events, National Enterprise Week, Norah Casey

We are delighted to announce that Enterprise Week is back and is set to be better than ever in 2011! National Enterprise Week will run from 20-27th May. It is about bringing together like-minded local business people and entrepreneurs to share their experiences and knowledge. The last Enterprise Week, in November 2010, saw almost 4,000 business people attend over 110 events across the country with speakers like social media guru Krishna De and Metro North Project Director Rory O’Connor discussing a wide range of topics. New to the Enterprise Week events  [...]
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Tags: Domain Name, GIBO, Online Presence

A new initiative aimed at helping SMEs to establish an online presence has been launched. The Getting Irish Business Online (GIBO) initiative is the first of its kind in Ireland and is backed by several leading Irish online companies, such as Irish Domains and Blueface.

The initiative offers small businesses a chance to get an internet domain, email, web presence and VOIP phone line with local geographic number free for a year. This is a much needed service for start-up businesses who often find it too time consuming or expensive to establish a web presence on their own. According to the CSO nearly one third of businesses do not have a website, and only about a fifth have e-commerce capability.

The GIBO initiative will help small business save costs and start using   [...]
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Tags: Agriculture, Eat Only Irish, Farming, Social Media

Brendan Allen of Castlemine Farm in Roscommon is destined to be Ireland's latest Internet sensation. A few short weeks ago Brendan was a typical, unknown and unsung Irish farmer, but today, thanks to the power of social media, Brendan now has followers in every continent and is at the forefront of promoting Irish produce to the world. It all began with an innocent tweet.......... (more...)  [...]
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Tags: e-commerce, Funding, IEDR, Small Business News

The IE Domain Registry (IEDR), launched a new e-commerce website development fund aimed at Irish SMEs. The fund, called OPTIMISE, is worth €100,000 in total and aims to allow small to medium businesses to realise their online potential. The OPTIMISE fund will enable ten Irish small and medium business owners to begin the process of transforming their existing online presence into a fully featured, transactional website custom-designed for their business’ needs. The ten recipients will each receive €10,000 worth of professional technical and marketing support with which to plan and carry out a major e-commerce website upgrade. The upgrade will enable the ten successful SMEs to sell goods and services 24/7 to a global marketplace online. The fund is open to applications from any organisation classified as an SME or micro-enterprise, which has an existing website that is accessible to the public and registered with a .ie domain name. Further details and online application f  [...]
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Tags: Dragons Den 2011, Economy, Enterprise Ireland, Networking, Sean Gallagher

If you are based in or around Galway make sure you check out this great event, organised by one of our Contributors, Caroline McDonagh, and Developing Enterprises Skillsnet. ‘Breathe Fire into your Business – A Dragons Perspective’ with Sean Gallagher takes place in the Clayton Hotel, Galway from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on Tuesday May 10th. Attendance is free but you must register by emailing developingenterprisesskillnet@gmail.com The event will focus on the challenges that businesses in the Border, Midlands & Western region are experiencing in today’s harsh economic climate. As an entrepreneur Gallagher understands the challenges of setting up and growing a successful business in Ireland. He is a  [...]
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