Gavin Duffy joined us on allaboutbusiness.ie/denlive for a live Q&A after the Dragons’ Den show on Sunday 3^rd of April.

For anyone that missed this interactive session on Sunday night, we have all the questions and Gavin’s answers below!

Question from mrsrudden: Hi Gavin, how far would you go to publicise a product that’s not on the market yet?

Gavin Duffy: Teaser ads come from big budget companies who can afford it. The rest of us should wait until we are ready to go

Question from JMcCormac: Are the Irish Dragons looking for SME type opportunities or ones that can scale well internationally?

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On Friday the 25th March selected Bank of Ireland branches are hosting a ‘Show your Business Day’. Exhibitors will have the opportunity to bring along their own exhibition stand or take a table, set up their laptop, bring along some samples, whatever is required to make the most of their display in the local branch. This is a great opportunity for local businesses to showcase their products and services to their local communities.

Below is a list of selected branches:
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So here is it, our summary version of Dragon’s Den Episode 3 for all of you who missed the tension-cutting pitches on Sunday’s show!

First into the Den to meet the Dragons were Karen and Maureen from ‘WATzDAT party box’! The confident business ladies were looking for a €25,000 investment for just 5% equity in their business. Initially the only Dragon excited about the prospect of a party was Niall as he inspected the contents of the party boxes.
However they soon garnered Gavin Duffy’s interest and he offered half the investment asked but wanted a 22% equity share.  Norah followed suit offering them the full €25,000 but for a majority share of 51%.  A bidding war ensued with Gavin undercutting Norah with a counteroffer of €25,000 for a 49% equity share. After some deliberation, Karen and Maureen decided to go for Gavin’s offer. …

Networking is always cited as a key activity for anyone who is starting out or attempting to grow their business. It’s gives people the chance to meet like-minded individuals, learn something new and make contacts which could turn into potential sales for their business. 

As you can see from our calendar, March is proving quite busy in terms of events for entrepreneurs and SMEs across the country, with a number of events focussed on getting ready for export.

Worth checking out to see what’s happening in your area:
Networking and Events

At 18 Sean wrote a life plan; to become a farmer, a youth leader, a trainer, a martial artist, a fitness instructor, a politician, and an entrepreneur. Over the intervening years, he has relentlessly pursued and achieved every one of his goals. He also passionately endeavors to assist young people in starting their own businesses and realise their dreams. He has spoken to hundreds of groups and is a regular contributor at seminars on success, business and entrepreneurship.

Life didn’t start so easy. Born with congenital cataracts, he was almost blind as a child. Sean learned from an early age that hard work was the only way to overcome life’s difficulties. It all turned around when pioneering surgery saved his sight. Then the advice of an encouraging primary school Headmaster was to change his life: “If you can dream it, you can become it”. That advice became his life’s mantra. …

Niall O’Farrell is one of Ireland’s most successful entrepreneurs. Owner of Ireland’s premier suit hire chain, Blacktie, Niall is also a property developer, luxury shirt retailer and food and beverage distributer. Niall became a Dragon in 2008 and has made investments in both series 1 and 2.

You can’t beat valuable experience and for Niall O’Farrell, it has been tantamount to his remarkable success. Niall never considered himself as being the ‘university type’ and was always keen to get into straight up business. His original intention was to follow his father Robert, into his estate agency in Ranelagh. However fate had other ideas and a downturn in the property market led him to seek other opportunities. Niall found himself working in menswear and a new adventure began. …

We’re delighted to announce that allaboutbusiness.ie has won two awards at the Digital Media Awards this year: A Gold in the ‘Business-to-Business Innovation’ category and Bronze in ‘Best in Financial Services’.

Thanks to all our community members and contributors for helping to make this happen!

The allaboutbusiness team

Today in Croke Park, from 11am to 3pm, Apprentice employer Bill Cullen and Norah Casey of Dragons’ Den fame, are leading an event inviting businesses to pitch for investment from Ireland’s main banks and agencies. Called Ireland’s first ‘Pop-up Bank’, the event will include representations from AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank.
  
Agencies such as Enterprise Ireland, First-Step, the Irish Local Development Network, enterprise boards and venture capitalists will also attend.

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We always hear from business owners that advertising can be one of the biggest outgoing costs for an SME. If you are an SME owner and would like an extra advertising boost for your business keep reading…….

News International is offering an overall prize of  €100,000 of free press advertising to the winner of a new small business competition – Ignite Your Business.

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With the New Year fast approaching this is a great time to stop, take a breath, and think of where you want your business to go in the future.

Our personal New Years resolutions are seldom kept. We promise ourselves that we will kick a bad habit, save money or get into shape. Most of us know (if we are truly honest) that we will never keep our resolutions but it makes us feel better just to make them!

When making your business resolutions keep them realistic and choose the ones that are right for you. It’s easy to get caught up in picking resolutions based on what the people around us are telling us to do. Unrealistic resolutions will only leave you frustrated and disappointed in yourself. …