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 environment”.

Positivity and support were the main messages for Bank of Ireland CEO Richie Boucher’s keynote speech. Mr. Boucher spoke about his belief in the future of Ireland. He said that it is up to all of us to restore this confidence in the future and in each other and that Bank of Ireland will be there to offer support for new and existing customers. We spoke to Mr. Boucher after the event and the interview will be available very soon.

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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 forms are available here. The closing date for receipt of entries is Friday, 3rd June 2011.

The fund was established after research conducted by the IEDR last November showed that Irish companies remain slow to harness the potential of the Internet. The key findings of the report showed that only 66% of Irish businesses had any kind of website by 2009, compared with 40% in 2000. Of those 66%, only 21% had e-commerce functionality on their website, a marginal increase of just 3% since 2000.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. David Curtin, Chief Executive of the IE Domain Registry, said “Our research shows that the next growth phase of the Internet in Ireland depends on the SME community here and their willingness to embrace new technologies to build better, fully featured e-commerce websites.

Too many Irish SMEs are still reluctant to make that transition. We know that great websites attract people online and encourage them to spend more time consuming advertising, products and services. Until such times as SMEs in Ireland grasp this, they continue to lose competitive advantage by missing out on lucrative sales opportunities online.”

We want to know you think of this fund! Would it be something that you would be interested in applying for and how would in make a difference to your business? Leave a comment below!

Bank of Ireland is hosting ‘Networking Week’ from 14^th – 18^th February. The event is part of our National Enterprise Programme and allows businesses to meet like minded business owners and entrepreneurs at a series of local networking events. Contact your local Bank of Ireland branch to find out what’s happening in your area.

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These type of events, as well as the Show your Business Weeks form part of the bank’s National Enterprise Programme, which is a series of events and initiatives to faciliate business amongst SMEs across the country.

Check out our Events Calendar for more upcoming events.

Irish Technology Company Seedups launched their full service on February 1st. Developed as a crowdfunding platform for start-ups to match with a growing network of investors, the company have already hit a number of milestones since their beta launch. Founder Michael Faulkner explained the concept of the business as “networking new entrepreneurs with angel type investors who are looking for the best new start-ups in which to invest”. The business model has been described by an existing Seedups investor as Dragons Den meets Facebook.

While other companies and projects offer funding opportunities like this, Seedups is unique as it uses Crowd-Funding and Micro-Financing. This means that good opportunities will get the chance to raise capital from more sources and investors will be more willing to stake smaller amounts in order to diversify their portfolio.

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The Small Firms Association released findings from their Winter Jobs Sentiment Survey today. The results show that retaining jobs and creating employment remained a challenge for small firms.

SFA Acting Director, Avine McNally stated, ““In the past small firms have demonstrated the capacity to create employment, and they will do so again if they are given the right economic conditions. In 2010 12% of firms increased their employee numbers, however, the final months of the year showed a decline in the numbers at work in small firms and this may have been a reflection of the uncertainty that firms felt about Ireland’s economic future.”

There is a reason to remain positive however. While the challenges remain for many firms in regards to retaining and creating employment, 62% of companies indicated that employee numbers will remain at current levels during the next three months, while 14% of respondents expect to increase employee numbers in the next three months, an increase of 7% on the last quarter of 2009.
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Many people in Ireland who have thought up and designed useful and innovative products but who do not have the means or the knowledge to get their products to market will be interested to hear about NDRC’s (National Digital Research Centre’s) Launch Pad Programme. …

The annual Sustainable Energy Awards encourage, recognise and reward excellence in energy management among energy users of all sizes.

The awards will focus on individuals, groups and organisations who demonstrate a commitment to include energy management as part of their overall management structure and provide an opportunity for organisations, regardless of size, to gain public recognition for their achievements in reducing energy use and emissions. …

Over 1,000 small Irish firms have used a €5,000 Government innovation voucher which allows them to link with college researchers to solve business and technical problems, according to the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan TD. …

We’re delighted that allaboutbusiness.ie has been shortlisted for an Eircom Golden Spider award. Thanks to all our contributors and to all the entrepreneurs and SMEs who have helped us to keep the site active and relevant since its launch in February of this year. …