Caroline Carswell

• Company: Irish Deaf Kids
• Industry: Education + technology
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=37514718&trk=tab_pro
• Website: http://www.irishdeafkids.ie/
• Location: Terenure Enterprise Centre, 17 Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, Dublin 6W

About you:

Is this your first business?

Yes - IDK is my first business venture, after 15 years in digital publishing and online marketing in Dublin, Oxford (UK) and Seattle.

When did you first decide you wanted to work for yourself?

After five years as a corporate research specialist and project-manager for an Irish-American financial software firm. I wanted to be on the move, working at different venues, with varied teams, and meeting new people. With IDK, no two days are the same and the daily issues test my problem solving skills.

What are the things that you find most valuable and rewarding about working for yourself?

Flexible hours, the variety of everyday duties, constantly meeting new people and being able to work ‘untethered’, in different locations. Another big reward for taking the leap into self-employment, is the daily learning that all entrepreneurs must experience for their business to grow and develop.

Where did you get the idea for your current business?

An obvious gap existed in the deaf sector in Ireland. Our findings with new technologies in education, workplaces and daily life, are merged into the venture’s strategy for mutual benefit in the business, academic and community sectors. The other groups are geared to the deaf community, not to the mainstream mass market as IDK is. IDK’s main selling point is that some of its team were mainstream-educated as deaf children, and now contribute their experience to the venture’s projects.

About Starting Up:

How did you evaluate your business idea before deciding to go ahead with it?

Emails were sent to contacts in the deaf, educational and professional sectors, for review and feedback on the fledgling idea. Two entities at the DES (Department of Education & Skills) issued invitations to speak at teacher-training workshops around Ireland, and at an annual conference on supported mainstream education for deaf children in Ireland. The irishdeafkids.ie website evolved from insights gained at these sessions, and from suggestions made by its users along the way.

Did you prepare a business plan before starting your business? How often do you revisit it? What advice would you give to others when writing a business plan?

A business plan was prepared in 2007 by four mature students taking the MBA at Dublin City University. It still provides a master plan for our strategy, with new projects built into the core framework as relevant. Flexibility is essential. When writing a business plan, be very clear about the company mission and think how this mission will be achieved.  What new company projects/products/services move it along? Are all new endeavours core to the company’s mission? Do they benefit the mission, and how exactly is this benefit achieved?

What challenges did you face in the early start up stage of your business? How did you overcome these challenges?

Isolation was a risk when setting up in 2007, but thankfully, the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) team and other networks gave introductions to key contacts in key sectors. Essentially, IDK’s network had to be built from the ground up, which required much hard work (in-person and online). Financing is also a big challenge but our income is growing organically through a mix of funding streams

About your business:

What is the nature of your business?

Education and technology

How many employees do you have? Full- or part-time?

One full-time, plus nine volunteers from professional backgrounds (accounting, management, teaching)

What is an average workday like for you?

Progressing IDK’s current projects and financing plans, facilitating meetings and reports, checking mail and social media, researching news and trends, managing and/or training volunteers, updating the irishdeafkids.ie website, tracking accounts, complying with the requirements of the CRO, Revenue and IDK auditors. Obviously, phone calls are not made: email, direct messaging, IM and web-chat tools serve this purpose, when relevant.

How has your market changed in the past few years? How has your business changed to keep pace?

The financing ‘market’ is tighter nowadays but IDK has an edge in that its low-cost virtual-services are accessible from anywhere, at any time, if a client has internet access. New IT products/services are also evolving, which IDK must track to retain its competitive edge. Also regular tweaking of our information-provision model to meet the needs of the IDK website audience and Facebook group members.

What’s the worst business advice you’ve ever received?

To produce learning materials outside our key target market.

What’s been your most successful strategy in building your business so far? What tips do you have for other entrepreneurs that want to use that strategy as well?

Social media has been major in terms of building the IDK mission and brand, while informing observers about key elements of being deaf, and the daily challenges that may need addressing. For other entrepreneurs using social-media to build their business, commitment is vital, to constantly generate and/or source relevant content to share with followers.

About entrepreneurship:

What is your definition of an entrepreneur? Do you believe that everyone has what it takes to be one?

Entrepreneurs are people who follow a passion to create a business from an idea and their skills, and who don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Not everyone is able to be an entrepreneur: some people simply don’t know how to actualise a vision. Having the right people around you and being flexible, particularly early on, is essential to business growth.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting their own business?

First, I would ask the person, “are you a self-starter?” and secondly, “do you enjoy responsibility?” Most likely, no-one else will burn late-night oil on your behalf, so new entrepreneurs need to know of this responsibility at the outset. And again, to have the right people around you, both for support and to bounce ideas off. Finally - to research and test your business idea before going-to-market.

Who do you look up to in business?

Caroline Casey, the founder of Kanchi.org, is a big inspiration in the way she pitches the business case for disability at a global level.