Our business is Linked Finance; we facilitate loans to Irish small/medium sized businesses by a new method in Ireland, called ‘Crowd Funding’ . We help ‘the butcher, the baker and the candle stick maker’ :-). We built the technology in 2012 and launched the business in March 2013 (yes, we are just over our 1st Birthday). We were 3 guys who knew each other from having our own small businesses […]
According to a recent survey by HR experts Aon Hewitt, 40% of employees are ‘not engaged’ in the workplace. Worryingly, there is also a significant 20% that are ‘actively disengaged’. Here are 10 innovative techniques to actively improve employee engagement. 1. Recruitment Be honest from the start and don’t promise more than you can deliver. Skilled employees want to be challenged. Set clear goals and expectations, instigate career development programmes […]
Hireland.ie invite you and your business to become a part of the solution to Ireland’s biggest problem. We have all spent a lot of time over the last few years cutting costs and scraping by to just survive. But we aren’t in business to survive, we are in business to succeed. In fact, we want to thrive. Hiring someone sends a message to your customers that you can do more for them. […]
It’s important to remember that Irish SME businesses have many alternatives to the banks at the moment to finance their growth and expansion. I want to mention 2 alternatives at the moment that are making a difference! For start up businesses there is the ability to get up to 25k through Micro Finance Ireland. You apply for this through your local enterprise board http://microfinanceireland.ie Last year Micro Finance Ireland helped over […]
Negative employees or general negativity in the workplace can have a substantially adverse effect on the business, especially when the negativity spreads throughout the workforce. The negativity can lead to a widespread feeling of discontent which can damage morale, job satisfaction and disrupt staff. All of this can lead to reduced productivity, efficiency and ultimately profitability as employees lose energy and focus on their performance and work. Therefore, it is […]
Successful digital marketing campaigns don’t just sell a product, they sell a brand identity. In the competitive world of B2B digital marketing, content not only needs to be useful, entertaining and full of personality, it needs to be a little bit different. And being ‘different’ isn’t as simple as finding an outlandish gimmick that will shock or amuse. As a digital marketing executive, you need to consider the habits and […]
Over the last 7 years, Smallbusinesscan has tried to provide a grounded, grassroots, community based support for businesspeople in Ireland, North and South. You’ve rallied to the cause of helping each other through those troubling times. But the times are changing. You’re leading us out of recession. You’re talking and doing growth. Smallbusinesscan needs to keep up so we’re growing with you and trying to put in even more supports […]
In the office, it’s likely that most people will get on with their jobs and with each other. This will make for a great working environment, but there might be an obstructive colleague or two undermining that sense of harmony. Known as the ‘workplace can’t’, they are seen as obstructive, unreasonable and downright rude to their colleagues for so many reasons, fathomable and unfathomable. Although these people are thankfully rare […]
YouTube is the most successful video sharing site today with staggering 33 million unique viewers in the UK alone (that’s about half the population). It’s not surprising then that YouTube is a hugely competitive market place that many brands are still struggling to exploit. In this post I’ll gove you a few pointers on how to get your YouTube videos noticed. One of the main problems brands face with YouTube […]
Ecommerce has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. Desktop sites have been at the forefront of this wave, which has seen over 10% of all retail spending take place on the net. However, with the growth in popularity of shopping with both smartphones and tablets, an increasing number of businesses are seeking to develop mobile shops. Mobile ecommerce is already in place for some of the world’s […]
Looking back at my post of January 8th this year – Where will Stg trade in Q1 2014? My first thoughts are I could repost my conclusions and they would be equally valid for Q2 2014. However back then I was talking for the most part about Stg strength, a series of strong data releases over the autumn months had convinced me that Stg would eventually test .8000 against the […]
This Bulletin is part of the Government’s Year for Jobs Campaign, aimed at increasing awareness of what is being done in Ireland to create jobs & tackle unemployment. On Twitter, follow @yearforjobs or hashtag any of your announcements with #allaboutjobs Useful statistics 1.91million People now in work, an increase of 61,000 (3.3%) in Q4 2013 compared to Q4 2012 3.3% Increase in employment rate in the last year 11.8% Current […]
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland has launched their nationwide search for people who have innovative ideas and new solutions to solve some of Ireland’s social and environmental problems. The annual competition, now in its tenth year, has backed 169 social entrepreneurs to date and invested €5.4 million in direct funding to projects in areas ranging from community and active citizenship, education and learning, environment and sustainability and mental and physical health. Social […]
More and more online businesses today are drawn to the dropship model over traditional warehousing. What they do is partner up with other businesses (usually wholesale suppliers), buy the items from them, and have those items shipped directly to their customers. The key difference is that the retailing buys the product AFTER the sale is made. This retail method is currently preferred by a lot of business owners from across […]
The InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition is now open for applications and we are calling new start and early-stage firms from all sectors across the island to enter. As the biggest business competition on the island, Seedcorn offers a substantial total cash prize fund of €280,000 and aims to transform equity raising businesses into first class investor-ready companies. Why enter the Seedcorn competition? As well as the significant cash prize […]
