Small Business Can

Why not contact Enterprise Ireland to see if any of the Irish companies operating in Norway are willing to sponsor? Norway is covered from the EI Swedish office, Fergus McMahon is the main point of contact:
Fergus McMahon
Tel: +46-8-459-2161
Mob: +46-708-716447
Fax: +46-8-661-7595
e-mail: fergus.mcmahon@enterprise-ireland.com

Best of luck.
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Hi Jonathan

I had a look at your web-site there just now. Just to let you know need to remove the dot in your original post from the web-link, as at the moment you get diverted to namesco website.

Obviously the web-site is work in progress at the moment, but I would definitely recommend a change in colour scheme as the information is hard to read (red on black is quite unfriendly to the ol' eyes).

I am curious as to where you see the gap in the market to be? Supply of football shirts etc is quite a saturated market and availability of such merchandise is huge, even at knock-down prices, also you would have to compete with cheap replicas and imports available through low cost channels such as exclusive online shops and market stalls. I would think long and hard before committing to premises and would test the market first to ascertain the true level of demand.

Best of luck.
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There are some up-front costs that are fixed, but yearly costs (as in taxes) would be variable. There are no fixed yearly charges for owning a business, bar if you are a limited company fees due when you are submitting your Annual Return.

If you are setting up as a sole trader, then the only fees directly associated with the set-up would be 20 Euro to register a Business Name with the Companies Registration Office (www.cro.ie), registering for relevant taxes with Revenue (www.revenue.ie) is free. Of course the usual costs associated with running the business are not included here (eg your website set-up, accountant's fees etc). If you are registering as a sole trader, you will have to register for income tax - your income will be the profit of the business at the usual rates applicable to your personal circumstances (taking into account your tax credits and cut off points). You will need to self-assess your earnings and submit them via Form E11. Additional taxes may be liable depending whether you intend to employ people (in which case you register for PAYE) and if you are going to charge Value Added Tax (VAT).

If you are registering a limited company, then the cost of set-up are a bit higher. Depending whether you are doing everything yourself or using an agent, fees can range from 150-500 Euro. Again, registering for taxes is free. You will be taxed on the profits of the company at 12.5% corporation tax rate. This is of benefit if your profits are quite high. Additionally, you would pay yourself a salary under usual PAYE rates for tax and PRSI.

There are pros and cons for each form of business, so depends which you think is better for your web business. As you are going to do business across borders, you would be best discussing these issues with an accountant.

Best regards
Helena
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Hi again,

I would carefully consider my product portfolio - you will want to take into consideration how you are going to stock your goods - which are more durable with regard to 'best before' dates in line with the stock turnover you may have, also bearing in mind that stock = tied up money.
For the products you describe a good starting point is www.foodirelandwholesale.com/ who stock most of the bigger brands such as Chef sauces and Kerrygold butter (if sale of refrigerated goods is an option).
Artizan style homemade products are usually sourced locally rather than via wholesale channels and bord bia might be of assistance in this area.

Best of luck
Helena
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Hi there

It would be useful if you could narrow your query.

What type of business are you trying to run and what type of food products are you looking at specifically?

Best regards
Helena
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If you are interested in selling the business as an ongoing concern, in order to determine the value of your business, besides establishing what the profit would be for a potential buyer you will have to evaluate the competition and trends in your market, how much labour and technical skill is required to manage the site, what the costs are (hosting, marketing, any staff?), whether the business is growing and how fast, the future potential and whether the industry is a buyers or sellers market (supply vs demand), look at your web site traffic statistics.

Regarding formalities: Write up some form of formal contract with dates and agreed upon price and any other stipulations and have all parties sign it. Make sure you have agreed in advance how and when will the money be transferred (eg a 50/50 arrangement). Define how long you will provide support for (you could include this in the contract). Stay on top of all the technical things, don’t forget web hosting, domain names, autoresponders, mailing lists, software, subscriptions, paid directory listings and any of the host elements that might be used by your web business that you need to transfer to the new owners.

If you have a limited company that you wish to dissolve then things get a bit more complicated, you have to observe the process for this in line with CRO guidelines.

If you wish to keep the business, but transfer some rights/technology to a partner (in Italy) then licensing is a good option.

Best regards
Helena
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Are you producing these products yourself or are you importing?

I suppose you have to decide what your approach is first. Do you want to distribute through other online retailers, through specialised branded retailers such as mamas and pappas or mothercare or non-branded retail outlets such as the supermarkets, toy chains and baby shops (eg Bella Baby, Tony Kealy's).

Before approaching potential distributors/retailers, ensure that you have points such as product certification (CE) and product liability insurance sorted. Also ensure that you have your pricing strategy sorted as the RRP might be well higher than what you are currently selling the products on your website for.

There isn't a directory in Ireland that I am aware off, however there is the baby products association in the UK that I would assume has strong links to Ireland and has an extensive directory (see under industry tools) www.thebpa.eu/bpa-org/home.asp

Networking is key as is walking into any potential discussions well prepared (volumes, logistics, pricing, T&Cs etc). It might be worth your while to visit the upcoming pregnancy and baby fairs in Dublin and Cork as well, depending on your strategy.

Best of luck,
Helena
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As start date I would put down the incorporation date (makes things simpler with the CRO AR when doing up the accounts), as end date you may want to have them done to the year end ie 31/12. You may want to consultant your accountant, this is my suggestion.
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Are you an Irish food entrepreneur…
or would you like to be one?

Could you create and run a successful export food business?
Do you have the creativity, enthusiasm and drive to bring a new food product to the worldwide market?

Your big idea might make you a serious player in the next generation of the Irish food sector. So, if you have a concept for a food product that fills a new or previously unknown consumer need, this opportunity might just be for you.

Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and Teagasc are working together to find and foster a new group of entrepreneurs.

For more info, see www.foodworksireland.ie/
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Yes, you should register for corporation tax and PAYE as well, even if you have no employees/are not paying salaries at present. PAYE and VAT are optional, corporation tax is not, but because you will need to avail of both further down the line it makes sense to register for all 3 together. Set yourself up on ROS which will make returns easy. You can file '0' returns if applicable to your circumstances.
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Connectireland is an innovative way to create new jobs in Ireland by harnessing the power of our global connections. Their mission is to attract companies which are expanding internationally to locate in Ireland and create new jobs for the Irish economy.

The ConnectIreland program is open to everyone across the world. Wherever you come from, if you can introduce their team to a company which is expanding internationally, they will want to speak with you.

ConnectIreland have been appointed by the Irish Government and IDA Ireland to deliver the Succeed in Ireland Initiative which is part of the Irish Government’s 2012 Action Plan for jobs.

For more information see
www.connectireland.com/

To see how it works:
bit.ly/GCdJG5
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These costs vary from Bank to Bank and change in time so best thing is really to contact each bank and compare (as somebody's information from say 6 months ago may not be current anymore), also cost depends on facts like turnover factors, type and frequency transactions so quotes vary with circumstances.

The car readers are in effect 'leased equipment' so you pay for using them, which usually includes some sort of maintenance fee and technical support. You can use your won EPOS equipment but you have to ensure that the equipment is compatible.

Ulster Bank use ie.streamline.com/ so you can enquire about the cost specifics with them.

All the best
Helena
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www.tusnuadesigns.net/

They are a member of SBC and also #SMECommunity on Twitter

Best regards
Helena
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For those interested in developing business links with France, have a look at UBIFRANCE and their partners:
www.ubifrance.com/ie/partners.aspx
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What you are looking for is a market feasibility study, which my company specializes in, so we could have a chat.

Incidentally, if you are based in Dublin, you can get 50% of the cost of the feasibility study funded by your local City/County Enterprise Board. If there is solid export potential, an EI feasibility grant may be possible.

Best regards
Helena
www.bcireland.com
www.businessfundingireland.com
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There are some excellent pointers above. I would only add that you need to consider with how much equity you would be willing to part and also in terms of what the exit strategy would be - the investor does not get paid until the company is either sold or made public (so-called 'liquidity eventy'), and often, neither of these options is what the business owners really have in mind as a long term strategy.
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Firstly, I would contact your suppliers and see if they can provide the product description in multiple languages. Many suppliers would have undertaken a professional translation already and would have at least few basic European languages covered. Charges per word usually vary from 0.01 Euro - 0.15 Euro per word depending on how 'common' the language is (eg french and german would be cheap compared to arabic). Of course quantity matters and you can always haggle a better package price. Taking french as an example and assuming 800 x 50 words x 0.03 Euro you'd arrive at 1,200 Euro. If there is a lot of repetition there should be a discount as you don't want to pay for translation of same phrases over and over as in reality it only needs translating once.

There are quite a few translation providers - it is worth pricing around and getting the best deal! Here is a list of IATA members: www.translatorsassociation.ie/component/...m_wrapper/Itemid,64/
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I know EU were looking to amend the software patenting and extend the protection as previosuly only code could be protected whereas the functionality as such, could not. It would be interesting to see how the 'technical effect' can be effectively defined. I think the diseheartening thing is having to invest a lot of time and money just to find out a software product is 'not patentable' - guidelines that are as clear cut as possible are a must.
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Recruitment agencies traditionally have a hard time during economic downturns as potential clients are keen to reduce their overheads. As recruitment fees are typically 10 to 20 per cent of the candidates’ first year annual salary, cutting recruitment agency budgets is a popular way to cut costs. The major players find they need to substantially reduce their fees and many smaller agencies find cash flow problematic. This is even worse if the agency provides temporary employment solutions as the temps will still need paying even if the clients are slow to pay their invoices. Temporary staff are very expensive to deal with as a small business, as invariably you will be required to pay the temps well before the clients have paid up.

However, the cash flow issue is also a problem when focusing on permanent staff. This is because you can find yourselves working on a placement for a number of weeks – from advertising, initial registration interviews, interviews arranged with the clients, feedback - only to fall at the last hurdle.

Also you would have to be absolutely aware and familiar with all the relevant HR issues from handling sick leave to accidents at work and corresponding liability insurance should be in place (employee and public). Of course, not knowing what type of business you are in, you might already have these in place.

I know you are saying that this would only be a small part of the services you offer, but it needs more detailed consideration as it could be more of a liability than a money maker, so consider carefully whether it is going to generate real value for your business.
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Deycom Computer Services wrote:


I think that definitely it is not as easy and simple as it used to be, banks are more risk adverse now, but in a way it was badly needed. It is hard to comment without knowing any particulars, I would on the whole say that the lending is probably more realistic now. Again those that complain might have been refused for a very good reason, but their perception is that it is the 'evil banks' being unreasonable and difficult. Demonstrating long-term ability to repay has become paramount, and while I feel for anybody who wants to buy (or build) but can't, I think - given the history of free for all lending - that this is a prudent approach.
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