[Heisenberg.]

"The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.”
-Nolan Bushnell

Since the Entrepreneurship section has been added to this forum I thought I’d put up some resources for those who are interested.
I hope the Entrepreneurs of Boards can help me here as I am not an Entrepreneur. I have studied it in College briefly and like everyone else, I have my ideas which I would one day like to put into action.

There are plently of websites and books that tell you to follow steps when starting a new business. Many others simply go for it without doing anything prior to start up.

One thing is certain for any budding Entrepreneur and that is that Market Research is vital.
Coming up with the idea and imagining the possibilities is the easy part. The research that goes into your idea is what proves invaluable in determining your idea's potential.
Your friends or Parents telling you it’s a great idea is not enough.
Successful Market Research gives you the information you need to either go ahead with your idea, make adjustments to it or scrap it altogether.

The four main Variables you should look at when undertaking Market research are:

1. Customers. Possibly the most important of all. These are the people who will be buying your product/service. Speak with a suitable market sample, write questionairres, hold focus groups, find out what they want the product/service and what benefits they can achieve from using it.
2. Company. Positioning is about creating an image in the minds of your customers. Think of how you want your Company to be perceived, what key messages you want to get across and the core promises you'll be making to customers.
3. Competitors. An extremely important variable that should not and cannot be ignored. Conduct a Competitor analysis and find out exactly how many Companies (if any) are undertaking your idea. How are they doing it? What are they doing badly that I can capitalize on? How much are they charging? There are a million questions to find out about your competitors, find out more from the links below.
4. Investors: These are the people who have/may have a vested interest in the company. Conduct a SWOT analysis and find out if there are individuals/Companies who could possibly gain from your idea.

If you keep these variables at the forefront of you mind, your analysis will help you discover whether your idea has any gaping holes that need to be attended to.

Check out the following thread:
A quick and inexpensive way to find out if there is a market for your product/service.

Once you think your research is complete and ready for the go ahead you can start to look at the following:
-Writing a Business Plan
- Calculating Startup costs
-Registering a business name
-Develop a Marketing Plan



Entrepreneurship Websites, Resources & Courses:
http://www.entrepreneur.com
http://www.cro.ie
http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/
http://www.entemp.ie/
www.youngentrepreneur.ie/
http://www.forfas.ie/
http://www.irishentrepreneur.com/
http://www.stevencox.com/
http://www.irishinvestmentnetwork.ie/home
Your Local Enterprise board
http://www.startingabusinessinireland.com/
http://www.revenue.ie
http://www.sfa.ie (small firms association)
http://www.ibec.ie
http://www.hothouse.ie
http://www.ncirl.ie/icelt (International Centre for Education & Learning Technologies)
http://www.leap.ie/index.php
http://www.gep.ie/
http://www.m50enterprise.ie/
http://www.pdc.ie/
http://www.ait.ie/innovation/mwep.shtml
http://www.mirc.ie/
http://www.gmit.ie/iibc/mwep.html
http://www.novation.ie/cms/publish/entrepreneur.shtml
http://www.itcarlow.ie/industry_camp...2&uid=itcarlow
http://www.iadt.ie/en/InformationAbo...uction/CREATE/

All the info you need about webpayments


Obviously there is a lot more to starting a business than the above so If anyone wants to add their advice, experiences or links please do so and i'll sticky this.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Essential Reading (Thanks to Deaddude for compiling)
[If anyone wants to add a review, just PM one of us and we'll add it.]


I thought we could share some books on entrepreneurialism, give opinions and reviews. I've just finished reading Duncan Bannatyne's 'Anyone Can Do It' autobiography. Ill give a review for it and perhaps we can update this thread every so often with more reviews?

"Anyone Can Do It" - Duncan Bannatyne
Very inspiring read, duncan tells about his life as a child with the navy. When at age 30 he decided he wanted to become a millionaire after reading a newspaper article then 5 years later he accomplished it. Some excellent tips and tactics also
4/5 - the writing was slightly poor -- Deaddude


"The 4 Hour Work Week" - Tim Ferris
-- Fancy Dresser


"E-Myth" - Michael Gerber
Talks through the setup and problems of an entrepreneur
-- Fancy Dresser



"How to Win Friends and Influence People" - Dale Carnegie
Written in 1931 and still relevant today, very insightful comments on human dynamic.
-- Fancy Dresser


"Who Moved My Cheese - Spensor Johnson
Explains that what was working yesterday doesn't necessarily work today. Change and moving on is part of the experience of life - don't get left behind and don't fear it.
-- Fancy Dresser


"80/20 Principle - Richard Koch
Written along the same lines of the four hour work week, Ie. Do more by doing less.
-- shoutman


"Enter The Dragon" - Theo Paphitis
Excellent book by Theo, really interesting read. Follows his life story how he bought failing businesses turned them around and sold at a massive profit!
-- Deaddude


"The Snowball" - Warren Buffet read by Alice Schroeder
-- Hanley



"The One Minute Manager" - Kenneth H. Blanchard & Spencer Johnson
-- Culchie


"The Real Deal" - James Caan
-- mickemac


Updated 26/10/10 [/URL]

In the well - Q&A sessions for the B&E management forum.

Hammertime
Ling from lingscars.com
Fancy dresser AKA thecostumeshop.ie:Ronan

[lanod2407]

I'm working to launch a business in the coming months and am creating a project plan to get me there. The following are the steps I've come up with - may be of use to people and some may add to it to make it more complete?

I'm working on an IT / internet product - to put it in context:

- IT Development
- Funding
- Company Registration
- Web Design
- Branding
- Domain Registration
- IT System Testing
- Product Launch
- Marketing
- Stationary
- Office Set-up
- Bank System - payment by customers
- Bank Accounts
- Press Releases
- Equipment Purchase
- Process & Procedure Documentation
- Finance System - AP, AR, Payroll, P&L, BS, CF
- Hiring
- CRM System
- Training
- Product Literature

[ogriofa]

Haya, interesting post.
Ive nothing really to add, but id suggest you organise your graphic design & branding before you develop your website.
That is if that list is in the order you're gonna approach it.

Any chance you'd put up updates? Could be a really good thread!

[lanod2407]

No problem - happy to update it and if anyone else has other items please add them in.
The list above is not in absolute order of sequence - some may be out of the correct order.

[Vexorg]

Something not many of you are aware of (perhaps) is that Boards.ie is on a DIT - Hothouse programme along with 13-14 other start up companies.

I have asked them to make a post here about how they can assist. The facilities, grants, incubation space, mentoring and working in a enviornment with business start ups and entrepreneurs has helped us and Im sure will help some of you thinking about strating your own business.

[benner]

Thanks for intro Vexorg

Yep Hothouse www.hothouse.ie is here to help start up businesses! It is funded by Dept of Education and Science and is run by Dublin Institute of Technology. The main points of note are:
* Free incubation space for 1 year
* Ten sessions with a business mentor
* Workshops on key topics
* Access to funding

The next program is starting in mid Sept. We are currently accepting applications. If you would like a little bit more information please read on…


Hothouse Venture Programme, is a year-long comprehensive support and incubation programme for entrepreneurs with technology based business ideas. The programme offers a number of supports including:
- Incubation space
- Management development training
- Strategic business counselling
- Access to an enterprise and investment network
- Access to funding through Enterprise Ireland CORD grant which could provide you with up to 50% of your previous years salary paid to you on a monthly basis over the course of the Programme The guideline requirements for CORD are...
* Potential to have turnover of e1million and 10 employees within three years
* Have strong export potential.
* Have some new or unique technology
Note you can still come on Hothouse without being eligible for CORD.

The workshops are run once a month for 12 months on a Friday and Saturday 10am – 5pm. They are generally very practical in nature. Lots of collaborative work, case studies and active participation. The cover topics such as Business strategy, Legal, Market research, Finance, Pitching to customers and/or investors, Sales, time management, and HR. So a broad range of the relevant topics in setting up a successful business.

We also organise mentors. These are professional people most often from the industry relevant to your business. They have great experience and often great contacts.

You can apply by emailing info@pdc.ie with a description of your business, what stage your service/product (e.g. proto type, trial customers, trading etc). Also any market demand feedback. A copy of your CV is also useful. More details on the Hothouse brochure www.pdc.ie/pdf/Hothouse.pdf

So we are looking forward to hearing from all you intrepid entrepreneurs...

Brendan

[DYP]

Hi Scientist,

I totally agree with everything you have presented here regarding Entreprenurial spirit.
The amount of resources out there is massive and people just need to look properly and do some research - the internet is the greatest research tool ever.
I attend alot of seminars and I have earnt 30,000 euro in one day from implementing what I have learn't.

I think there is lots of value in marketing yourself and really there are people out their with amazing ideas just sitting on bags and bags of cash - but they don't get off their butts and TAKE action.

A small bit of pain for a whole lotta gain' is what my coach use to say to me,

Cheers

DYP

[benner]

For those of you watch the Dragons Den you may be interested to know there is an Irish guy Niall Harbison www.ifoods.tv as the main feature on this week's episode. Monday 18th 9pm BBC2.

From BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d2wxf

On the next show:
Attempting to prove they've got the recipe for success this week are chef Niall Harbison and his partner Sean Fee, who think their foodies website will prove a tasty proposition to the Dragons.

Niall is a current participant on the DIT Hothouse program, so we are all very hopeful the Dragons are good to him....

[Cutesaw]

finding the idea is the hardest part, after that you just need to spend countless days researching the net and have a short term plan..

[kentwo]

how much does it cost to participate there, please ?

[Heisenberg.]

Hi
If you PM Benner i'm sure he can answer all your questions.

[benner]

The Hothouse is funded by the Dept of Education and Science. There is no cost to joining the course. You get free office space for one year, free access to the workshops, 10 free sessions with a mentor. Minimal charges for your own phone and internet. And we don't take an equity stake in your business.

The reason it's free is that a successful business will create jobs and generate revenue from within and outside Ireland. It is a long term investment from the government.

[jaycen]

Great thread guys, I have to agree, the net is the best research tool there is.

[DrW]

Hi There,
I am starting a small retail business and would like to know is there any websites with Footfall info?

[babba black she]

money
you need it to make it, as for the work shop in ireland nice idea but there are to many structures, not enough passion, Creation of a business is not creation of a product ,its just marketing a product, importing is the new business plan, lets face it..welcome to china..