Getting funding for start up company?

joePC

Hi all,

Just wondering what (if any) are the options available to people / students starting a new business and need funding?
Is heard there is a grant system from IDA but not too sure.

Thanks for the replys. JoePC

Meh

Try Enterprise Ireland, they hand out money to "high-potential" startup companies.
http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/StartBusiness/Start%5CAre_you_eligible.htm

The Corinthian

Enterprise Ireland won’t be interested in you. You’re too small.

I suggest you look to a grant from your local enterprise board, the most basic of which is a feasibility study grant.

Feasibility study grant is meant to allow a pre-set-up business examine whether it’s variable or not. As such it’s assumed that it has not been set up and that the study will simply be used to study whether it should be set up. It is important to note that it not there to fund the actual start-up (however, if the study de facto funds it, well, that’s all right).

The size of the grant is variable; however, you will receive up to a maximum of 50% of your costs (which may include salaries). As such typically you’ll only get up to about € 5,000 (on expense of €10,000). However, it is the simplest and fastest of all grants to get (as long as you have a clue) and will get you in the loop of the various assistances that local enterprise bodies can supply.

Note, as with any other grant you’ll need to be a registered business (incorporated AFAIR) and have a current tax clearance cert.

halenger

Enterprise Ireland are interested in (tech) companies who will be doing a large portion of exporting.

But yeah your local enterprise board has a number of different grants available. I've been meaning to update my business plan and apply for an employment grant. It'd be nice to get some sorta little income!

joePC

"local enterprise board"

Sorry for the ignorance, but where / what exactly is my local enterprise board?

Thanks JoePC

***********Update***************

Found it....

leahcim

Check out

http://www.startingabusinessinireland.com/welcome.htm

it has lots of information including how to go about getting funding.

Good luck with your venture.

jesus_thats_gre

I wouldnt even waste my time.. Myself and two friends from college approached them about settings up a IT related company (broadly speaking, web, software, PC builds etc..) during our degree and they were absoluely no help at all.. Granted we were like an average student but I think we actually intimiated him at one stage.. Basically he was fook all help and someone else point blank told me its about who you know.

Specky

This has been covered in previous threads.

Enterprise Ireland have a very specific set of criteria that you have to fit in order to get in the door. Even if you meet the criteria you still really need some sort of introduction to get in there. Millions of people are knockig on their door every day with "the next big thing" so (and this is coming from someone who's been around the loop and finally got in the door with EI) I believe they are deliberately negative to put off as many people as possible, so that only the really stubborn ones every get in.

You have to be in a business that is either exporting or representing significant import substitution opportunities, you have to be getting to a turnover in excess of €1m and employing a staff of >10 people within 3 years. If you can prove you are going to do these things they may talk to you.

If you do get in the door, you'll be expected to apply for a feasibility study grant before you do anything. This is worth about €19,000 in grant assist, but you have to spend the money to get it back so don't get too excited.

Once you complete this you may find more doors open to you within EI to get more money but often they are only willing to match the funds invested in you by others so they aren't a "soft touch".

City and County Enterprise Boards are very easy to get into but the question is whether they're worth the effort.

You can get about €6500 in employment grant for each new job you create or get a feasibility study grand worth €6500 but again you have to spend this amount to get it back, you have to create full time jobs, you have to provide proof of PAYE/PRSI payments for the new jobs, you have to complete the feasibility study within 6 months, you have to fill out their annoying application forms, you have to meet with their annoyingly un-inspiring people etc etc.

However, having said all of that, you may get access to good information through your CEB, they may be willing to appoint a mentor to help you formulate your ideas more clearly (could be good or bad, about 80% of the mentors they use are completely useless). Also, some CEBs (not all of them) have an equity based investment scheme that can provide you with around €65,000 in equity finance in return for preference shares. This works out basically as a loan to your company. You probably aren't going to just "get" this though without putting a bit of work into convincing them you're a good investment.

Getting funding to start a business is one approach, but to be honest you're better off just getting on with the job. If you don't have enough money to just get on with the job then I'd think very carefully about whether it's the right time to start, especially if you're just aiming to start "another little business" (I'm not being condescending here, but if you don't think you're going to do the €1m turnover in 3 years style plan then you're going to be "just another little business" and if you can't make cash come in the door within the next 2/3 months you're going to fail anyway).

I'd think long and hard about whether you really want to go into business anyway. It sounds cool but at some point it will almost certainly lead to sleepless nights, no cash in your pocket or in the bank, no social life, friction with your partner/family as a result of all of the above etc etc.

Yes there can be good rewards if all goes well, but the risks and the stress involved in getting there are significant.

Anyway, some guy spouting on a bulletin board isn't going to stop you doing it if you really want to, so good luck if you do. Talk to the bank now while you still have money in there. Tell the bank manager what you want to do, ask for an overdraft now while he still likes you. Make a business plan, a simple "sanity check" one. What will you sell, what will it cost you, what will people buy it for, how many can you sell, who will be pissed off when you start taking their customers, how will they react, what will it cost you to survive every month, what will it cost you to run the business, does the money in exceed the money out? If you don't like the answers you get to these questions don't ignore them, walk away.

nahdoic

If you do go into business, don't try to be jack-of-all-trades which is what it sounds like you are attempting to do. That's what I did, and I think a lot of businesses make that mistake earlier on. It may not be a bad idea, because you get to find out where the demand is and what people really want.

Specialise in a particular area that you have an interest in and there is demand for, and be the best in that area. And if possible offer a product or service that costs you next to nothing to re-produce. It doesn’t matter if other people are doing it, just so long as people would be willing to switch to you if you were doing it better.

I started off being a jack-of-all-trades web development (read mugs game) then went on to specialise in a particular area (read easy money). It's just so much more rewarding trying to be the best in one particular area, than just going in various directions wherever the will of other people are taking you.

So if you do go into business my advice would be to be focused and specialize in a particular area.

djk1000

I've setup a couple of successful businesses over the years and I've learned the hard way. No one will give you grant funding unless the idea is original, the wont support you if your going to be taking customers away from other businesses in the area. The bank will give you about 40-50% of what you need if you have guarantees for the borrowing. Enterprise Ireland support is for fast growth potential export oriented stuff (biotech and the like) IDA fund foreign companies setting up in Ireland.

Specky

Hmmm...I don't dispute the flavour of your response djk1000 but I don't think it's entireley accurate in it's content.

Seperate the issues of true start-up companies and the funding of early stage, "high potential" businesses.

EI do have money, a lot of it, and they do give it to early stage companies, even to some early stage companies that don't have particularly original or unique ideas, and sometimes to early stage companies without particularly original or unique ideas that aren't even very likely to get them off the ground.

(Look at the list of companies funded over the last couple of years and you'll find several of them have already gone bump despite receiving money from EI).

Agencies like EI (and really anyone with money to invest) are really investing in the people not the idea. They tend to go for high risk projects because they're hoping to find the next Iona or Elan. I don't think this is good value for money, but it's the way they work so <shrug>.

There are "trendy" areas such as biotech but they're still funding all the other areas as long as they "perceive" significant export or import substitution potential (the formula is €1m turnover and >10 staff within 3 years but they're starting to realise the >10 staff idea is a bit silly given the propensity for outsourcing).

You can still get funding to set up a mushroom farm...<once again shrug>

Once you get beyond the "true" startup stage it is always worth talking to EI. They can be a significant source of funding, especially if you are also seeking funds from other sources such as VCs (and there is money available here too for the right companies), where EI can often offer to match whatever funds you can raise. They also have a worldwide network of offices that can help you with distribution and sourcing channels etc.

I am not a fan of EI. I do not think they do what needs to be done for small enterprise in this country, they're an "old boys network", they just don't seem to be able to understand what it's like to be a startup...which is really weird given that it is their supposed to be doing. There's an enormous gap in between the CCEBs and EI into which many many indigenous companies fall, they need more than the CCEBs can offer but they don't qualify for EI support. As a result, these companies are not (in my opinion) getting an equitable share of the available support, not growing fast enough or failing altogether, thus denying the state the potential to benefit from their success (through taxation).

If anyone is interested in getting involved in early stage business supports for the real world PM me. We have a programme running that may be able to help.

Banks (as you say) are probably the most reliable/least effort source of realistic working capital.

njoe

Hi all,

this could be in the wrong place as its a while since someone posted here but here goes.
I am looking to start up my own company and have a few questions if any one has any answers it would be a great help.I am one of the few lucky people to have a full time job but i also fix domestic appliances on the side (relativity inexperienced) this would be the area that i would like to setup my own business as there is currently very few people doing it in my area. to run aside this i want to start a shop selling small spare parts like washing machine and dishwasher seals, motors, carbon brushes, along with every day things like hoover bags, hoses, filters. I think this will work as there are two small companies doing this in towns that are about 15 miles away from my position and seem to be doing ok.
I am just wondering would any one have any contacts or leads as to where i could i could buy some of these appliance spares in bulk to start up a small shop?

any information would be really really appreciated.

Peterdalkey

njoe wrote: »

Hi all,

this could be in the wrong place as its a while since someone posted here but here goes.
I am looking to start up my own company and have a few questions if any one has any answers it would be a great help.I am one of the few lucky people to have a full time job but i also fix domestic appliances on the side (relativity inexperienced) this would be the area that i would like to setup my own business as there is currently very few people doing it in my area. to run aside this i want to start a shop selling small spare parts like washing machine and dishwasher seals, motors, carbon brushes, along with every day things like hoover bags, hoses, filters. I think this will work as there are two small companies doing this in towns that are about 15 miles away from my position and seem to be doing ok.
I am just wondering would any one have any contacts or leads as to where i could i could buy some of these appliance spares in bulk to start up a small shop?

any information would be really really appreciated.

OP start a new thread looking for domestic applience spare parts suppliers, this one is dead and wrong title.

cheers

Peter

njoe

cheers mate ill try that