Advice for new online business

maperoo

Hi Guys,

I am in the process of starting a new business. I know I may be biaised, but in my opinion it's a great idea, with a lot of potential.

It is an online business I have been able to develop the concept and have it functionally working as required. So at this stage I have a fully functional site, and a plan.

At this point then I'm going to start looking for a grant and advice from my local authority. The next stage would be to get some quality web design house involved, as while i can functionally get everything working (programming/database wise) I am aware of my limitations, and I'm no designer.

I live up on the North side of Dublin in Artane and am wondering are there any recommendations for who to approach and what assistance they can give on a new startup such as this one?

Sincere Regards,
Alan

norm

You can apply to your local enerprise board for a web site design grant. If i remember correctly, they offer up to 50% of cost, to a maximum of €2,500.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

forbairt

The Scientist wrote: »

Digiweb (who host this site) would be a very well respected web design Company.
http://hosting.digiweb.ie/web-design/

Really ? I wouldn't put them into that category
(yet ... I don't think the omniserve templates are that professional yet)
While the omniserve sites look quite good and they'll probably get a presence online I wouldn't be able to recommend them.

The Scientist wrote: »

Also, This guy was looking for feedback on his new site over on the Web Development forum this morning. It's very well created site IMO (and a great idea!).
His website is in his sig so i would check it out.

Davids work is very nice and from the work I've seen I'd recommend him as well

maperoo

Hi Guys,
Apologies, I should have clarified, my issue is not is trying to find a design company, there is a wealth of great web design companies in Ireland, and the "This guy" you pointed out is no exception.

My primary issue is really around funding. I work 9-5 in my regular job and spend as much time as I can in the evenings and weekend working on the website concept and the business plan. At this stage I am ready to get a design company involved to show them the concept site and for them to inject a brand and quality design into it.

While I am prepared to pay this myself, I am hoping that there is a local authority that can help to support a new local enterprise. From what norm was saying it appears to be to a maximum of €2,500, however I would have thought that may not apply if the whole business is web based. Any further thoughts would be very helpful.

Kind Regards

Heisenberg.

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maperoo

Ouch...dragons den... not quite ready for Duncan Bannatyne just yet.

Those links are great resources links, thanks very much.

Regards,
Alan

DJB

Regarding funding, personally I'd stay away from the grants thing. I've tried that route before and I was jumping through hoop after hoop. A real painful process. Although in saying that, I may approach them with one of my projects when it's out of the early startup stage so I can take it to the next level. For early startup stages - a small investment coud get things off the ground nicely.

I found it easier to deal with private investors. It might be good to talk to a couple of design/development companies and give them a brief and explain what stage you're at. You've got a spec, you're in the process of acquiring funding and you're looking for a preliminary quotation for your needs. This won't take up too much time of the companies your asking (maybe deal with 3 - individual, small company, larger company - that you like) until you get what funding you need and are ready to start off the project.

When you have the costs involved, double it for initial marketing spend and this is the figure you should pitching as your required investment - whether it be from grants or private investment.

You should probably drop down to Open Coffee in Dublin and have a chat with some of the guys and girls about what they did. It's on every second Thursday and you meet lots of entrepreneurs that have gone through this and can offer their own advise and experience. Check out www.opencoffeedublin.com for the next one - should be next week.

Well, hope that helps and feel free to mail me directly if you have any questions.

Rgds, Dave

p.s. "This Guy" thanks thee for your recommendations and kind words

maperoo

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the tips, and that opencoffeedublin group looks interesting.
Will keep ye posted on developments anyhow,
Thanks,
Alan

antoinolachtnai

First, well done on getting this far.

The most important thing now is to get into business.

How much money do you think you will need to do that?

Can the business bring in cash and begin to sustain itself?

You shouldn't need that much to get going, especially if you are able to do all the techie stuff yourself.

How glam you need to go with the design is going to depend on the sector you are in and how big the plans are. It might be worth investing a good bit of money in a good identity and templates, or it might not.

drunkmonkey

norm wrote: »

You can apply to your local enerprise board for a web site design grant. If i remember correctly, they offer up to 50% of cost, to a maximum of €2,500.

What's the criteria for this, I applied but was told no assistance would be given as I was in the retail business....

Dosen't make any sense as the aim of the project was to drive the business forward and employ more people...not a bad idea in a recession....

Enterprise board sucks unless your wearing a skirt in my opinion.....:mad:

narkymarky

Alan,
have dealt with a company in galway in the past re. site design and appearance and found their approach straightforward and open. should be fit to give you at least a ballpark figure for what you're after. company name is dabko.

on the grant issue, i would tend to agree with dave - there can be a fair bit of jumping through hoops. i suppose you need to weigh up the grant on offer against what the application process is going to cost you in terms of time and effort.

best of luck for the future.

mneylon

The Scientist wrote: »

Digiweb (who host this site) would be a very well respected web design Company.
http://hosting.digiweb.ie/web-design/

No they wouldn't!

Heisenberg.

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adrian.s

Hi,

Sorry for joining the party late, but there are couple of options available to you.

Since you live in Artane, have you called into the Hothouse guys on East Wall Road? Hothouse is an incubator program for startup businesses and runs twice a year. You'll typically need to quit your full time job though to take up this, but they provide office space, access to Enterprise Ireland's (EI) mentor program and access to apply for EI CORD funding which pays up to 38K a year to you. It can cover your salary or other costs in getting the business off the ground. EI will need to categorise you as "HPSU", check out [1] for what that means, for them to approve CORD.

One other thing to consider is doing an Enterprise Start program, I did this back in October and found it great. Part of the program was to get you to pitch your idea to a panel which included a few EI heads. From that course I was able to get in contact with EI. This program runs in various locations around Dublin.

Hope this helps you, and Good Luck!

Adrian.

[1] http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/StartBusiness/

aidan.connolly

Hi, I got a grant from the Fingal County Enterprise Board. ( 50% cost up to a max of EURO 1,000 ) I found them great, and unlike some of the previous posts, I had no real hoops to jump through.
One word of warning, you can't get a grant for any work you have had done already , or the associated costs for this work , before you get the approval.
Make sure you include photography costs if any, first year hosting costs etc, as I left them out. You can't go back after the event looking for these costs. I think you are in the area of Dublin City Enterprise Board, I have heard that they offer a higher grant

Good luck with your site.