Enterprise Board/Enterprise Ireland

Has anyone just ever gone in and spoken to them for advice etc? Or have you always had to pay for a mentor? Is there anyone in there one can speak to just for a chat and some advice?

IrlDigi

In my experience Enterprise Boards are excellent, but I guess it may depend on which county you are in.....

D

pseudonym1

While I have never been to them personally- they are helpful if and when you have a clear and consice plan. You can only fo to them once I have been told.

waxon-waxoff

You dont have to pay to get a mentor. I had a mentor from an enterprise board, told me common sense stuff i kind of knew anyway and pointed me in the right direction.

Best of all was having someone to talk to about the business, being self employed you can get off the beaten track when you have to do everything by yourself.

You have to pay for the various courses they run but its not too much.

I heard you have to pay €75 for a meeting with a mentor, in fact I read it online there recently and am currently unable to find the link. Where did you go where you didn't have to pay for a mentor?

waxon-waxoff

Met a mentor with (Dublin city) DCEB about a year ago and i didnt have to pay anything. Mentors get paid by the enterprise board id say, enterprise boards get paid by the taxpayer.

Trojan

Deleted User wrote: »

I heard you have to pay €75 for a meeting with a mentor, in fact I read it online there recently and am currently unable to find the link. Where did you go where you didn't have to pay for a mentor?

You don't have to pay to meet with an Enterprise Board mentor, in DCEB at least. However, there is a waiting list for mentors. Talk to your local Enterprise Board.

DesignLady

I had no wait for my mentor, the only condition was that my business plan had to be fairly developed before I could apply for one. (Fingal CEB) No charge at all and after the inital 2 hour meeting, 6 more hours of free assistance have been approved by the Enterprise Board. Have another meeting tomorrow. It's great just being able to confirm that I'm on the right track with the business side of things as that's not my area of expertise and I'd definately recommend applying. At the very least I think it's important to get known to the enterprise board in the early stages because you're going to need them eventually.

I think Enterprise Ireland work at a larger scale than the local boards so their fees and level of advice are different and businesses that have been running for a couple of years or so do have a charge in the local boards. I think it's about €15ph for Fingal CEB but for start-ups that doesn't apply.

This is where I got it from guys; http://www.dlrceb.ie/mentoring/one_to_one_mentoring.83.html

aidan.connolly

Hi,

I would suggest submitting your Business plan to the Enterprise Board and see if they can do something on the rates. I have a small business and I am also looking for some mentoring. I got the impression from my local Enterprise Board, that the fees are negotiable. They also mentioned the posibility of a few free sessions.
It is worth asking.

Good luck