Back To Work Scheme, Business Idea

I Drink It Up!

Hi there.

I have been on JSA for a while.

I recently was offered the job of being the Irish Agent for an American supplier of electronic equipment and green technology.

However, it involves me assuming some risk- I will receive the product from them, but in order to make money, I have to sell the product first.

How do I go about impressing The Dept without basically having everyone know my business, and yet show them enough information to convince them it is viable?

Basically, the American firm has no Irish rep, and they want me to be theirs as I have been in communication with them and am very familiar with their product, and have reviewed and tested it for them to their satisfaction in an Irish setting. They are an extremely competitive outfit and are offering green technology that is vastly superior to that which is currently being offered in Ireland. I am eager to get into this work but would like a safety net which allows me to operate in some comfort getting started.

Thanks for your time.

dbran

Hi

Go to your local Employment Partnership organisation and ask to go onto the Back to work Enterprise Allowance.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/social-welfare/social-welfare-payments/social-welfare-payments-and-work/back_to_work_enterprise_allowance

You will need to produce a basic business planand register for income tax etc. They will do this for you for free.

Good luck with the new enterprise.


Kind Regards


dbran

dermothickey

It's easy enough... The business plan is a basic one which you will need to prove that you are capable of running the business and have experience in that area, be it sales, logistics etc.. There is also a technical assistance fund offered by the dsfa which will help you with the essentials of starting a business. This is worth 1000 euro. So if you need office supplies, computer or advertising they will pay 1000 euro towards it with you paying 250 euro towards it. Go talk to the facilitator in your local welfare office and tell them you will be starting a business and they will give you the run down of whats needed from you...

Best of luck

I Drink It Up!

Hey fellas thanks for the advice. I have a solid business plan, but how would I set this up without giving away too many of the specifics? Thanks again.

dermothickey

Its confidential when you are dealing between you and the enterprise board and local partnership..when dealing with the welfare office what I found was you had to be straight with them though you can be vague as well...except your figures..have your figures spot on and you cant go wrong.. In terms of the wording you use to describe your electronics, tell them your keeping your cards close to your chest. Tell them the superiority of your product and the extra edge it has. Though tell them you are keeping it secret for obvious reasons. From my experience with them recently as I have gone on to the BTWEA its simple enough really. They give you an application/business plan form which is very simple to fill in, and on the back of that you get your BTWEA. I wouldnt worry so much they seemed pretty keen on helping out when I was with them.If the enterprise boards offer you courses be very careful as all the courses you need to share your business idea with others. This was my fear too as I had a unique idea so I created a mock business, so in the end didnt get the full benefit of the courses. Looking back I should have just started the business before wasting a few months on courses.

I Drink It Up!

dermothickey wrote: »

Its confidential when you are dealing between you and the enterprise board and local partnership..when dealing with the welfare office what I found was you had to be straight with them though you can be vague as well...except your figures..have your figures spot on and you cant go wrong.. In terms of the wording you use to describe your electronics, tell them your keeping your cards close to your chest. Tell them the superiority of your product and the extra edge it has. Though tell them you are keeping it secret for obvious reasons. From my experience with them recently as I have gone on to the BTWEA its simple enough really. They give you an application/business plan form which is very simple to fill in, and on the back of that you get your BTWEA. I wouldnt worry so much they seemed pretty keen on helping out when I was with them.If the enterprise boards offer you courses be very careful as all the courses you need to share your business idea with others. This was my fear too as I had a unique idea so I created a mock business, so in the end didnt get the full benefit of the courses. Looking back I should have just started the business before wasting a few months on courses.

Thanks for your advice again!....that's what I am going to do. I have already sourced the supplier of the products. They are the exclusive American agent for the Chinese manufacturer of this product and I want to sell the product in Ireland and have been offered the agency. My only worry then was that I would not be regarded as "self employed"....the reality is that the American branch guarantees me a supply of the product, they don't pay me and they are not my employer, so I need to spell this out to the Dept.

dermothickey

I Drink It Up! wrote: »

Thanks for your advice again!....that's what I am going to do. I have already sourced the supplier of the products. They are the exclusive American agent for the Chinese manufacturer of this product and I want to sell the product in Ireland and have been offered the agency. My only worry then was that I would not be regarded as "self employed"....the reality is that the American branch guarantees me a supply of the product, they don't pay me and they are not my employer, so I need to spell this out to the Dept.

Whe you say offered the agency...do you mean offered as the sole agent for Ireland, with sole rights to sell it in the country? Will the company be setting up shop here? Will they be marketing advertising and promoting the product for you? Or will this be all on your own back. Either way once you register as a sole trader you are self employed, and should have no problem getting on to the BTWEA. Your in the sale of goods category so if you plan on making more than 75k in your first year you would need to register for V.A.T. Though if in year 1 you wont reach over 75k you can't register or charge for V.A.T. I'd be pushing to see if you can become the sole agent for Ireland within time, once you have enough sales coming in to go direct with the Chinese manufacturer before somebody else does.

I Drink It Up!

dermothickey wrote: »

Whe you say offered the agency...do you mean offered as the sole agent for Ireland, with sole rights to sell it in the country? Will the company be setting up shop here? Will they be marketing advertising and promoting the product for you? Or will this be all on your own back. Either way once you register as a sole trader you are self employed, and should have no problem getting on to the BTWEA. Your in the sale of goods category so if you plan on making more than 75k in your first year you would need to register for V.A.T. Though if in year 1 you wont reach over 75k you can't register or charge for V.A.T. I'd be pushing to see if you can become the sole agent for Ireland within time, once you have enough sales coming in to go direct with the Chinese manufacturer before somebody else does.

I will be the only person selling the item in Ireland, though I will not have secured a sole agency per se, in effect I will merely have beaten others "to the punch" so to speak. The advantage of having an American trading partner is that THEY guarantee me that the product is good, which means I can guarantee the customer over here. Anything happens, I can pass it on to the American partner. Of course, this makes things a bit more expensive but I also benefit from piggy-backing on their technical expertise until I myself get more proficient.

Following your advice, therefore, I would already be in business and have the benefit of their guarantee and their expertise whilst I wait to acquire my own. It's the safest way I can do it. That way the opportunity doesn't disappear while I am waiting to come up to speed. I think it is the best arrangement.

There will be no "setting up of shop" from the American end of things, and my own business will be more online and door-to-door based.

The American partner has the sole rights in the USA to the sale and retail of the product. They are also a bricks-and-mortar business with an online facility.

You are right, once I sell enough units and have the expertise, I can approach the Chinese manufacturer myself, I am sure I can recruit some Chinese people in Ireland into facilitating this, though I would also like to retain some personal/business arrangement with the American partner.

Sky is the limit I guess.

Thanks again for your advice Dermot. As I say when I get up and running I will do the rounds and offer the product at base cost to anyone who helps out along the way.

Thanks again.

dermothickey

give us a shout when you have it..you can pm me with all the details and stuff, when your up and running

I Drink It Up!

dermothickey wrote: »

give us a shout when you have it..you can pm me with all the details and stuff, when your up and running

Sound, thanks!

ceallach

Do you know how long the application/approval process takes??

dermothickey

im still waiting for it to be sorted since mid january...but they know about it and am ALLOWED WORK AWAY

million79

I Drink It Up! wrote: »

Sound, thanks!

Hi,I Drink It Up
Interested the job.I'm from China,living in Ireland over 6years,know to find a real manufacturer for you.Thank you!