Sean Gallagher Business Mentoring. What does this forum think of this?!?

HellFireClub

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/presidential-election/gallaghers-useless-advice-at-euro4aminute-left-me-feeling-sick-2911605.html

A 22-year-old shopowner who was left bitterly disappointed by Sean Gallagher's €500 bill for business advice says he feels "pretty sick" when he hears the presidential candidates' promises to young people.
Kealan O'Connor, from Navan, Co Meath, said that the presidential favourite promised him two hours of mentoring at €250 an hour -- but he said the meeting lasted just 90 minutes and he was still charged €500.
He said his session in February with the businessman and TV star, which promised to bring his "business to the next level", was "useless" and he felt deeply let down.
Mr Gallagher has become the bookies' frontrunner in the election race after pledging to help young people get off the dole queues and set up businesses.
His father, Eugene O'Connor, booked the mentoring session for February so they could get some guidance on how to get Kealan's budding confectionery company off the ground.
They also hoped he might give them some tips on a number of other ideas they had, including a plan to install domestic wine cellars.
The O'Connors were initially surprised when Mr Gallagher requested full payment in advance of the two-hour session and cashed their cheque immediately, almost two weeks before they met.
"At the very least, I expected a receipt in the post a few days after sending the cheque, but it did not come for a month and even then I had to request it," Mr O'Connor senior said.
The session had been booked to take place in Dundalk, but Mr Gallagher requested that it be changed to Dublin.
They arrived at 2.30pm, half an hour before their session was due to begin at 3pm because they were paying him "more than €4 a minute".
"I spotted Sean in the lobby at 2.40pm and introduced myself. I told him we would wait for him in reception. Then, 3pm came and went, and at 20 past, I decided to go and find out what was going on," said Mr O'Connor senior.
"The receptionist pointed me to a nearby room and I saw Mr Gallagher and his PA sitting there and having a good laugh at our expense. I didn't feel like laughing at all.
"We felt it was so unprofessional. It was almost 3.30pm by the time we started. That was €125 up in smoke. There was no apology. But we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and were sure he would make up for it at the other end.
"As the session progressed, it was as if he was winging it. At one stage, Mr Gallagher said, 'sweets are bad for teeth'. I couldn't believe my ears. I replied, 'and cars kill people'.
"Then he asked us if we had looked into grants from the Enterprise Board. That's not what we came to the meeting to hear. You can get that sort of information on Google.
"I wanted my son to leave with his chest pumping with motivation but the whole thing was totally uninspirational. It was the sort of mundane spiel you'd get in a public house or on the sidelines of a football pitch."
At 4.45pm, Mr Gallagher's PA came in and said he had a train to catch. Ten minutes later, he ended the session.
"We were stunned," Mr O'Connor senior said.
"We ended up getting an hour-and-a-half of his time for €500. We sat in the car afterwards, looked at each other and thought, 'what a waste of time and money!'"
In the promotional material for his mentoring sessions, Mr Gallagher promises to give clients "specific strategies and feedback that will catapult their business forward".
He says he will provide a "roadmap for growing revenues, gaining traction in the marketplace and achieving goals."
The O'Connors waited seven weeks for some follow-up material to arrive but it did not.
"The whole thing was an incredible let-down," said Mr O'Connor senior, adding that the "whole experience was a major disappointment from start to finish".
In response to the O'Connors' complaints, Mr Gallagher accepted last night that a fee of €500 was charged to them for their mentoring session, and that no follow-up feedback or a report on the session was provided to them.
In a statement, he said he was unaware of the O'Connors' dissatisfaction and would like to meet them to discuss their concerns -- but he refused to comment on the allegation that the session only lasted 90 minutes.
He said the O'Connors had come to him with three business ideas, none of which had "a business plan". Mr Gallagher said that he appraised the ideas and "advised the clients that he always cautioned against multiple plans and suggested they should concentrate on one project". He said he assessed each concept and advised on whether or how they could be taken to market.
Yesterday, Kealan was contacted by a member of Mr Gallagher's team, who asked to speak to him but he declined.
"It's a bit late at this stage," said Kealan.
"When we saw Mr Gallagher on 'Dragons' Den', we thought he might be able to help us but I knew within 10 minutes of our mentoring session, that he just wasn't interested.
"When I hear him making so many promises to young people on the campaign trail, I feel pretty sick. He certainly didn't help me. It felt like he just didn't care."

ImDave

I think you really have to take an article such as this with a significant grain of salt. Fair enough the story doesn't read very positively for Gallagher, but why when this guy was given the opportunity to discuss his grievances with him did he turn it down?

I have to say that having had experience in meeting Sean Gallagher as a business contestant on Dragons Den that he seems to me to be a very nice and was genuinely interested, even after the filming he was still the same guy.

That story while it does seem bad doesn't really seem to add up either.

HellFireClub

ImDave wrote: »

I think you really have to take an article such as this with a significant grain of salt. Fair enough the story doesn't read very positively for Gallagher, but why when this guy was given the opportunity to discuss his grievances with him did he turn it down?

I have to say that having had experience in meeting Sean Gallagher as a business contestant on Dragons Den that he seems to me to be a very nice and was genuinely interested, even after the filming he was still the same guy.

That story while it does seem bad doesn't really seem to add up either.

I personally think Sean Gallagher is completely overselling himself on the business front but reading this article, I was left asking myself what on earth the guy who went to the seminar or whatever it was, was actually thinking???

I think the trend these days where people who claim to be entrepreneurs, need to be absolutely handheld through their entire entrepreneurial journey, be it on the Apprentice with Bill Cullen or the likes of your man mentioned in the article above, in all seriousness, what are these people thinking when they decide that they want to work for themselves?!?

If you are relying on Bill Cullen or Sean Gallagher to inspire you and to somehow sprinkle some magic dust on you that will make you successful in business and give you an easy ride of it, then I think you are really deluding yourself and a part of me blames the likes of Sean Gallagher and Bill Cullen for taking advantage of gullible folks like your man in the article, who don't understand that running your own business is damn hard work.

I'm certainly not saying that I have all the answers, but the last thing I would do as an entrepreneur, is go to one of these seminars, because life experience has taught me that there is no 1 hour or 1.5 hour motivation lecture that can magically transform my business, I can only improve it by making the right decisions every day and working as hard as I can. Insofar as I consult with other people, I'd be much more inclined to take soundings off lads I know who are also where I am at, and certainly not off some self professed "guru".

It really disappoints me to read these kind of articles, you can't really blame Sean Gallagher or Bill Cullen for taking complete advantage of people who just don't get the basic fundamentals of self employment and running your own business.

Bandara

I'd imagine when they started pitching 3 completely different random business ideas to him he knew it was pointless and wrapped it up.

What I don't get is if they had a problem they should have communicated it to him at the time or soon after, and when the report didn't arrive why didn't they ring him then instead of waiting 20 months to give an interview to a newspaper?

And now when its highlighted to Gallagher and he contacts them to make it right they don't want to know?

A complete non story being pumped out there to make Gallagher look bad.

ImDave

Hammertime wrote: »

I'd imagine when they started pitching 3 completely different random business ideas to him he knew it was pointless and wrapped it up.

+1 I'd imagine.

They probably went in with the attitude that they had these three great ideas and all they needed was Sean Gallagher to tell them how to make each happen.

HellFireClub wrote: »

I personally think Sean Gallagher is completely overselling himself on the business front but reading this article, I was left asking myself what on earth the guy who went to the seminar or whatever it was, was actually thinking???

Absolutely, just because he has had to my mind one or two successful businesses (and let's remember, only moderately successful at that!) doesn't mean he is the holy grail of business development consultancy.

mikemac

I though this was recent news, at least from this summer

But it was February

And being dragged up now just before the election. Convenient that.

Gallagher has a PA and contact details and if you have issues with a service there are lot of steps you can take before going to the national media.
I'm sure the Indo paid the O'Connors nicely for that story

Bandara

mikemac wrote: »

I though this was recent news, at least from this summer

But it was February

And being dragged up now just before the election. Convenient that

February 2010 !

maxer68

This guy very obviously went into the meeting expecting to come out ready to be come a millionaire.

He was disapointed that it did not reach his expectations and so like many people do, he goes off and blabs to the press hoping for cheap publicity.

As usual, the hysterical journalist takes one side of the story, believes every single word that si said and creates a non-story for the newspaper.


What this campaign has showe me is the standard of journalism in thei country is head to the low standards of the UK gutter press and there is no decent journalism left.

Pity

edanto

To me it reads like Gallagher's people only contacted the O'Connors yesterday when they knew that this was going to be in the papers.

And I'd be very dubious that the O'Connors were paid for the story in the Indo - sure it's news. Trashy papers pay for celeb gossip all the time, but something like this is a news story. The O'Connors were probably giving out about him in their local bar or something and a local jouranlist picked it up and knew it could be a national story this close to the election.

Nothing dodgy at all about it at all. If you want to read dodgy reporting, you should check out the fawning and uber positive coverage that Metro Herald are giving to Gallagher every day, total spin job. Wouldn't be surprised is their political editor and SG were both in Ogra FF. But not for long of course, and not very active at all of course.

HellFireClub

Your man had an idea that involved fitting wine cellars to houses, I mean in all seriousness, the Celtic Tiger is long over son, for Christs sake get real ffs!

RATM

The 22 year old does sound a bit naieve in all of this.

However Gallagher has a watch like any of us and he would have known well that they did not complete the full 2 hours. I don't think the guy can complain about the advice he got because it is surely just that, advice. But shortchanging him on time and being late to begin was out of order.

YouBuyLocal

RATM wrote: »

The 22 year old does sound a bit naieve in all of this.

However Gallagher has a watch like any of us and he would have known well that they did not complete the full 2 hours. I don't think the guy can complain about the advice he got because it is surely just that, advice. But shortchanging him on time and being late to begin was out of order.

Gallagher may have been arrogant. He may have been dealing with a pressing issue. He may have gone into the meeting with ears open and found the pair to be confrontational about him suggesting to stick with one idea and subtly chastising them for not developing a business plan for any of the three, thus forcing Seán to cut short a meeting that he believed was completely pointless.

There was probably some mention of a business plan in some prior e-mail. Then the lads probably hadn't a clue how to write a business plan or what it was and skipped over it. I certainly didn't know what a feasibility study was starting out from Arts in UCD, and didn't know how to write a business plan. Took a long time to properly formulate and its something that is an on-going process.

Thats just speculation, but merely taking the word of someone annoyed at the waste of 500squids is also speculation in my book. He may want to save face and "get one back" on the guy who "short-changed" him.

Propably-probably-probably it was just a two hour farce with Gallagher acting a little peeved and arrogant and this clown & his son acting like they paid for the business Messiah - but all they got was a very naughty boy!

Probably should be buried in the history books as a non-event. If we criticised everyone who acted a little arrogant sometimes there would not be a single candidate left in the country.

HellFireClub

YouBuyLocal wrote: »

Gallagher may have been arrogant. He may have been dealing with a pressing issue. He may have gone into the meeting with ears open and found the pair to be confrontational about him suggesting to stick with one idea and subtly chastising them for not developing a business plan for any of the three, thus forcing Seán to cut short a meeting that he believed was completely pointless.

There was probably some mention of a business plan in some prior e-mail. Then the lads probably hadn't a clue how to write a business plan or what it was and skipped over it. I certainly didn't know what a feasibility study was starting out from Arts in UCD, and didn't know how to write a business plan. Took a long time to properly formulate and its something that is an on-going process.

Thats just speculation, but merely taking the word of someone annoyed at the waste of 500squids is also speculation in my book. He may want to save face and "get one back" on the guy who "short-changed" him.

Propably-probably-probably it was just a two hour farce with Gallagher acting a little peeved and arrogant and this clown & his son acting like they paid for the business Messiah - but all they got was a very naughty boy!

Probably should be buried in the history books as a non-event. If we criticised everyone who acted a little arrogant sometimes there would not be a single candidate left in the country.

I think it wouldn't be at all unreasonable to hold the opinion that Sean Gallagher has noticed that his business interests, which were hugely dependant on the property industry during the boom, aren't growing any longer, and on the back of the reputational overhang, that he has sustained from those days, he clearly decided that he would use the prestige that he has managed to carry over from those days, onto Dragons Den, for the purposes of making a household name of himself.

And from there, he gets into business mentoring/coaching and has used that as a springboard to his next venture, which is obviously the presidency.

If Sean Gallagher has all the answers, as he clearly does claim to have, because he claims to be able to sell this wisdom to people who will pay him to attend one of his seminars, then maybe his track record as an investor on Dragon's Den should be examined and allowed to speak for itself.

Of course, Dragon's Den isn't about job creation or a return on investment, or business improvement or entry to market, or anything like that. It is about making household names out of the "Dragons", which I believe it is corporate selfishness at it's very worst.

Dazzler88

I don't think it matters how Gallagher felt the meeting was going,he was getting very well paid for his time and didn't fulfil the agreed time that he was paid for.

IMO Gallagher is a money hungry entrepreneur,who is using his fame and humble beginnings to try and win over the Irish people in this election.

He is definetly not the man to lead this country,he has Fianna Failer written all over him.He paid himself a salary of €860,000 between 2008 and 2009 from his company Smarthomes,despite the fact the company was losing money.Im not surprised he is happy to take the presidential salary of around €200,000.

maxer68

Dazzler88 wrote: »

He is definetly not the man to lead this country,he has Fianna Failer written all over him.He paid himself a salary of €860,000 between 2008 and 2009 from his company Smarthomes,despite the fact the company was losing money.Im not surprised he is happy to take the presidential salary of around €200,000.

this is the problem with crap tabloid journalism that has permeated the indo in particular and which has been a very sad feature of this campaign - we're now in the same gutter as the ridiculously written british press.

The REAL fugures (which are buried in the article you take the figur from) is a TOTAL of €830,000 was paid to BOTH partners in the business combined. It included 2 years rent on a substantial business premises and patent fees all of which were agreed with by the shareholders of the company. Also it was a private company, so unless the money meant others were unpaid (no) then they can do what they want.

The ACTUAL salary figure was region €130k & €170 in both years - at least he got it from his own private company and not a "charity" organisation like Mary Davis does.

maxer68

according to the latest opinion polls (sunday times & sunday biz post) - this guy spent €500 and got almost 2 hours with the future president of Ireland - what a bargain!

If only he knew that back then!:D

Paddy power -
Gallagher 1/5
Higgins 4/1

Name your price on the others.

deaglanmac

i don't like this Cavan upstart. He's a snake in the grass. He's no president. It will be a shame and an indictment of the voting majority.

Trader1991

maxer68 wrote: »

according to the latest opinion polls (sunday times & sunday biz post) - this guy spent €500 and got almost 2 hours with the future president of Ireland - what a bargain!

If only he knew that back then!:D

Paddy power -
Gallagher 1/5
Higgins 4/1

Name your price on the others.

I wouldnt sit down with him if he was paying me!

maxer68

deaglanmac wrote: »

i don't like this Cavan upstart. He's a snake in the grass. He's no president. It will be a shame and an indictment of the voting majority.

Is this purely just an opinion? While you are entitled to your opinion, it is just that and thankfully others have different opinions.

This is a business forum and from a business perspective and representing Ireland at trade meeting abroad, I'd rather someone who has experience of the ups and downs of Irish business than someone who is purely a career led politician of the socialist ilk.

Trader1991 wrote: »

I wouldnt sit down with him if he was paying me!

again - an opinion and just that. imo, he's done fairly well for himsewlf, Smarthomes could have collasped under the number of developers who did not pay them, but instead it has re-invented itself in the energy saving sector. Not an easy thing to do and from a purely business perspective (business forum) he should be congratulated. - Then again, this is Ireland and anyone who shows signs of success is automatically regarded with suspicion.

RATM

maxer68 wrote: »

again - an opinion and just that. imo, he's done fairly well for himsewlf, Smarthomes could have collasped under the number of developers who did not pay them, but instead it has re-invented itself in the energy saving sector. Not an easy thing to do and from a purely business perspective (business forum) he should be congratulated. - Then again, this is Ireland and anyone who shows signs of success is automatically regarded with suspicion.

I'd have no problem whatsoever with someone being a success, fair play to them.

But in Gallaghers case it now turns out much of his success came from crony capitalism and being at the heart of FF where favours for the boys were the norm. He's been found out at this stage so we'll just have to wait and see if the people swallow his guff about cheques, shifting money from accounts, denying meeting and inviting criminals to FF fundraisers and then admitting it, etc or wether they'll stand up for the ideals of integrity and honesty that the office of first citizen deserves and demands.

maxer68

RATM wrote: »

I'd have no problem whatsoever with someone being a success, fair play to them.

But in Gallaghers case it now turns out much of his success came from crony capitalism and being at the heart of FF where favours for the boys were the norm. He's been found out at this stage so we'll just have to wait and see if the people swallow his guff about cheques, shifting money from accounts, denying meeting and inviting criminals to FF fundraisers and then admitting it, etc or wether they'll stand up for the ideals of integrity and honesty that the office of first citizen deserves and demands.

I love this - a classic anti FF post.

But it seems the anti FF people have no problem with SF/IRA links with criminals, murderers & bank robbers. Or any problem with FG's golf outing last year in K Club which was very well attended by developers and other business people who paid very handsomely (5k) for a fourball. Or FG & Lab's other dinners / golf outings that happen quite frequently and where donations of up to 5k are requested.

Maybe its only wrong for FF to hold these fund raisers, but fine for FG / Lab & SF to do so???? and at the same level of money too!!

Bandara

maxer68 wrote: »

I love this - a classic anti FF post.

But it seems the anti FF people have no problem with SF/IRA links with criminals, murderers & bank robbers. Or any problem with FG's golf outing last year in K Club which was very well attended by developers and other business people who paid very handsomely (5k) for a fourball. Or FG & Lab's other dinners / golf outings that happen quite frequently and where donations of up to 5k are requested.

Maybe its only wrong for FF to hold these fund raisers, but fine for FG / Lab & SF to do so???? and at the same level of money too!!

Spot on. The naivety of some people is staggering.

A liar and a murderer involved with drug smuggling, protection rackets and robberies is saying that gallagher isnt fit to be president !

And for the record, I don't support FF.

conorcan2

deaglanmac wrote: »

i don't like this Cavan upstart. He's a snake in the grass. He's no president. It will be a shame and an indictment of the voting majority.

You registered just to make this comment? Who're you campaigning for?

Bandara

conorcan2 wrote: »

You registered just to make this comment? Who're you campaigning for?

Well it can't be David Norris cause its not 5 paragraphs long, its can't be Gay Mitchell or you would have fallen asleep reading it, Mary Davis eats her Special K at this time religiously, its not Micheal D as none of the words are in rhyming couplets, Martin McGuilty doesn't slag off Cavan- good honest fuel laundering land is Cavan.

Dana, is that really you?

Hammertime

Hammertime wrote: »

Spot on. The naivety of some people is staggering.

A liar and a murderer involved with drug smuggling, protection rackets and robberies is saying that gallagher isnt fit to be president !

And for the record, I don't support FF.

A few weeks ago I was all for S.G, even added him on linkedin and wished him the best. I loved the positivity.
As far as I can make out though he is not a successful businessman at all, which seems to be what he is running on president on the back of. He only employs 20 people. I employ many more then that albeit overseas but I wouldn't be running for president based on his kinds of numbers.

Looking into his companies and profit margins, there hasn't been any profit in 4 years from what I can see. Granted we are in a recession, but if someone is going to be president I would hope that they would be the type of talented individual that could turn a profit despite economic circumstances.

His track record seems to be a mass of loans and state aid, which isn't impressive either. It seems he has had a lot of help.
The mentoring, well if he was a really successful businessman with multiple companies (which he should be if he is running for president), I don't think he would have the time for 2 hour mentoring sessions for 500 euro or whatever. Getting down to the reality of that kind of stuff, he is making a quick buck there. I'm not sure I know any very successful businessman in the public eye overseas who does 500 euro mentoring sessions. Whatever about the chaotic proposal that young lad might have given him, to be chatting with his PA and keeping him waiting does not paint him in a good light at all.

I saw that his company lost 500K last year but him and his partner both drew large salaries over 130K each. This while the company makes losses and reduces staff. I believe they also took big patent royalty fees.
Personally I have a project recently that had very little cashflow, and the cashflow that we did have I made sure was put into the company to make it work and complete the project and also retain those employees needed. What i didn't do was make sure I got paid handsomely to the cost of others.
There is nothing wrong legally with what he's done there and this is his response to most of the questions about it. Its just being a ruthless businessman, and the business world is ruthless. However, I don't want that kind of individual, the kind who makes the selfish decision when faced with a dilemma to be the president of the country. If he is making that kind of decision internally in his company, it leads me to believe he does not have the selfless and generous personality needed to be president. Considering his previous connections and what they did with the same attitude its not a bright future.

Overall I'm pretty disappointed with him now. He got destroyed on Monday night. Probably the biggest part of that was because he's not good under the spotlight of pressure. MMcG, who I don't support for the record, makes a mockery out of him in terms of composure and ability to handle difficult questions. SG just seemed to bottle it, not articulate himself properly and generally fall on his face.
In the aftermath it seems like a lot of confusion has been spread to cloud things. He should have dealt with that much better at the time, instead he just dug a bigger hole for himself.

So on the basis of the above I don't think SG merits anyones vote let alone business people.

here2surf

maxer68 wrote: »

I love this - a classic anti FF post.

But it seems the anti FF people have no problem with SF/IRA links with criminals, murderers & bank robbers. Or any problem with FG's golf outing last year in K Club which was very well attended by developers and other business people who paid very handsomely (5k) for a fourball. Or FG & Lab's other dinners / golf outings that happen quite frequently and where donations of up to 5k are requested.

Maybe its only wrong for FF to hold these fund raisers, but fine for FG / Lab & SF to do so???? and at the same level of money too!!

Maybe it is only wrong for FF to hold these fundraisers seeing as how the parties legacy is riddled with corruption........

strandsman

Seanie Gallagher is a bluffer, He's no entrepreneur as he calls himself, he setup a business during the boom times supplying smart home technology to his FF construction buddies, it was a win win situation. I bet there are block layers or plumbers or other trades who setup sub contract companies and made nearly as much money as his company, In those days if you threw a brick up into the air a gold bar came back down!!. So he didnt invent the wheel or anything like it he was just a subby who got in at the right time. What has he done since?? There are plenty of entrepreneurs in this country of much higher caliber and more sucessful than him and they dont go around the country bragging about it they just get on with running their business, I have a simple theory, When I see an "entrepreneur" on TV presenting a programe or doing an interview etc that means they are in financial trouble. Aer arran boss is one example!!! Seanie G thought that if he got elected then 250K a year and pension for life he was sorted forever!!!! close but no cigar Seanie

tedshredsonfire

I will let all other comments stand but O Ceidigh is a class act who I have never met but hope to. Aer Araan went from €200k PA to something like €15m. The man has vision and balls to fight back when knocked down. He is fameous for AA but has a lot of other irons in the fire afaik.
So many company directors or companies struggle or go tits up and later go on to be a success. Fedex regularly had there planes impounded for non payment and the salesguys had to go out and sell enough to raise money to deliver what they had sold the day before. Thats presssure and look at it now. The Irish need to realise that people who fail are people who are trying. If everyone is too afraid to try well?

RATM

tedshredsonfire wrote: »

I will let all other comments stand but O Ceidigh is a class act who I have never met but hope to. Aer Araan went from €200k PA to something like €15m. The man has vision and balls to fight back when knocked down. He is fameous for AA but has a lot of other irons in the fire afaik.
So many company directors or companies struggle or go tits up and later go on to be a success. Fedex regularly had there planes impounded for non payment and the salesguys had to go out and sell enough to raise money to deliver what they had sold the day before. Thats presssure and look at it now. The Irish need to realise that people who fail are people who are trying. If everyone is too afraid to try well?

I'd agree here, O'Ceidigh at Aer Araan is a real gent and a complete battler. Ryanair have been trying to put him out of business for a number of years now (bad for the Irish consumer IMO) but he still keeps fighting on and offering a hospitality that is hard to match when flying to or from Ireland.

Otherwise I always feel that Irish entrepreneurs in the tech space get little or virtually zero coverage in the mainstream media, especially TV & Radio. People like Ray Nolan who set up Hostelworld.com and now is running Skyscanner.net and Worky.com , or Jerry Kennelly who sold Stockbyte to Getty Images for $500m and now CEO at Tweak.com or Mark Roden who is currently blazing a trail with Ezetop.com

All of these home grown tech entrepreneurs have created thousands of jobs, both directly and indirectly. Even with our low corp tax rates they have still paid millions into the exchequer from the sale of previous ventures, most of them sold in the hundreds of millions.

Yet the average Joe in the street wouldn't have a clue who they are in comparison to Sean Gallagher et.al. Bizarre but true.