No support from Intero for a small ecommerce startup business

Sounds

I was out of work and had to attend meetings every month at Intero.
I do appreciate that there are services for the unemployed but for people
that have ideas for new business modules, their services are lacking.

Unless you're a carpenter, electrician or whatever Intero consider work.
They obviously have no consideration for people with entrepreneurial skills.

In today's world, if your business is not online, you're missing potential clients.

I've been involved in web development since I came online.
The first thing I did in 1995 was build my own java chat application.
It progressed from there, a lot of what I have learnt has been self thought.

I know that I have the skills I need to develop my own online business.
But you need funding to start any business, big or small, and support.

Intero called me in every month, sitting in an office asking me what I'm doing
with my life and what I'm doing to find work, it started to get on my nerves.
My time is precious and I will spend my time how I choose.

I'm not rude by any means, but I'm not afraid to say what's on my mind.
I told them yes, I'm available for work, but I want to work for myself.

Then we went down the whole what skills/qualifications do you have.

I hit them with an idea I was developing for a small ecommerce business.
During this time, I was presented with jobs.ie and other job websites.

It was also suggested I work in a cupcake factory, to fund my own business.
I thought grants were available to assist people start their own businesses.

FFS. that's not what you want to hear when your mind is full of ideas for
creating your own business, being self employed and working from home.
That's where I see me in the future, that's my vision of self employment.
If business takes off, I can develop it further, I'll never know if I don't try.

One thing I'm sure of, I don't want to do someone else's job for them.
I've done that for long enough and that's not for me.

So I asked, would you like to see something that I have been developing
The answer was, I know nothing about the internet, yet they were able to
present me with jobs.ie

I was asked if I would do some training, start up business course and ICDL
I also have Multimedia productions, I completed all courses this year.
Basically getting certified for something I have spent years learning.

I went back to Intero and told them I have completed the courses and that I
would like to move forward and find some funding to start my online business.
I asked them about the startup business grant.

The business involves managing dedicated servers, all services would be
distributed from these servers once payments are received from my clients.
Exactly how every website on the internet runs and manage their business.

They basically told me we can't provide the startup grant for someone who is
leasing servers, so I feel I wasted over a year of my life training in the hope
that Intero would support me in my ecommerce business venture.

Since then, I have been in contact with Enterprise board, and had a long
chat over Zoom with an adviser who thinks I should just go for it.
He asked me what's stopping me, I said money.

I've emailed Enterprise several times but have got no replies.

Another thing that pisses me off,
All these websites in Ireland claiming that there are funds available for
start up businesses, but when you get into conversation with them,
You find out that these grants are for people with existing businesses.
Existing businesses are not startup businesses.

Is that false advertising or what?
It seems like they are only interested if they know you're making money.

I can't go into too much detail about my business idea, because there's not
many people offering these services in Ireland, but on a global scale, there
are companies out there making millions for the same or similar services.

If I had the funds now, I'd have my business online by the end of the week.

I'm not sure what to do next, I've been out of work for a while,

I have tried using all open-source software to develop the online presence.
I registered a domain and have access to a dedicated server, I have friends
in the industry but they can't provide me with free services for my business.

I use the server to test my ecommerce setup but I'd need my own servers
to manage my own business and clients.

I love what I do, it takes a lot of time but at the end of the day, I can create
services that others can benefit from, involving music and streaming.

I have websites online that have thousands of visitors every month.
I do talk to many of them and it amazes me that they enjoy what I do.

I understand that it's not easy to listen to someone with these kind of ideas.
Like when someone asks me what I do, I know they can't comprehend what
it is or how it's done, or they consider it a waste of time because it's not
like their 9 to 5 lives, which most people are programmed into.

Well that's not me.

I don't really think like other people, not saying I'm more intelligent,
Just have different ideas on how I can create my own income.

I'm open to criticism but I'd much prefer to talk with like minded people.
People that can help me go further or just offer some good advice.

I'm rambling on a bit now so I'll end it here.

Thanks for reading.

twill

Do you have an Area Partnership locally? They often have business mentors who can help connect you with funding and provide training in relevant areas such as marketing, book-keeping etc. Example.

Sounds

Hi Twill,

We do Area Partnership yes, I might contact them again, it's been a while.
I kind of get put off when it comes down to the crunch, thinking too much.

To be honest, I probably don't have the best skills in bookkeeping.
But nearly every aspect of this online business is automated, right down to payments and invoicing.

Intero did say if I get this started, they could have someone visit me every few months, to do accounts etc.

Thanks for the advise.

listermint

Consider getting a job to fund the initial start up.

You know like most people would do.

Your story is a who's who of handouts.


Great start. Seems you want other people to do the work for you.

Sounds

How do I want others to do the work for me when I've built it myself, I'm just having financial issues at the moment.
There are thousands of small businesses in Ireland that have started with help from small grants to get them started.

So they all started with handouts?
I will also avail of loans to finance this startup.

listermint

Sounds wrote: »

How do I want others to do the work for me when I've built it myself, I'm just having financial issues at the moment.
There are thousands of small businesses in Ireland that have started with help from small grants to get them started.

Are they all handout businesses?

I think you'll find those thousands of business didn't start from zero. Your looking to move from social welfare to grants for business in one swoop. Failing to demonstrate work ethic I've no idea how you think you'll get something like this off the ground. Tbh.
.
Pie in the sky.

Which is why I said if this is really your dream then you'd do anything for it. Including saving up from an actual job.

smellyoldboot

If you can't access grant funding now, would you not get a loan to get you up and going and then try access funding when you have the business up and running?

It's not what you want to hear but if there is no aid available you will have to sort it yourself or put it on the long finger and get a job to fund it.

Sounds

I'm doing what I can with the time I have available.
It's not my fault I'm out of work, I had other responsibilities.
Time to think about me and what I can do with the skills I've learnt.


If it takes putting myself in depth, then I'm willing to do that too.
I believe I can make this succeed if I get it off the ground.

But I agree with you, I'm not going to get money for nothing,
I do have a good business plan, but that's not everything.

I've never done this before so it's a step in the dark.
And I've already asked myself the same questions you asked me.

There are pros and cons to every venture,
If I listened to every negative though, I wouldn't even consider starting this type of business.

JMR

Not meaning to sound harsh but I found your post extremely hard to follow, even having re-read it a few times.

It seems you have a business idea in the online space and are annoyed that the state will not provide funding to assist you in this startup venture?

If that is the case, it's a rant and you need to move on and seek other avenues of funding to achieve your goal.

If there is a specific question you have, maybe post again in a clear, concise manner and others may be able to assist

MrsBean

Sounds wrote: »

I do have a good business plan, but that's not everything.

Do you have an actual business plan? Words, numbers, calculations etc all collected and presented on paper? Any investor or lender will expect to see an actual business plan, not just to hear a business idea.

Many people think their business ideas are great, a sure shot. But when you actually sit down and figure out how it is supposed to generate money while also streaming money into overheads, equipment, advertising, staffing etc it is a completely different story.

Do not underestimate your costs. Be as accurate as possible or overestimate if you are not sure.

You will find templates for a BP and guidance for doing the numbers on localenterprise.ie

Have Intreo refused you the Back To Work Scheme? If so, why?

If not, why haven't you applied for it? It will allow you keep your welfare for 2 years while you get the business off the ground. And provide up to 2.5k in start up grants. That's a good start as can be expected from Intreo.

Sounds

You're probably half right, this was a bit of a rant last night, I have my moments.
I have nothing against hard work, or people offering me help to get back to work.
It's just I felt my idea wasn't really taken that seriously, before I took these courses,
Now that I have completed the course, I'm still back at square one, not much support.

A bit disappointed but what can you expect, I'm not the kind of person to ask for handouts either,
I went along with it to better my chances, obviously that's not the kind of business Intero support.

I'll definitely get back to some kind of employment soon, which may help me fund this.

I do have a decent business plan prepared on paper, and profit and loss statement,
But It's difficult to come up with figures for a business that I haven't actually started.
I have an idea of how much we would charge for services, also included on the e-store.

On the financial side, I doubt Intero will be helping with the startup grant, I am looking to other sources.
It'll be difficult I know, considering this is a new business module and people don't know about my service.

I haven't applied for back to work allowance yet, it's kind of like, get back to us when your'e ready to start.
Working from home is an option, but that's not really ideal, it has to be a proper registered company.

I'm not going to give up on the idea, maybe put it on hold for a while, until I am in a better position financially.

Sounds

I have another meeting with Enterprise in early January, about micro financing, and I may be eligible for the online voucher.
The online voucher is a government grant (not a handout) that people starting out in business can apply for, to help with costs.
They already have a copy of my first business plan, which should help give them a clearer understanding of the business goals.

When I read about the online voucher, it said that a business has to be in operation for at least 6 months, I misunderstood that.
I think you can setup your business, register the business name with CRO and after 6 months you can apply for the online voucher.

There are literally thousands of businesses in Ireland that were completely funded by government grants, including ecommerce.

We went through some details this morning on the phone, I'll probably attend more workshops and online seminars/courses.
If you have a sound business module, then you can avail of government support, it's a start in the right direction.

So I have a few months to work on other aspects and fine tune my business plans.

It's not uncommon to have ideas, but developing those ideas and trying to turn them into a successful business is scary.

The feeling of self achievement when you create something others can enjoy is unreal,
If I could continue to do that and make an income from it, then I can't think of a better job.

pnecilcaser

What about the trading online grant from the Local Enterprise Board. I believe (up to December 31st 2020) they are offering a voucher to cover 90% of the costs up to 2k but after that date, they are reducing it to 50% (still a decent deal). You have to do a 3 hour online course with them and meet some other criteria to get the voucher but you can use it to build a website and promote your business with online ads

Heart Break Kid

It says a lot to an investor when an entrepreneur shows up asking for money but hasn’t put anything in themselves. Work for someone else for a bit, get some cash together and then go asking for grants.


“It's not my fault I'm out of work“

It’s not but from initial OP you stated you don’t want to work for someone else. Intro just want to get you back to work as quick as possible.

Finally, while 1000,s of business get a startup by grants, they’ve often invest thousands of euro of their own money first.

Best of luck with your startup either way, I wouldn’t begrudge anyone trying to do it on their own. Deal with food start ups and they put in some amount of hours to keep their dream alive.

Sounds

Hasn't put anything in themselves, I have put a lot of time into this, many hours, many days and nights.

I'm not a genius or someone that thinks they can do it better than everyone else, that's not me.
I have a good plan and I really want to test it in a professional environment, the world of online trading.

Do you mean like spending over a year developing their own application to manage their online business?
Or taking advice from people who have been in business and have the skills to help you develop your ideas further.
Or taking advice from someone who suggests you need more training, when they won't even look at what you've created.

It's not something that's new to me, I just have to figure out the best way to finance it without getting in too much debt.

There's a big difference between setting up a brick and mortar business and setting up an online business.
I understand it's going to take a lot of work and dedication, I have no problem staying up nights to make this happen.
And if I am lucky enough to get my own business off the ground, I'll spend a lot of time working with clients one on one.

I didn't mention I'll be paying out of my own pocket, as well as loans to help finance it, whatever it takes.
If investors feel they can't profit from my business, then there's no need to ask them for their support.

Advertising is going to be a big part of this, and obviously word of mouth, especially from clients who have used the service.
I'll save myself some time and money by using software to post to multiple social media platforms. AdSense is another option.
But AdSense is very competitive because you're dealing with companies that have unlimited finances for their advertising campaigns.

The difference between someone that wants to start their own online business, paying thousands for developers etc.
And someone that has enough skills to build their own secure platform for their online business, will save me thousands.

I'm not afraid of hard work, I've been there, but it's time to put some thought into what I can achieve with what I have learnt.
I think it would be easier to go out and find another job, but that wouldn't make me happy, no sense of achievement in that.

Apologies if I sounded like I want everything for nothing, but you have completely misunderstood why I posted this thread.
If there is support out there to help me get where I feel I need to be, I'll gladly accept their help, and take their advice.

I'm not sure about the online trading voucher, we will go over that when I talk to Enterprise again.

I must have been registered with Regus, because I kept getting emails about that online voucher and when I got in touch with them,
They said you'd have to be in business for more than 6 months, but when i spoke with Enterprise, it was explained differently.
You can setup an online business and register it, business name etc. as long as the business is registered and active for 6 months,
Then you may be eligible to apply for the online voucher, I need to investigate that in more detail.

dpforce

Based on your posts - I bet it's webhosting and web development business. Web development these days means Wordpress and Woocommerce. Why do you need server and all the expenses and headache that comes with it? Start with reseller account and upgrade as it grows. If it fails to take off the ground - it's your time only that you had to invest.

Mrs OBumble

dpforce wrote: »

Based on your posts - I bet it's webhosting and web development business. Web development these days means Wordpress and Woocommerce. Why do you need server and all the expenses and headache that comes with it? Start with reseller account and upgrade as it grows. If it fails to take off the ground -

Even if you have plans for more than this - how do you plan to sell yourself to customers? Am really struggling to see why anyone would buy from a small one-man-band with great idea but not existing customer base to prove he can deliver.

jelem

their job is to get you to dig a hole at your expense and get rid of you quick.
why they not pass you to those that can help is because they do not help.
as you found out after taking course it is just an excuse when there is no job to put you in
(except menial cupcakes or part time as cheap labour). It seems you have learnt that the
governments advertising is just that --- advertising to make it look as if they doing something.
Welcome to real world. there have been citizens with degrees etc. in engineering whom cannot get
work or support in ireland and end up working in cafes. whilst constant under thumb of someone
in "dole office" with how many jobs you apply for and your benefits being reduced.
if you from another country and cheap labour you can pick fruit and you out of clutches of the above mentioned
whom just want rid of you.

Sounds

It's not a web hosting business, although it will depend on server performance and up-time.

What business has customers when they''re just started out, they had to start from somewhere,
Unless they've been doing it in the background for a while and built their customer base that way.

Reselling is not a bad idea, but then you're depending on someone else to keep your services and customer base online.
I can go down the white label road and create a completely cobranded service, I won't be selling someone else's products.

Any decent cms, wordpress or other, is good for the front end, I can do that too, but there won't be any login for the website.
The billing platform would be integrated to the front end and customers would sign up through that instead of the main site.
The website and billing platform would be kept on separate servers for security reasons, so I'll need separate servers.

There is extensions for woocommerce for web hosting, and recurring payments, it's not really suitable for this product.
I have build other billing systems, with open-source and paid solutions, and I can communicated with the developers.

Dedicated servers are more expensive in Ireland than data centers in other EU states, for the same specifications.
In fairness, it's not that expensive to manage a fully dedicated solution, for around a grand a year, and have the capability
to offer my web services from my own servers, like other businesses, I'm confident in my capabilities to manage it myself.

I don't have all the answers, just trying to be positive and do it to the best of my abilities, if it fails or succeeds, it's on me.

Sounds

I knew they were preparing me for work when I took the courses, but if it helped me gain some new skills
in areas I was already familiar with, now I have certification that says I can use them to my advantage.

I just have a different mindset, I've been around this a long time and could turn it into a decent business.
When you don't have much financial backing and certain individuals don't see your vision, you look elsewhere.

I didn't find the kind of support I needed at the time, but there are other options.

I need to stop now because this thread is not a personal bio.

beauf

Do you have any recognized business qualifications.
Do you have any experience in running a similar business as your proposal same products etc)
Do you have any experience in working in similar business as your proposal (same products etc)

Is the business activity...

ineligible due to involving an unacceptable reputational risk. Ineligible activities include activities relating to: the gambling sector, including ‘gaming’ (as defined in the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956), adult entertainment, tobacco products and cannabis-based products which are not authorised as medicines;

Jim2007

Sounds wrote: »

It's not my fault I'm out of work, I had other responsibilities.

True, but it will be 100% your fault if you fail to get your business of the ground!

The fact of the matter is that there are lots of business ideas and plans out there, the majority will not get off the starting block because the owner will accept all kinds of excuses for not getting on with it. And of those that do about 9 out of 10 will fail and many of those who do succeed will have failed a few times already.

You need to be very determined and aggressive to push your idea through.

dpforce

OP - don't get it personal, but these are the questions that every possible investor/supporter going to ask.
These days when almost any possible technical solution can be setup in a matter of hours or couple days, so not to have even half baked MVP - isn't acceptable.
Step back, look critically at you plan and what you want to achieve, assess current situation, what you can do and what you cant - and start from there. Basic PDCA approach.
You can plan to rent whole Dundrum shopping center, but if you can afford to rent just one shelf in basement - you have to be realistic.

meforever

Not easy... Never was....and........... Not likely to change. You have limited beliefs in yourself, are all over the road and need to clear your head before even thinking of starting out. PM sent.

fritzelly

The business involves managing dedicated servers

in the hope that Intero would support me in my ecommerce business venture

You are all over the place - which one is it? Two very different businesses

I have tried using all open-source software to develop the online presence.
I registered a domain and have access to a dedicated server, I have friends
in the industry but they can't provide me with free services for my business.

I use the server to test my ecommerce setup but I'd need my own servers
to manage my own business and clients.

The bolded bit is absolute rubbish - you can pick up a VPS for 10 euro a month and run hundreds if not thousands of clients off it

Sounds more like you have no idea what you are doing and just chancing your arm

Sounds

Are you serious? running dedicated services for 100's of clients on a cheap 10 euro vps, not an option.

There are people doing it the cheap way, but that's not for me thanks.
I want customers to know what they're paying for and the quality of service provided.
Printed in clear text, available services, server specs, datacenter location, network speed etc.

If you knew the product, like me, you'd know a vps is not the right solution, I've tested both.

A vps is a virtual private server, a segment on a dedicated server that runs multiple vps's.
Sure they can be scaled if it's a cloud setup, but they're not powerful enough for my needs.

A vps is not suitable for offering professional services to clients that require a dedicated solution.

The website could be hosted on a vps, but not 100's of client's services.

I'm not here to discuss my skills level, or what I'm capable of, I'll do that when presenting a live demonstration.
There will always be people that have no faith in you, especially ones that have never seen what you can offer.

Fritzelly, the bolded bit is true, a test environment will not be used for the final product.
Meaning the servers are for test purposes only, they can't be used to run the business.

Thanks for the feedback, criticism and what not, positives and negatives, all points taken.

fritzelly

You don't have 100's of clients

You start at the bottom not the top - you're not AWS

Sounds

I never said whether I had zero or 100's of clients, just pointing out I won't be offering them services on vps.

listermint

Sounds wrote: »

It's not a web hosting business, although it will depend on server performance and up-time.

What business has customers when they''re just started out, they had to start from somewhere,
Unless they've been doing it in the background for a while and built their customer base that way.

Reselling is not a bad idea, but then you're depending on someone else to keep your services and customer base online.
I can go down the white label road and create a completely cobranded service, I won't be selling someone else's products.

Any decent cms, wordpress or other, is good for the front end, I can do that too, but there won't be any login for the website.
The billing platform would be integrated to the front end and customers would sign up through that instead of the main site.
The website and billing platform would be kept on separate servers for security reasons, so I'll need separate servers.

There is extensions for woocommerce for web hosting, and recurring payments, it's not really suitable for this product.
I have build other billing systems, with open-source and paid solutions, and I can communicated with the developers.

Dedicated servers are more expensive in Ireland than data centers in other EU states, for the same specifications.
In fairness, it's not that expensive to manage a fully dedicated solution, for around a grand a year, and have the capability
to offer my web services from my own servers, like other businesses, I'm confident in my capabilities to manage it myself.

I don't have all the answers, just trying to be positive and do it to the best of my abilities, if it fails or succeeds, it's on me.

You can literally do what you are proposing with an AWS license and not alot of cost, with inbuilt management profiles to scale up or down on a whim.

Im not sure what you are bringing to the table here ?

Also businesses are moving away from dedicated server racks, they are costly cumbersome and single point of failures. Plus dealing with a 1 man show who can skip out on you at anytime.... Well ...

Sounds

I wasn't bringing anything to the table by posting here, if anything I expected a grilling,
Just wanted to hear people's opinions, good or bad, and I definitely got more than that.

Some AWS services were down the last few days, many websites offline for the best part of a week.
Why would customers stick around after that? especially when they need their service online 24/7.

I know what you're saying about costs, keep them low, I can manage this for a few 100 euros per month.
That's not a bad investment for a small startup business, at least when it comes so server management.
Having a datacenter I trust and can communicate with quickly if there's issues, that's important also.

It could be built on a cloud solution, scaled up as you suggested, and it's more expensive in the long run.
If we run into problems, everything can be migrated to new servers, back online in less than two hours.

It may take one person to set this up, it will take more than one person to manage it, I can't stay awake 24/7.

I don't get your thinking behind one man show, millions of sole traders do very well from their businesses.
Just because you're one person doesn't mean you can't achieve your goals, I'm willing to put my into this.

If it fails, I'll do something else, but it will never succeed if I don't try.

Now I'm done.

listermint

What AWS services where down all week and websites down all week ? First I've heard of it.

If anything that's nothing to do with AWS more to do with the site owners AGS and or DR if something goes wrong.

With AWS you would deploy immediately and be back up in minutes depending on scale of service.

Jim2007

A vps is not suitable for offering professional services to clients that require a dedicated solution.

If you can’t design a virtualized professional solution, then the competition has already left you behind.