|
Meet the Buyer event sees more than 600 delegates take part
 |
| Enterprise Minister Jonathan Bell MLA and Margaret Hearty InterTradeireland |
|
InterTradeIreland's Meet the Buyer Belfast event took place on the 17th June 2015 and drew over 600 delegates from across Northern Ireland and further afield.
If you were unable to attend this event, you missed out on a valuable opportunity to get in front of some of the key public sector buyers in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
However, don't despair, we have uploaded the directory from the event to our website which contains useful information about the buyers and business support agencies who attended the event.
The event was held in partnership with OGP, CPD, Invest NI, Enterprise Ireland and Strategic Investment Board. Latest news Apart from meeting with key buyers, SMEs heard about upcoming opportunities and all of the latest public procurement news. One such news item was in relation to forming consortia. With recent changes to procurement practices by governments North and South, resulting in increasingly larger contracts being issued, delegates heard how it is now more important than ever for companies to consider forming consortia to bid for tenders. This may seem daunting at first, but there is support available so they do not need to face this challenge alone.
Support available InterTradeIreland tender supports include a consortia facilitation service, tender workshops for beginners and more experienced suppliers, a tender alert mobile app and a range of guides and useful information to help SMEs increase their chances of being successful at winning tenders.
Find out about our range of tendering supports by visiting www.intertradeireland.com/tendersuccessfully/ .
Other useful information is available from the Department of Finance and Personnel & CPD including the Public Procurement Guide for SMEs .
 |
|
| |
|
MDs, CEOs - Are you up for the Challenge?
 |
| Clada, Galway took the challange - Pictured Jimmy Ward Clada, Aidan Gough InterTradeIreland and Joseph Owens Clada |
|
Awareness of the market and knowing your company’s capabilities are two of the most important factors when looking to capitalise on new markets, cross-border or off-island.
Companies need to first ask how they can adapt their products or services to ensure that they are still relevant in the current market, then consider what new opportunities exist for their current products, be aware of what their competitors are doing and identify what makes them unique.
BUT HOW?
You know you need to commercialise new and different ideas, but unfortunately we know that humans are typically less than 10% successful at doing this. If this human gut feel is how you channel your budgets then even a fruit machine would treble your odds of success!
As MD or CEO of your business, ask yourself......
- Do you recognise that your business used to be innovative but is now fast approaching a commodity?
- Are your ideas always reacting to the market rather than leading the market with new and different things?
- Does your sector demand innovation but you are typically bad at ideas or do you have tonnes of ideas that float around forever without ever really going anywhere?
- Be honest – where are you on the business life cycle? Are your turnover and profits growing? Or are you cutting costs and seeing a decline?
- Do you have big aspirations for your business, wanting to generate huge profits but knowing that the same old improvement activities will only give you marginal gains.
Challenge Programme
On the InterTradeIreland Challenge Programme you will learn a method for increasing your speed to market by around 6 times and decreasing cost and risk by up to 80% when commercialising new products and services or opening up new markets for your business.
The method used in the Programme is underpinned by decades of research and data into how to successfully open up new markets, how to maximise profitability and how to create and commercialise new products and services.
- You will learn techniques covering three major challenge areas: How to create new ideas and capture existing ideas, how to evaluate them to pick the winners and how to rapidly commercialise them in a manner which minimises time, money and risk.
- You will learn a methodology we call fail fast fail cheap that highlights major areas of unknown or risk areas and enables you to deal with them quickly, cheaply and move forward.
Because at the end of the day, if you’re not unique you’d better be cheap. We believe it’s better to have a monopoly rather than a commodity.
Hear what other companies had to say about the Challenge Programme here.
So go on - challenge yourself and Discover What’s Possible for your business visit www.intertradeireland.com/challenge
| |
FREE events for SMEs looking for practical cross-border advice
A series of events aimed at providing SMEs with practical advice on cross-border matters such as tax, pensions, and other pertinent issues has just been launched by ASM Chartered Accountants . These events will be delivered in partnership with our cross-border experts at InterTradeIreland.
The events will aim to promote business growth through cross-border trade, by providing advice and consultancy to businesses operating between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Advice and Guidance
The guidance will focus on matters of business growth, specifically, taxation, payroll, pensions and VAT, with emphasis on the issues faced by those companies and business people that have interests in both jurisdictions.
The initiative will provide valuable information on setting up a cross-border business including up to date regulatory information to keep your business compliant and identifying potential sources of financial funding.
Event dates The first Cross-Border Bureau events will take the form of free seminars in Newry (10 September), Belfast (17 September 2015), Magherafelt (24 September & 5 November), Dundalk (8 October) and Dungannon (22 October), at which delegates will be addressed by keynote speakers from ASM and InterTradeIreland. Free downloadable materials will be produced by ASM for those who cannot attend in person. Schedule and Registration details The events are scheduled for the following dates and locations: 10th September –Canal Court Hotel, Newry– 8.00am to 9.30am 17th September – The Merchant Hotel, Belfast – 8.00am to 9.30am 24th September –Glenavon House Hotel, Magherafelt, 8.15am to 10.00am 8th October - Ballymascanlon House Hotel, Dundalk, 8.00am to 9.30am 22nd October – Quinn’s Corner, Dungannon8.00am to 9.30am 5 November – Da Vinci’s Hotel, Derry/Londonderry - 8.15am to 10.00am To book a place on one of the six Cross Border Bureau seminars, visit www.asmaccountants.com. About ASM ASM Chartered Accountants has grown rapidly since its launch in 1995 and is now one of the largest accounting and management consultancy firms in Ireland, with offices in Belfast, Dublin, Dundalk, Dungannon, Magherafelt and Newry. The company's 160 strong team comprises specialists in a range of accountancy disciplines and related skills that include: corporate finance, audit and accounting, internal audit, consultancy services, taxation, hotels, tourism and leisure, insolvency, and forensic accounting.
| |
Are you organising a business event or activity for startups?
Set to be one of the biggest Startup events in the world, Startup Gathering 2015 will take place across Ireland from 5th – 10th October, with over 50 events being planned across 5 days, 5 industries, and 5 Cities.
Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford will all be promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and Ireland’s startup sector to national and international audiences.
Be part of it and get involved!
Events and Initiatives- how can I get involved?
Various events and initiatives will be held throughout the week at the various locations to promote entrepreneurship,to increase participation in startup activity, to promote role models and to showcase services and supports available to startups in Ireland. These will include:
- Learning by Doing: Startup Weekends, Hackers/Founders team building events, “Meet Startup Communities” open days in each City Region.
- Sharing role models: Startup Grind, visits by role models, to classrooms across the country.
- Showcasing: Events that bring support service providers to the attention of potential entrepreneurs.
- Networking: Bringing international startups and investors to Ireland for the week.
If you would like to get involved and are planning any such activities - get your event or initiative included. Visit www.startupireland.ie/startupgathering for more information and submit your event here .
The Startup Gathering provides the ideal platform for event partners/leaders to join forces with us in getting your events/initiatives to a much larger audience. Events and initiatives that partner with the Startup Gathering will receive comprehensive national and international marketing and PR support.
InterTradeIreland supports Start Up Gathering
InterTradeIreland is one of the key Public Sector bodies supporting the initiative alongside Enterprise Ireland, IDA and the LEOs. We are fully committed to playing our part by creating and participating in events that promote the work of the Startup Gathering.
Background The Startup Gathering is a major initiative of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2015, and a key building block towards making Ireland a global startup hub by 2020. The initiative is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and sponsored by Bank of Ireland, who will actively support the initiative through their network of branches and commitment to the development of the SME sector in Ireland. To view the Startup Gathering Launch Event Video go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lRWEhUGJXo
You can follow all the action on Twitter by searching for hashtag #SISG2015 or follow @startupireland
| |
Discover sales opportunities on your doorstep
Whether your business trades in Northern Ireland or Ireland, you should know the full extent of the opportunities that exist right here on your doorstep and that it is possible to build an export business without ever leaving the island!
The cross-border market is often underutilised but it is a logical first step to wider export markets, giving SMEs experience of varied legislation and working with a different currency but has the comfort of being more accessible. Once mastered this makes looking at European markets a more realistic prospect.
InterTradeIreland has funding and support available especially for SMEs.
The size of the market
Cross-border trade is currently valued at c€3bn so substantial opportunities exist but many small businesses quite simply just don’t have the time, resources or knowledge about where to start. InterTradeIreland’s recent Business Monitor results (Q1 2015) reported that the key barrier to cross-border trade is management and financial resources.
InterTradeIreland offers SMEs a range of supports to tackle some of these issues.
- These include A Simple Guide to Cross Border Business which is often the first point of reference for any firm that is planning or implementing a strategy to enter the cross-border market. It offers up-to-date, user-friendly and comprehensive information on legal, tax and banking issues and it is FREE.
- For those questions not covered, InterTradeIreland has a Trade Accelerator Voucher worth €1,200/£1,000 for business advice to deal with cross-border issues.
- The Elevate sales development programme can help small businesses develop sales opportunities through first time cross-border exports. Assisting micro-businesses in particular, InterTradeIreland has an expert panel of almost 100 consultants offering specific expertise to identify and capitalise on the significant cross-border sales opportunities that exist on our doorstep. Consultancy time with a value of €6,000/£5,000 is available to SMEs for identifying sales leads in the cross-border market, negotiating deals, sharing relevant market insights, identifying market research requirements and offering advice on the development of marketing materials.
- For more established businesses looking to explore export options within the island, our sales programme, Acumen, can help SMEs fund key sales and marketing personnel in the cross-border territory and offers match funding up to €18,750/£15,000.
Visit our website, check if you are eligible and get in touch!
www.intertradeireland.com/salesgrowth
|
|
| |
|
Newtownards based See.Sense scoop another business award
 |
| Irene McAleese, co-founder of See.Sense with Rick Edwards and Anna Bance, who presented the award. Bance is the founder of Girl Meets Dress and was one of the judges on the panel. |
|
The Guardian Small Business Showcase awards celebrate innovation and excellence in small business. This year the awards received more than 1,000 entries across seven awards categories, from smarter working to home business innovation.
At a glittering event held in London, one of InterTradeIreland's Business Ambassadors - See.Sense was one of the successful recipients of a prestigious award that evening.
See.Sense is an award winning electronic systems design company specialising in cycling technology. Their first product is an intelligent cycle light that monitors and reacts to its environment, flashing brighter and faster to make cyclists more visible when they need it most. See. Sense successfully launched on the crowd-funding platform Kickstarter in November 2013 and is now stocked with Chain Reaction. Cycles.
At the Guardian Small Business Awards. the company won the 'Excellence in Marketing and PR winner' category - another accoldate to add to all their other recent successes!
See.Sense also won best Early Stage Company in Northern Ireland at InterTradeIreland’s Seedcorn competition in 2013. In May 2014, See.Sense became a finalist for NISP’s Invent2014 competition with their next product under development - a lower cost cycling power meter.
We at InterTradeIreland wish them every success with the continuing growth of their global business. Well done!
|
| |
|
WMB’s 9th annual Conference & Awards 2015
This year the theme for WMB’s 9th annual Conference & Awards is ‘Pay It Forward’. You too can pay it forward by nominating a deserving businesswoman or female entrepreneur for one of our six awards:
- WMB Businesswoman Award 2015
- WMB Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2015
- Newstalk WMB Social Entrepreneur Award 2015
- WMB Woman in Technology Award 2015
- Boots WMB Empowering Women Award 2015
- Sodexo WMB Female Newcomer Award 2015
The criteria for each award is detailed on our website and the deadline for applications is July 31st. You can nominate here: bit.ly/NominateWMB
|
| |
10 ways to look after your mental health
an article from mentalhealthorg.co.uk
Anyone can make simple changes that have a huge impact on their mental health and wellbeing. We've come up with ten practical ways to take care of yourself and get the most from life.
Mental health is about the way you think and feel and your ability to deal with ups and downs. Making simple changes to how you live doesn't need to cost a fortune or take up loads of time. Anyone can follow our advice.
|
|
|
