Thanks ShowerGem – brilliant new Shower Organiser

ShowerGem now Available to Buy Several years ago (2016?) I met a young Mayo student in GMIT called Sean McGarry. He had a really cool idea which solved the problem of untidy showers in your bathroom. I went home to tell my wife, Stella about his proposed invention for a new design of Shower Organiser. […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Entrepreneurship, Marketing for Startups
Oct, 22, 2018
2 Comments.
20 Business Building Ideas from ‘The 1-Page Marketing Plan’ by Allan Dib [Book Review & Infographic]

The 1-Page Marketing Plan Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out from the Crowd By Allan Dib I recently received this Marketing book in the post for free. I had been asked nicely in advance if I would review it. I like reading business books so I agreed (no fee involved). The book […]
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Book review, Marketing for Startups, Personal Opinion
Aug, 16, 2018
No Comments.
Role of SEO in marketing your freelance business

Have you ever wondered does SEO, inbound marketing and a blog work for a small business? How important is SEO and content marketing within the marketing mix of a freelancer. I think that the answer is that it has been beneficial for my self employed consultancy and training business based in the West of Ireland. […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Marketing for Startups, Tenders, Web Marketing
Aug, 10, 2016
No Comments.
Thumbs up for Hubspot Academy Inbound Certification

I received an email from Hubspot Academy around the 3rd week of December 2015. The email offered a free online programme to learn all about Inbound Marketing. After undertaking the programme, in short intervals over a few days, I successfully took the test and received my Inbound Certification as per badge on sidebar. This post […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Marketing for Startups, Web Marketing
Jan, 05, 2016
3 Comments.
[Book Review Part 2] Recommended Startup Marketing Books for Fast Growth Businesses

This is the second part of a two part blogpost about books directly focused on Marketing for fast growth oriented startups. My most recent post reviewed the superb ‘Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers’ by Gabrial Weinberg and Justin Mares, 2014 and this post will review Startup Growth Engines: Case Studies on How Today’s […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Book review, Marketing for Startups
Jul, 28, 2015
No Comments.
[Book Review] My favourite Startup Marketing Books for Fast Growth Businesses

In December 2013, I wrote a blogpost selecting my four favourite Lean Startup books from the many books on the area of Lean Startup. Since then I have been on the lookout for books more directly focused on Marketing for fast growth oriented startups. This article highly recommends two such books: 1. Traction: A […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in 404, Book review, Marketing for Startups
Jul, 22, 2015
5 Comments.
Customer personas, who rules the roost?

Looking to create a ‘customer persona’ to inform your marketing and promotion and wondering how? This post may be helpful as it firstly provides an example and then lists some questions to consider as you formulate a description of your Bullseye customer. Starting Point : Who is the Customer? Any discussion of marketing […]
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Marketing for Startups
Nov, 07, 2014
2 Comments.
Fifteen SME Marketing & Business Strategy Takeaways

I was delighted to be asked by Kinvarra Business Network to attend a recent meeting to present on a topic of my choice within the area of Marketing. I prepared for a slot of about 40 minutes plus Q&A. 15 Marketing Takeaways I decided to title my presentation ’15 SME Marketing & Business […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Marketing for Startups
Nov, 04, 2014
No Comments.
Crafting your Value Proposition : EI New Frontiers Blogpost

I was delighted to be selected as one of the first contributors to new Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers blog – the post addressed ‘how to craft your value proposition‘. New Frontiers is Ireland’s national entrepreneur development programme, delivered at a local level by Institutes of Technology and funded by Enterprise Ireland. I am delighted […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Marketing for Startups, Personal Opinion
Oct, 19, 2014
No Comments.
Format for one page marketing plan

I recently delivered a Training Workshop on behalf of Gert O’Rourke for Galway Rural Development. As the session concluded, I shared my format for a – the 2 page pdf is free to download! How to complete your One Page Marketing Plan The One Page Marketing Plan is precisely that – there should be […]
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in 404, Marketing for Startups
Mar, 28, 2014
5 Comments.
How to write your Press Release?

Public Relations (PR) is coverage of your business in the media – tv, radio, newspapers, magazines and now blogs – as part of their news. While there is no money paid to the organisation for the coverage it does take time, effort and money to get lots of positive coverage for your business. The flipside of course is that not all PR is 100% positive but that is another story. The blogpost will summarise some key points to remember when preparing a press release to promote your business. They are two key stages in the process. The first is to think about an angle that makes your release newsworthy. You then need to write the release in a style and language that suits your audience. The second key stage is distribution of your release. At the end I will talk about the advantages of using a PR agency.
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Marketing for Startups
Jun, 17, 2011
No Comments.
Six key tips for tendering

Six factors critical in formulating your approach to tendering in Ireland are discussed in this blogpost. It is critical to select your tenders carefully, read the tender invitation carefully and structure your submission to demonstrate that you meet all the requirements of the tender.
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Grants and finance, Marketing for Startups, Tenders
Apr, 30, 2011
2 Comments.
How to listen to your customers to get them to buy?

When you meet a potential customer are you confident that you can figure out how to help them to buy from you? Take the listening test to find out if you are a good listener. The biggest challenge facing the modern salesperson – remember every startup promoter is the key Salesperson – is helping potential customers to buy.The more you listen to your customer the more you learn and the easier it will be to create a compelling case to facilitate your customer to buy your product/solution. Do not be fooled, listening is not easy but if you can master the skill it will help your stand out from the crowd.
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Marketing for Startups
Mar, 24, 2011
3 Comments.
Sources of Secondary Market Research

Marketing Research is hugely important for the promoters of new business endeavours to include: new products; geographic or market expansion of an existing product; or start-up businesses. Secondary research is hugely important for both consumer and business-to-business (B2B) market research. Secondary research lays the groundwork and primary research helps fill in the gaps. By using both types of market research, business owners get a well-rounded view of their market and have the information they need to make important business decisions.
Read More- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Marketing for Startups
Mar, 10, 2011
1 Comment.
Marketing : The starting point for Startups

My presentation to Limerick City Enterprise Board Startup Network ‘Marketing : The starting point for Startups’
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Marketing for Startups
Mar, 04, 2011
No Comments.
Online Training Powered by Thinkific
INC60 PODCAST WITH DONNCHA (30 mins)
In this podcast, Donncha introduces the concepts and To Dos for people who want to develop an idea into a business in Ireland.
Produced by Inc60.com
Donncha on Sunday Business Show (Today FM)
Donncha interviewed by Conall O'Morain along with Olive in MediStori all about Crowdfunding.
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Services Menu
- Services Offered by Donncha Hughes Overview
- Assistance to Start and Grow Your Business
- Group Business & Management Training
- Graduate Entrepreneurship
- Start Your Own Business
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- New Frontiers Training
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- Training – Sales Planning
- Create Financial Projections full day Workshop
- One to One Advice
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- Business Plan Preparation
- Feasibility Studies
- Preparing Financial Projections for Startups & SMEs
- Mentoring & Business Consultancy
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Free Downloads
- Infographic 1 PAGE Marketing Plan by Allan Dib
- SCCUL Address September 2014
- One Page Marketing Plan (Editable)
- Startup Q&A Business Clinic
- Start a Social Enterprise Programme Specification
- Goals Setting Slides for Mayo Open Coffee
- Business Plan Preparation Worksheet
- Goal Setting Worksheet
- Google-Site-Sign-Up-Instructions.pdf
- One Page Marketing Plan
- Editable Business Model Canvas (MS Word)
- Business Plan Write-Up Case Study
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Donncha's Slideshare
Recommended Books
Business books can be a brilliant resource for startup founders and senior management of SMEs. The trick is to read the Good ones - here are some of my suggestions as per my shelf on GoodReads
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