Lean Canvas Free Online Training Programme

The idea behind the Lean Canvas is to quickly sketch the business idea instead of using several weeks to develop a business plan. I am delighted to announce that my latest online training programme, ‘Complete a Lean Canvas for your Startup Business Idea’ is now live. This blog post will explain what is contained in […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Lean Canvas, Online Training
Oct, 31, 2020
No Comments.
Organise GMIT New Frontiers One 2 Ones with Phase 1 Participants

As part of the New Frontiers Phase 1 programme in GMIT iHubs, Donncha will virtually meet participants for a One 2 One session to review their draft applications prior to final application on August 6th, 2020 New Frontiers Phase 2 Application – One 2 One As discussed at our workshop on Friday 19th June, there […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Lean Canvas, Management skills, Personal Opinion
Jun, 14, 2020
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What Enterprise Ireland are looking for in a New Frontiers Phase 2 Application in 2020?

Are you participating on one of the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers Phase 1 programmes being delivered by the Incubation Centres in the Institutes of Technology in Ireland? If yes, you may have started completing your Phase 2 application form … click here to download . As a trainer over the years on the programmes in […]
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Entrepreneurship, Lean Canvas, Online Training
Feb, 03, 2020
12 Comments.
Early Stage Startups – My Inc60 Podcast – From Idea to a Business

I recently met with Clare Carroll of Inc60 to record a podcast about the pre-startup and early stage business journey. The Lean Canvas as outlined in the book Running Lean is an ideal tool at this stage. The 30-minute podcast also discusses Sales, Mentoring, building your Team and supports for business. Thanks to Maria Staunton […]
Read More- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Lean Canvas, Personal Opinion
Oct, 06, 2018
2 Comments.
Business Model Canvas for Social Enterprise

The Business Model Canvas is a well-recognised tool for business planning for both Startups and established businesses. This article discusses the tool with specific reference to Social Enterprise citing examples of Irish businesses for each of the nine building blocks. BMC for Social Enterprise As I explained in this LinkedIn Pulse article entitled “Inspiring: Social […]
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Entrepreneurship, Lean Canvas
Mar, 15, 2016
1 Comment.
About The Startup Business Planning Jigsaw

Managing a startup business is NOT easy. Startup entrepreneurs have lots of balls in the air. Lean Startup books, theory and practice are brilliant but the question is which model or framework do you follow and when – and are they all relevant to an Irish startup situation? To address this dilemma Donncha devised the […]
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Donncha Hughes
- Posted in 404, Business Plans, Entrepreneurship, Grants and finance, Lean Canvas
Feb, 23, 2015
No Comments.
How to present data in a visual format?

Bullet charts are a superb data visualisation tool – if you want to present results of a metric such as Sales across two periods e.g. this year versus last year (or against this year’s target) in for instance a business plan update. The advantage is that they allow presentation of comparative information while also presenting […]
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Business Plans, Lean Canvas
Jul, 08, 2013
No Comments.
Drop the ‘Lean Startup’ buzzwords please. Promoters, show me the results!

I am proud to be an advocate of the Lean Startup movement. I have worked with lots of startups to firstly explain the principles and secondly to use the tools. Why – because when I read The Lean Startup, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development, particularly Running Lean and most recently The Lean Entrepreneur, the […]
- Posted by
Donncha Hughes
- Posted in Lean Canvas
May, 02, 2013
1 Comment.
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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
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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
- Business Plan Workshops
- New Frontiers Training
- Marketing Skills Workshops
- Training – Sales Planning
- Create Financial Projections full day Workshop
- One to One Advice
- Business Advisory Service – Consultancy
- Business Plan Preparation
- Feasibility & Commercialisation
- Preparing Financial Projections for Startups & SMEs
- Business Mentoring
- Independent Evaluation
Free Downloads
- Brexit 20 Frequently Asked Questions (Enterprise Ireland)
- GMIT New Frontiers Application 2019 pdf
- InterTrade Ireland Business Cube
- One Page Marketing Plan (Editable)
- Executive Summary Sample - TLC Dog Grooming
- SCCUL Address September 2014
- Startup Q&A Business Clinic
- Infographic 1 PAGE Marketing Plan by Allan Dib
- Start a Social Enterprise Programme Specification
- Goals Setting Slides for Mayo Open Coffee
- Business Plan Preparation Worksheet
- Goal Setting Worksheet
- One Page Marketing Plan
- Google-Site-Sign-Up-Instructions.pdf
- Editable Business Model Canvas (MS Word)
- Business Plan Write-Up Case Study
- Guide-to-Self-Employment-in-Ireland.pdf
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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