I do not believe a man can ever leave his business. He ought to think of it by day and dream of it by night.
Henry Ford

Start A Business One Day Programmes

A startup business is a major endeavour. I firmly believe that every entrepreneur needs to plan. Advance preparation is critical. I provide a series of One Day Start Your Own Business programmes on behalf of Enterprise Agencies around Ireland. Here are outline agendas for two such programmes:

1. Should I Start a Business?

This one day programme is designed to assist a potential entrepreneur who is evaluating if they should start their own business, particularly if they have a defined business idea that they want to pursue. They will be provided with an overview of what is involved in setting up a business so that they can decide if it is for them and what are the steps they need to take to make it happen.

Course Objectives

– To outline the broader legal and management issues to be managed by startups – to include legal steps required to start a business and choosing a business name.

– To highlight key business and personal issues as they apply to startups – to include registering with Revenue, Tax Returns, and VAT

– To briefly introduce enterprise agency supports for business

– To outline the steps involved in completing a Feasibility Study to fully determine the viability of their business

– To assist participants to critically examine whether they should start a business.

– To assist participants to create an action plan for meeting their startup business

On completion of this one day programme, the participants will have:

· Discussed real stories of people who have successfully started new businesses in Ireland.

· Decided on the correct Business Structure for them – company v’s sole trader

· An understanding of financial supports available from Enterprise Boards, LEADER, Enterprise Ireland and other sources.

· Completed a Self-Assessment checklist

· Completed a Goal Setting Exercise

· Completed a Startup Action Plan Checklist

Self Assessment Checklist

Startup Action Plan

2. Starting a Business : Year One Essentials

This one day (six hours) programme is designed for men and women entrepreneurs who are actively setting up their own business or have done so in the last 6 months.Our aim is to present the critical startup issues – legal, taxation, finance, and business and marketing planning – in an integrated fashion so that you can create an action plan for the next 6-12 months that creates a solid foundation for your business.

Course Objectives

– To highlight key legal issues for startups

– To assist participants to understand the fundamentals of finance as they apply to your startup businesss – costs, pricing and revenues, margin, profits and funding.

– To facilitate attendees to describe their business idea and identify possible initial customers.

– To provide particpants with practical and cost effective marketing ideas

On completion of this one day programme, the participants will have:

Discussed real stories of people who have successfully started new businesses in Ireland.
Gained an appreciation of the broader legal and management issues to be managed by SMEs (to include legal steps required to start a business and personal and business taxation obligations). A checklist will be provided.
Knowlege of the records that they need to keep to work effectively with their accountant
An understanding of the importance of cash flow management
Discussed networking, digital marketing and the value of testimonials
A structured one-page plan of next steps to progress their ideas.

Goal Setting Worksheet Pdf

Goal Setting Template

These programmes are generally delivered on behalf of the Enterprise Agencies (as opposed to public courses where the participant pays me directly to attend). As such participants are asked to contact their Local Enterprise Office for details. I aim to ensure that my workshops are both rewarding and enjoying i.e. challenging, informative, creative and act as a stimulus for proactive change. I will be available to follow up with participants by email and/or by phone for several weeks after each programme.