Risk-taking, mistakes and successes at AIB Start-up Night

Handmade chocolates, craft beer and "grow it yourself" food were some of the business ventures discussed at the AIB Start-up Night in Wexford this week.

Celebrity chef Kevin Dundon talked about making the leap from comfortable life as executive chef at the Shelbourne Hotel to buying the Dunbrody Country House in Wexford in 1997 and "living in squalor" while working to get the business off the ground.

He now has a number of related businesses on the premises, including a local pub and a microbrewery.

Dundon said his “worst business mistake” was building a €1.4 million spa during the boom, which he did only because many other hotels were doing the same.

“In business, you can go too much with the flow. We could have done a really good job for a quarter of the price and had a really nice product. We have an amazing product, but it cost an amazing amount of money.”

Dundon’s advice for start-ups: “Always stay true to your brand. Keep your passion very close to your heart and deliver it through your business. And don’t get complacent.”

Guest speaker Michael Kelly founded GIY (Grow It Yourself) International, a Waterford-based social enterprise that helps people and organisations grow their own food.

The company supports over 65,000 people and 1,500 community groups to grow food at home, school, work and in the community.

Kelly talked about his journey from “IT nerd” to horticultural entrepreneur. It involved a supermarket epiphany, when he realised a head of garlic he was about to buy had been imported from China.

He started a single GIY group in Waterford, which gradually morphed into a full-time job. The company is building headquarters in Waterford and plans to expand into the UK market next year.

Three local companies gave five minute “elevator pitches” to show aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage start-ups how a pitch is done.

Christine Meehan pitched Natural Health Store, a shop in the heart of Wexford Town that she started with her brother and two sisters in December 2013.

The siblings had been working in the health food industry when one of them was made redundant. With the threat of more layoffs looming, they drew on their decades of industry experience to open their own store.

Along with health food, they have a therapy centre that offers massage, reflexology, yoga, talks and other events.

Sisters Natalie and Karen Keane pitched Bean and Goose Chocolate, based in Ferns, Wexford.

The company pairs high-quality chocolate with the best Irish ingredients. They plan to be export-ready by the end of the year.

Ann-Marie Carty-Stuart talked about Stuart Design Studios, her interior architecture firm.

The company develops interior spaces for companies “to improve their workplace productivity, functionality and the look and feel of the place so it falls in line with the company’s ethos”, said Carty.

Entrepreneur Angela O’Rourke said she attended the Start-up Night to see what was happening in the local business scene. She started her company, Pegasus Business Development, in May.

The event was part of a nationwide tour leading up to the AIB Start-up Academy, now in its second year. There are forthcoming events in Kilkenny, Killarney and Dublin in the autumn.