Helping hands for start-up businesses

Good planning is the key to success – whether it’s in a well established company or a start-up just getting off the ground – and during National Enterprise Week, Bank of Ireland will be on hand to help

‘We want to talk to entrepreneurs with business ideas and we are here to help.” That’s the message from Bank of Ireland south east midlands regional business manager Marguerite Brosnan. “Relationships are key to the success of any business, and here at Bank of Ireland we are interested in building strong relationships with entrepreneurs so that we can support them in starting and growing their businesses.”

According to Brosnan, another key success factor for business is planning. “Entrepreneurs need to be able to plan what they want to do,” she says. “A business plan is always critical to the success of a business. But it is even more important for an entrepreneur who is planning to start up a business. It not only gives them a clear picture of their own proposal, but it is also the basis on which a lender or investor will fund the business.”

Bank of Ireland has a range of tools and supports to assist in this area. “Our main support for people just starting out or even thinking of starting their own business is our Business Start-Up package. In addition to this we have an online training course. This was designed for us by Brian O’Kane, managing director of business book publisher Oak Tree Press and is a free, email-based course which consists of seven modules that cover the key topics you need to know when starting a new business.”

Included in the course is an information guide relating to specific business sectors; a look at the appropriate strategy for the business idea; and advice on marketing, formalities, information and communications technology, finance and business plans.

Entrepreneurs wishing to register for the course need only visit bankofireland.ie/business. Once registered, participants receive an email each day for the following six days, with each email containing a link to a module of the course. In addition, when registering, participants are able to choose an industry guide from among the 20 most popular business types. These guides provide invaluable information on starting a business in particular industries, including market trends, legal requirements and key contact information.

Once the plan is prepared or nearly prepared, the question of finance arises. “This is partly why a business plan is so important,” says Brosnan. “The plan will take you through all aspects of the business and identify the various costs involved, such as premises, equipment, staff, overheads such as light and heat, raw materials, marketing expenditure and so on. The amount required will vary depending on the type of business and sources will also vary – they can be the entrepreneur’s own money, investment by friends or family, or it might be bank lending. Once you have your business plan and know what your financial needs are, it is time to approach the bank.”

Brosnan recommends arranging a meeting with the business advisor in the local branch before making an application. “We invest a lot in training our business advisors and they are all qualified financial advisors. They also have vast experience in dealing with small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Even if you haven’t completed your business plan, or indeed if you’re just starting it, come in and chat to the business advisor. You’ll get help and advice in terms of what should be in the plan, and they will also help identify if there are any gaps in it. This is a free service from Bank of Ireland to the business community and entrepreneurs should make the most of it.”

Once the plan is complete and ready the businessperson should still prepare for a searching examination. “We want to help businesses, but we also want to make sure they will succeed. We discuss the logic of the proposal with the businessperson and we challenge them on all of the assumptions they have made in their business plan. It is a robust discussion and it is not easy for either party. At the end of it, we will talk through the financing options and look at what’s most appropriate for the business in question. What we want to see is businesses succeeding. The more robust the examination at this stage, the better the chance of success.”

This process can assist in accessing other sources of funding. “There are many other sources of funding available to start-up and growth phase businesses,” says Brosnan. “These include business angels, Bank of Ireland’s seed capital fund and the venture capital funds, the enterprise boards and Enterprise Ireland. We would encourage our customers to look to these sources of funding where appropriate. We have very strong links with enterprise boards, for example, so we can help with introductions there.”

“We are committed to funding SMEs,” says Brosnan. “We have opened 18,000 new business accounts up to the end of September, and we’ve processed 50,000 credit applications from SMEs over the same period – with the vast majority of them approved. We approved €2.7 billion in business lending up to the end of September.

“We are also committed to continuing to support our SME customers in their growth and development,” she says. “We work with them all the way through their life cycle; we don’t simply walk away once the loan is drawn down – we want to see our customers grow and Bank of Ireland growing with them. Our team of business managers and advisers build relationships with their customers and drop into them from time to time to chat about business and how

Bank of Ireland can continue to help. Sometimes, if a business gets into some difficulty the owner can be reluctant to talk to the bank about it. By building a close working relationship with our customers we hope that this can be overcome and that we can play a role in resolving the difficulty.”

And National Enterprise Week is part of that support. “In the South East Region alone, we have 250 small and medium sized businesses showcasing their businesses, products and services during Enterprise Week. Many of these were start-up businesses not so long ago, and we are delighted to continue supporting them in this way.

“SMEs will be at the heart of our economic recovery, and Bank of Ireland will be there playing its role in that.”

For more information on the events being held during Bank of Ireland’s National Enterprise Week, see allaboutbusiness.ie or contact your local branch