A time for business to blossom

BUSINESS 2000If you are planning to run a mini-business over the summer holidays, here is some final advice, writes Caroline Madden

SUMMER HOLIDAYS officially begin when the last bell goes today. Although many of you are no doubt looking forward to a chance to kick back and relax after the stress of exams, some of you may be fired up at the prospect of continuing to run your mini-business over the summer months.

As we learnt earlier in the year, the willingness to sacrifice personal time and holidays for the sake of a business venture is one of the hallmarks of a successful entrepreneur.

Although small-business owners sometimes struggle to strike the right work-life balance, there is nothing like the satisfaction of being your own boss and building up a successful enterprise from scratch.

We also looked at the qualities needed to succeed as an entrepreneur: tenacity and determination.

As many inspirational Irish entrepreneurs have demonstrated, your failures can serve as valuable learning experiences so, if at first you don't succeed, don't write yourself off as a businessperson. Don't be afraid to try again, as you're much more likely to succeed the second time around.

Also keep in mind one of the key lessons we learned this year: turnover is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash is king. You may be generating phenomenal sales and even be profitable on paper, but cash is the lifeblood of any business. If you run out of it, the business will inevitably grind to a halt.

If you have a great business idea but aren't sure whether to try to turn it into a reality, remember the advice from Gillian Moore, founder of Irish make-up brand Fuschia: "If you really believe in what you're doing . . . and if you have the drive and ambition to see it through and make it work, don't let anyone put you off."

Moore also demonstrated that it is possible to market a product on a small budget with her clever Face of Fuschia competition. The idea of the competition was to select a winner who would model Fuschia's make-up for posters in her store in Drogheda.

The competition attracted more than 600 entries, got local people involved in the brand and generated a media buzz. The competition is now going to be run on a seasonal basis.

Another effective marketing tool is, of course, your company's website. If you're selling a product or service online, the content of the website is the equivalent of an instore sales assistant. Clear, well thought-out content is essential.

For a good example of how a website can complement your business, go to www.basemoviecrew.com. This website was created by the members of the Base Movies team, who won the best display award at the recent Student Enterprise Awards.

Initially the website was created to inform people about the team's DVD conversion business. The enterprising students then realised they might as well put their newly-acquired web-design skills to good use, so they began selling website packages as a sideline business.

We also heard from Havok boss David O'Meara about making it as a global player. Havok started out as an incubation project at Trinity College Dublin 10 years ago. Now it is the world's leading provider of interactive software in the games and film industries. O'Meara revealed the secrets to global success: excellent people, putting your customers before everything (including your staff), and the financial discipline to survive a global expansion.

For those of you who aspire to be your own boss at some point in the future, but who aren't too keen on the risks involved in setting up your own venture, remember that buying a franchise could be the answer.

The success rate of franchises over the first five years is a reassuring 93 per cent, compared to just 50 per cent for start-up businesses. You're buying into a brand that has already established a reputation - for example, McDonald's, Eddie Rockets or O'Briens sandwich bars. This not only reduces the risk but should enable you to expand the business more rapidly.

Enjoy the holidays, and if you are continuing your entrepreneurial efforts over the summer with a mini-business, don't forget to get your work-life balance right!

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