`If you've an idea and you believe in it, then go for it'

Building a tourism venture around former second World War military amphibious vehicles might seem ludicrous, but Viking Splash Tours has done it and with style.

The business, which features a unique tour of the city by land and water, shows that setting up your own micro-enterprise can be profitable, creative and fun.

The Dublin City Enterprise Board (DCEB), which is considering an application from Viking, has supported a long list of creative micro-enterprises ranging from film animation to creches, backpacker tours to speciality foods.

"Because we're based in Temple Bar, we get proposals for all kinds of creative ideas. Currently, we're looking at film, multimedia, TV and computer games," says Mr Gerry Macken, board chief executive. "Often, creative people can be weak on business. We're trying to get them more commercially-minded."

DCEB is one of a nationwide network of city and county enterprise boards that serve as one-stop shops for budding entrepreneurs. The main criteria for assistance are that the idea be commercially viable and the company have no more than 10 employees.

In addition to financial support, the boards provide information, advice, mentoring and management development courses, designed to get start-ups going, and sustain their development once established.

Since they were set up in high unemployment days of the early 1990s, county enterprise boards have funded more than 4,000 startups and 3,000 expansions. Some 18,000 full-time and 3,700 parttime jobs have been created for almost £73 million (€93 million), according to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment which oversees the scheme.

But today the boards are shifting away from direct grant aid to providing recyclable finance, either through loans, refundable grants or preference shares. That way, the money can be spread among more enterprises.

Viking Splash Tours hopes for a £50,000 refundable grant from the Dublin board to survive the critical first year. The business is modelled on successful US operations which also use the half-trucks/half-boats - spelled DUKWs but pronounced ducks - as tour vehicles. But the novelty of their idea has made it difficult for founders Peter Stocks and Lynda Richard-Stocks to raise seed capital.

The husband-and-wife team (one American, one Irish) returned from the US to implement their idea. But despite the popularity of their tours (which include a dip into the Grand Canal Basin), it hasn't all been plain sailing.

"We were surprised how difficult it is here to raise equity if you're not an e-commerce business," says Mr Stocks. "When we came in September 1998 and met an accountant and venture capitalist, it seemed that if we came up with 5060 per cent of the money, there wouldn't be a problem raising more. That hasn't been the case . . . "We went to a lot of agencies and they'd say, you're too big or too small, or you need to operate profitably for six months, or you already have employees, so you're not eligible. We didn't seem to fit a pigeonhole for subsidised funds. It was frustrating, and surprising because of the Celtic Tiger."

Instead, the Stocks turned to private investors, raising £180,000 in the US. They now hope to raise another £120,000 in equity or debt, to cover expenses and the purchase of a fourth DUKW. Although the tours only began in March, word has spread and they are beginning to sell out. If that continues, the company could be breaking even, on a cash flow basis, by mid-summer, Mr Stocks says.

Another company to receive DCEB support is Medicom, which has developed a software package for medical consultants and specialised private health services that combines a clinical database with practical management features.

In the mid-1990s, Medicom cofounder Howard Beggs was working in the IT industry when a surgeon asked him if there was software to manage private medical practices. There was not and Mr Beggs and partner Maeve Kelly recognised an opportunity.

"To find a market that hadn't been exploited was like striking gold. Until then, doctors had been working with manual systems and card index boxes. So, it was worth taking a gamble and the gamble paid off," Mr Beggs says.

The duo put £6,000 in savings, a £5,000 bank overdraft and a £5,000 employment grant from the enterprise board into the new venture, spent several months learning how a practice was run, developed the software, then waited as orders began to come in.

But it was tough initially. For the first two years, Medicom relied on the board grant and overdraft extensions from its bank to fund the company. In 1998, DCEB took a minority equity stake in Medicom and injected a further £20,000 into the business. But the turning point was winning the Dublin finals of the National Enterprise Awards last year. That led Davy Stockbrokers Technology Fund to invest £250,000 in the venture, valuing the company at £1.7 million.

This enabled Medicom to move to new premises and open a Belfast office. It has since grown to 12 staff and is on target for a turnover of £500,000 this year.

Was it worth it? Absolutely, says Mr Beggs. "If you have an idea and believe in it, then go for it. You only get one shot at this life."