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It is hard to believe that nearly 12 months ago I was just about to step into The Entrepreneurs Academy for the very first time. They say time flies when you’re having fun, and this has certainly been the case with my time in The Entrepreneurs Academy.

Looking back now in retrospect, I’ve done more in this one year in the working world here at The Entrepreneurs Academy than I’ve done in a lot of other years. And I would be willing to bet that I’ve done a good deal more than a lot of people. I’ve certainly bucket loads. It’s not every day you have the opportunity to work with industry leaders and experts when it comes to finance, marketing, social media, management, networking, negotiations and PR. That is of course if you don’t work with The Entrepreneurs Academy – with this company, every day provides a new opportunity for learning, both from an abstract theoretical point of view and from a practical hands-on experience.

And as I predicted when I reached my half way point with the company a number of months ago, I wasn’t short of projects or events to look after and be involved in. From playing a role in the Momentum programme run by The Entrepreneurs Academy, being heavily involved in the content management system used by the company, project co-ordinating, event designing, to even moving from trainee to trainer in one instance, every day that I’ve spent with The Entrepreneurs Academy has provided a well-spring of opportunities and challenges.  There were challenges and issues to be faced, to be sure. But what I’ve found is that with The Entrepreneurs Academy being such an easy and pleasant company to be a part of, they have rarely lasted any great length of time.

Of course all of this learning isn’t for naught – I return to my studies come late September, with the knowledge that everything I’ve learnt in The Entrepreneurs Academy will be put to the absolute best use. More than that, having reflected on the past two years of study, my time in The Entrepreneurs Academy has allowed me to see just how the abstract and sometimes aloof theory of business translates into real world application, something which for a person of my learning style and personality comes as a major piece of my time here in The Entrepreneurs Academy.

People in my own personal sphere of life have often asked me how my time in the office has gone, and on nearly every instance, it has been nothing short of 100% positive. The Entrepreneurs Academy not only provides some of the highest quality education and training I have had the privilege of being witness to, but they foster a community of growth and development, of encouragement and support. And that’s why I have no hesitation in recommending them, both as a training provider, and as a possible place of employment.

In closing then I offer my thanks to the entire team, those still around and those who have moved onto new chapters in life away from The Entrepreneurs Academy. To the interns and admin staff, trainers and managers, you have made this year possible for me and for that I am monumentally grateful. A special thanks to Joanne and Noel for giving me the opportunity to work with and learn from you. This won’t be the last time my path with The Entrepreneurs Academy will cross, to be sure.

Wishing you all the best in every single endeavour.

I had just completed my second year of my undergraduate degree at my home university, Adrian College.  It is located in the state of Michigan in the United States.  During that year I had looked into doing an internship abroad that would give me credit towards my degree.

I am studying Business Administration with a focus in Marketing, and a minor in Economics.

Through a slightly long process, I was able to start looking for a host country, and an internship abroad.  I settled on Ireland for the fact that I have never been to Europe, and only speak English.  Therefore, Ireland seemed like the perfect fit.

The moment that I saw the opportunity to interview and work with The Entrepreneurs Academy I knew I should take it. The Entrepreneurs Academy seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn about everything business, specifically because they help entrepreneurs set up their own businesses.

The The Entrepreneurs Academy team has been incredibly welcoming, and has helped me learn a great deal through my two months with them.  I have refined my speaking ability; I have gained practical experience in organizing, marketing, and administrative tasks.  But what I have found most interesting was sitting in on the training sessions with the Momentum Program and learning about what it takes to be an entrepreneur; the sessions were both informative as well as motivating.

I appreciated being involved in everything at The Entrepreneurs Academy, and being welcomed as a team member.  It has been a rewarding experience that I will carry with me in my personal and professional life, thank you The Entrepreneurs Academy, and The Entrepreneurs Academy team for making my summer in Dublin very memorable.

I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have been involved in a number of start-ups and to have been working with and mentoring start-ups over the last 20 years to get them started up and staying in business.  It’s an excellent environment to work in as the passion, creativity and enthusiasm is infectious and talk of the recession is left outside the door!

As we think about Dublin as the best city in the world to start a business in (which was the topic of a presentation I was asked to give at Start-Up City #startdublin, an initiative of Dublin City Council, Dublin City Enterprise Board, the Digital Hub and the Institute Without Boundaries (based in George Brown University, Canada), let’s first consider what the basic needs of start-ups are?

These basic needs fall into four broad categories:

• Information and education – start-ups need to be able to easily access information about what’s happening and available in Dublin that’s relevant to start-ups.  Also, while most people who start a business are technically brilliant in their own area, many lack the fundamental business knowledge, skills and expertise to get themselves off the ground and they can get this easily through off and online education
• Facilities – start-ups need the best possible facilities and services to help them start-up.  We need to be able to provide the necessary facilities to entice, encourage and support start-ups, and make sure that the correct platforms are in place to give them the best possible chance of start-up and longer term success
• Support – start-ups need encouragement and support from peers, mentors and networks in order to help them with their businesses. Networks provide many more benefits and much more value than just peer support and can provide an opportunity to learn from others so that they can grow their business and indeed access new sales opportunities
• Finances – we need to make sure the correct platforms and financial supports and structures are accessible to the people looking to start businesses

Making Dublin the best city in the world to start a business is not all about creating an environment that leads to a whole load of individually self employed persons – it’s about building startups that can become businesses which create further employment.

POSSIBILITY

The great thing about Dublin is that mindsets have changed in the last 20 years, and while not perfect, more so than ever before entrepreneurship is encouraged and it is no longer frowned upon as it would have traditionally have been.  Entrepreneurship is taught in schools, with young entrepreneur schools programme, and other initiatives such as NIFTE, and programmes run by the various enterprise boards  –  these get students thinking about entrepreneurship and setting up business as an option for employment in later years.

A lot of excellent incentives and programmes exist in Dublin for start-ups and testament to this, Forbes magazine last year listed Dublin as one of the top 7 cities in the world to set up a business.  Strengths cited included being English speaking, having excellent hardware, being cheaper than the UK, having business friendly policies, having a low corporation tax rate and having numerous European headquarters of companies such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google. With all of this in mind, it is a good and exciting time for us to be thinking about Dublin being the best city in the world to set up a business in.

Some of the initiatives for start-ups that already exist include enterprise centres, facilities, education centres and programmes, networks, events, awards and online forums which –all already based in Dublin:

This list isn’t exhaustive. Nor does it touch upon the various financial help available to start-ups which includes supports such as grants, corporation tax of 12.5%, seed funding, Microfinance, tax relief, the BTWEA, employment and investment incentive schemes, R&D tax credits, innovation vouchers, accelerated capital allowence, revunue job assist, Jobsbridge, employer job (PRSI) incentive schemes, funding through incubators, business angels, venture capital, and of course, the banks.

So, there is so much already happening in Dublin that benefit start-ups – so much that can already support, encourage and entice businesses and start-ups here in this city.  But…………

IT IS NOT ENOUGH.

Its not enough because unemployment is at 13.7%. Its not enough, because, as the HEA reports, out of 60, 000 students that graduated in 2011 from undergraduate and postgraduate education, less then half have found employment after 9 months. And its not goood enough, because, as I’m sure you know, we’re back in a recession.

Not only this, there’s anopther point that highlights that whatw e are currently doing is not enough:  over 2,000 people per month set up in business, passionate and motivated and full of energy and excitement at the start up stage.  However, a great number of them end up a few years down the line having a job that is low-paid, with long hours and from which they cannot take off time for a holiday or even to be sick if they need to.  These “poor jobs” are not financial assets and it is difficult to get an exit strategy from them and yet they are inherently risky.  This gap in education needs to be filled and we need to educate people to Build Businesses, not terrible jobs!

RIPPLE EFFECT

One entrepreneur can have a massive effect. Not only do they create employment for themselves and for others, but they become positive role models for the people around them. They provide work for suppliersand have a positive effect on the economy.  Entrepreneurs and the ripple effects they create will get this country off of its knees.

GAME CHANGE

The game is  changing, and we can see already this happening. Cities around the globe are competing and vying to become the most entrepreneurial cities possible. Now is a great opportunity to revist and rethink the current models, whether they be financial, or employment, or otherwise, that have existed in the past, but which now need to be updated, because they are broken, such as the venture capital model. New funding models such as Kickstarter and Y-Commodator are providing new and innovative ways to give funding access to start-ups.  Dublin can help drive this change.

No doubt we will get things wrong, and no doubt we have already made mistakes, but everyone does.  Now is not the time to dwell on mistakes but to move forward and look ahead. Now is the time to come together as a community to make this city more entrepreneurial.  Len Middleton, professor of entrepreneurship at Michigan State University is currently researching a concept he has coined e-towns, the development of communities and creating “entrepreneurial towns”. Over these past two and a half days, think tanks in Start-Up City n the Digital Hub have been tackling the question as to what is the best solution to make Dublin the greatest e-town. Let’s work as a community and make Dublin the best eTown and the Best City In The World To Start A Business!

Cham Zein, a student of University of La Rochelle, has been interning with us here in The Entrepreneurs Academy, Dublin, for the past three months. In this blog post, Cham shares a little bit about his previous education, and what he’s been getting involved in while interning at The Entrepreneurs Academy

As a first year student in my Master’s Degree, I had to do a three-month internship. I have studied foreign languages since 2009, and have found that the best way to practice any language is to go abroad. Before beginning my current studies at the university, I obtained a HND in Marketing and Management.

During my second year of undergraduate studies in 2010/2011, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to study at the University of Seville, Spain for one semester. It was a great university experience. I was able to improve my knowledge of Spanish as well as other areas, such as History and Portuguese.

During the last year of undergraduate studies, I did a five-week internship at an embassy in France. It was a great opportunity for me to discover the professional world.

Now, I am in a Dublin-based company called The Entrepreneurs Academy. It is also another excellent opportunity for me to improve my English speaking and writing skills. I am also in charge of some daily tasks and responsibilities within the organization. I mostly deal with weekly Internet submissions from the participants of the Momentum Programme regarding their online learning progress. Another responsibility that I have is to do research on SMEs that I compile into a weekly report for The Entrepreneurs Academy.

I am grateful for this experience both professionally and as a way for me to improve my language skills. I consider this experience a positive influence on me and my future.

 

On the 24th of May, The Entrepreneurs Academy and a number of the Momentum participants attended the “Building Business” Momentum conference as part of the National Enterprise Week. Over 750 business leaders joined the event at the Burlington Hotel to gain a greater depth and insight for their business.

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, recently returned from Brussels, opened the event. Topics like the Irish economy and networking were discussed, and experts such as Anne Heraty from CPL Resources, Richie Boucher from Bank of Ireland, and Kingsley Aikins from Diaspora Matters shared their views and experience with the audience.

We hope you are all keeping well and that 2013 is proving to be a great year for you thus far.

Jointly organised by 4 Dublin County and City Enterprise Boards, we are excited to announce that The Entrepreneurs Academy will be running a management development programme aimed at Owners/Managers of Small Businesses/SMEs who have been up and running for a minimum of 18 months or older who want to grow their business and find the problems that are going wrong and fix them.

Programme Contents (7 full day training sessions):

1. Why am I in Business? (2 days)
2. Being the Boss
3. Finding and Keeping Customers
4. How can my business do better?
5. Managing the Money
6. Selling for Profit

We look forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes,

The Entrepreneurs Academy Team

Joanne Hession, founder of QED training was a guest on the “Down to Business” show with Bobby Kerr on Newstalk earlier today; Sunday 12th May.
There are some great lessons for anyone that wants to set up their own business or for that matter is already in business.
Joanne talks about how the book can help get your around the pitfalls that every entrepreneur face when running a business – namely working “IN” the business rather than “ON” the business.

You can listen to the full interview below :-

“Don’t get a job – Build a business” is available for purchase here

It’s all too easy as a business owner to focus on the actual work you do for the business (e.g. sales, meeting deadlines, meeting authors, etc.) rather than on the total enterprise. That’s not surprising as you probably have a full time job in the business trying to keep it going and get stuff out the door. The problem is that there is likely to be no one working full time on the business. And that’s your job!

There are so many bigger things that have to be taken care of – strategic direction, planning, modifying your business model, putting good controls in place, monitoring performance, etc. that you must attend to if your business is to thrive. Running a business is about creating value and employment for others both internal and external to your business (extra work for suppliers etc).  If you decide not to focus on this you will be reduced to just creating a job for yourself and not a wealth creating asset ie a business.

Some of the most important things your business needs you to attend to are ………

Working On The Business

There are aspects of your business that must be handled by the owner/manager with or without professional assistance: developing strategy and direction, perhaps meeting with key clients or suppliers, dealing with the bank, recruitment etc. It is vital that you are clear about the things that are essential for your role to undertake, so that you ensure you are spending most of your time on the functions that you are good at, or that allow you personally to control your business. The rest needs to be outsourced or delegated to staff.

What Are You Good At?

Be clear about what it is that you bring to your business. Most of us are only good at a small number of things. Consider where your strengths lie – be they in marketing, networking, selling, financing, organisation, innovation, leadership, or people – and resolve to focus as much as you can in that area. The things we don’t do well are often critical to identify. Where will you need help and where will you get it?

What Kind of Culture?

Culture is simply ‘the way we do things around here’ or, as we heard a client say recently, “what you do when no one is watching”. Culture is simply the set of behaviours that your employees think are normal or acceptable in your business. That will include things like the way they treat each other and people outside the organisation. It will include the kind of communication they think is appropriate between themselves and with your customers. In short, when this is good it is very good (and very valuable to your business), and when it is bad it is horrid.

Personal Productivity

What’s the point of having a great dream and wonderful ideas if you can’t get anything done? We all get derailed at times, caused by too many meetings or emails, doing too much ourselves, or due to competing demands from our other roles in life. In the end, the prizes go to effective people – those who can identify the priorities and make sure that most of their time is spent in areas that give a really good return on their efforts and skills. That’s so easy to say and ever so hard to do on a consistent basis.

Stay Focused

We have noticed in the course of the workshops we run that the best owner operators have wonderful focus. They are very clear about what is ‘on top’ for their business. They work very hard to isolate the few things that will make all the difference if they resolve them e.g. developing a clear plan, finding great people to work with them, refining their business model until it hums, paying attention to key clients etc. It’s hard to distract these people with trivia. They don’t allow others to steal their day and they don’t wait to decide what to do until they check their email. They are also the ones who always ensure they get holidays and adequate time way from the business.

Extracted from ‘Don’t Get A Job, Build A Business’, by Joanne Hession and Joan Baker

http://qedtraining.ie/book/

When owning and running a small publishing business, it’s important to distinguish whether you have created a job for yourself or whether you have and are creating a business. There is no problem with either as long as you are clear about your vision and don’t get stuck with a job when you really want to have a business. The real difference between business owners and the self-employed is in the mind set. Here are some of the most important things that they think and do:

A business owner uses income to develop capital

To the self-employed, income is the whole point, as they need it to live. To the business owner profit (and cash flow) is a resource for reinvesting in the business and growing the concern. It is not that income doesn’t matter to a business– it’s what is done with it that’s different.

A business owner works on the business rather than in it

The self-employed are likely to be busy working every hour to meet deadlines and deliver services related to the publishing they’re in. The business owner, by contrast, is focused on building an enterprise that can run without the owner – a business with staff, a place with structure, systems and processes, a concern with clients and customers who don’t relate only to the owner. In short the business owner is building something which is independent and ultimately saleable.

A business owner has a plan for the business

The self-employed are seeking income and security while the business owner, has a plan for what the business (however small at inception) could become. They are already thinking about the eventual nature of their business, how it could grow, who might ultimately buy it (or manage it) and how it would be distinctive.

A business owner develops goodwill

The self-employed are usually much too busy doing their work to focus on where they are headed. The business owner on the other hand knows that ultimately a great deal of the wealth they generate will come from goodwill: the intangibles that belong to the business.

A business owner is seeking appropriate returns

Business owners are looking for much more than a wage: they are seeking a return on their investment commensurate with the capital, skill and time they have invested in it.

A business owner wears a strategic hat

The self-employed person thinks like an employee and often regards administration, management and finding new customers as interruptions to the work they have to do. Business owners, on the other hand, are thinking about the leadership and management of the business and the development of capital. One is tactical in outlook: ‘Where is my work coming from today and what will I get from it?’ The other, the Business owner, is strategic and thinking longer term about what the business needs to do to thrive.

 

Extracted from ‘Don’t Get A Job, Build A Business’, by Joanne Hession and Joan Baker

http://qedtraining.ie/book/

After 6 months studying as Erasmus student in the Institute of Technology Tallaght I had to find an internship to complete my Business in foreign language degree. I could either return to France, my native country, or stay in Ireland. Naturally I picked the second option, which allowed me to practice my English a little more. So I contacted an agency to find the internship which would match my skills the most. And I found it…

When the agency showed me the QED training offer I immediately wanted to arrange an interview because I saw the opportunity to put into practice everything I learned during the last past 3 years with this fantastic Company. A few days later I had an interview with Romina and a week later I received the green light to work with QED training.

Working with QED is the achievement of my degree, it is all what I expected for an internship.

The QED team opened their arms to me and introduced me to the different responsibilities I may have. I just started few weeks ago but I have already gained a lot of experience. I have developed my communication, and marketing skills. I have been taught how to build a business, in theory, but it is far more exciting to assist the building of different kind of companies step by step. Moreover I discovered a wide range of useful tools, to create a website, to design and take surveys and conduct market researches.

I especially appreciate the fact that we are all involved in the QED projects. This is a way to meet people and meeting goals together. So far my most enriching experience occured on the 18th of March at the National Business Expo in the RDS. Indeed it was an amazing day because I helped to design the stand, to answer people’s questions and to meet other representatives of numerous companies. It is much more interesting to be on the other side of the stands. I also had the chance to  attend to training sessions in Dublin and Bray where we are currently delivering the Momentum project.

I have been learning a lot since my first month at QED but I have the feeling that marketing and social media won’t have any secrets for me…..

My journey continues !