I shall be taking a break from posting to this blog for the next couple of weeks, as I will be on vacation somewhere on the island of Ireland? Although, with the current spell of incessant rain, I might be tempted to abandon my plans and defer in the hope that we will get what could be termed ’summer weather’ [...]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) - may seem like a concept that is a little too haughty for this blog and for small business.
But CSR has become a buzz phrase cropping up all over the place in recent times - there are an increasing number of conferences and seminars on the topic, there are numerous awards being introduced, and [...]

I reported previously that we may be beginning to experience the first signs of a slow-down in activity in the local economy - if the number of enquiries being received for start-up assistance by the CEB can be taken as a reliable yardstick?
Well according to the Bank of Ireland (BOI) Business Banking ‘Start Up Barometer’ (www.finfacts.com), far from being a slowdown [...]

Kilkenny has a comparatively large number of craft businesses, with approximately 120 producers scattered throughout the county, representing the full spectrum of craft from pottery to jewellery and from textiles to furniture. Many of these are registered with the Crafts Council of Ireland (CCoI - www.ccoi.ie)

The vast majority of these craft businesses are sole traders. [...]

The Revenue Commissioner’s Seed Capital Scheme (which forms part of the BES Scheme) proved to be a very attractive source of finance to some of our clients starting-up in business.

The scheme ‘officially’ ended on 31st December 2006 but as announced in the last budget, it is the intention of the Minister of Finance to extend the [...]

Women Mean Business Magazine (WMB) will host their inaugural Awards ceremony on 1st October 2007, which are aimed at recognising the achievements of Ireland’s businesswomen.
The national network of County & City Enterprise Boards will sponsor one of the 5 awards - the ‘CEB WMBreakthrough Award.’ This Award is confined to those business women that have featured [...]

The South East Enterprise Platform Programme (SEEPP) delivered by the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), is currently seeking applications for consideration for intake in September 2007.
SEEPP is a one-year development programme providing supports aimed at accelerating the start-up of businesses with high growth potential (in terms of turnover and employees). SEEPP offers a mix [...]

All employers should be aware that from 1st July 2007, the National Minimum Wage rate has been increased to €8.65 per hour (previously €8.30 per hour), for an experienced adult worker.  An experienced adult worker is classified as an employee who has any work experience in any two years since turning age 18.

Employees who are [...]

One of our most popular forms of support in recent years has been our ‘mentor programme.’

This involves placing a ‘mentor,’ who is essentially a temporary business advisor, with a client small business to help the promoter identify and overcome the obstacles they may be facing in developing their business. 

Our panel of mentors is made up of experienced business consultants.  [...]