Delaney started Handy Baby Products with her sister Suzanne Browne, to source, import and distribute items that make parents’ lives easier.
“Basically anything that is faster, safer and healthier than what is currently on the market is what we are interested in sourcing,” said Delaney.
Among its first successes, for example, was a feeding bottle that reduces colic in babies.
After three years in business, the company began manufacturing baby products, including a patented bath towel a parent can loop around his or her neck in order to have both hands free to lift a baby out of the water safely.
A series of other products is in development, all of which will be sold under the Clevamama brand name.
Advertisement
This week the company sent its first shipment of branded baby bath towels to Britain and by the autumn the products should be stocked in a number of European countries.
It’s a big achievement for the pair, whose first business decision was to join Fingal County Enterprise Board’s Women in Business Network.
“We weren’t born entrepreneurs,” said Delaney, who had worked in recruitment. “We knew we had the ideas and the energy to put it into action, but we didn’t know anything about importing and distribution.”
Of particular value to the duo was the mentoring service provided by their local county enterprise board, which helped them with marketing, finance and business planning.
They also received an employment grant from the board and a grant of €60,000 that enabled the duo to begin manufacturing.
Advertisement
“Anybody who starts out and doesn’t get in touch with their local enterprise board is simply crazy,” said Delaney.
“They are incredibly helpful, no question is too trivial to ask and the service is confidential, so you don’t have to worry about telling them your business idea. They also point out all the things about starting a business that, unless you’ve done it before, you won’t have thought of.”
There are 35 county and city enterprise boards around the country, each one a limited company funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. They specialise in supporting and developing micro businesses that employ up to 10 people.
“We start helping people at the pre-enterprise stage,” said Eibhlin Curley, assistant chief executive of the Dublin City Enterprise Board (DCEB).
“Typically, people will have an idea buzzing away in the back of their minds that they have only ever discussed with friends and family. We have a one-day ideas generation workshop that can help transform that into a workable business plan.”
Advertisement
The workshop takes place on the last Saturday of each month and covers sources of finance, registering your business, whether to be a sole trader or set up a limited company, banking and taxation. It is also free.
“We help people explore whether, for example, their business would require an office, could be home-based or conducted on the web. It’s about teasing out all the issues,” said Curley.
The city and county enterprise boards also run comprehensive, start-your-own-business courses.
“We recommend that people do these courses while they are still at work and in receipt of an income,” she said. “That’s why, in our case, they take place in the evenings and on a Saturday over a period of eight weeks.”
The courses cover legal, financial and marketing issues for business start-ups and participants come away with a full business plan. The price is €200.
Advertisement
Enterprise boards also offer employment assistance grants as well as capital equipment grants up to a value of €75,000.
To succeed in getting one, a budding entrepreneur must meet specific objectives, most of which would be required by any investor in a business.
“What we want to see when people come into us for financial assistance is a strong business plan including financial projections for three years,” said Curley.
“We will look to see if all the figures add up and the promoter has the skills required.
“Often we get people who are technically very strong but less sure of all the other elements required to run a business, such as employment legislation or health and safety regulations,” she said.
Advertisement
“We also look hard to see whether they are likely to have enough cash flow. New businesses in particular are in danger of running out of cash, so it helps their case if they have piloted their business and already have some customers on board.”
The DCEB is moving away from grant aid to loans given in the form of equity stakes in the company, which enterprise boards have mostly now moved into. After a two-year moratorium, the company buys back these shares in years three to five, at zero interest.
Ronan Perceval is chief financial officer of Phorest, an IT company set up in 2003 to provide appointments software for the country’s 3,500 hairdressing salons.
Already the company has more than 10% of the country’s salons on its books and is readying itself for a British launch. Much of its success is the result of help from its local county enterprise board in the form of employment grants and a €60,000 equity loan.
“The loan was particularly helpful because it meant we could take on more income-generating staff,” said Perceval, who believes anyone seeking financial assistance from an enterprise board needs to bear certain factors in mind.
“It helps if you keep your business plan short and simple, no more than six to eight pages. Enterprise boards get dozens of long ones; yours should get straight to the point,” he said.
“Get your accounts done really well, too. Many early stage companies are hazy about where the money has gone thus far, so you need to be clear about that.”
It helps to be aware of assessment criteria that are peculiar to the enterprise boards, too. They do not, for example, support retail or professional services businesses.
“We have to ensure not just that there is a business opportunity for the idea, but that it won’t cause displacement of an existing business,” said Ann Flynn, chief executive of Roscommon County Enterprise Board.
“We also look at what we call ‘dead weight’ — as in, is it likely that the project could proceed without our financial assistance,” she said.
While help with money remains an important part of its offering, the majority of businesses that contact enterprise boards do so for the soft supports it offers, such as business administration or access to finance courses.
“Another trend we have seen is the increase in women-only projects coming forward,” said Flynn. “Last year, for the first time, these were equal to the number of men-only projects.”
One woman who has succeeded with the help of her local enterprise board is Pamela Fitzmaurice. Last year she was voted Female Entrepreneur of the Year for her development of the Blazing Salads delicatessen and bakery business, which had received a €45,000 grant from Dublin City Enterprise Board.
“I think what the enterprise boards want to see more than anything is commitment to your business,” said Fitzmaurice. “Anyone can come up with an idea. What they want is to see that you will put in the hours required to make it happen. As a start-up, one of the most important ways you can show that commitment is by having a strong business plan.”
Enterprise boards are a resource that small companies can return to again and again, she said. “In business you never stop learning and it’s good to have somewhere to go for that invaluable piece of advice,” said Fitzmaurice.