Celebrating 25 years in business, Noreen D'Arcy of D'Arcy Marketing & PR takes the Enterprising mic to discuss: marketing for startups, female entrepreneurship, building a personal brand and taking guidance from mentors who will push you and your business forward. Noreen opens up about how working in the hospitality industry was a major opportunity for her, unbeknown at the time. We talk about navigating decisions after a disappointing leaving certificate and starting a career at a time where there were 2.5 sales & marketing jobs in Galway City in hotels. We also touch on taking time out, accepting different forms of support, both in business and in life, self-awareness, and learning from failures. 

This is an extremely authentic and relatable story of how a conversation over pints in an Irish pub encouraged a female to trust in her own ability and set up her own marketing & PR agency. 

Noreen delves into the importance of understanding your USP, your market niche and why your customers buy from you, as well as creating and conveying your own unique story, your perception of your USP v the customers perception of the USP. Whether you’re a female founder, a business person, a marketeer or a student, this conversation will show you the importance of self-awareness and learning from failures. 

Get in touch with Noreen via her website: https://darcymarketingandpr.ie

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Patrick McDermott, Co-Founder & CEO at DigiTally tells Niamh Considine, WestBIC about his entrepreneurial journey from concept to commercialisation! The Galway based entrepreneur speaks about how to overcome start-up challenges including the fund-raising process in Ireland, a route to scale that works, deciding to grow the business, solving a real problem and recruiting the right team to take your business all the way. 

DigiTally software provides marginal gains to a multisite food business through effective management of profitability, food waste and improved operational efficiency. Digitally enables businesses to make timely decisions from trustworthy data, which is particularly vital in perishable food businesses.

Top tips for businesses and individuals to reduce food waste at 12.40 mins!

Hear about the dangers of both overstocking and understocking at 15.51 mins!

Contact Patrick: [email protected]

Book a demo: https://godigitally.io/request-demo/

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In this episode, WestBIC’s Alison McGonagle meets Kevin Sexton, the Head of Innovation at the Alpha Innovation Centre to discuss all things enterprise in Donegal and the Northwest of Ireland. The innovation advocates talk about converting problems into opportunities, scaling startups and the importance of failing fast.

Kevin shares his experience from across Europe and brings home the 4 phases of innovation to Inishowen, Co. Donegal. Kevin speaks about improving, adapting and developing as all being key elements of the innovation process. The Donegal natives highlight the range of supports, initiatives and opportunities for collaboration across the northwest and speak about the state of innovation in the region, the ecosystem and the start-up landscape.

Kevin speaks about The Alpha Innovation Centre, which is going to be a central space in Letterkenny where magic happens, where people can come out of their own biases and beliefs and collaborate locally with global ambition. The centre will provide a state-of-the-art innovative workspace for new start-ups and existing businesses with the aim of building a dynamic innovative ecosystem where both new and existing businesses will have the opportunity to operate their day-to-day business activities, network, and collaborate.

If you are interested in business opportunities, starting a business in a rural area or engaging in initiatives across the Northwest, this episode is for you!

Read more here: https://donegal.ie/propertysolutions/alpha-innovation-centre-letterkenny

You can contact Kevin at [email protected] 

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In this episode, Mary Ryan speaks to Steven Griffen from the Health Innovation Hub Ireland, who shares insights on working closely with the healthcare community and academic partners from across a diverse range of disciplines to investigate opportunities for innovation, and progress projects based on unmet clinical needs. Steven also speaks about engaging in technology evaluation with Irish companies to develop HIHI projects and supports healthcare employees to progress their ideas into products.

The vision of the HIH is to establish Ireland as a leading location for start-ups and expanding healthcare companies, allowing easy interaction with hospitals and primary care centres. They aim to drive collaboration between the health service and enterprise, leading to the development of new healthcare technologies, products, and services.

Join the FemTech network here https://hih.ie/engage/femtech/

Visit the Health Innovation Hub Ireland's website here: https://hih.ie

Listen to this episode to hear about the Health Innovation Hub Ireland's objective to help companies get to market quicker!

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Off the back of the latest funding round, Michael Furey takes the Enterprising microphone to discuss Ronspot’s challenges and triumphs over the past 4 years. Michael speaks about having a keen awareness of the current market and how this opened doors for further product development and expansion, how availing of the supports in Ireland has helped Ronspot, and how to lead a team to make good business decisions.

Contact Michael [email protected]

Find out more or book a demo: https://ronspotflexwork.com

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This episode dives deep into investment and female entrepreneurship, the disparities between women and men on the island of Ireland when it comes to business investment, starting a business and attitudes to risk. Mary McKenna, the co-founder of AwakenHub, speaks on her unexpected route to entrepreneurship at 43 years of age. Mary and Ultan, the project manager at WestBIC also discuss how inflation is affecting the investment space, strategies for sourcing investment and the keys to building a sustainable business.

Don't miss this!

Find out more about AwakenHub here: https://www.awakenhub.com

Apply for SheGen 2.0 here: https://www.awakenhub.com/shegenerate2

Applications close 5pm on Friday 9 September 2022.

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At WestBIC, we understand the importance of perception, so in this episode we shake things up. We interviewed Bernard Carlson, Programme Manager of AgInnovate, a one-year MSc in NUI Galway and compared and contrasted his viewpoint with up and coming entrepreneur, Kieran Supple, Co-Founder of Reap Interactive - an agricultural technology company focusing on the next generation of farming solutions, who are using technology to feed the growing population. 

Hear about the agents of change, the power of data and the advantages of adopting a data-focussed approach to increase efficiency and predictability in the agriculture industry.

Important Links

Contact Kieran Supple: [email protected]

Contact Bernard Carlson: [email protected]

Read more about AgInnovate: https://www.westbic.ie/news/nui-galways-masters-agriinnovation-applications-closing-soon

Apply for AgInnovate: https://springboardcourses.ie/details/10482

Find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook – Let us know if you found this episode beneficial!

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In this Episode Mary Ryan, Deputy CEO at WestBIC reveals what it really takes to become a high potential startup company, the commonly faced challenges in today's business climate and how these can be overcome. 

Mary highlights the vast array of tailored and specialised services that WestBIC offers to budding entrepreneurs in the West and the Northwest of Ireland to support them on their unique journey to commercial success

Whether you are a student entrepreneur, a pre-seed company or a scaling startup seeking private investment - this episode is not to be missed!

To find out more about our unique service offerings, contact us at www.westbic.ie

Tell us if you found this episode benefical!

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn

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Ins an eagrán seo, tá Micheál Ó hEanaigh, Príomhfheidhmeannach Údarás na Gaeltachta ag labhairt le Eunan Cunningham, Bainisteoir Réigiúnach ag WestBIC, faoin Fhéile Eoraip na Nuálaithe Faoi 35 atá á reáchtáil ag MIT Technology Review, atá ag teacht go hÉirinn ar an 19ú - 21ú Bealtaine 2022, don chéad uair riamh. Tá seo ar cheann de na himeachtaí is suntasaí ar domhan a thugann ómós do nuálaithe óga a bhfuil sé mar aidhm acu cur go dearfach leis an domhan trí mheán na teicneolaíochta.

Tiocfaidh na nuálaithe is cliste san Eoraip le chéile i nGaoth Dobhair, Dún na nGall, lena gcuid oibre a chur ar taispeáint agus le bualadh le físithe atá ar aon intinn leo féin atá ag baint leasa as forbairtí teicneolaíochta chun an todhchaí a mhúnlú agus chun saolta a athrú. Roinnfidh ceannairí Eorpacha agus domhanda ó MedTech, Teicneolaíocht Ghlas, earnálacha TF agus níos mó a bhfuil foghlamtha acu maidir le hinbhuanaitheacht, cruthaitheacht, nuálaíocht agus fiontraíocht. Éist anois le tuilleadh a fháil amach!

Ceannaigh ticéid anseo: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/innovators-under-35-europe-festival-of-innovation-tickets-259388557157

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In this episode, Micheál Ó hEanaigh, CEO of  Údarás na Gaeltachta talks to Eunan Cunningham, regional manager at WestBIC, about the Innovators Under 35 Europe Festival run by MIT Technology Review, which is coming to Ireland on May 19th - 21st 2022, for the first time in its history. This is one of the world’s most distinguished events honouring young innovators who aim to positively contribute to the world through technology.

Europe’s brightest innovators will gather in Gaoth Dobhair, Donegal, to showcase their work and meet likeminded visionaries who are who are using technological advancements to shape the future and transform lives. European and global leaders from MedTech, Green Technology, IT sectors and more will share learnings on sustainability, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Listen now to find out more!

Purchase tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/innovators-under-35-europe-festival-of-innovation-tickets-259388557157 

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