Seedcorn Time for 2009

Can't believe it's rolled around again but there you go, time flies.



The InterTrade Ireland Seedcorn Competition is open for the summer - application deadline is not until September 25th but if you want to be in the running for some of the €360,000 that is up for grabs you should start working on your application - business plan, cashflows etc. yesterday! If you need help getting the application ready I'd say your local County/City Enterprise Board would be delighted to help... It's always good to let a pair of trustworthy fresh eyes take a glance over a business plan and give you some pointers on where to improve. With this "economic situation" I would imagine the competition will be teeming with entries.

Good luck to everybody entering, may the best businesses shine through!

InterTrade Ireland Info

Application Bits

Prize Details etc

Coffee Break Recommendation

I read a great (very long!) blog post about one person's experience as an entrepreneur. It's like a mini-bio, of both the business and the man behind it. I wanted to flag it here because it echoes one strong piece of advice that I am hearing from the most successful entrepreneurs that I know, all the time: when you start a business, go and speak to other entrepreneurs face-to-face and learn everything you can from them. Don't stop doing that when you have started and are successfully up & running - keep having those quick coffees face-to-face with the best people in your business - your contacts.

A few really great business people have said that to me over the years and it's true - you will glean more from an hour face-to-face than a day on the phone or even on Twitter!

Have a read of this with a big cup of coffee, it's long but it's worth it - lots of food for thought! Most interestingly, he doesn't hate VC's!! Has some great tips on how to handle them...

I'll stop rambling here now and direct you to the good stuff: SEOmoz's Blogpost, "My Startup Experience" - enjoy!

Em, Jay?

My tzoodonym is MJ, nothing to do with the MJ everybody's been talking about this past week but a happy coincidence nonetheless. It's really funny (for me) to see "MJ" in the top trending topics on Twitter! Ahem, I don't get out much, sorry!

So just because, I'm putting up a vid of Mr MJ proper. A guilty indulgence. My first ever album was BAD which I bought with my own saved up pocket money when I was 8 years old. It was on cassette. I had a crush on him (oh the shame) and wanted to dance like him until my feet fell off.

Had the privalege of seeing him in the RDS in 1997. I have a blue bracelet to show how close I got. When he hung over the front of the crown on a crane-arm-thingie during Earthsong I was right below his feet. His socks were of course white & sparkely, but what I remember distinctively is that his black shoes were so well worn they looked like the most comfortable footwear in the universe. I remember thinking how much of a perfectionist he must have been - his show was faultless and the wear of his shoes proved how much he had practiced. Even someone who had been dancing for the public since he was 6 years old had to work superhard to be that good.

I've been to concerts before and since, but never was there one like it. Magic.

Nails Inc - I'm an Idiot!

For someone always going on about value for money, I'm shocked at how silly I was on Saturday.

A week ago I sampled 2 of the new yummies from Nails Inc, namely Savoy Court (mmm, purple) and The Strand (kinky pinky).

So anyway, last Saturday I was in town dashing in & out of shops through the rainfeast, and popped in to get the purple one. Mmm... I grabbed the little box and handed over my little plastic pin-protected pal to the lovely ladies in BT's.

Holy crap, €23 for a little nailpolish?! I went the colour of Drury Lane (above) and just keyed in my pin. Ashamed at the careless spend.

Then I went to a party and told of my shame over a glass of something bubbly and the looks I got where quite a picture.

This is me, who goes on and on about the joys of awear being online etc... Why didn't I just go onto their website?

3 for £20 sounds MUCH better, doesn't it? Idiot, me.

And all this the same week as the results were out in Europe for online shoppers, and guess who's addicted the most? We are!

Fine Gael Manifesto - power to the who now?

I would like to direct you to point 1.2.8 in the FG manifesto - "Merge all city and county enterprise boards into Local Government"

Quote:
There are 35 County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) located in each Local
Government area. The role of the Boards is to develop indigenous enterprise potential, to stimulate economic activity (via grants and training programmes) local level and to promote micro-enterprises that employ ten or less. Exchequer funding is allocated by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment via Enterprise Ireland. The functions of the city and county enterprise boards are broadly duplicated by other economic development agencies operating within the same sphere. The boards are made up of local Councillors, representatives of state agencies and the social partners. While input from industry and sector experts is highly valued the responsibility for the delivery of service should again be with the elected Councillors. It cost nearly €40 million to administer the City and County Enterprise Boards over the past three years. These savings could be used to help fund the merging of responsibilities and staff into the Local Government structure.

Ahem. So they're going to save money by cutting them out, then put the same money back into local government to run the same operation but hidden within the echelons of the mysterious county councils.

What's the point?

Then of course, with all independent (voluntary) non-political board members gotten rid of, it'll leave the "trusty" councillors to administer grant aid. Regardless of eligibility or ethics, I am sure. We already know that politicians and money DO NOT MIX so why rely on politicians to decide who is eligible for funding and who is not? What the hell do they know about running businesses?

For the record they also plan to get rid of LEADER &/or Partnership groups in the same breath (point 1.2.9) suggesting that their work is duplicated - but they don't clarify by who. Right. Say that to the countless number of businesses that have thrived on the support of the likes of LEADER groups who have thrice the budgets of CEB's.

What the frick are they thinking?

It's not money saving, it's moving the money around under another name. We've already had a huge fcukup doing this with the new name of the "fantastical" HSE when we all know that they're just the regional health boards under a different ridiculous guise.

For the love of the sungods, if you are going to do something radical do something good that makes sense and really saves money without robbing people of the supports they need to start, grow and develop businesses all over the country.