Donncha Hughes's Blog: Blog of Donncha Hughes

I am delighted to receive BUSINESS ALL‑STAR ACCREDITATION from the IABF, the All-Ireland Business Foundation, a respected autonomous national accreditation body that identifies, acknowledges and supports Ireland’s progressive businesses and leaders. The framed Accreditation Certificate hangs proudly in my office. Accreditation Process The application for IABF accreditation required me to consider key questions, which align...

The post Delighted with AIBF Accreditation appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com

Marketing Research is hugely important for the promoters of new business endeavours to include: new products; geographic or market expansion of an existing product; or start-up businesses. Secondary research is hugely important for both consumer and business-to-business (B2B) market research. Secondary research lays the groundwork and primary research helps fill in the gaps. By using both types of market research, business owners get a well-rounded view of their market and have the information they need to make important business decisions.

The post Sources of Secondary Market Research appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com

If you have ever wondered what supports that you and your startup business could and should apply for, read on:

This blogpost and the accompanying presentation will categorise the supports depending on the stage of development of your startup company: pre-enterprise; early stage; and established startup

The post What ‘grants’ and other supports apply to my startup business in 2025? appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com

I was delighted to attend the recent unveiling of the Colm Feeney MBA Scholarship at the University of Galway. The scholarship supports one recipient per intake each September over the next 4 years to join the MBA programme at the University’s J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics.

The post Launch of Colm Feeney MBA Scholarship appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com

[Discussion of Strategy inspired by Book and Podcast} Key insights /learnings on how to create Good Strategy, an Action Agenda of key actions to deliver an organisation's ambition. The Kernel of Good Strategy is more HOW than HOPE

The post Good strategy; the importance of proximate goals appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com

12 things that Business Advisor, Donncha Hughes would like to share with startup and small business owners on the topic of Finance. Talks about business models, pricing models, getting paid and the importance of financial projections (and upskilling management with finance skills) this is part one of a two part series on Finance for Sta

The post Finance for Startups : Part I appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com

Figuring out how to access finance for your business is a key business planning activity - both before you start your business and on an ongoing basis particularly if you want to drive growth. This blogpost will outline the options for accessing finance in Ireland for startups. The funding staircase is a graphical representation of possible steps on the journey from starting to scaling and Exit.

The post Finance for Startups Part II : Accessing Finance appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com

Peer to peer (P2P) lending, also known as crowdlending, involves applying to a platform for a loan which then offers it out to its members who collectively fund the loan. It would not be unusual for €200,000 to be funded by up to 800 bidders. Online Peer to peer finance providers like Flender and Linked...

The post Peer lending is/was good for the small Lender appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com

Looking to create a ‘customer persona’ to inform your marketing and promotion and wondering how? This post may be helpful as it provides an example and then lists some questions to consider as you formulate a description of your Bullseye customer. What is the purpose of creating a customer persona? According to Seth Godin the...

The post Customer personas, who rules the roost? appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com

At the end of March 2023, the OGP (Office of Government Procurement) published Circular 05/2023 : Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement. The Circular, designed to foster SMEs participation in public procurement contracts, increases the thresholds for advertising on eTenders to €50,000 for Goods & Services and to €200,000 for Works – both thresholds...

The post Increased Tender Threshold great for SMEs in Ireland appeared first on Donncha Hughes, Business Trainer, Advisor & Mentor. Thanks for signing up to my feed regards donncha p.s why not also check out my other website www.startupwebtraining.com