Small Business Show: The Great Big Internet TV Network

Johnny BeirneThis week’s guest is Johnny Beirne, online brand expert and co-founder of the Digital Business Institute.  Business, he says is about trust, and the growth of online video is bringing us right back to the kind of face-to-face engagement on which personal relationships are built.

We discuss the week’s business news: Telefónica’s new startup accelerator; new mobile payments system Payjack; investors team up with farmers; and the online funeral home.

The Small Business Show is broadcast each weekend in syndication on Irish radio.  Items from the show are published as podcasts throughout the week on FocuSMEIreland.com.  You can subscribe for free to download the MP3s automatically using RSS or iTunes.

This podcast is sponsored by mailpak.ie – Custom design, print & mail service

In Focus: 4000 Pledges & 2000 Jobs – Hireland Encourages SME Employment

Since its launch just four months ago, the Hireland initiative has received over 4,000 pledges with an estimated 2,000 people having found work through the system so far.

A study conducted by Amárach Research last week found that employers that have pledged jobs via Hireland.ie have on average pledged three jobs, with two out of every three jobs pledged having already been filled and one in five being filled later this year. Of these one third are off the Live Register.

We talked with Co-founder of the Hireland initiative, Lucy Masterson, about how this initiative has exploded in Ireland and why small business has embraced it so much.

Small Business Show – Company Focus: Shannon Hot Desks

This weeks company focus comes from Shannon in Co. Clare, where we talk to Michael Kearney from Shannon Hot Desks.

Michael is a serial entrepreneur and is involved in several businesses. In this interview he talks to Kehlan about what Shannon Hot Desks are and what they do.

Michael also explains what he believes makes a top entrepreneur, starting off with being positive!

This was broadcast as part of The Small Business Show on Clare FM on Saturday, 12th May. 

 

DIT To Get New €500m Campus

An Bord Pleanala Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) the green light for a new campus at Grangegorman in Dublin.

The €500m plan, which will see the existing 39 DIT colleges centralised on the one site and is the result of over ten years work.

The 75-acre development will also house a healthcare centre and a primary school at the site of the former St. Brendan’s psychiatric hospital.

James Mary O’Connor, a principal of MRY, MooreRubleYudell architects and planners, introduces the “Grangegorman” project in the video below:

In Focus: The Online Funeral Home – Legacy Online

From early on in his career as a funeral director,Josh Moonman came to the realisation that families would benefit greatly from a funeral service that provided clear pricing transparency.

That is how Legacy Online was born. Josh says that their new online funeral planning service is unique and a genuine alternative to the traditional local funeral home and that Legacy Online allows families to plan from the comfort of their own home, where they have the space to make choices based on their loved one’s wishes and the budget they have to spend.

Josh talk to focuSMEireland about this new innovative idea and that it’s about serving the community rather serving themselves.

Small Business Show: Bachelors & Farmers

Will Humphries of Bachelor MagazineWill Humphries of Bachelor Magazine joins us to review the week’s business news.  Bachelor Magazine, he explains, started as a blog and has grown to something much bigger, with 9 writers covering topics such as Motoring, Food, Technology fashion and more.  Their new initiative is called Pay it Forward, where they cover small businesses who then nominate others for coverage.

Stories covered in this week’s podcast include: Independence for Shannon Airport; 9% VAT to be retained; SFA vs. Farmers; and AIB’s €250m agri-investment package.

The Small Business Show is broadcast each weekend in syndication on Irish radio.  Items from the show are published as podcasts throughout the week on FocuSMEIreland.com.  You can subscribe for free to download the MP3s automatically using RSS or iTunes.

This podcast is sponsored by mailpak.ie – Custom design, print & mail service