A New Business That Wants To Give Us The Boot

The importance of brand as a emblem of the tribe we belong to is nowhere more obvious than in the world of sport. Wearing your club jersey, your club shorts and carrying your club sports bag, all allow players and their fans to identify with and show support for their team or county.

And of course the business of branded sports products in a very lucrative one with a readymade enthusiastic and loyal target market happy to purchase and wear with pride.

Put The Boot In

Last night on Kickstart Your Business, we featured RClub Sports, a company that's ready to put the boot in and enter the market of branded sportswear. Founded by Anthony Moriarty who, when standing on the sidelines watching his son play football, noticed that the team all had the club crest on the togs, socks and jersey, but not on the footboot boots.

Not letting his lack of knowledge in the area of branding deter him (Anthony's background is in construction), he set about developing a range of customised football boots so the crest could be displayed with pride from head to toe.

They're On My Team

By partnering with at least two of the largest sports organisations in Ireland, Anthony has cleverly created shop windows all around the country and customers can also buy direct from the website.

As Gerard pointed out on the programme, Anthony can now draw on the pulling power of his partners and display on the website, though well chosen imagery, his connection with the partners, thus adding value to the transaction that is above and beyond the branded products themselves.

Over To You

What other ways can Anthony draw on the pulling power of his partners through his website? Listen back to the show on Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you think. 

We'd love to hear from you.

Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.40pm and is available on Playback.

  

Meanwhile, for those of you Kickstarting your own business in 2015, why not check out our Raising A Brand Programme, a practical course (one afternoon a week) over six weeks during which Gerard teaches you all you need to know about researching, developing and building a brand that will make you the natural choice of customers.

Bags Of Irish Personality

We're used to seeing people from other cultures or tourists visiting, carrying bags that display iconic patterns such as the English Rose or The Eiffel Tower. A powerful symbol of tribal identity and belonging, these iconic patterns are instantly recognisable and easy to replicate. That's why it's rather strange that up to now, we Irish have been deprived of the pleasure of a bag that says Ireland with style and panache.

Say Ireland

The good news is that we are deprived no more! Our featured business on Kickstart Your Business, UrsulaCelano has come to our rescue. With a background in Management Consulting and IT, Ursula Celano, like many working mums, found it difficult to juggle a career and a young family. Noticing a gap in the market, she decided to create her own tribal motifs for the Irish market across a range of designer bags and stationary.

Design Of The Times

Gerard suggested that like many successful designers before her (think Orla Kiely), Ursula needs to develop an iconic design or signature style in order to establish the brand amongst customers - both current and potential. In many ways, her great variety, which should prove a source of longevity, may mean that she struggles in the short term to leave her imprint on the collective Irish mind.

Over To You

What other ways can Ursula manage her growth from one-woman business to a whole tribe? Listen back to the show on Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you think. 

We'd love to hear from you.

Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.40pm and is available on Playback.

  

Meanwhile, for those of you Kickstarting your own business in 2015, why not check out our Raising A Brand Programme, a practical course (starting February 11th for one afternoon a week) over six weeks during which Gerard teaches you all you need to know about researching, developing and building a brand that will make you the natural choice of customers.

Mad About Good Food

In your average Irish household, white pudding is synonymous with the good old fashioned fried breakfast and you'd be hard pushed to find white pudding served with anything else or at any other time of the day. You say 'White Pudding' and I say 'Breakfast'. You say 'White pudding at anytime of the day' and I say 'Are you mad or what?'

Proof In The Eating

This week's featured company on Kickstart Your Business in set to liberate the humble white pudding from the shackles of the breakfast plate and introduce its customers to the pleasures of white pudding served in a variety of ways. De Mad Food Company was founded in 2013 by Brendan Cleary who, with a background in food production, started experimenting and researching in his own kitchen to develop a range of recipes based on the classic Irish white pudding.

First to market with their innovative and natural products, they use smoked oats intead of trying to preserve meats and smoking them and use unique natural flavours such as chorizo and Mexican style to offer a full complement of pudding: vegetarian, pork, fish, beef and lamb to suit all customers' tastes.

A Sure Sign Of Madness

Brendan has chosen a very quirky name for the business and, because of it, his product is likely to stand-out on first meeting. As Gerard said on the show, he now needs to follow through on the name and ensure 'de madness' and the benefits it delivers to his customers is carried on through all his marketing and future products, allowing the customer to experience a distinctive and unique offer, citing Brodericks (those two eegits!) as a great example of just how well it it can be done.

Over To You

What ways can Brendan demonstrate 'de madness' on his upcoming website? Listen back to the show on Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you think. 

We'd love to hear from you.

Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.40pm and is available on Playback.

  

Meanwhile, for those of you Kickstarting your own business in 2015, why not check out our Raising A Brand Programme, a practical course (one afternoon a week) over six weeks during which Gerard teaches you all you need to know about researching, developing and building a brand that will make you the natural choice of customers.

Break Your Book, Not Your Back

There are many challenges facing children transitioning from Primary to Secondary school, from the bewildering array of new teachers and subjects, to school bags laden down with heavy text books.

We've all seen the comical sight of first year students wearing bags almost as big as themselves but there is nothing funny about the damage down to a child's back when they are forced to carry up to 20 kilos to and from school. That's two large bags of potatoes in George's language!

It's a problem many parents are concerned about but what can be done?

A Book-Splittingly Good Idea

Featured on last night's Kickstart Your Business, Margo Fleming, Founder of BookSplits, explained how she, like many parents, was very concerned about the damage being done to her child's back from carrying so many heavy books and came up with a simple and instant solution to the problem; 'Split Your Book In Half - Half The Weight'. ' Like all great business ideas, Margo's offer provides an instant solution to an obvious need.

In An Instant

BookSplits boasts a very attractive website with an excellent video and high quality imagery but as Gerard pointed out on the show, the messaging needs to show instantly exactly what's on offer before it goes into any justification of the product.

Show first, then tell!

Over To You

What other ways can Margo instantly demonstrate her product on her website? Listen back to the show on Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you think. 

We'd love to hear from you.

Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.40pm and is available on Playback.

  

Meanwhile, for those of you Kickstarting your own business in 2015, why not check out our Raising A Brand Programme, a practical course (one afternoon a week) over six weeks during which Gerard teaches you all you need to know about researching, developing and building a brand that will make you the natural choice of customers.

Let's Talk About Sex Siopa

For a nation that's famous for our gift of the gab, we are slow and more than a little uncomfortable talking about sex openly. And don't ask us to talk about sex toys or products! That may lead to 'wink wink, nudge nudge and sure what we would know about such things?'

What we do know is there is a demand for good quality and safe sex products (yes, even in little old Ireland!) and because the industry is largely unregulated and customers are unwilling to talk openly about their consumer needs, there is a real danger that customers will end up purchasing badly designed and poorly made products, all for want of a mature conversation.

Starting The Conversation

Sex Siopa, this week's feature on Kickstart Your Business, is just the company to get the conversation going. Founded by Shawna Scott, who on a visit back to home to her favourite sex shop in Seattle, was struck by how completely normal the shopping experience felt and was determined to bring a similar approach to sex shop retailing in Ireland. Sex Siopa stocks well designed toys and accessories as well as providing customers with current, up-to-date information about toy care, safe sex and the products themselves.

Get Ireland Talking

As with any product, it's important to get customers using, talking about and reviewing their purchases. That's a challenge in any industry but particualty in this one. With her well designed website and matter-of-fact and informative blog, Shawna is making it easy for customers to have mature and engaging discussions about their shopping experience.

Over To You

What other ways can Shawna keep the conversation going through her website? Listen back to the show on Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you think. 

We'd love to hear from you.

Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.40pm and is available on Playback.

  

Meanwhile, for those of you Kickstarting your own business in 2015, why not check out our Raising A Brand Programme, a practical course (one afternoon a week) over six weeks during which Gerard teaches you all you need to know about researching, developing and building a brand that will make you the natural choice of customers.