Gourmet Fuel For Life

Whilst the health and fitness industry has a proven capacity for dramatic growth, many of its products and services are offered piecemeal, and people aspiring to a healthier and more resilient body and mind often have to pick their way through a great deal of conflicting information in order to find what's right for them. Increasingly, customers are looking for single channels that can offer them everything they need.

Food For Thought & Deed 

This week's Kickstart Your Business was Gourmet Fuel, a company founded by sister and brother Emma and Robert Buckley (she the nutritionist and he the educator) to provide an end-to-end solution to the healthy living challenge, offering fitness programme, diet plans and healthy ready-made meals under their Gourmet Fuel brand.

Single Serving Or Tapas Style?

Whilst Gerard admired the team's appealing approach to providing a whole solution for the busy customer, he suggested that Emma and Robert need to take the lead and guide the newcomer around the various options and potential combinations as they make their choice. On the website, for example, the comprehensive programme that the pair have developed isn't immediately obvious, with the elements of that programme presented menu-style, rather than as parts of a smart plan of action.

Over To You

What can Robert and Emma do to introduce their exciting new offering in a way that makes most sense to customers? Listen back to Gourmet Fuel on Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you suggest?

We'd love to hear from you.

Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.20pm and is available on Playback immediately afterwards.

The Dash Of The Ash

Performance cycling is a hugely popular sport in Ireland (and further afield); just try cycling sedately down the canal to work and feel the rush of wind nearly knock you over as yet another high performance cyclist whizzes by! Our landscape is perfect for the sport, providing endlessly exciting and challenging terrain and conditions and of course, stunning natural scenery.

For performance cycling you need high quality performance bikes that have been designed to the highest standards and there's a whole science behind the selection of materials chosen to increase speed and manoeuvrability.

Taking In The Scenery

On Kickstart Your Business, we featured Woodelo, a company that's set to send the cycling world into a spin! Founded by Liam Murray, the company designs performance wooden bicycles, combining modern techniques and processes with traditional craftsmanship and matererials. After two years of extensive building and testing, the first models 'Leaf Speed' and 'Special Branch' are now available and ready for customisation. Liam uses beautiful Irish Ash for the frame, as the damping characteristics of ash help to absorb road vibrations.

Spin Doctor

Like many skilled craftspeople, Liam is keen to let his work speak for itself. However, the canny salesperson knows that this is rarely enough, and a little more spin is usually required.

There's real substance behind that spin in the case of Woodelo, and Liam needs to step up a gear in terms of weaving the great brand story that's available to him through his choice of wood in general, and ash in particular, and the wonderful machines that he creates as a result.

Over To You

What can Liam do to deliver a great performance that customers will buy in to? Listen back to Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you suggest?

We'd love to hear from you.

Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.20pm and is available on Playback immediately afterwards.

Shaking Up The World Of Careers

It's May and for final year college students the world over, that means preparing to take their all important exams and begin the journey of setting their fledgling careers on the right path.

With so much time spent worrying about, and studying for exams, there is little time left to explore how to place their foot firmly on the rung on their chosen career ladder. After all that time spent in college, no one wants to get off to a shaky start and miss their footing.

Shaken & Stirred

This week on The Right Hook, we kickstarted a business that aims to change the way students explore, discover and start their careers. Shake, founded by Kevin Holler is a platform designed to connect students with companies offering paid internships to the brightest and best graduates. 

Shake cleverly invites students to start telling the story of their CV one chapter at a time, under headings including Skills, Projects, Experience & Education.

Two Shakes Of A Thrilling Tale

Kevin wants to issue a thrilling call to discovery to soon-to-be-graduates, as well as attracting great employers, so Gerard suggested that he needs to build on his powerful mission to 'change the way students explore, discover and start their careers' by evoking much more of that world of discovery.

At present, the invitation is presented in a fairly sedate, if competent, way and there's a real need to paint more pictures of the exciting world that awaits and send out a real call to action to the would-be explorer. As George noted, visual testimonials are a great way to use success stories for just this purpose.

Over To You

What else can Kevin do to issue an irresistible call to adventure? Listen back to Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you suggest?

We'd love to hear from you.

Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.20pm and is available on Playback immediately afterwards.

Wonderfully Wagon

The image of a child pulling a wagon filled with toys and stuffed animals tugs on our nostaglia strings, evoking memories of innocent childhood summers, when every minute was spent outdoors playing happily.

Paint the wagon bright red with sturdy black wheels and the picture of childhood freedom and happiness is complete. Norman Rockwell, eat your heart out!

And Toby Came Too!

Thanks to our featured business on Kickstart Your Business last night, fun-filled outdoor play for children has arrived in the shape of the Toby Wagon. Founded by Derrick Bell, Toby Wagons is a locally owned and operated family business that specialises in pull-along carts for children and adults alike ('Mammy, Mammy! Daddy won't give me back my Toby Wagon!). Derrick offers his Toby Wagon and other related products through his website and delivers across Ireland and even further afield.

Local Hero

Whilst Derrick's promotional material (including his website) is generally well put together, Gerard suggested that he needs to make more of the visual power of the Toby Wagon to attract new customers. In an age when people are so inclined (and so well equipped) to share great photos, he should invest in even more compelling images, where the heroic qualities of the Toby Wagon are even more front and centre.

Over To You

What else can Derrick do to prompt word of mouth referrals for his classic toy and get customers asking for his painted wagons by name? Listen back to Kickstart Your Business (Toby Wagons) 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 6.20pm and is available on Playback immediately afterwards.