Mulch Appreciated

In order to keep everything in the garden rosy, the keen horticulturalist - whether professional or domestic - needs a good supply of compost, bark and soil, and a means of disposing of the green waste, such as grass cuttings, pruned branches etc, generated through their work.

Two unrelated requirements you might think, until you consider the part a green recycling facility might play in neatly filling the gap between supplies and demands.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Since the closure of Ireland's only green recycling facility at St. Anne's Park in Raheny some years ago, professional landscaper John McGuinness (our featured entrepreneur on this week's Kickstart Your Business) had struggled to resolve the problem of disposing of the green waste generated through his endeavours.

But a fertile mind soon produces some green solutions. And so John decided to make gardens grow even better by setting up Mulch, Ireland and the UK's first indoor green recycling centre, where gardeners can dispose of their green waste and pick up a fresh supply of compost, bark or soil in one easy trip. And Mulch can collect or deliver too, if preferred. Waste not, want not, you might say.

Inch By Inch, Row By Row

With plans to open another facility in Dublin, and one each in Cork and Galway, before turning his attention to the UK, John's seed of a great idea looks likely to bear great fruit indeed for both the business and for keen gardeners across these green isles.

Gerard applauded John's carefully laid plans, and noted how he had achieved the deceptively difficult task of creating a simple business model, supported by well designed promotional resources that keep everything simple and easy to buy into. The Mulch.ie website is a great example of this approach.

Over To You

What more can John do to make his smart gardening offer grow? Listen back to John and Mulch 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 Newstalk 106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.15pm, and is available to listen to on Playback immediately afterwards.

Inside Track On The Sport Of Kings

For sheer colour and drama, you'd be hard pushed to find an experience that beats a day at the races. All human life is there, alongside some rather compelling equine characters, and a first time visitor is likely to leave after the last thrilling finish feeling as exhilarated and as exhausted as though they've run each race on the card from start to finish.

A Stable Relationship

But entrepreneur Rob Relihan of Racing Tours Ireland (our Kickstart Your Business feature this week), has thrown something even more attractive into the parade ring. His racing tours include a visit to a leading stable, where one of Ireland's top trainers gives the inside track on what it takes to school and prepare a champion racehorse, whilst introducing some of their star pupils. Straight from the horse's mouth if you like!

Horse Racing Of A Very Different Colour

Gerard and George loved Rob's initiative in adding this simple, but highly effective, element into his racing tours, but Gerard suggested that Rob currently isn't making enough of this privileged access to the power behind the throne in this sport of kings. His best customers are likely to be those who know little or nothing about the world he's inhabited since he was a small boy, so he needs to make a great deal more of the inside track he offers through his unique connections.

Over To You

What more can Rob do to create a market for his very special offer? Listen back to Racing Tours Ireland 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 Newstalk 106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.15pm, and is available to listen to on Playback immediately afterwards.

Straight To The Pointy

Most of us would prefer to give our money to local shops but simply haven't the time to physcially locate the products we want in individual stores.

Locating a product easily and quickly is one of the key advantages of buying from massive on-line retailers like Amazon and eBay and in today's busy world, too often that's our first port of call when looking for a particular item.

On The Right Page

This week on Kickstart Your Business, we featured Pointy, a revolutionary system that enables shop-owners to point and click at a physical item on a shelf and see it uploaded into a searchable directory for local shoppers. Created by Mark Cummins and Charles Bibby, retailers purchase the small electronic device that enables them to click and point at inventory, and upload it to their Pointy page where it is available for buyers to search and find.

Supporting Irish

Supported by a strong website that explains to the shopkeeper clearly how the product works, this Irish designed and manufactured product has much to offer.

As Gerard pointed out on the show last night, the team could make much more of the benefit of this product to both the local shopkeeper and the Irish economy. A win/win for everyone.

Over To You

How can Mark and the team at Pointy make more of the benefits of their product to the Irish economy ? Listen back to Pointy on Kickstart Your Business and tell us 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 6.15pm and is available on Playback immediately afterwards.                                                       

A Business That Snacks Of Success

For many of us attempting to eat positively and well, it's the sneaky hunger that strikes between mealtimes that really trips us up. It's no surprise as research has shown that snacking is where we are most likely to slip up when trying for better nutrition.

Who hasn't been at their desk mid-afternoon, distracted by the thought of chocolate or biscuits, dinner-time a million miles away and before we know it, we've guiltily succumbed to temptation?

A Positively Sweet Idea

Featured on Kickstart Your Business this week is a business that offers us the best of both worlds; snacks that hit the sweet spot but are high in nutrition and slow releasing energy. Founded by Alison Stroh who teamed up with the legendary Dr Coy. a leading German oncologist,  Dr Coy's Health Food produces delicious natural snacks with energy giving properties that don't only make us happy when we eat them but make us feel better all day. 

Local Food Hero

Supported by an excellent brand and website, Dr Coy's is already well positioned but as Gerard pointed out on the show, there is an opportnity for Alison to bring this product to local food heroes such as Clodagh McKenna or Donal Skeehan, to introduce the superb Dr Coy's medical and nutritional credentials to the Irish market.

Over To You

What other local food heroes would you think suitable to endorse Dr Coy's excellent credentials for the Irish market? Listen back to Dr Coy's on Kickstart Your Business and tell us 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 6.15pm and is available on Playback immediately afterwards.

Let's Get Cooking, Kids

If you ask most working parents, the two biggest fears we have are not spending enough quality time with our children, and failing to provide them with enough home-made nutritious meals.

After a long working day, it's a challenge to even think about what to have for the evening meal, let alone buy the ingredients and cook it, all the while trying to give some much needed attention to our children. The image of a frantic juggler comes to mind.

What's Cooking?

Our feature on Kickstart Your Business this week was Jill's Kitchen, the brain wave of mumpreneur, Jill Stout. Through her CooKit Kids range of products and on-line videos, Jill aims to provide busy parents and their children with the perfect ingredients for well fed, happy families. Goodbye juggler, hello chef!

Simple Ingredients

Although Jill is doing a brilliant job in helping busy mums and dads keep all the balls in the air in the kitchen, she confesses to doing a good deal of juggling of her own in kickstarting her business.

Although this is often the lot of the new entrepreneur, Gerard suggested that the sooner she can delegate certain low-value adding tasks to other resources, the better.

Over To You

What do you think Jill can do to keep Jill's Kitchen and CooKit Kids bubbling over nicely? Listen back to Jill's Kitchen on Kickstart Your Business and tell us 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 6.15pm and is available on Playback immediately afterwards.