Continuous Improvement Key to Long-Term Success
Regina Mangan has been part of the business scene in Waterford for nearly three decades.
Her company, Liberty Blue Estate Agents, was founded in the mid-90s as Bookaroom and specialised in property lettings and management. In 2015, the Waterford-based company expanded to property sales and rebranded as Liberty Blue Estate Agents.
As the Managing Director of Liberty Blue Estate Agents, Regina has led her team to numerous awards by continuously innovating for the benefit of its customers. She frequently contributes locally and nationally on radio and television on the subjects of property, business, and important community initiatives. “I lead an amazing team who are passionate about delivering a top-class customer experience and we are proud to be Ireland’s highest rated Estate Agency on Google. In February ’24, Liberty Blue Estate Agents was selected as one of the top 3 estate agencies in Ireland, the only non-Dublin based firm to make it to the final of the National Property Awards. We love the opportunity to represent Waterford positively on the national stage. ” says Regina.
Regina and the team take pride in everything they do, constantly innovating for the benefit of our customers. “The key to remaining successful in an extremely competitive and challenging industry is continuous improvement. My relationship with the Local Enterprise Office over the years has enabled this evolution. The range of services, grants and assistance the LEO offers is invaluable to small and growing businesses.”
During the pandemic Regina realised the importance of her online presence. She was always an advocate for online marketing but with the assistance of the Local Enterprise Office in Waterford she received a Trading Online Voucher.
The Trading Online Voucher Scheme is designed to assist small businesses with up to 10 employees to trade more online, boost sales and reach new markets. Participating in this scheme can make the process of trading online much easier for you. It offers financial assistance of up to €2,500 with co-funding of 50% from the business along with training and advice to help your business trade online. Cutting the cost of developing your online trading capacity by up to 50% can make this investment very affordable for many small businesses out there. The training sessions which accompany the voucher cover various topics, including developing a website, digital marketing, social media for business and search engine optimisation. The information provided is impartial and will help you decide on what trading online options, are right for your business.
Regina and Liberty Blue also completed the LEAN for Business programme with the Local Enterprise Office. Lean For Business is designed to encourage clients to adopt Lean business principles in their organisations to increase performance and competitiveness. Lean is for all companies, regardless of sector – it is not just for manufacturing companies. Regina and her team found the programme excellent, “The implementation of the LEAN programme was a real driver for us in terms of business growth and client retention. It helped us to optimise our sales and maintenance processes to ensure consistency.”
Lean tools and techniques are helping companies across the globe to address competitiveness issues within their businesses by building the capability of their people to identify problems, improve operations and create a more innovative organisation. In a nutshell, Lean is about doing things quicker, better and saving costs. Lean strives to remove waste and to continually improve a company.
Regina is based between the Waterford and Dungarvan offices, growing the sales division of the business. Regina lives with her family in An Rinn in the Gaeltacht and is working on her cúpla focal. She is a published author with her recent best seller book on Amazon, How to Build a Smarter, Faster, Better Estate Agency Business offers real-life insights for anyone in business.
Regina has been involved in a number of charities and (non-profit) events including Pieta House, Rotary, WRLFM St Vincent De Paul Christmas appeal, South East Simon, a judge at the Young Entrepreneur Awards. In 2016 Regina took part in a boxing fight for the Irish Heart Foundation and lived to tell the tale. In March ’24 she was involved in the Sea SmART art auction in aid of the RNLI. As she says, “A business should always be seen to be part of the community, so while it earns from the community, it should also give back when and where it can. This relationship is so important to the development of Waterford and its economy.”
Local Enterprise Office Waterford is here to help you start a business, expand an existing business or reach new markets. It provides advice, information and supports in starting up or growing your business as part of a network of 31 Local Enterprise Offices across Ireland.
Contact your Local Enterprise Office Waterford for their latest training programmes and events schedule on www.localenterprise.ie/Waterford or email info@leo.waterfordcouncil.ie for access to all their training support information.
To learn more about Regina and Libert Blue Estate Agents see www.libertyblue.ie