This programme will run 2 evenings a week over 3 weeks on Wednesdays & Friday:-

• Wednesday 29 June, 6 & 13 July
• Friday 1, 8 & 15 July

Content of Programme

1) Self Assessment

The topic aim is to introduce participants to the concept of entrepreneurship and what it means to be a business owner. The downs and ups and how to deal with both.

• • Entrepreneurship – What is it?
• • Personal Skills Analysis
• • Personal Goals (particularly financial)
• • SWOT/USED Analysis
• • Golden Figure (creating personal wealth)
• • Reasons for starting a business.
• • Reasons for small business success and failure
• • Understanding how to develop an idea to make Money.
• • Steps to starting a business

2) Legal Issues for Start up businesses

The topic aim is to show participants the formal vehicles to use to conduct business, particularly the new companies acts and legislation; the Topic also introduces the self-assessment taxation system and the responsibilities to the revenue of the self-employed. The Topic also deals with protecting the business idea online

• • Guide to legal structures
• • Registering a business name
• • Registering a domain name (Online variant guides delegates through the CRO process and show domain options)
• • Obligations and red tape to be observed, including responsibilities to the Revenue, COVID protection, Data Protection and Diversity and inclusivity.

3) Market and Market research

The topic aim is to give a solid professional grounding in the principles of marketing leading up to developing a marketing plan

• • Introduction to marketing
• • Product / service and comparison
• • Researching your idea to ensure profit.
• • Identifying and meeting customer needs
• • Developing a marketing plan
• • Promotion for the start-up, including social media marketing.
• • Market Research Methods
• • Price in the context of marketing
• • Promotion
• • Developing a market strategy

4) Sales and networking

The topic aim is to show that sales are core to all businesses, so that participants prepare their sales pitches and networking pitches for immediate use even if the business has not started.

• • The importance of Sales
• • What makes people buy?
• • Sales conversations/vs hard sell
• • Selling on benefits
• • Seven step Sales model
• • Getting the T's & C's right, the power of now
• • Selling over Zoom (or teams) Online only
• • Networking, and finding prospects
• • Pitching and promotion of self.

5) Administration and bookkeeping

The topic aim to create an understanding in the participants of the importance of good financial management which ranges from basic bookkeeping to creation of internal controls and revenue commissioner ready accounts, as well as how why and when to register for appropriate taxes.

• • Introduction to small business finance
• • Sources of funding
• • Drawings and personal budget
• • Business Costs overheads fixed and variable.
• • Pricing
• • Break Even Analysis
• • Overhead clock
• • Funding options
• • Accounting options & MIS systems (the online variant demonstrates how to use an online accounts package)

6) Finance and financial management

The topic aim to inform of the routes to finance available in current times and to establish the methods of costing and other basic tools to ensure profitability

• • Books of prime entry
• • Top tips to make bookkeeping stressless
• • Profit and loss account creation
• • Balance Sheet creation
• • Taxes: the principle of self-assessment, ROS, returns and thresholds
• o Self-assessment Income Tax
• o VAT
• o Employers taxes
• • How Books relate to tax
• • How to set up and use the revenue online
• • Demonstrations of book keeping will be given Via an Excel spreadsheet that show how to create a simple set of accounts suitable for creating a form 11 return. (On the online variant Delegates will be shown a fully functional version of the spreadsheet which will create an accurate profit and loss account and balance sheet, this will be supplied to them via our learning platform)
• • A working demonstration of how to fill out the form 11 online (online variant only)

7) Business Planning

The topic aim is to demonstrate to delegates the importance of comprehensive planning for their prospective business.  This Topic focuses on tying in all the previous topics, and demonstrates how to create clear content in a recognised manner.

Business plans for investment proposals for a grant or financing application - the critical elements that must be included and how to complete the document including the Cash flow projects and the executive Summary (often aimed at being landing page of their website). Specific information is given on how loans are assessed, including the type of ratios and stress tests that can be used by lenders to assess funding applications.

Examples of common reasons why loans could be refused will be demonstrated.

• • Reasons for planning a business
• • Types of plans
• o Lean Canvas
• o EI funding plan
• o MFI plans
• o LEO template
• • Planning finance
• (the online variant provides business planning spreadsheets which are demonstrated – live. A working copy of the spreadsheet is given to each delegate via our online platform)

8) Technology in modern business

This topic discussed the remarkable aids to small businesses that have evolved in recent times, the topic mentions all the new social media platforms, as well as financial technology that has emerged

The delegates will discuss:-

• • WhatsApp for business, Instagram for business, as well as the more familiar names, such as buffer, hootsuite.
• • Squid,
• • Square and sumup
• • Revolut for business, N26 for business
• • Quickbooks, Wave, Surf accounts etc