Objectives:

To give participants the basic knowledge, skills and confidence to bring their entrepreneurial project to profitable reality.  Participants will be able to assess the viability of business ideas and understand essential elements needed to bring an enterprise from concept to profit.  They will have an understanding of the essential elements required to start up and run their own businesses effectively.

Contents:

Session 1:  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)
• 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.

Session 2: Aim is to show participants the formal vehicles to use to conduct business, particularly the new companies acts and legislation.  The session also introduces the self-assessment taxation system and the responsibilities to the revenue of the self-employed.  The session also deals with protecting the business idea online.

• Guide to legal structures
• Registering a business name
• Registering a domain name
• Introduction to Tax

Session 3:  Aim is to introduce the reasons for and benefits of planning, as well as the methods of creating a realistic plan and how to use it as a tool for creating and managing success.#

• Why develop a business plan?
• Main elements of a business plan
• Setting goals and objectives/strategic planning
• Reviewing the business plan
• Year one Cash Flow Forecast

Session 4:  Aim is to give a solid professional grounding in the principles of marketing leading up to developing a marketing plan.

• Introduction to marketing
• The 4P's
• Marketing environment
• Market size and trends
• Product/service and comparison
• Identifying and meeting customer needs
• Developing a marketing plan
• Promotion for the start-up
• Market research methods
• Price in the context of marketing
• Promotion
• Developing a marketing strategy

Session 5:  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.

• Introduction to small business finance
• Sources of funding
• Drawing and personal budget
• Business costs
• Pricing
• Break Even Analysis
• Accounting options and MIS systems

Session 6:  Aim to create an understanding in the participants of the importance of good financial management which ranges from basic book-keeping to creation of internal controls and revenue commissioner ready accounts, as well as how, why and when to register for appropriate taxes.

• Books of prime entry
• Top tips to make book-keeping stressless
• Profit and loss account creation
• Balance sheet creation
• Taxes - the principle of self assessment, ROS, returns and thresholds   
       -    Self assessment Income Tax
       -    VAT
       -    Employers taxes 
• How books relate to tax
• How to set up and use the revenue online system to your benefit.

Dates:

This course will be held on Thursday, 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th February and 4th, 18th March, 2021.

Tutor:

Christine O'Brien,
TalentPool