The ‘Grow Your Business’ Open Day, organised by the Local Enterprise Office Wicklow saw a hive of activity on the attractive grounds of Wicklow County Campus in Rathnew, on Wednesday 11th March. Close to 180 owner-managers of County Wicklow based SMEs (small and medium enterprises) visited throughout the day to get support and advice on growing their businesses. From 10am till 4pm the Exhibition Area hosted 25 exhibition stands, giving advice to attendees on topics such as patents, procurement, training, tax, funding, incentives and incubation space.
The focus of the day was to support local businesses to grow. Noel Davidson, online sales expert and guest speaker at the first of two free seminars on the day delivered an energetic and practical presentation on ‘Successful Online Trading’, and gave dozens of practical, up to date tips on selling online. The second seminar covered the tried and tested core principles of ‘How to Generate and Close Sales’, delivered by sales guru Terry Harmer, who urged the audience to ‘sell benefits not features’, and to make face-to-face sales a personal interaction.
There was huge demand for appointments at the Mentor Rooms, where visitors could meet one-to-one with a business mentor. The team of mentors worked diligently throughout the day, giving tailored advice to over 40 local business owners.
At the event Sheelagh Daly, Head of Enterprise at the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Wicklow, expressed her sincere thanks to the 70 staff from the local and national Enterprise Support Agencies that exhibited on the day, including: the relevant departments of Wicklow County Council, such as Planning, Procurement, Economic Development and Environment, the Revenue Commissioners, Enterprise Ireland, Microfinance Ireland, the Chambers of Commerce, the Enterprise Centres, the Patents Office, local banks, INTREO, Wicklow County Tourism, the Enterprise Centres, the Patents Office and many others. The exhibition provided a great opportunity for busy, growing businesses to save time, by gathering information from all the various stands in one afternoon, and business owners got a chance to speak directly with staff from the various agencies and organisations.
All events at the LEO Wicklow Open Day were free of charge, as a support to the hard-working SME owners and entrepreneurs of County Wicklow.
Notes from the guest speakers’ seminars are available to download below. County Wicklow based entrepreneurs (start-up or existing businesses) are always welcome to contact the Local Enterprise Office Wicklow by email at enterprise@leo.wicklowcoco.ie or by phone on 0404 30800.
