Programme 1 – Quickcrop
Andrew Davidson and Niall McAllister both originally moved from Dublin to Sligo about 2 years ago to find the good life and get out of the big smoke – they both met through the Steiner school their children attended. Niall is from a sales/business background and Andrew is from a graphic design background – they have united their skills together to form Quickcrop.ie which is a web based business that provides ready built vegetable/plant beds for urban dwellers as well as providing instant gardens for people who just don’t have the time or the knowledge! They will install and maintain the products if required. Peter & Paul have worked with them to bring new products to market but this time instead of concentrating on the web based products they want them to bring their products to the retail.
Programme 2 – Shasta
Ann Marie Durkin who hails from Granard near Mullingar has been in business for over 3 years. Her business Idea was and is to create innovative and functional products for parents and babies. She developed the Steri Soother as well as the Steriorb, which is a mobile soother sterilizer. She has since patented a new baby bottle sterilizer called the ‘Seri Ova’. All these products are completely unique to the Irish Market. Ann-Marie is at a difficult stage in her business as she needs investors to bring her new product “Steri Ova” to market and also to bring her business to the next level – Peter & Paul are there to advise her on the best way to deal with potential investors and introduce Ann-Marie to some hugely experienced people from the world of business.
Programme 3 – Sligo Golf Academy
Tommy Bree has changed his farmland into a business that is now a top of the range golf academy whereby all golf shots played on a golf course can be replicated/practiced under cover or in a sheltered environment.
Tommy’s land is near the famous Strand hill surfing haven – there are plenty of golf courses in the are but there is no high calibre golf academy in the area. It will enable customers to practice driving, chipping, putting and bunker shots protected from the elements. He intends to cater for all ages and standards of golfers from children (Crazy Golf) to scratch handicappers. His plan is to provide a state-of-the-art facility consisting of 16 bay driving range with automatic tees that is both modern and user friendly, as well as in house professional who will use video technology to coach the Academy clientele. The following facilities will also be available
Programme 4 – Electric Escapes
Paul Harmon was made redundant last November – he had job offers in Dublin and in the UK but decided that it was time for him to make a life choice and set up his own business that would give him the lifestyle that he sought after so long. Paul set up “Electric Escapes” to give bike tours around the beautiful Westport/ Newport/Croagh Patrick region but instead of the tourist puffing and panting during the tour they will be on bikes that can be run on electricity also – the tourist has the best of both worlds. Paul has been an employee most of his life so setting up the business and making sure it will run smoothly on all sides has been a massive learning curve. Peter & Paul have mentored him in sales/marketing, finances & negotiating with suppliers and tour operators who would want to use his unique tour service.
Programme 5 – Smart Sewing
Teresa has been working from a prefab at the back of her home in Tullow in Co. Carlow for the last number of years. She has been giving classes to children & adults around the area. Through her website she has also had customers from as far as Leitrim travel to her classes. She is at a stage though that should would like to franchise her smart sewing product around the country but Peter & Paul feel that she need to walk before she runs so they are working with her updating her business plan to bring her to the next level.
Programme 6 – Milk Vending Machines
Pat Talty from Kilkee and Matt Costello from Croom in Limerick were introduced together by Enterprise Ireland. They both had the idea for importing the hugely successful milk vending machines from Italy. They have formed a partnership together – not really by choice but by necessity. They have a difficult road ahead of them, as they must sell the product to the dairy farmer who are under immense pressure during these difficult times – the farmers must then install them in local shops, garages or wherever they see the potential of a customer purchasing fresh pasteurised milk direct from the farmer – so Peter & Paul are advising them both about their partnership roles within the company and also on sales techniques
Programme 7 – Speedflex
Ned Burns is a farmer from Abbeyknockmoy who has a passion for Sport. Ned has been coaching GAA teams in the Athlone Institute of Technology for many years. He came up with an idea for measuring peoples flexability about two years ago – he travelled the length and breadth of the country with his prototype in the boot of his car exhibiting the product and received a positive response. Recently Ned convinced John Concannon from JFC to make up a sample model of the device. He has been in touch with plenty of people from the sports community and the feed back so far has been positive. He is now at the stage that he needs to get the product to market and sell it to possible customers such as gyms, schools & sports clubs. Peter & Paul have been mentoring Ned in areas such as sales skills, organisational skills for starting up the business.
Programme 8 – Island McGrath Ecofarm
Eddie is a former word work teacher – he left teaching a number of years ago and set up his own kitchen manufacturing firm – due to the recession this slowed down dramatically. He is now living on the family120 acre farm and he is running eco courses there. For example - how to build your own wind turbine, he puts a big emphasis for the courses to DIY, where money is saved by putting work in yourself. We are also setting up a section of the farm on renewable energy displays, wildlife trails, vintage machinery, bird photography, and crafts. We want the display to be interactive with people such as seeing the cogs and wheels in an old machine and hence understanding how gears work.
