LEO DLR would like to extend a hug congratulations to local student Aoibheann McNally from Loreto Abbey Dalkey on winning the Intermediate Category in the National Final of the Student Enterprise Programme.
The National Final for the Student Enterprise Programme was held on the 18th May in The Helix. The Local Enterprise Office initiative, now in its 20th year, has seen over 300,000 secondary students complete Ireland’s largest enterprise programme since it began.
From over 24,000 student enterprises, the top 5 businesses in each of the three categories, Senior, Intermediate and Junior were selected to go forward to the Final where An Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar announced the winners.
Aoibheann’s student business is called Earrings by Aoibheann – handmade hypoallergenic earrings. Her earrings can be found on her Instagram page @earringsbyaoibheann
The Local Enterprise Office are thrilled with Aoibheann’s win and wish her the best of luck with her business Earrings by Aoibheann going forward.
We would like to wish local business, VivaGreen, the very best of luck at the National Enterprise Awards 2022.
The 22nd National Enterprise Awards will be held at the Mansion House in Dublin on the 2nd June.
VivaGreen is a small Irish company located in Deansgrange Business Park, Co Dublin, founded in 1998. They develop and manufacture products made from plant-based and biodegradable ingredients and are pioneers in sustainable practices. The company ethos is to use what they have and only use natural resources or waste that’s repurposed to give it a second life. VivaGreen exports 80% of their products and their biggest overseas markets are the US and the UK.
VivaGreen will now be competing against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the €35,000 winner’s prize fund as national judging gets underway in May.
Categories this year include ‘Best Export Business,’ ‘Best Start-Up’ and ‘Innovation,’ in addition to eight regional awards. There are also two new National Enterprise Awards this year with a “One to Watch” award and a “Sustainability / Green” award.
Owen Laverty, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Dún Laoghaire Rathdown said “The National Enterprise Awards are very much a benchmark for excellence for small businesses across the country. VivaGreen’s commitment to innovation and production of environmentally friendly products, growth and success in export markets is remarkable and we are delighted that they will be representing Dún Laoghaire Rathdown in this year’s competition.”
Our business network for entrepreneurs and small business owners, Link Network, is back in action with an in-person event and networking on Tuesday 31st May.
- Can you give a memorable answer to “What do you do?”
- Can you describe your business in a single sentence?
- Can you create a pitch that highlights your USP by sharing client stories?
This workshop is for business owners who attend networking events online or in-person and want to improve their 60 Second “Elevator” pitch.
In this session, participants will get an overview of how to:
Create a “core sentence” that succinctly describes their business
Adapt their pitch to a variety of audiences, using the core sentence
Use client stories to highlight their USP
Maureen McCowen is a Communication and Presentation Skills Specialist who helps business professionals and teams unlock their speaking confidence.
Next dates for the two half day workshops: 2nd & 9th June
What is Lean and the Lean for Micro Programme?
Lean is the belief that waste exists in all processes and the aim of any lean project is to support a business to eliminate that waste and only have steps that add value to your clients. Put simply, Lean is about taking what you do for you business and finding ways to to is Quicker, Cheaper, Better, and Together as a team.
Lean for Micro is about more than cash savings to small business owners though. For many it is about building a stable, secure, and sustainable business that is agile enough to face economic challenges.
Core Deliverables
Learn the Tools & Thinking on which Lean & Efficient Businesses are built: Standardization, Visual Management, & 6S
How Lean Thinking links in with Strategic management frameworks.
Use Lean Workplace Organisation to improve productivity, increase flow, shorten processes and even implement Social Distancing
Use Lean Problem Solving to navigate & solve operations challenges in you business
Get the support of an Expert that will be focused on supporting you, your business, and the challenges within it.
The Programme
2 x Half Days of workshop training (3-hours)
5 x 3.5 hours 1:1 mentoring
Small group setting: max. 14 places per programme.
The objective of this online workshop is to support you in the development of specific skills and provide practical tools to help you during stressful periods.
By the end of this workshop, participants will have:
Explored the key benefits of a positive mindset and how this can help with resilience during particularly challenging and uncertain times.
Discovered the obstacles which are currently inhibiting participants’ own positivity
Learned how to move to a positive mindset through practical tools, models and techniques
Explored the four key pillars of resilience and how to practically apply them in their work and personal lives
Understood how to maintain overall wellbeing and motivation
Developed a clear action plan for immediate implementation in the workplace
Learn how to use Video, Photography, Graphics & Storytelling to create marketing content that stands out from the crowd.
To promote your business, you know it is vital to communicate with customers to grow brand awareness and increase sales. Visual storytelling and video marketing is the latest and most cost effective technique to let you do just that, and with your smartphone you have all the tools you need at your fingertips.
Leaving the workshop participants will have a clear understanding of the following;
Creating a compelling story
Visual storytelling techniques
Video/photography jargon and terminology
Hardware and software apps to use and how to use them
Video and photography editing – adding text/tiles and colouring
Video production – planning/location/setup/filming/lighting/audio
How to emulate modern video storytelling styles
Where to purchase cost effective equipment and attachments
Uploading and promoting your stories on various social media platforms
Continue building confidence in your business finances.
Build on existing knowledge and practices embedded within your SME and learn new improved systems and strategies to empower greater financial
decision making.
Business owners who are knowledgeable and understand their finances will be able to make informed decisions about the future of their business and prepare for any challenges or opportunities that may arise.
Within a highly interactive and collaborative workshop you will be equipped to:
Assess your current Finance Process
Relate to Best Practices in reporting, budgeting and forecasting
Identify trends in the numbers for future planning
Find underperforming parts of the business
Determine gaps in financial literacy and create a plan to increase knowledge in key areas
Assess areas of financial risk and be prepared for challenges / opportunities
Prepare Financial KPIs for ongoing review or discussion with lenders
