Genesis Recuritment Programme
Genesis Recuritment Programme
Genesis – Turning Ideas into Real Business
CIT now recruiting for 2011 Genesis Enterprise Programme
How do you turn your idea into a real business? When it comes to starting or expanding your business, it’s usually not the idea that fails but the execution that wins. To survive and win in today’s global markets, Irish start-ups need to be expert not just in the idea or product but also in designing and executing the business around the idea. The highly successful Genesis Enterprise Programme helps entrepreneurs develop their ideas into real exporting businesses. Genesis is now recruiting entrepreneurs for its new 2011/12 programme commencing in May 2011.
Now in its 14th year, Genesis has a proven track record in helping over 180 entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. And, the real measure of its success is that more than 70% of the start-up businesses who emerged from the Genesis programme are in operation five years on, employing well over 1,200 people in the South West of Ireland. At a time when exports have never been so important to the future of our economy, over 50% of the businesses emerging from Genesis are selling to customers in international markets. Many have become Enterprise Ireland “High Potential Start-Ups” and raised significant angel and venture capital investment.
Putting the Programme into real terms, some well-known businesses that started life in Genesis include Abtran, Crest Solutions, Cully & Sully, Comnitel/IBM, Eolas International, Ferfics, Radisen Diagnostics, Treemetrics, Weddingdates.ie, and Wavebreak Media. The emphasis of Genesis has always been to support high value, knowledge based Irish owned businesses, which have the potential to scale into export markets and create employment in Ireland. Genesis works with start-ups across a diversity of sectors including energy and environmental, food, photonics, information technology, mechanical engineering, medical devices, biotechnology, media and internationally traded services.
So how does it work? Genesis is a 12-month, full time, rapid incubation programme that provides a comprehensive range of supports to innovative start-ups to help them establish their business successfully in a planned and focused environment. Over the duration of the programme they will be presented with the practical skills, expertise, contact networks and tools necessary to develop an idea into a solid real business.
Participants learn through seminars, workshops, clinics, mentoring and peer learning meetings. Business milestones are set for their development and their progress is guided by a dedicated Programme Manager, Denise Kennedy, and the experienced Rubicon team and its wider network of experts, as well as ready access to the programme partners including Cork Institute of Technology, Enterprise Ireland and the Cork City & County Enterprise Boards. Along the way, they learn how talk to the market, raise investment capital and launch their product/service in the marketplace. Information and access to sources of business funding is one of the most critical areas that Genesis works with start-ups on. Participants can work at their own location or take advantage of free office facilities in the Rubicon Centre, Ireland’s largest incubation centre, embedded on campus in the Cork Institute of Technology.
The work of the Genesis Enterprise Programme and Cork Institute of Technology in developing entrepreneurs in Ireland was recognised in the EU’s European Enterprise Awards 2010 in Madrid. Genesis won an award for best practice in enterprise development from a field of over 300 projects across 28 countries.
Genesis attributes its success in enabling the emergence of new companies to its significant experience gained from a 14 year history of working with start ups and the rich entrepreneurial environment that has grown up around the programme. Genesis participants can leverage and learn from the network of past participants operating both in the Rubicon Centre and beyond in the South West region, the practical expertise of one-to-one clinics and mentors and to the resources of the programme partners in Cork Institute of Technology, Enterprise Ireland and the Cork City & County Enterprise Boards.
If you want to gain the commercial advantage that Genesis offers for your business start up, applications for the upcoming 2011/2012 Genesis Enterprise Programme can be made online by visiting www.gep.ie. The closing date for applications is Friday 8th April 2011 with the new programme commencing in May. For an informal and confidential discussion of your business idea and eligibility, please contact Denise Kennedy, Programme Manager, at 021 4928907 or dkennedy@gep.ie
The Programme is funded by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment under the National Development Plan 2007 – 2013.
Cork Open Coffee Friday 12th – “Fire in the Belly”
This week Yanky Fachler, author of ‘Fire in the Belly’ will be giving a talk at Cork Open Coffee at 10am in the Rubicon Centre.
Yanky will have copies of his book with him for anyone to buy.
Fire in the Belly, An exploration of the entrepreneurial mindset
EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK:
- Fire in the belly is the fuel that drives you. With fire in your belly, you’re invincible
- With so many people now considering self-employment, it’s critical to make the emotional transition from employee to self-employed.
- Every entrepreneur has chutzpah – it’s in our DNA. Encourage your chutzpah genie to escape.
- The goal of the education system is to produce employable people who will fill society’s jobs.
- Families are incapable of giving “Recovering Employees” emotional support.
- Feeling lonely can be the number one challenge.
- To be your own boss, you must undergo deprogramming to ditch your employee mindset.
- People say that unless you are prepared to work hard, you should not start a company. Wrong. Unless you already work hard, don’t even think of starting your own business.
- Some employees should never be tempted to leave the employment world. Others should never have been employed in the first place. Asking whether entrepreneurship is for you is the wrong question. The real question is whether you are right for entrepreneurship.
- You’re never too old or too young to start a business.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE BOOK:
- Essential reading. Ruari Glenn, amazon.co.uk
- My business bible. Briain Smyth, Irish Independent
- Fire in the Belly tells anyone still beholden to employers how to discover whether they have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Sandra O’Connell, Sunday Times
- A truly comprehensive treatment of the topic. I read things that no one mentioned in all the years I studied entrepreneurship. Feargal Byrne Lostjobstartbusiness.com
- I have witnessed this book’s ability to change peoples’ lives. David Harrington, amazon.com
- I learned more from your book than from 4 years in college. Trevor Gillespie
- Reading your book gave me the confidence to start up my business with my eyes wide open. Everything you said was true. Cathie Clifford, Clifford Marketing & Associates
- Sorry to phone you at midnight. I’ve just finished the book. Now I know that in the morning I will give in my notice. CR
- The best book I have ever read on the neglected subject of entrepreneurial values. This will now be essential reading for all our business advisors. Gerry Moan
- It’s ironic and absurd that the issues tackled in the book were never even touched on during my MBA studies. What planet are these business schools on? Gaby Posen
Retail price: €15.99 + p&p
SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR BUSINESS NETWORKS: €10 + €1.50 p&p
10+ copies: €10 including p&p
ORDERS: yanky@eircom.net, 086 8575162
Discussing Cork Open Coffee
This morning, Open Coffee took place in the Rubicon center from 10am til 12pm.
The topic of the morning was Cork Open Coffee itself, to see if any members would like to make any changes to how OCC has been working over the past 2 years or so.
There was some great feedback and I took plenty of notes while we all talked. Thank you everyone for all the feedback.
In general, it looks like people want things to stay much the same with just a little more notice about events, some time keeping when talks are going on and keep it tech-based.
Below are my notes in no particular order. I will be working on lining up speakers to demo products and services for the next several open coffees so please get in touch if you would like to give a talk, even if you have given a talk in the past.
If anyone would like to sponsor 1 or more Open Coffees, which pays for Coffee and nibbles for 20ish people, please get in touch by emailing corkopencoffee@gmail.com. The cost of sponsoring a meeting is only 60 Euro. €30 for a coffee urn and €30 for some little cakes.
Here are the notes, if anyone would like to add, please comment below or email us at corkopencoffee@gmail.com
- Fortnightly is good, don’t change to once a month for meetings.
- Needs a little more structure for talks, a moderator for talks being given to prevent topics going on and on
- Every now and then, when doing the initial round-table introduction, give an individual in the audience a few minutes to explain a little more about their business, similar to BNI but not formal.
- A person/business doing a presentation to show their product or service could pay for the coffee?
- 10 – 15 minute presentations, 10- 15 minutes for discussion
- Have Topics for meetings such as SEO, Sales. It doesn’t need a presentation to be made, just a topic for discussion with a person to start it off.
- Send out the email notifications 1 week in advance, Mondays and possibly a reminder again on Wednesday
- Have some more conventional talks such as Sales / Marketing with a tech slant
- Leave behind the Open Coffee’s that take place in coffee shops in the city.
- Try out other venues such as the National Software Centre / Web Works with a board room type environment like the Rubicon.
- Possibly take in donations to pay for coffee & nibbles
- Possibly a Linked-In group for discussions
- If people are looking for someone at a meeting, perhaps have a minute when introducing oneself to say what they are looking for eg: A developer for a project, A designer for a logo
- A page on the website to list profiles of regular members.
- Perhaps recurring talks about relevant topics such as Sales/ Investment/Funding
- Looking into funding to pay for Coffee & Nibbles?
- Try to make resources available to OCC such as access to libraries.
- Have events trough out the year, such as Summer BBQ/Christmas Party events to break up the year.
- Invite in Kieran Moynihan (The new Entrepreneur in Residence at the Rubicon) to talk about his new role in CIT/The Rubicon.
Cork Open Coffee in Nosh+Coffee
This week’s Cork Open Coffee will take place on Friday from 10am in a new venue, Nosh + Coffee in the Mardyke Arena in Cork. There are no talks or presentation planned this week, just open networking and coffee.
The owners, Simon and his wife Jackie have generously invited Cork Open Coffee members to meet in their café, where we will all receive a complimentary coffee on arrival. And there’s Wifi too!
For anyone staying around for lunch, Simon has also generously offered 10% off their lunch menu.
There is parking available in the area with 2 hours free (maybe more) with a cost of 5 Euro per hour after that.
If you are unfamiliar with the area, here is a map to the Maradyke Arena, Cork.
Open Coffee – After Dark
For those who would like to attend but can’t make Cork Open Coffee during the working hours, there is ‘After Dark’. A monthly Open Coffee which takes place on the last Friday of the month.
This months After Dark takes place in The Bodega from 8pm. We usually try to take over the little cubbyhole section just inside the door to the left of the bar so look for us there.
Want to talk at Open Coffee?
If you would like to make a presentation, to demo a new app or get some feedback at an upcoming Cork Open Coffee, please get in touch by responding to this email or contacting myself, Ciara Crossan or Conor O’Neill directly.
Talk to you all on Friday,
Don’t forget to follow @corkopencoffee on Twitter!
7 Habits of Effective Websites
This week’s Cork Open Coffee is taking place Friday the 11th of June at 10am in The Rubicon Centre in Bishopstown in Cork (Map).
7 Habits of Effective Websites
Frank Prendergast is a well known and respected Web Designer based in Cork and will give a brief talk on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and then open up the topic for further discussion with the group.
Frank has been working in the web industry for over ten years and likes to work with small to medium sized businesses developing or revamping their web presence. He is a believer in clarity, simplicity and effectiveness in design.
Want to talk at Open Coffee?
If you would like to give a talk or show off a new product for some feedback at an upcoming Cork Open Coffee, please get in touch by replying to this email or emailing corkopencoffee@gmail.com
Talk to you all on Friday
Don’t forget to follow @corkopencoffee on Twitter!
Photos from Open Coffee in Blackrock Castle Observatory
Last Friday, Cork Open Coffee was invited to the Blackrock Castle Observatory in Blackrock in Cork for coffee and a tour of the facility.
One of our new members, Karl took some excellent photos in and around the castle.
A huge thank you to the hard working people of the Observatory, especially Clair McSweeney who took some time out to give us a 3 hour tour in around 30 minutes.
The castle is an excellent place, full of information and I imagine everyone attending that morning would highly recommend taking a tour.
View from Blackrock Castle Observatory
Cork Open Coffee in the Blackrock Castle Observatory
Thanks to a connection from Damien Mulley , This weeks Cork Open Coffee is taking place on Friday the 28th in the Blackrock Castle Observatory in Blackrock in Cork from 10am to 12pm.
For anyone not familiar with the area, here is a link to the Blackrock castle on Google Maps http://short.ie/
bcomap. There is parking around the corner from the castle gates.
Clair McSweeney, Facilities Manager of the Blackrock Castle Observatory has kindly invited us to gather in the The Castle Bar and Trattoria, which is on the right as you enter the castle gates.
Clair will also give a tour of the castle at noon for anyone interested and would also like to highlight some of the great upcoming events in the castle including:
- Tweet in to Blade Runner (Movies by Moonlight Film Club) Saturday the 29th
- Space Camp 2010 (Summer Camp July and August)
- The Castle Bar and Trattoria Summer Bar-B-Qs
Any blogging / Tweeting / Foursquare’ing about BCO or any of its event is greatly appreciated! Further events in the BCO can be seen on their events page or sign up their newsletter.
Cork Open Coffee Sponsorship
David Reilly, from Reilly & Co. Solicitors in Cork has generously offered to sponsor several of the upcoming Open Coffees which means we can bring in some excellent Coffee from Mr. Cotton coffee for a few of the upcoming Open Coffees in the Rubicon. If youd like to Thank David (or maybe get some legal advice!) you can follow him on Twitter.
Cork Open Coffee E28093 After Dark
Also taking place this coming Friday is Cork Open Coffee E28093 After Dark. This is an evening version of the Open Coffee for those who cant make it in the mornings.
It is very informal and takes place in The Bodega from 8pm onwards. Follow Ronald on Twitter for more details or questions.
Bizcamp
Bizcamp Dublin takes place this Saturday in the Guinness Storehouse. Check out their line up of speakers (PDF) C2A0and others attending the event. A fantastic event for businesses.
Workshop: Successful Email Marketing in the Digital Age
The National Software Centre are hosting an email workshop and networking event!
Successful Email Marketing in the Digital Age
Thursday May 27th 2010
11:00am – 12:00noon
The Atrium, NSC Campus, Mahon, Cork
Email remains one of the most powerful, cost-effective and measurable tools available to businesses. At this workshop Newsweaver’s Denise Cox and Liam O’Callaghan will provides tips and insight into how companies can benefit from using email to communicate with customers and prospects.
They will address in detail:
- How you can save money on your marketing budget
- Setting yourself apart from the competition
- Why it is so important to build a good database and how that improves results
- How small businesses can get scale – first impressions are key
- What makes a good newsletter and why someone reads it
- How to manage your email to develop valuable business relationshipsAnd remember this is not just for those in marketing!
Newsweaver is Europe’s leading email newsletter solutions provider and Denise Cox is Newsweaver’s email communications specialist.
Registration is necessary for this event, please register by emailing fwall@corkbic.com
Cork Open Coffee May 14th
Hi Occers,
This weeks Cork Open Coffee is taking place this Friday the 14th at 10am in The Rubicon Centre in Bishopstown in Cork (Map).
There are no demos or talks lined up this week. If you have a new site or app that you’d like to show off and get some feedback on, get in touch.
Bizcamp Dublin takes place on May 29th in the Guinness Storehouse. BizCamp is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators to come together, share experiences, and possibly create something new. Definitely worth a trip.
Cork Open Coffee is also looking for any businesses that might like to Sponsor some future Open Coffee events, this means for a small amount we’d be able to get in some Coffee and nibbles from local businesses, especially Mr. Cotton Coffee.
Talk to you all on Friday,
Don’t forget to follow @corkopencoffee on Twitter!
Cork Open Coffee this Friday the 16th
Hi Occers,
The next Cork Open Coffee is this Friday the 16th at 10am in The Rubicon Center.
Its a bit soon to have an open coffee again after last weeks Your Country Your Call talk but we’re doing it to keep on track with the calendar bookings for the board room in the Rubicon for the year.
The closing date for YCYC is the end of the month, so get your ideas in now.
Thank you all for commenting about attendance on the blog post and for attending the Your Country Your Call talk given last week in The National Software centre.
Thank you to all at the staff at NSC for hosting the event.
Some photos from the day can be seen on the YCYC Flickr page and we are told we will be on Nationwide this evening, the 14th at 7pm on RTE1 so tune in if you can.
This week, a Cork business called Tender3D will be giving a demo of their application called Tender3D and hoping for your feedback.
Tender3D is a dedicated online marketspace that enables purchasers to connect with the most appropriate suppliers of 3D animation content. The Tender3D software enables purchasers to place their 3D modelling and animation projects online to tender, and for suppliers to bid on them.
Thank you all and talk to you on Friday morning.
Conor, Ciara & Gordon
Cork Open Coffee Organisers.
Don’t forget to follow @corkopencoffee on Twitter!
