Maeve Sheridan of Western Herd talks about brewing beer on a hilltop in Clare, the inspirational Irish food and drink scene and how mistakes make you stronger. Maeve will be the fireside chat guest at Founder Friday Clare in Ennis on Friday, September 22. It’s free to attend but you need to register here.
This is how we started
I was working in Luxembourg for a large American bank in risk and compliance. I lived there for nearly seven years, and with Germany and Belgium twenty minutes away in different directions, I was surrounded by great beer and loved trying new styles and regional varieties.  
Over a few beers at Christmas, my brother Michael suggested converting a haybarn on our family farm into a brewery. Michael, a civil engineer by trade, was managing a busy bar in Dublin after being made redundant from his engineering job during the recession and he could see how craft beers were growing in popularity.   
“There is something unique about brewing beer on a hilltop farm on the West coast of Ireland using fresh farm spring water.”
Our USP?
We noticed that there was no one in Clare brewing beer. Nearly every other county had a brewery in 2014, and with Clare’s growing reputation as a foodie destination and with over a million visitors to the county annually, there was a need for a locally produced beer.  
As well as being the only commercial brewer in Clare, there is something unique about brewing beer on a hilltop farm on the West coast of Ireland using fresh farm spring water as our main ingredient.
“We plan to open a visitor centre and tasting room so we can start running brewery tours and sell directly to the public from the farm.”
Funding the business and our growth plans
After seven years in Luxembourg, we

This is a tale of survival and revival. The story of an artist who moved to the Golden Vale to breed a herd of native cattle. 
In 2010, professional artist and bronze-caster, Eavaun Carmody, moved to Killenure Castle, Co. Tipperary. Her busy work life in the city included dealing in antiques, as well as restoring old buildings. She left the hassle of the city and moved her family to the heart of the Golden Vale. She renovated a castle and at the same time, ran a series of successful community workshops, one of which was creating a contemporary art trail (Open Art Killenure – OAK), that encompassed the castle’s history, architecture, and woodlands.
The light bulb moment
A chance conversation in the local pub one night, sparked her interest in reviving a cattle breed, called Dexter. It is a native breed of cattle which had historically been reared, just two miles away, on the nearby Dundrum Estate. Eavaun decided there and then that she wanted to create a link to the past and revive the breed.
Her ‘startup farm’ has since been developed into a successful enterprise, producing a range of premium meat, charcuterie, leather and milk products. Eavaun’s is a unique and intriguing story – all told and sold under the Dundrum Dexter Beef (Killenure Castle) brand.
“People need integrity and authenticity in their lives, and that’s the story behind what these products represent – absolute authenticity.”

How did it all start?
It was an emotional response, the need to resurrect a dormant history that had flatlined, like a sleeping beauty, one that needed a kiss of life. 
I decided to see if I could buy some Dexter cattle, but they couldn’t be found anywhere. Following an extensive search, I tracked down and brought home nine animals and placed them on the land, around the curtilage of the castle.

Startup Boost is a global pre accelerator with a simple mission – to steer tech startups to financial success.

Launching in Austin, Detroit, Los Angeles, London, Toronto and Dublin in October 2017, Startup Boost will bring together over 100 startups in six global chapters for a six-week program.
“The idea is simple,” says Gene Murphy, co-founder. “The teams selected for Startup Boost will be there to increase their success ratio for the next stages of their business. This could be joining an accelerator program or raising seed funding. The focus will be on their business model and how they will generate revenue.”
The startups that make the program will receive weekly advice from experts in the areas of customer development, venture funding and market sizing while also having access to key local mentors with weekly one-on-one sessions to clarify their value propositions.
It’s about making money
“The focus is on revenue and preparing startups for accelerators,” says Murphy. “Startup Boost is for businesses that have made the first step and now want to scale. As a startup, you are often expected to go from first to fifth gear without ever having got up to speed in third. Our aim is to get startups up to speed before they try and hit fifth gear.”
Startup Boost takes no equity from startups on the program. After the program the businesses will have access to continued support.
“Support will come from their chapter directors as well as the growing community of community leaders within the Startup Boost network. The aim is to help them expand into new markets in Europe, Canada and the United States,” says Murphy.
Applications are now open at startupboost.org in Austin, Detroit, Los Angeles, Toronto, London and Dublin for the October cohort with interest now being accepted for chapters launching in 2018 in Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco,

Podcasts are an easy way to consume information. Here are eight great podcasts for the time-poor business owner.
The word podcast is a compound word that was first coined by BBC journalist Ben Hammersley in 2004. 
When Apple launched the iPod in 2001, it meant consumers were no longer confined to their radio or desktop to access content. Ben Hammersley combined the iPod and broadcasting to create the term ‘podcast.’ 
Business podcasts are rapidly becoming one of the most popular genres on the market. Here are just a few top business podcasts (Irish and international) for your delectation. 
Inside Business 
The Irish Times’ weekly business podcast is presented by The Irish Times’s finance correspondent Ciaran Hancock. Hancock invites experts and special guests into his Dublin studio to discuss relevant business topics. An episode can last anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour. Topics include the most up to date information on Brexit, banking and Irish business interests at home and abroad.
Start-up 
A Podcast run by Gimlet Media it focuses on what it’s like to start a podcast company. Gimlet Media was founded in 2014 by former ‘This American Life’ host Alex Bloomberg. In the first series of Start-up, it focused on every aspect from coming up with the name of the company, to how the company was founded, and how its’ co-founder came on board to grow it into the goliath it is today.

Masters of Scale 
Former LinkedIn co-founder Matt Hoffman interviews some of the world’s most influential business people about what it was like to start a company, and then scale the company to global success. In weekly episodes from the now venture capitalist, Hoffman interviews the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Sheryl Sandberg, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky and Ireland’s Patrick Collison about their journey from scrappy entrepreneurs to business giants. 
Ready Business 
Ready Business is the Irish Independent’s business podcast

An Irish invention, Modius, says it can help people lose weight without them exercising. Is this the Holy Grail of weight loss products the world has been waiting for? 
Created by Irish doctor Jason McKeown and his Scottish colleague Dr Paul McGeoch, Modius may prove to be one of the greatest inventions of all time. It could also help solve the obesity epidemic in Western societies, thus saving governments billions of euro in healthcare costs.
Modius says it can help millions of people achieve leaner bodies by reducing body fat, and it’s all thanks to neuroscience.
The device, which is the first product from the Northern Irish neuro-technology company Neurovalens, sends a signal to the part of the brain that controls fat storage. The signal then naturally causes a shift in a body’s metabolism to burn more fat, resulting in weight loss.
“A year ago we received confirmation from the FDA that we could sell the Modius device in the USA.”
The headset is available to pre-order for $449 on crowdsourcing platform Indiegogo, and it has so far raised over $1 million.
Its co-inventor Dr Jason McKeown says the headset reduced his body fat by 44 per cent. He spoke to ThinkBusiness to discuss his invention.

How did you come up with the idea for Modius?
I always wanted to be a doctor as I enjoy helping people. Parallel to that, I love technology. So I was delighted to combine both of these passions when I was invited to the University of California, San Diego to study neuro stimulation. The purpose of our research was to explore the neurological causes of weight gain and figure out a way to use technology to help people when they try to reduce their body fat.
It’s absolute scientific fact that metabolism, appetite and fat storage are controlled by an area of the

No farm? No worries. How a Tipperary urbanite, ended up producing award-winning ciders.
Over 35 years ago, James O’Donoghue’s curiosity in farming was triggered during summer holidays, spent helping out on his grandparents’ farm. As a trainee farm manager, he graduated Student of the Year from agricultural college, going on to gain experience at home and abroad across a range of agricultural enterprises.

My pathway to farming
Surprisingly, I’m not actually from a farming background. Dad was a bank manager with Bank of Ireland, and it was my grandparents who had the farm. Every summer holiday, we were quickly out the door and down to the farm. It’s from that experience, my initial interest grew.  In 1985 I qualified as a farm manager having been awarded a BoI Farm Start Award, for achieving first place in farm management. I then worked in Saudi Arabia for four years on a large dairy farm, before moving back to Ireland to manage a private co-op. Over the course of the next 15 years, I was employed as farm manager at O’Shea Brothers’ vegetable farm in Co. Kilkenny. At the time, they were farming over 3,000 acres with a staff of 110.
“We were getting a lot of calls for apples from craft cider-makers, but we couldn’t supply them, as we were contracted to C&C with our original 20-acre plantation.”
What inspired you to grow cider apples?
I always wanted to start my own business. I attended some ‘start your own business’ courses and one the main points emphasised, was to firstly focus on finding your market and then securing it. In 1998, I was lucky enough to be awarded a long-term cider-apple contract; to supply a specific ‘bitter-sweet’ type of apple to C&C (Bulmers) in Clonmel. To fulfill this contract, I purchased a 45-acre farm in 1998 and began

Anne Marie Green and her business partner Ian Kelly have launched a range of school and sports bags to help improve the lives of the children of Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam.
Anne Marie Greene (28) and her business partner Ian Kelly (26), who are both from Bray, launched DUC, a range of colourful junior bags, school bags and sports kit bags with the aim of creating opportunities for vulnerable Vietnamese children. 
Working in partnership with the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, DUC – a shortened version of the Vietnamese word for education, giáo duc – is a one-for-one business model that pays for vaccinations, school kits, and local swimming lessons.
Drowning is one of the leading causes of death among children in Vietnam with 32 children dying from drowning every day in the country. 

What inspired you to launch DUC? 
Ian and I are both Irish, Christina Noble herself is Irish too, so naturally, it grew organically from here. 
Was it difficult to get retailers to support your idea?
No, it wasn’t, retailers like Arnotts and Mira Mira, have a tremendous sense of corporate social responsibility and our business model fit in with their CSR ethos. Of course, the fact that DUC doesn’t just donate a profit percentage to a charity but gives an actual tangible product to a child in Vietnam made it a no-brainer for a lot of the companies we approached. They have all been incredibly supportive of our venture and have become as passionate about the brand as we are.
“Nothing can be achieved without education; it is the most powerful tool.”
What was it like visiting Vietnam for the first time? 
Vietnam is such an incredible country, outside the city, the countryside is stunningly beautiful, and the cities themselves are vibrant and bustling. What I was unprepared for, was the level of poverty that exists. In the

Suzanne Burns’  journey to self-employment and entrepreneurship is an interesting one. From New Zealand to Canada to the Wild Atlantic Way, her adventure is only starting.

When did you start your business, what was your first tour?
I started my coastal guiding business MOPTOG (My Own Private Tour Guide) in April 2016. My first official tour was to Sheep’s Head with a group of seven, hiking around the peninsula on a gorgeous sunny day. We even saw two lizards.
What were the first few tours like, how did you get traction?
The first tours were walking tours around the West Cork region. I used Meetup, Facebook and my network to attract people. I also ran free tours for a few months to generate interest in what I was doing and become a ‘known entity’.
These are real ‘tours of nature’. What can your guests expect?
I started my career as a zoologist and progressed to wildlife guiding over my ten-year stint living in New Zealand. This knowledge has carried through here. I showcase local flora and fauna, archaeology, history and myths and legends. Alongside the walking tours, I link in with whale watching and night kayaking operators.

You say the food tours have taken off. What can guests expect on these?
The Kinsale Food Tours run like a walking meal. We go to four venues for food. The first two stops incorporate lighter fare, followed by a main and sweet stop to round off the tour. As we go from place to place, the group learns about the food culture and fascinating stories and the people in Kinsale. I also do slighter longer tours which involve going to the coast foraging for wild shellfish, seaweed and plants. We go to the coast half way through the tour and have a picnic after foraging if weather permits. We then

Has your business designed and developed a product or a service that enhances the lives of people over the age of 50? 
The Smart Ageing Awards aim to recognise and celebrate businesses that create products, services or technologies that can enhance the lives of people over 50.
For full details, and to enter, simply visit the ISAX website.
“There are so many business opportunities to target people aged over 50 and many startups in the smart ageing space,” said Bobby Kerr at the launch of the awards. “It is great to see an awards platform designed to reward those in the smart ageing economy and to ensure quality businesses are recognised.”
Rewarding talent 
“We are looking forward to seeing entries from a broad range of firms and to showcase the talent in this growing sector,” says Anne Connolly, CEO, ISAX.
Pictured are Bobby Kerr; Anne Connolly, CEO, ISAX; Michael Murphy, founder, ProU; and David Tighe, head of innovation at Bank of Ireland, sponsor of the 2017 ISAX Smart Ageing Innovation Awards 2017.
READ MORE: ProU is the first product of its kind in Britain and Ireland to combine high levels of calcium, protein and vitamin D. It mitigates against the impact of osteoporosis and sarcopenia. Here is the full story.

International tendering is an enormous business opportunity for Irish SMEs. What is Ireland doing and can we do more to help Irish firms win international tenders?
Seamus McCann (above right), chairman of ConsultingIreland, wants to encourage more Irish SMEs to tender for global projects.
The projects are paid for by international bodies such as the European Commission, the UN and the World Bank and, in many cases, 60% of the project value is paid upfront to the business that wins the tender.
Below, McCann outlines the reasons why Ireland needs to allocate additional resources to compete and win in an area with such massive potential. 
Did you know? 
•    On a daily basis, there are 200,000 projects put out to tender by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the EU and World Bank. Two hundred thousand. 
•    IFI global tenders have an eye-watering market value of €1 trillion-plus per annum. 
•    Irish organisations and SMEs have excellent international reputations, built up over many years.
•    EU and World Bank (and other ‘service and supply’) tenders are available across sectors such as transport, water, energy, ICT, agriculture, health, and education. 
•    Many of our more established European partners (e.g. France and Germany) are already engaging, highly trained Irish experts, for International (IFI) assignments – in part, because of their English language skills. 
•    Significantly, English is also the language of choice for most global (IFI) tenders.  
•    In many cases, company cash flows can benefit from advances of up to 60% and payments are generally prompt.
•    In emerging markets, public sector activity is also a prelude to private sector involvement.
•    UK political uncertainty, fanned by Brexit, may present significant opportunities for Ireland.
So, there you have it. Tendering for international projects can be very lucrative. 
“Denmark, a country very similar to Ireland, is winning