The family-run flower store Violet’s first opened its doors 26 years ago in Kildare and continues to grow despite fierce competition from the big supermarkets.

How we began

In April 1993, 26 years ago, Catherine (my mother) who loved flowers all her life decided to do a floristry course and realise her dreams of owning her own business. Six months later, Violet’s Flowers opened its doors.

Being a family of entrepreneurs, we also had a newsagents in the town where I learned a lot about business working alongside my dad Pat. My brother, David, showed an interest in floristry when he finished school and decided to work in the flower shop also.

When Violet’s had busy periods, myself and sister, Katie, would pop in and help out, Pat would do the deliveries – it was very much a family affair. I really enjoyed these busy occasions and it ignited my passion for floristry.

The circle of life

I love this job and how creative you can be and how much joy you can bring to people for a variety of occasions, from their wedding day to the birth of their first child. You really do see the circle of life in this industry. I love the seasonality of this business and how it’s forever evolving and changing. No two days are the same which makes it interesting and enjoyable.

Getting social

In 1993, Catherine and Pat decided to build up a stock of giftware and dried flowers little by little over six months. Catherine also started creating dried flower arrangements at home in preparation for the opening of the shop.

Over the years, we have very much moved with the times – in 2014 we opened our online shop, we’re also very busy on our Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages and we like to keep up-to-date with all aspects of our social media.

Social media has become a big part of our business and it allows us to interact with our customers on a daily basis. Going forward, our goal is to make as many people happy with our flowers as possible. We have toyed with the idea of opening a floristry school – all going well that will be in our near future.

The bigger stores selling flowers online

We are not affected by bigger stores selling flowers online as much as we were by big multiples selling flowers in-store. We have definitely seen a change over the years because of this – our customers that used to buy flowers on a weekly basis for their houses now pick up a bunch while they are doing their shopping.  Fortunately for us, we create flowers for extra special occasions i.e. weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and are able to provide that personal touch that customers love.

The quiet times

I feel that it can be difficult for every business at certain times of the year. During our quieter times, we have had to come up with fresh ideas to spark an interest in our customers. Most recently, we introduced beautiful framed prints, lanterns and giftwares – it’s important to keep our customers coming back.

Who has helped you most along the way?

That’s easy – my mam and dad. Without them, Violet’s wouldn’t exist. We also have very loyal customers who have been there with us since the beginning.

If you were to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

At this stage, there is nothing I would change but having overcome a recession, it has certainly changed our thinking about certain aspects of our business and as a result, has made us more savvy and resourceful.

Who inspires you in business?

In our locality, we have a lot of family-run businesses that have been there for decades. Seeing these businesses continue to be successful, changing with the times, passing from one generation to another gives us the incentive to strive to grow our business for years to come.

By Stephen Larkin.

ThinkBusiness travelled to Donegal to speak to Claire McDonough, co-owner of La Maison, who says Donegal business owners are survivors and won’t be broken by Brexit.

What is your background?

Myself and my business partner Anne Blake started the company in 2005 following two years of research. We were both working for Donegal County Council at the time and the idea was born to have a high-end quality gifted home store after being invited to lots of weddings. We visited 52 shops all over Ireland and heavily researched everything and La Maison was the result of all our analysis. After opening, everything was going great when all of a sudden the recession hit and with that we decided that we needed to spread our offering so we retrained as interior designers. We’re now a team of six and have grown our interior design service to the point where the retail aspect is only 10% of our turnover.

How difficult was it to stay afloat during the recession?

It was extremely difficult. We didn’t have a lot of staff at the time and we had to cut our costs as much as possible. We upped our engagement with customers and held a lot more events to grow our reputation but there were many times when we didn’t even take a salary for ourselves, but that’s what was required.

Brexit impact

Brexit is going to be a massive challenge. I’ve spoken to other people in our sector and also in the county and there is a lot of panic around. But I’m looking at it a little differently. I really love what I do and I’ve worked too hard to build the business so I refuse to be defeated by Brexit. To combat this, we are currently working on new projects with one being Wild Atlantic Interiors. The one thing Brexit cannot take away is the beauty of County Donegal and because Failte Ireland put so much into creating the Wild Atlantic Way, we’re creating our own range off the back of that, beginning with cushions based on locations in the area. We also have a nursery range with lovely Donegal hares and bunnies.

Do you sell into the UK?

Not so much because a lot of our products are bought by homeowners in Donegal or possibly tourists visiting the area. But in saying that, the supply chain is a concern because of where I get my materials. Around 90% of my suppliers come through the UK so that’s going to create a challenge for the business. I’ve spoken to our reps asking about their Brexit plans and at the moment they don’t have any so that is a concern.

Are you developing new markets?

Yes, I’m definitely open to moving into new markets and trying to help grow the business. In a way, that’s why I am testing the Wild Atlantic Interiors. We have done holiday homes via Skype for people in the United States who have holiday homes here. If I can source their fabrics from the US and bring them over and do it in a way that is financially viable for both them and us, then I am happy to do that.

The strength of Donegal

I think we (Donegal business owners) have developed the skills for survival, that’s for sure. For us companies up here, if we survived the last recession, we’ll be able to get through Brexit. It just takes coming up with a creative way to combat the challenges that Brexit brings. The most important thing in business is to know your customer’s needs and that’s our focus.

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Read more about Letterkenny’s win at the recent National Enterprise Town Awards

We asked food producers in Donegal if they are worried about Brexit. Their answers are both surprising and encouraging.

The growing strength of the food sector in Donegal was demonstrated clearly when almost 120 food producers, chefs and buyers attended a packed-out event hosted by the Donegal Food Coast – Donegal’s Good Food Initiative.

Local producers, Hugh Wilhare of Mulroy Bay Mussels and Lee Gildea of Gildea’s Butchers also joined a panel for a discussion on how food producers and buyers could make the most of growing opportunities, particularly with Brexit looming.

Eve-Anne McCarron from the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) in Donegal said the purpose of the event was to encourage producers to create more jobs for the local economy in Donegal.

“This came around after producers and restaurants approached us saying ‘we want opportunities to speak to one another and find out what business we can do together’, so we decided to run with it. The big challenge facing producers here is scaling their business and finding the route to the market,” she said.

The benefits of Brexit

The food industry in Ireland is expected to be massively impacted by the UK’s decision to leave the EU, but Donegal’s LEO believes that opportunities will come off the back of Brexit.

“Brexit is bringing good business practise if nothing else. We know that more change is likely to come and no one knows what’s going to happen. We’re telling people to be aware of where their business is at, and that’s just good business practice anyway. Understand your suppliers and understand your risk areas and then deal with the rest.

“To me, Brexit gives businesses a chance to stop for a moment and really consider where the business is going and then pursuing that,” she added.

‘Brexit made us look around’

Derek Walker, who set up Natnoot – the natural nutrition company which produces certified organic wheatgrass and healthy juices, says Brexit has already had a positive impact on his business. “We worked with suppliers in England but we decided to pull back and source more local suppliers which turned out to be a success for the company. Brexit made us look around and we found Irish suppliers fulfilling our needs at a better price.”

Andrew McElhinney from O’Donnell’s bakery, which has been exporting products into Northern Ireland for a number of years, is excited by the opportunities that may arise from Brexit. “I don’t see Brexit as a threat. I think it will be a positive for me. I’m seeing a lot of businesses looking to run away from it, but we’ve decided to run right for it.”

Exporting further afield is easy

Hugh Wilhare, who started Mulroy Bay Mussels over thirty years ago when the mussel industry was in its infancy in Ireland, changed the company’s exporting strategy after finding tough competition when exporting into the European markets. Just last year, the company began exporting into the Asian market which Wilhare says was the company’s “big break”.

With Brexit fast approaching, Wilhare said other exporters should consider markets further afield and that it’s not difficult as people think. “Initially, I wasn’t sure because I thought it was going to be really difficult for me but it really wasn’t. My biggest problem is getting product from Donegal to Dublin – getting it to Asia is the easy part. It’s definitely something other businesses should look to do now that exporting to the UK is going to become a problem.”

The vision of the Donegal Food Strategy is for the entire community to work together to make Donegal famous for its food production. Having talked to so many food producers it is clear that they are not fazed by Brexit and are instead embracing the uncertainty as an opportunity to look for bigger markets and better ways of doing business.

By Stephen Larkin.

Bank of Ireland’s Jennifer Howett, Pierce Butler and Lee Evans sat down to discuss the latest Brexit developments.

Bank of Ireland shared an update on Brexit at its Grand Canal Square branch, with global markets senior dealer Jennifer Howett joining head of sectors Pierce Butler and head of FX trading and strategy Lee Evans.

With so much uncertainly around Brexit, Butler and Evans gave a timely update on the biggest challenges facing businesses at the moment and answered some of the frequent questions they are faced with in their respective roles.

The discussion started with a brief update by Evans on the most recent developments. “On the 15th of January, we had the vote on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement which was defeated by a historic margin. In terms of the market reaction following that defeat, Sterling was 2% higher in the days after the vote which may be counterintuitive to many; the pound’s value is currently linked to the pricing and probabilities of a no deal scenario. The next focus for markets is the UK Parliament will vote on Theresa May’s ‘plan B’ on January 29.”

Head of sectors for Bank of Ireland Pierce Butler discussed the impact Brexit is having on businesses in Ireland, but said that Brexit will also create opportunities for some Irish companies. “I think the uncertainty around Brexit has impacted in terms of business confidence. The bank produces an economic pulse, which is a survey of 1,900 businesses on a monthly basis and it measures business sentiment, and last year was really a tale of two halves. In the first half we saw increasing levels of business sentiment, and in the second half we saw that reduce down.

“Having said that, companies are very positive about the outlook for their own businesses. Bank of Ireland conducted research with RedC Research which found that 58% of companies expect their profits to grow in 2019, and only 10% expect a reduction.

“There will be opportunities around Brexit for a number of companies and they should particularly focus on who their competitors are in the UK and what markets they are exporting to in either Ireland or mainland Europe and if there’s an opportunity to displace those,” he added.

Lee Evans is commonly asked about the outlook for Sterling and he ran through some possible scenarios. “If we start with a no deal scenario, the Bank of England has forecasted a 25% decrease in Sterling which we see as a little bit excessive. The all-time high in Sterling is 98p so we imagine that will probably be challenged in a no deal scenario. On the other side, if we do see agreement of a deal then we expect a move back down towards the low 80p range while an extension of Article 50 should limit Sterling gains to 85p. Sterling is definitely undervalued so the risks are very much two-sided at the moment.

A number of firms have postponed their investment decisions until they have clarity around the outcome of Brexit, but Pierce Butler has urged business owners to reach out for support. “Our message is come and talk to us. As Ireland’s largest business lender, we want to support our customers whether that’s through short-term cashflow requirements or long-term investment funding.”

You can find a range of business supports, insights and resources on the Bank of Ireland website here. You can also watch the full vodcast below.

Article by Stephen Larkin.

Brian Goff and Felim Meade set up Emerald Green Baby to sell infant formula into China. When they set up a digital store on WeChat, everything changed.

What is Emerald Green Baby?

Emerald Green Baby is an Irish company started five years ago to sell products online into the Chinese market. The online market in China is the largest in the world and we began by selling Irish infant formula. We developed a store to learn about the logistics of getting product from Ireland to China and we used it as a learning process.

We then set up a store on WeChat about 18 months ago. WeChat is the main way Chinese people communicate. It has over one billion active users. You can do everything on it from communicating, buying and selling, booking a taxi or even scheduling a hospital appointment. The average Chinese person spends about three hours a day on WeChat and it allowed us to build our following and communicate with our customers. We diversified from just infant formula to selling other health and beauty products.

How important was WeChat early on?

We learned so much from this about how to sell to China, how they communicate, and the use of bloggers and the importance of them to Chinese consumers. We were approached by the EU SME centre in Beijing and they liked what we had done with the WeChat store and they asked us to help other Irish SMEs in this area. We’re now working with several state agencies and companies in Finland, Estonia, Holland, and Switzerland, as well as Ireland, to help them sell their products into China.

Did you have a strong understanding of the Chinese market before you began?

We had no understanding of the market – we just saw an opportunity. We used the knowledge we had on how popular Irish formula is in China and applied that to other similar products as well as the infant formula. We started by selling into Hong Kong initially to learn more about the eastern consumer and then went into China.

Why focus on China?

My partner and I always had an interest in the online market and we all know that traditional retail is shrinking because of the dominance of online. China came about because we both had a strong interest in the country. We had contacts in the food industry which meant we were able to source the formula and sell it into Hong Kong, which then led into China, and we used that as the catalyst to sell more products. Especially now in light of Brexit, we think companies should look at markets like China for the opportunity.

What advice would you give someone looking to export into China?

The Chinese people are very like the Irish in that they like to get to know those they are doing business with. If you go to China and make a deal at the first meeting, it’s a bad deal. Get to know the people you do business with. You need to decide on the tried and trusted solution that you are going to provide in order for it to work. You’ve got to fully commit to the project.

Who inspires you?

The people who inspire me the most are the small business owners. The people who can raise their family, educate their kids and run a business all at once are the real heroes. Supporting local business is so important because you’ll really miss them when they are gone.

If you were to start all over, what would you do differently?

I would’ve hired a company like us if we existed. But in saying that we wouldn’t have had as much fun or got to visit China as often as we did. But we made mistakes along the way and having someone to advise us like would’ve really helped.

Related Resource

Considering exporting? Click here to find out more.

FutureScope 2019 is a conference aimed at promoting collaboration between entrepreneurs and multinationals.

FutureScope, Ireland’s only conference that promotes collaboration between the entrepreneurial community and multinationals, will take place in the Convention Centre Dublin on Thursday, 28^th March 2019.

FutureScope brings together leaders from the technology ecosystem to share perspectives on emerging technologies and how they will shape our future world, providing crucial insights to developing businesses, innovators and investors.

Run by Dublin BIC, the event has become a must-attend event for those most active in Ireland’s vibrant technology ecosystem.

Through panel discussions, tech demonstrations, innovative showcases, and structured networking, FutureScope offers the perfect setting for collaboration.

FutureScope will feature approximately 100 speakers and panellists, with 40 exhibitors. Tickets are currently available here from €89 and are limited to 1200 people.

A special emphasis is placed on purposeful networking and the creation of collaboration opportunities for start-ups, scale-ups, multinational companies, innovative Irish enterprise, SME’s, the research community, investors, academia and state agencies.

FutureScope 2019 promises to be the biggest and best year yet with founders, CEOs and leaders from high-profile companies giving inspiring talks across four stages at the event.

Zoobox has been very successful in Canada but now plans to build lodges in the Irish countryside.

Irish startup Zoobox has announced their intention to set up five sites in Ireland over the next few years with the west coast the company’s preferred location.

The company burst onto the tourism scene some years ago in Canada, a country surrounded with deep forests, incredible greenery and mountains. The experience provides visitors with an open window to the most beautiful sceneries and gives visitors an unparalleled view of the natural world.

Zoobox takes the natural beauty in nature and makes it entirely accessible and enjoyable by creating comfortable outdoor lodging experiences. The concept is that humans are in ‘boxes’ looking out at nature. These homes are off-grid and self-sufficient.

The lodgings are suitably eco-friendly, and they respect every aspect of their environment. Each site is specifically chosen and designs are precisely created to merge the local and natural landscape while providing an unadulterated and unique experience for visitors and the local community.

We spoke with Zoobox’s head of business development Laure Hantz-Burnet, who gave us more insight into the idea.

Where did the idea for the company come from?

We started as a real estate development company based in Canada beside a national park. We were the first to design a LEED platinum certified building in Canada. Since our passive houses were more expensive than normal ones, our customers asked us if we could rent them out to help them pay the mortgage.

We realised there was a strong demand to reconnect with nature in a comfortable setting. It makes sense – we spend more and more of time indoor (90% if you are American according to the national human activity pattern survey), we also spend most of time sitting in front of a screen. We believe people are feeling an urge to unplug and recharge in a natural environment. High-end eco lofts can rent at a similar price than luxury hotel rooms but cost from 20% to 50% less to build and run. Seeing this demand, our company designed a prototype in 2007 that would be the ultimate outdoor lodging experience.

We called it the Zoobox and it immediately got a lot of attention from the media and customers. Since we already had contacts in North America and had global ambitions, we decided to launch the Zoobox project in Ireland to help us connect to the European market. We design and produce the unit here in Ireland and are preparing to ship worldwide.

Where will they be placed in Ireland?

The goal is to create a network of five Zoobox sites in Ireland. Today we have sites in progress on the west coast (Galway, Clare and Kerry) and also Wicklow. We also have many interested parties in Donegal and west Cork as well so we’ll see how they play out.

How much they will cost?

For the moment, we don’t plan to sell the units individually. Our business model is based on joint ventures; we design ecotourism sites with local partners. Our sites size will vary between five and 15 units, depending on the local market study.

How successful has it been to date?

It has been very successful so far. We have confirmed our first order for Canada for 15 homes. We had plans to secure five partnerships in Ireland before 2020, and so far we already have three active partnerships. We are getting loads of demand from abroad from countries such as Iceland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Madagascar and Jamaica.

What are the future plans?

In the next five years, we plan to have five operational sites in Ireland and ten sites abroad. As we push forward with our research and development, and our design, we are finding out that some of our cost effective solutions to install the Zoobox in remote areas could drastically decrease the construction price of off the grid houses, or any houses for that matter.

Off-grid holidays in natural settings are becoming very popular with stressed out, ‘always on’ professionals. Zoobox sees the opportunity in this space. 

Irish startup Zoobox sees an opportunity in the world of ‘off-grid’ holidays. The business builds bespoke lodges and then places them in amazing natural landscapes away from the hustle and stress of the ‘always on’ digital world. 

The company burst onto the tourism scene some years ago in Canada, a country with deep forests, incredible vistas and bulging mountains. Zoobox says its experience gives customers ‘an open window to the natural world’. The concept is that humans are in ‘boxes’ looking out at nature. These homes are off-grid and self-sufficient.

The lodgings are eco-friendly, and ‘respect their environment’. Each site is specifically chosen and designs are created to merge with the natural landscape.

We spoke with Zoobox’s head of business development, Laure Hantz-Burnet, who gave us more insight into the idea.

How was Zoobox born?

We started as a real estate development company based in Canada beside a national park. We were the first to design platinum certified passive homes in Canada. 

We realised there was a strong demand to reconnect with nature in a comfortable setting. It makes sense – we spend more and more of time indoors (90% if you are American according to the national human activity pattern survey), we also spend most of the time sitting in front of a screen. We believe people are feeling an urge to unplug and recharge in a natural environment. High-end eco lofts can rent at a similar price of luxury hotel rooms but cost from 20% to 50% less to build and run. Seeing this demand, our company designed a prototype in 2007 that would be the ultimate outdoor lodging experience.

We called it the Zoobox and it immediately got a lot of attention from the media and potential customers. Since we already had contacts in North America and had global ambitions, we decided to launch the Zoobox project in Ireland to help us connect to the European market. We design and produce the units here in Ireland and are preparing to ship them worldwide.

Where will they be placed in Ireland?

The goal is to create a network of five Zoobox sites in Ireland. Today we have sites in progress on the west coast (Galway, Clare and Kerry) and also Wicklow. We also have many interested parties in Donegal and west Cork.

How much they will cost?

For the moment, we don’t plan to sell the units individually. Our business model is based on joint ventures; we design ecotourism sites with local partners. Our sites size will vary between five and 15 units, depending on the local market study.

How successful has it been?

It has been very successful so far. We have confirmed our first order for Canada for 15 homes. We had plans to secure five partnerships in Ireland before 2020, and so far we already have three active partnerships. We are getting loads of demand from abroad from countries such as Iceland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Madagascar and Jamaica.

What are the future plans?

In the next five years, we plan to have five operational sites in Ireland and ten sites abroad. As we push forward with our research and development, and our design, we are finding out that some of our cost-effective solutions to install the Zoobox in remote areas could drastically decrease the construction price of off the grid houses or any houses for that matter.

What type of business leader are you? Do you feel you could ‘up your game’ with the right guidance? Here, we speak to Enda Lynch, head of the Munster High-Performance Leadership Programme about the importance of resilience and authenticity in leadership.

If you are a business leader or business owner, you will be interested in the art and the science of leadership. But how much time do you allow yourself to focus on ‘you’ the leader?

“A lot of business leaders will focus on the management side of things, the managerial aspects of leadership such as one-on-ones and workflows,” says Enda Lynch. “What they don’t focus on is themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, which is worrying because they’re the ones taking responsibility for others, for their staff for their families and for their business.”

The Munster High-Performance Leadership Programme is aptly named. It focuses on high performance. “Just as our senior rugby team members have to make serious decisions in very high-pressure environments every time they play a competitive game, business leaders, c-suite executives and entrepreneurs face tough decisions in high-pressure situations every day they go to work.”

The programme was designed and built by Munster Rugby and the University of Limerick’s Kemmy Business School. It takes place over two and a half days at Munster Rugby’s senior team’s world-class high-performance centre in Limerick.

“75% of what we cover on the programme is about decision making. 25% is about helping people understand their strengths and weaknesses,” says Lynch.

What do people find out about themselves when they take the programme?

“Some have called it life-changing,” says Flynn. “We look at each person in the whole – their physical being, their personal being, their work being and their emotional being. We want to empower people with long-term decision-making skills.”

The tools of resilience

Flynn says the programme gives attendees the tools to be a more resilient and capable leader. “Leaders need to be able to manage the rapidly changing daily environment around them. We equip people with the skills we work on with our players each and every day, growing them into internationally recognised high performing leaders through the pillars of The Fitness to Perform, Balance and Alignment in the Workplace and Personally and Energy Management.”

The programme is led by senior staff including Dr Patrick Ryan, University of Limerick’s doctor of psychology, Dr Catherine Norton, the doctor of nutrition in UL’s Physical Education and Sports Science department and Prof. John Fahy who oversees a number of interactive sessions on authentic leadership.

Authentic leadership

Jerry Flannery, the Munster forward’s coach also discusses the authentic leadership theme in depth with the group.

“Jerry Flannery does a session on learning how to be an authentic leader. It’s a very impressive session, and people always talk about it afterwards. Jerry is on his own journey as an authentic leader. He’s one of the fittest people I know, but he’s also a very successful businessman,” says Flynn.

What makes an authentic leader? “An authentic leader will listen to feedback, they seek feedback from their work colleagues, their family and friends, so they can understand their weaknesses and build on their strengths,” says Flynn.

“There is a massive difference between a manager and a leader. Management is about workflow and process. To be a leader you have to be able to understand people and communicate with them at a different level. Leaders look holistically at a much bigger picture, and they can look at themselves. They always seek to understand more about themselves.”

To find out more about the Munster High-Performance Leadership Programme, go here.

What does it take to be a great leader in a massive organisation? Phuong Tran, deputy CEO  of THP Beverage Group, gives us her thoughts. 

Global business woman Phuong Tran travelled to Ireland in October to launch Talent Garden, Dublin’s Innovation School.

She is the deputy CEO of THP Beverage Group and in 2012 she was offered $2.6 billion by Coca-Cola to sell her family-run company, but Tran and her father declined their offer and have since grown the business in more than 16 counties including China, Australia and Canada.

Phoung Tran spoke with ThinkBusiness about what it takes to be a great leader in a successful organisation.

“True leadership means taking responsibility for failure as well as success. The two go hand in hand. Only when someone accepts there is no one else to blame, then and only then can he or she develop a plan to succeed.”

“Instead of asking, ‘Who did this to me?’ the question should be reframed as, ‘What did I do wrong?’ This becomes the far more constructive self-help. As the saying goes, “It never gets easier, you get better. It is a difficult truth”, says Ms Tran.”

“But taking ownership means accepting that you are the source of the problem. You are the only thing you can change or control. So, if there is a difficulty, own it. Never blame anyone else. Have confidence that by changing yourself, you can change the environment, too. Leaders who do this are far more likely to inspire the kind of loyalty and trust that makes companies succeed.”

Phuong Tran’s father is also an advocate for John Maxwell’s five levels of leadership. “He is a big believer in level three: people not only follow someone because they want to, but also because of their track record. This is when companies really start to produce results,” says Ms Tran.

“At THP, we try to empower all team members to act as if they are the owners of the enterprise, as well: to take responsibility for their successes and mistakes; to stay authentic and retain their integrity. If they stay true to what they believe and are open about what is working or not working, then they can successfully address problems, drive results, and improve performance,” added Ms Tran.