Financing Failures: Why so Many Startups Can’t Survive

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own business? Every year thousands of people fulfill their dream of becoming an entrepreneur only to encounter unforeseen obstacles that cause their venture to fail. In fact, 90% of startups fail within their first year. Learn why it’s so hard to start and sustain a successful business and how you avoid some of the common pitfalls like financing failures.

Product or Service Isn’t Wanted

A survey conducted among failed startup founders said that the lack of market or need for their product, was the main reason for their failed business. Basically they didn’t have a product or service enough people wanted or need. Check for flaws in your demand with these areas.

Weak Value Proposition

A value proposition is a statement that says why people should buy your product. For example, people buy Aspirin because they know it will get rid of aches and pains. Your product needs to have a clear value proposition in order for people to know why they should buy your product.

Wrong Time

No matter how great your idea is, your business must be relevant to today’s consumers. If your business is ahead or behind the times, it’ll be very hard to gain traction. Are there already a thousand stores just like yours in the neighborhood? Get in at the right time and your business will take off.

Not Enough Money

Money management is critical for any business, but especially in a startup. The key to proper financial management is having the right equipment when you start. In order for your business to function, you need certain essential equipment. Do not decide to invest in the necessary items after you have open up shop. That’s like flying a plane that’s only 95% ready. You should also keep enough cash on hand for day-to-day operations. A business cannot be sustainable if you don’t have enough daily cash. If you know it will take off in time, a loan might be a good way to get on your feet. Talk to investors as well to see what options you might have for outside funding.

Not the Right People

In order to have a successful business, you need to build it with the right people. However, just because someone is skilled at their craft, does not mean they are great management partners. Business is a tough environment and your team needs to be composed of people with key skills, leadership ability, and similar vision. Find people who will work with you to achieve your vision. You should also be willing and able to compensate them. Even if you picked the best, they will easily fall away or desert you if they can’t see the rewards. Use a good system and a Pay Stub Calculator to make sure everyone is compensated accurately.

You team will need to generate good business ideas, test them, and thoroughly carry out your business strategies. If you have a great management team you will probably be able to avoid the other two causes of failed startups.

Plan Now

Before you decide to open your own business, create a well thought out business plan. As Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Study why businesses fail and plan how you can overcome these challenges. Once you have a solid plan, get what you need, and start your dream business!

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Growing Fast but Smart: 6 Hiring Tips for Small Business Owners

If you were the head of a large enterprise, hiring new staff would probably less of a headache. You would have staff who is well-versed in employment law, recruiting practices, researching candidates, and conducting interviews. These staff members would be able to quickly review all CV, conduct phone screens, and even first interviews. Your role would be to conduct final interviewers, or even to step out of the process entirely, leaving the final hiring decisions to department managers. Unfortunately, as a small business owner, these duties fall solely in your lap.

6 Hiring Tips for Small Business Owners

Things can be especially overwhelming if you are hiring your first employee, or first set of employees. Fortunately, there are a few tips that you can use when you first begin to navigate the hiring process. Hopefully this will make things a bit less daunting.

Prepare a Set of Appropriate and Relevant Interview Questions

It may be tempting to keep things informal by conducting interviews as a casual, conversational, getting to know you session, but this is only asking for trouble. It’s too easy to miss key points if you do not have a list of questions that you plan to ask.

In addition to this, writing out your questions before hand gives you a chance to make sure that you are not asking anything that could get you into trouble. If an interview happens to go too far off topic, you can also use your list of questions to get both yourself and your interviewee back on track.

Re-Read the CV of Any Client You Have Called Back for a Second or Third Interview

You may interview more than a dozen possible hires before you create your short list of callbacks. There’s no possible way to keep track of the relevant information about each of them.

Before you a carry out a second or third interview, take a few minutes to remind yourself of each person’s education, experience, and skills by reading over their resume one last time. You’ll be better prepared and you won’t risk embarrassing yourself by asking irrelevant questions.

Follow Up with All Interviewees

As a matter of personal courtesy, be sure to follow up with everybody that you interviewed, even if it is to express your regrets. Even if they aren’t getting the job, the folks you interviewed will appreciate any feedback that you give them, and simply knowing that they can continue their job search.

If you develop a reputation as an employer who does not let interviewee know that they are no longer being considered, you will likely lose word of mouth references that can be so important when filling new positions.

Value Your Gut Instincts

Hiring a new employee is more involved than simply matching skills, education, and experience with your requirements. You want to hire a person who fits into your little organization and is trustworthy and reliable. You want to work with somebody who is going to thrive in your work environment, get along with others, and demonstrate the passion and hard work that is required when working for a small business.

If you suspect that a potential employee won’t fit into your team, the best thing you can do for all involved is to move on to a candidate is a better fit.

Use Networking in Addition to Posting Positions for Hire

Get word out to your online and offline contacts that you are hiring. You may be very surprised at how quickly candidates come your way via referrals from friends and business contacts. Don’t be afraid to mention that you have openings on social media pages either.

The more avenues you take when reaching out to new hires, the more likely you will be to fill any openings quickly. In fact, many younger job seekers will look for jobs via social media sites more often than they will traditional job sites.

Be Clear and Detailed in Your Job Postings

If you have requirements about which you have no flexibility, make this clear when you write the post advertising your job. In addition to this, if you have specific instructions about how you wish to be contacted, or the format in which you would like to receive the job seekers’ CV, this should also be explicitly stated in the job posting.

Keep in mind that the more clear you are, the less likely you will have to spend time sifting through applicants of candidates who do not meet your requirements. Before you send your job posting off to be published, read it over and over from the perspective of a job seeker. Then, ask yourself if more clarity is in order. If you have a friend or acquaintance that is familiar with all of this, you might see if they will take a look at your job posting for you.

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ECB to Re-examine QE in December

The most famous quote market participants associate with Mario Draghi was that the ECB will do “whatever it takes “ to protect the Eurozone. Draghi backed this up by introducing a quantitative easing program that spends €60 billion a month on assets and will do up until September 2016, he also lowered the benchmark rate to 0.05% and introduced negative deposit rates.

Did Draghi make another monumental statement at yesterday’s ECB meeting?
So when Mario Draghi provided a strong signal at yesterday’s ECB meeting that they are prepared to expand its bond buying program and potentially cut it’s already negative deposit rate the market reacted.

EURUSD past 2 days

Source: Bloomberg

Policymakers are set to make their judgement on whether adequate stimulus is being provided when they next convene on 03-Dec-15. Further interest rate cuts and/or an expansion of the ECB’s EUR1.1 trillion bond-buying program, either by upping the pace of purchases or extending it beyond September 2016 would certainly provide Euro bears with a treat just in time for Christmas. To be frank the ECB and Draghi couldn’t have provided a stronger signal in my view that additional policy is on the cards for December with Draghi explicitly stating that ‘this is not a wait and see but a work and assess.’

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So for me it’s clear “SELL THE EURO” for now, with an initial move in EURUSD to 1.1075, followed by 1.0840 and ultimately 1.0525 as target levels between now and year end.

Adding further weight to my expectation of a move lower in EURUSD comes from the USD side of the currency pair. Recent data has started to contradict the recent soft payroll numbers (US unemployment data), with yesterday’s initial jobless claims four-week moving average dropping 2,000 to the lowest level since 1973, at 263,250.

The next non-farm payrolls release on 06-Nov-15 is certainly going to be pivotal in providing clarity around the true state of the US unemployment picture. If the trend in the initial jobless claims is anything to go by and the markets gets its recovery in the US unemployment picture, the USD could be a significant factor in driving the EURUSD lower in the short term and may even put the prospect of a year-end rate hike back on the cards in the US!

For now, Draghi has put the Euro bulls on the side-lines and prevented any near term move higher in the single currency; the market must now monitor the economic data on both sides of the Atlantic and wait to see the extent of the Christmas present the ECB delivers on 03-Dec-15.

EURUSD YTD performance

Source: Bloomberg

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Eight Connacht Companies Celebrate Business Awards

Eight leading Connacht based companies celebrated success at the Connacht final of the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards, which took place on 21^st October at Meyrick Hotel, Galway. The eight winners will now progress to the national final in December to compete with winners from Munster, Leinster and Ulster.

A total of 676 companies entered the Awards – the highest number ever, reflecting an increase of 7.8% on last year’s awards, and 72 of these entrants were Connacht businesses.

The Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards provincial winners for Connacht are as follows:

Business Start Up – The White Hag
Small Business – Team Horizon
Established SME – LotusWorks
Established SME – Chanelle Group
Social Enterprise – SCCUL Enterprises Ltd.
Food & Drink – Gilligan Farm Fresh Meats
Agri Business – Corkamore Dairies Ltd
Women Led Business – Specialised Sterile Environments

Speaking at the Connacht awards, Brendan McDermott, Ulster Bank Regional Director, said: “The Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards are a mainstay in the Irish Business calendar. As well as finance, we are determined to help create a better environment for doing business in Ireland. Our mission to be number one for customer service, trust and advocacy is proven here today in our support for each and every one of these excellent businesses. I’d like to congratulate each of our winners and wish them the best of luck at the national final in December.”

The 2015 Ulster Bank Business Achiever will receive a comprehensive prize package including a €50,000 publishing bursary with the Irish Independent, business mentoring from Enterprise Ireland, a full service communications workshop, as well as national and regional PR coverage.

For further information on the 2015 Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards and the provincial winners, go to www.businessachieversaward.com. You can also follow all the action on Twitter using @ulsterbank_baa and #businessachievers.

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Make the Most of Rapid Market Growth

Strike while the iron is hot, make hay while the sun shines, take the bull by the horns…there’s a glut of clichés in the English language to describe the same sort of thing, the need to capitalise on favourable circumstances and make the most of momentum. The fact that such a wide array of sayings exists is perhaps evidence that this is a truism and one that applies clearly to the world of business. But, while it is one thing spotting that this is important and having it as an ambition, it is quite another to know how to go about the process of thriving when market conditions turn in your favour. So, if things do take off and growth comes to you and/or your market, what should you bear in mind when it comes to rapid market growth?

Act fast

When the cards are stacked in your favour you must act fast. By sitting back and doing nothing you risk letting your rapid period of growth pass. As a business you need to be able to analyse the market, recognise when things are going in your favour and be able to react accordingly. That might mean launching new products and services or conducting marketing campaigns – all of which need to be timed just right to succeed.

Recruitment

If your business grows quickly then you’ll need to invest in new staff. Pinpoint people with the right expertise but also the right attitude to complement the employees that you already have on the books. Remember you’re not just looking for someone with the right CV but someone with the right personality to help you move forward.

Don’t over-stretch

It’s so easy to allow yourself to be swept away by enthusiasm and get ahead of yourself yet history shows that businesses who try to go too far too fast are doomed to fail. The Financial Times recently found that most of the SME founders it asked favoured organic growth over acquisitions. A rapid expansion could leave you open to issues if and when the growth dries up.

Association

If the market grows and your sector looks rosy then it is important to remember that you’re unlikely to be the only business looking to cash in on the situation. When times are good it is important to establish your name as a leader in your field. Sometimes that is simply about having the best product or service in your field and sometimes you need a little more than that. Consider, for example, the power of sport to influence finance. Big events are able to show a noticeable impact on financial indices with a feelgood factor that spreads to all involved. Sponsorship of such events gets your name associated with the best in the sporting arena, doing much to establish your brand’s position in the market as well as spreading the word far and wide. When you are experiencing growth, put yourself at the head of the pack by being associated with the best.

Thought leader

When you’re riding the crest of a wave, share your wisdom. This is similar to the last point in that it is about establishing your brand and getting your name set in the mind of others as a market leader. Write about your industry and the successes you’ve had, share it on your blog and through social media. Comment and interact with others in your field and speak at conferences. Build a profile during a period of growth and you’ll establish your brand as a leader in the field when times are not as easy going.

Making the most of rapid market growth is about three things. Firstly, cashing in on the growth. Secondly, it’s about not getting complacent and leaving yourself open to issues when times are tougher. Lastly, it’s about realising that building a reputation is important and taking the opportunities to do just that so that your position is secure in the future.

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Product Launch Perfection: Thinking Outside the Box to Create a Loud Buzz

Why is it that some product launches are a huge success and get everyone talking about them for weeks afterwards, while others are forgotten instantly? It is essential to get yours to stand out, but that is easier said than done. However, there are a number of tactics you can employ, and here are some of the most effective to build buzz.

What Do You Hope to Gain?

What is your reason for planning a product launch? It may seem like an obvious question, but it is one that you need to answer. And your answer should not be “because everyone does it”.

Instead, try to have one or a few specific goals that you want to achieve, which could involve: increase market share, create more awareness, grow customer base, or anything along those lines. Focus on these during the planning and execution of your launch, and you will be able to better measure whether it was a success or not.

Start Building Excitement Well in Advance

Months before the launch, start to build excitement about the big day. Write blog posts, provide hints in social media that something big is coming, get people talking, suggest you have something really exiting in the works.

This will all help to get others talking about it, and people may start to guess what you are going to release. Get as much media attention as possible, because the more stories that appear in the press prior to the launch, the more people will be interested to find out what you are releasing. Forbes has some good info on product launches, so take a look for some more tips.

Add Something Special

Make sure anyone who attends is treated well at the launch event. Provide them with chocolates like the boxes from Martins Chocolatier, serve up a wide range of drinks and refreshments, and make them comfortable during the launch. Give away other freebies and make sure they feel like they are welcome.

Focus on the Benefits

With a lot of products, focusing on the benefits is the most important way to attract attention. Some products will require more focus on the features, especially if you have a new and exciting feature to promote. But for your launch, place an emphasis on how your product or service is going to help people, to change lives, to make life better in some way.

Make It Exciting

Make it big. Make it exciting. Invite the big names from the industry and do whatever you can to get them to attend – the more big names you can attract, the more people will be interested in covering the launch. Ensure you send out invites to all the important industry professionals and bloggers, and even if they don’t attend, at least they will know about it.

Whatever you do, stay away from a boring, dry speech to introduce your product. Use video, music and a captivating presentation. Don’t bore your guests. Do something exciting or different during your launch, and there is more chance that they will write about it.

Plan the Launch in Detail

Ultimately, a successful launch all comes down to careful planning. Start planning your launch a long time in advance, which often means many months before the actual launch. Use this time to plan all the details but also to build up buzz so that by the time the day arrives, you know your launch is going to make a splash.

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SEO and Mobile Traffic: How It Can Improve Traffic

1 to infinity accessible info, 140-word news bit, 2 to 3 seconds page load, 1 click of a button, easy smooth typing, perfect page dimensions, swift scrolling—these are the living proof that online mobile consumers in today’s age have short attention spans. To satisfy their standards, you got to give them what they want in an instant. WHat we are talking about here is SEO and Mobile Traffic.

If they’re looking for info, hand it over in lightning speed. If they want to buy products, ensure their purchase in a snap. Because if it isn’t your mobile site that people go to online, chances are that there’s someone else. Even if you’re offering quality services that can top your competitors but it isn’t being showcased properly with how slow your mobile site is, then you lose the chance of getting a sale or sales even.

Don’t let this happen. Leave it to an SEO agency to improve your mobile site. Here’s a brief overview of how SEO can improve your mobile traffic and your mobile site in general:

First things first, an SEO agency will focus on the mobile user experience. This means that they will engage the visitors of your mobile site and eventually convert them into customers. As a result, this certainly has an increasing effect on your site’s rankings.
Only the most relevant content is allowed on the site. The general rule of thumb is, “Informative content, the more sales.”
A responsive layout will be created to complement the relevant content. The experts will display the content in such a way that the users will find important info from top to bottom without them perceiving it to be endless. What’s more is that they can put a button that says “back to top” so that users can easily relocate on the page.
They can provide videos, gifs, and 3D images to create a more visual experience for the users to make the text even more engaging.
They will decrease to zero any feature on the mobile site that annoys potential customers. For instance, involuntary clicks because the buttons or links are too close together and too small for the fingertips. It’s a general rule to establish a certain distance from one button or link to the other.
Another thing that annoys potential customers is pop-up banners. The experts will get rid of these fast to avoid distractions that may interrupt a sale from becoming a purchase.
The experts will allow the users to filter their search. This will make it easier for users to immediately find what they’re looking for.
They will provide a click-to-call button so that the users can easily voice out their queries or concerns instead of giving them extra work by saving your number and using another device to call your company.
Last but not the least, they will create a sense of urgency for visitors to become customers through the use of incentives. These include discounts, exclusive and limited offers, free shipping, and so on.

This sums up the SEO strategies that can boost your mobile traffic in no time. Mobile traffic equate to a higher ranking, so what are you waiting for?

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Google My Business: Essential for Small Business

Google is known for its innovation and experimental nature, and one has to admire how readily they take risks and how daring their initiatives are. Google Reader and Google Glass aimed to change the world and the Driverless Car isn’t far behind – but whether they hit the mark or not, Google keeps persevering. Some of the best minds in the world work for Google, and it’s because of this, that services such as Ad Sense and Gmail even exist. The reason for writing all this is because one of Google’s vast successes that is standing the test of time in a warp-speed world, is Google Maps. To get your business on Google Maps you must sign up to Google My Business.

How it Works

The main way to ensure you are as visible as possible on Google Maps is to fill out the Google My business profile completely and ensure every box is filled – don’t rush it. Boring advice, but oh so necessary.

Additionally, I have seen reports that seem to suggest local search (i.e. search in your local area) is getting more like the rest of search (search in the wider world), making generating online activity and topical conversation around your chosen locations key.

Reviews

From what I’ve seen, reviews are one of the key differentiators in how visible your maps listing is as a small business. One of the benefits of running a smaller company is a shorter chain of command and closer contact with clients themselves. Asking your clients to review you on Google Maps and give you a testimonial for your website is, in my opinion one of the best things you can do. People look at reviews now more than ever, and maps listings with reviews do tend to be significantly more visible.

Recent Results

To demonstrate the value of reviews, a client of mine recently went from 25 reviews to 35 reviews on their Google Maps page. Firstly, I can see their maps visibility has risen significantly when searching for key topics around their offering on the Google Maps engine. Secondly, they have enjoyed a 45% increase in views to over 4,000… in the last 30 days alone.

Re-Verification

Now for a bit of current news; Google recently sent out Maps re-verifications for Google Business listings (Google Business is the umbrella term that Google Maps now sits under). If you receive or have received one of these for your small businesses existing listing, do re-verify it – you don’t want to miss out on being seen and your listing could be removed.

Old School Tactics

A lot of blogs on optimising Google Maps talk about the usual actions you should take so I won’t go into detail, but they include the following:

Promotion: Use your website to promote your local listing in addition to your email communications. You can see on one of ours here we have links to both Google+ and a neat Google Maps map on our website. Old school tactic but I believe it adds value.
NAP (Name, Address and Phone Number): Keep these consistent and the same for both your website and Google Maps listing so the two marry up.
Offers: Rather than directly increasing visibility, posting offers can serve to drive activity… and sales.
Location: Putting the correct locations on your listing is vital as people often search on Google using location – make sure the locations match those on your website too.

For the small business, I honestly think Google Maps is one of the best resources out there – and of course – it’s free to all!

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6 Books Written by Famous Entrepreneurs

Any new entrepreneur will surely dream to meet the people who made it to the top and are an inspiration for everyone around the globe. Nevertheless, we know that meeting them all to get inspired might not be a possibility for everyone. However, you can always find the stories of struggles and rise to power through various books that have been written by people, who all started as ordinary people but achieved extraordinary feats in business. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur struggling with the dilemmas of a start-up, these are some of the best business books to read.

1. Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson

Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson

The tell-tale of Richard Branson, the owner of the Virgin Group has penned down the fables that has made his entire life a worth read. Richard Branson is person that has the profile-raising drives of P. T. Barnum and expertise of Bill Gates. The autobiography talks about how the name ‘Virgin’ came up, how they remodelled the on-going industries where the customers were ripped off or were treated less than deserved by the competences. Further, it talks about the airlines, music, cola and general store line up of the group, the adversities that were faced and how Richard lived his life amid all the happenings. Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way is Branson’s record to keep things minimal yet making them large at the very same time.

2. iWoz by Steve Wosniak

iWoz by Steve Wosniak

iWoz is the autobiography of Steve Wosniak, the developer of the Apple computers. The book tells about a brief history of life of Steve Wosniak, his founding of the Apple Computers and some other ventures. He talks about his relations with Steve Jobs, feelings towards Apple and some misconceptions that were spread about him and which he would like to clear. The book is written in form of monographs not lasting more than a few pages, in some cases a few paragraphs. iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It, the title sums it all.

3. Thrive by Arianna Huffington

Thrive by Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, has described about her breakthrough of realization of the actual definition of success in her bestseller ‘Thrive’. While the world only knows about the two dimensions of success- power and money- Arianna has subtly pointed out the third and an inevitable dimension of success. Being already successful and having to face an ugly disease, Arianna talks about how one tends to overlook the simple yet the most important aspects of life. As someone wisely said that no one will remember power point presentations at your graveyard and hence we should establish a balance between the professional and personal world. The book is an eye-opener for the person who is working much more than required to reach somewhere that is not a destination but a never ending journey. Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder, exactly preaches its subtitle.

4. Business at the Speed of Thoughts by Bill Gates

Business at the Speed of Thoughts by Bill Gates

Business at the Speed of Thoughts by Bill Gates is not a manual for the current technologies but about how technology and business are intervened. The book talks about the effect of digitalization on the business and how to enhance the business with the help of technology. Bill Gates in his book debates about the cyberspace and how it has been ruling any and every industry for a while now. The book is a piece of sheer brilliance that looks at the world from the eyes of the world’s most successful, rich and influential person.

5. The Blueprint by Peter Thiel

The Blueprint by Peter Thiel

The Blueprint by Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal is an upfront bitter truth about the innovation in the current scenario. He has written about how we are not advancing towards future because of the lack of new ideas and the incapability of producing something new to life. Today’s businesses whether technology or any other field is more about refining the existing products rather than giving a new product. The book is a motivation for any person who may or may not be associated with technology. The Blueprint: Reviving Innovation, Rediscovering Risk, and Rescuing the Free Market, is the way to brainstorm for something that still has no blueprints.

6. Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz

Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz

Pour Your Heart into It by Howard Schultz is the making and shaping of Starbucks Coffee. What started as a normal coffee shop on Waterfront in Seattle has expanded to an exclusive brand with which today coffee is defined. The idea was to make coffee a taste of the Americans, which it successfully did. The book talks about the wisdom that Schultz gained while on the coffee making journey and also about how to change passion into profit for the right reasons and in the right way. Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, is a fable about how Starbucks has become much more than a coffee, perhaps a lifestyle.

Reading the words directly from the most influential tellers is one of the best ways to create and recreate self. These business books are the real stories of real people and their real struggles. One cannot escape without reading these enthralling yet heart touching books that gives the reader new insights.

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Eight Leinster Companies Celebrate Business Awards

Eight leading Leinster based companies celebrated success at the Leinster final of the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards, which took place on 20^th October at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. The eight winners will now progress to the national final in December to compete with winners from Munster, Connacht and Ulster.

A total of 676 companies entered the Awards – the highest number ever, reflecting an increase of 7.8% on last year’s awards, and 260 of these entrants were Leinster businesses.

The Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards provincial winners for Leinster are as follows:

Business Start Up – DP Financial Ltd. t/a Rye River Brewing Company
Small Business – The Grafton Barber
Established SME – Integrity 360
International Business – Netwatch
Social Enterprise – Grow Dome Project
Food & Drink – Clonarn Clover
Agri Business – McCormack Farms Ltd
Women Led Business – Polar Ice

Speaking at the Leinster awards, Olaf Fitzsimmons, Ulster Bank Regional Director, said: “The Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards are a mainstay in the Irish Business calendar. As well as finance, we are determined to help create a better environment for doing business in Ireland. Our mission to be number one for customer service, trust and advocacy is proven here today in our support for each and every one of these excellent businesses. I’d like to congratulate each of our winners and wish them the best of luck at the national final in December.”

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