What’s it like to move to Ireland, from another country, and set up a business? ThinkBusiness talked to three entrepreneurs who moved here to build their dreams.
Andy Chen, Chopped (pictured above, right with business partner Brian Lee)
I moved from China to Ireland in July 2000. I’m a co-founder of Chopped, Ireland’s leading healthy fast food retailer.
How did I start this business? My business partner Brian Lee and I were both going to the gym a lot at the time but were frustrated at the lack of convenient and good value nutrition available to us. We talked about this, and the seeds of Chopped were sown.
Ireland is my second home, and I find the business environment to be excellent. I didn’t consider establishing my business anywhere else.
My first venture was selling imported goods from China to Irish market stalls around Dublin, with Brian, about six months after I came to Ireland.
Soon after, I opened Ireland’s biggest internet café, ‘Five Star Internet Café’, on Talbot Street. I also opened the ‘Xtreme Internet And Gaming Centre’ on Lower Liffey Street.
Around this time, Brian was running a property management company, and we were both eager to work together again, so we opened a convenience store near Connolly Station. It was at this time that the idea for Chopped came to us.
We were both into fitness, and we wanted an option to eat healthy on the go. We established the healthy food company, Freshly Chopped, to meet this need and a few months after our first Chopped opened on Baggot St, we opened FIT Studios in Fairview.
“Non-Irish nationals may struggle to reconcile Irish humour with the professional environment. It’s also not unusual to conduct business meetings outside of the office.”
Did you receive any supports regarding funding or advice when you started your business in Ireland?
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