Success Stories

The primary aim of Sligo County Enterprise Board is to facilitate the development and growth of small businesses in County Sligo. This is achieved through a combination of financial support and the provision of targeted management development, training and mentoring programmes specifically designed to maximise the potential of these small businesses. A sample of these success stories is set out below. Click on the relevant company for a brief summary of their activities.

The Cat & The Moon

Irish Jewellery Design, Fine Art and Hand Crafts

Gillan Design manufactures hand-made silver and gold jewellery at their studio in Sligo. The Business was established by Martina Gillan in 1990 and has expanded steadily since then. Hand-in-hand with the jewellery manufacturing side of the business, Martina also established 'The Cat and the Moon' retail outlet, with the aim of making products of Irish design available to the public. The highly successful retail outlet has been voted one of the top 10 craft outlets in the country by the Crafts Council of Ireland. The business currently sells its jewellery to over 50 select outlets throughout Ireland and exports to the USA.

Martina first approached Sligo County Enterprise Board for capital grant assistance in 1997 to expand her manufacturing operations. Both Martina and the staff of Gillan Design have received business skills training and on-site mentoring under Sligo County Enterprise Boards Entrepreneurial and Capability Development Measure since 1998. The business currently employs eleven full-time and one part-time.

Technical-Ideas.com

’Socrates’ software programme for Doctors in General Practice

It has certainly been a busy few weeks for Sligo Company, Technical-Ideas.com.
In late September, the Company won 1st place in the Sligo County Enterprise Board Micro-Enterprise Awards. The Company then went on to represent County Sligo with distinction at the National Final of the County and City Enterprise Boards National Enterprise Awards 2006, which was held in the Croke Park Conference centre, in Dublin, on October 25th last. The Company performed excellently against stiff competition to secure the runners-up award.

Operating from their base in Sligo town, Technical-Ideas.com Ltd., has developed ’Socrates’, a software programme designed specifically to meet the needs of Doctors in General Practice. Some of the features of this cutting-edge programme include high levels of compatibility with existing systems allowing for hassle-free upgrades to the programme, an Appointment Diary/Waiting Room Module, an Integrated Document Management System, allowing letters, reports, etc., to be scanned and attached to a patient's record, a Communication Module and Text Alerts System to remind patients about appointments and other important medical matters. The system also features Consultation and reporting Modules, allowing rapid production of patient reports, prescription letters, etc. It also features an Accounting Module, allowing the recording of payments, charges and the issuing of receipts and patient account statements. It also incorporates new releases of drugs databases, an online support facility and can be integrated with Microsoft Office.

Technical-Ideas.com Ltd. was founded in 2004 and currently has 6 full-time staff members. The Company have received financial support from Sligo County Enterprise Board, and are currently recruiting 2 additional full-time staff members, and moving to a new state of the art premises at the Business Innovation Centre on the I.T. Sligo campus. The ’Socrates’ Product is generating interest nationwide, with approximately 60 General Practitioners using the ’Socrates’ system. The Company also intend to expand into the export market with the system and are currently working on a variety of other programmes for use in other healthcare sectors including Pharmacies and Nursing homes, to name but a few.

Rachel Quinn Ceramics

'POTTERING ALONG THE ROAD TO SUCCESS'
"I'm a potter, not a businesswoman", said Rachel Quinn as she explained why she found the Sligo County Enterprise Board Tradelinks Programme so valuable.

Rachel Quinn studied fine art at university before working for a year in a pottery in England followed by six years working with Michael Kennedy, one of Ireland's leading ceramic artists.

"I always wanted to be self-employed" said Rachel. "The years I spent working in a pottery were almost like an apprenticeship. They taught me a lot of skills that are essential when going it alone.

"While I was working with Michael Kennedy, I bought a house with a workshop attached to it. I started supplying ceramic angels to two shops and then began to think about setting up a full-time business.

"At college you learn about the creative side of ceramic art and at work you learn the practical aspects such as how to operate a kiln. I needed to complete the skill set by learning about how to run a business. That is where Sligo County Enterprise Board came in.

"The mentor support provided by the Board under the Tradelinks programme enabled me to make the transition from chasing my tail to operating in a much more planned way. Over the course of six months I worked with my mentor to create a business plan which will see me over the next number of years.

"I've also learnt how to forecast sales and cash-flow and set targets and to get into the habit of monitoring progress on a regular basis. Tradelinks has provided me with an opportunity to allow someone else to look at my business from the outside and then help me develop the skills I needed to make the changes required to run and grow the business. Their expertise and advice has been invaluable."

It all began for Rachel four years ago when she went to the 'Showcase' trade exhibition to see if she could generate enough orders to enable her to leave her job to concentrate on her own pottery full-time.

For the first year she concentrated on a limited number of designs and started to build her wholesale business. Three years on, she supplies more than thirty stores including two in Scandinavia, two in the United States of America and two in Great Britain and has just launched a new range called 'Artefacts'.

"The focus of my attention during the first two years was on getting orders out to customers on time. It was only in the third year of trading that I was able to get out into stores to see how my pieces were being displayed. I wasn't really happy with the presentation so this year I've made a merchandising stand and have produced packaging and a brochure." said Rachel.

"I'm also developing a retail business beside my workshop and have seven products for sale on-line as a pilot study into internet selling. At the moment I'm starting to expand into the corporate gifts market and will also be exhibiting at the Formax tradeshow in Sweden this September."

'Tradelinks has provided practical benefits to businesses by using one of the most useful agency support tools - mentoring' said Liam Kiely, Assistant CEO with Sligo County Enterprise Board. 'Businesses seem to bond better with someone who will visit their premises and show an active interest in what they are doing. Even better when they have experience of the sector or have knowledge in a business discipline. The key to success is to target the support to suit the businesses needs. Even though general business advice has its part to play, we try to identify mentors on an ongoing basis with the knowledge and skill to go a bit deeper and look at the particular opportunities and threats a business faces.'