Digital Judgement- IS10050
Group Project- Digital Resource Guide
“How to start a business in Ireland”
Rory McEntee
Eunan McGrenra
Gareth Murphy
Aonghus McDonnell
Introduction
a. What is the purpose of the Guide?
The purpose of the Guide is to inform people about the resources available to them
for setting up a new business. The guide compacts and distills information for the
purpose of being easily accessible and informative.
b. Who is the Guide aimed at (description of target audience)?
The Guide is aimed at anyone who has an interest in business and Irish business. As
the Guide has many stances and informs readers about legal issues, information
sources and also funding sources that help to promote and drive Irish business. The
Guide aims to aid Irish entrepreneurial minded people in being able to easily find
sources that will help them along their journey.
c. What is the subject matter of the Guide?
The subject matter is the Guide is based on what the issues and obstacles may be for
setting up a business in Ireland. These range from legal issues surrounding tax and
naming rights of companies, to private and public funding available to companies as
credit is hard to come by in this economic environment.
d. What does the Guide contain, i.e., the contents/scope?
The guide contains 10 high quality digital resources. It will contain the identifying
details of the resource, the abstract of the resource, the pathway of the resource
and the evaluation of the resource. These details of how the resource was found and
how good the information is will give the reader a concrete idea of the quality of
resources they are receiving and they will navigate the resources they find most
appealing.
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 1
e. What does the Guide assume that users already know?
The guide assumes that the user has a certain amount of “net savviness” as knowing how to navigate a computer will help them with our guide. Most of our resources
are websites which we will have information upon them as to how to set up a
business in Ireland and we will be a guide and a reference directory also.
f. How the Guide is organized for use?
The guide will be organized by different areas of business. These areas are general,
legal, private funding, government assistance / public funding, consulting, blogs,
industry specific websites, EU grants / Irish grants. The reasons we chose these areas
is that we felt these are the areas are the most relevant and important when setting
up a business.
Resource 1 (General Information) Citizens Information Board
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/types_of_employment/self_employme
nt/setting_up_a_business_in_ireland.html
a. Identifying Details: This website is a government run, citizen’s information website. The objective of this website is to provide the citizens of Ireland with information regarding all
government run projects, organisations and entitlements. It also provides information on
social welfare, jobs and money issues. If someone is new to the country or have moved
house, this site is the first stop to learn about the services in their local area. It is an Irish run
website and was established in 2002.
b. Abstract: The section relevant to our resource was the information on becoming selfemployed and establishing their own business. This section is highly detailed and provides
information for EU citizens and none EU citizens on the protocol of starting their own
business. This section outlines all the organisations that handle the different elements of
establishing a business in Ireland, for example, legal, tax, finance and registration. As this is
a government run website, it is completely unbiased and focuses solely on government run
organisations that can help entrepreneurs, such as Enterprise Ireland.
c. Pathway: This resource was found via Google search. When searching “how to set up a business in Ireland” this is the first unsponsored result that appears. The webpage title is “setting up a business in Ireland”. d. Evaluation: This resource is an extremely useful website. Navigating around the page is
extremely easy and lists one by one the relevant organisations for an entrepreneur. The
interface is simple and plain aesthetically. This resource aims to inform the user and does so
by using links in each section to different websites relevant to that section. For example in
the regulation it provides a direct link to www.businessregulation.ie. For a user this is
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 2
extremely useful as they can open this link up immediately without having to go search it
separately. The use of links in each section of text adds to the quality of information. The
author and publisher of this page are the administrators of Citizens Information Board. This
is a government agency but does not use the .gov domain name. It uses .ie to avoid
confusion with other citizen’s information sites around the world.
Resource 2 (General) www.bridgewatermcg.com/blog/
Identifying details:
The name of this resource is Bridgewater Management Blog. This is the blog of Bridgewater
Management which is a business consulting company. The creator of the blog is the
Bridgewater Management Team and in particular Donncha Hughes Terence O’Mahony. The blog was created on the 11th February 2011 and can be found at
www.bridgewatermcg.com/blog/.
Abstract:
On this blog there is information for people with start-ups or SME’s on social media, marketing, funding etc. The blog contains a lot of specific information on a wide range of
subjects that would be of interest to new companies. The last five titles were
1. “How to add your Blog to your Facebook Business Page”
2. “Are your customers really happy – a mystery shopper can help you to find
out!”
3. “How to write a business plan that won’t gather dust?”
4. “Ten challenges to help your business plan succeed”
5. “SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for Getting Irish Business Online
Websites” All of these subjects mentioned would be of help to someone starting up a business in
Ireland.
Pathway:
This resource was found through the Google function of searching for blogs on their search
engine. I went to Google and went to “More” and then continued to “even more”. This brings us a menu of extra products of Google which include web search, mobile, news,
translate, blog search, alerts and others. I continued into blog search and searched for
“setting up a business in Ireland” which brought me onto the blog.
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 3
Evaluation:
While it says that Terence O’Mahony has over 9 years accountancy, taxation, payroll and finance administration experience it doesn’t give the experience of Donncha Hughes but it says that he has a huge interest in business and start-ups. This is an Irish company. The URL
doesn’t tell us much, the URL is www.bridgewatermcg.com. The domain name tells us it is a
commercial business. The information given on the site is fact; it gives information on how
to perform things on Facebook, SEO. There is also opinion on the site when given advice on
how to improve your business plan but the majority of the information is fact. The author
deals more with reason than bias and the language is concrete rather than emotive. The
last update on the blog was a year ago, on 27th October 2011, and this would be a worry as
blogs should be more regularly updated than this but as the information is all from 2011 the
blog is fine. This blog is very relevant for this area and for this reason and the evaluation of
the information I feel that this is a high quality digital resource.
Resource 3 (Legal) www.cro.ie
Identifying details:
The Companies Registration Office is a website which contains information and the means
of registering a company in Ireland. The CRO operates under the Department of Jobs,
Enterprise and Innovation. The CRO is located at Parnell House, 14 Parnell Square, Dublin 1.
Abstract:
The Companies Registration Office contains information and the ability to
1. Register a Business Name
2. Set up a Company
3. Search/Purchase Company Info
4. File an Annual Return
5. Find a Publication or Form
6. Get a Duplicate Certificate
There is also much more content on the CRO website, including functions of the
CRO, post registration services, annual return services and many more services.
There are also newsletters, publications and contact information that apply to
setting up a business in Ireland.
Pathway:
This resource was found via a search engine. I searched in Google for ‘setting up a business in Ireland’. This brought me to the Citizens Information website (www.citizensinformation.ie) which then linked to the Business Regulation website
(www.businessregulation.ie). From this I continued into the Key Regulations, and then
Financial and Structural which linked into www.cro.ie. The Citizens Information is a Public
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 4
Service information website provided by the citizen’s information board. For this reason I
felt the links on the page were reliable. The Business Regulation website is part of the
Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and this why I felt the links were reliable
also.
Evaluation:
It doesn’t say who the author is upon the website but it says that “The CRO operates the aegis of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation” which implies that the author
and publisher are government enforced bodies. The site provides contact details for the
CRO and also for the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
The URL tells us that the domain name is .ie. This means that the website is based in Ireland.
The information presented in the website is fact. The language is unemotional and isn’t descriptive. The links are to other websites that are reliable such as www.core.ie and
www.djei.ie. This website shows no bias or opinion and instead is a fact-based, objective,
informative website. For this reason, I feel that www.cro.ie is a good quality resource for
anyone looking to setting up a business in Ireland.
Resource 4 (Consulting/Advice/Grants) WWW.ENTERPRISEIRELAND.IE
Identifying details
The site was created by enterprise Ireland. A government firm established to provide
Finance and assistance and help Irish enterprises establish themselves in World markets.
Abstract
Enterprise Ireland is a government organisation that aims to help the growth of Irish
enterprises through expert advice and funding. It offers advice on Strategy, funding,
productivity, introduction of research and development measures, and export advice
Provides information on qualifying for a high potential start up Funding and also provides
the platform to apply online for a grant
Provides information on how to apply to the businesses local council to apply for grants that
do not met the enterprise Ireland high potential start up fund. There is a local store for start
up business providing some helpful sites.
Pathway
Enterprise Ireland was known to us as a group of commerce students, the importance of
enterprise -Ireland in the business community has frequently been noted to us. So upon
discussion of our project it was a first point of reference for us to begin our search for
resources. It is the first link available when enterprise Ireland is Google searched. It is
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 5
however not the first link available under new business grants but it is noted as a point of
reference in the first 3 article that do come up under the link.
Evaluation
It is as relevant as a website can be. It deals directly with the subject matter i.e starting new
business. It provides information on starting a new business provides a platform for applying
for a grant and provides information on other sites that could be helpful to the user.
In the “About Us” section the Publisher and the author are made known to be Enterprise
Ireland. “The Contact Us” Section gives the details of numbers, faxes and emails for the headquarters and has an interactive map where local office details can be found. Under the
Section “Legal” on the page Enterprise Ireland have issued a statement of Copyright on the
site. Under the “Privacy section” Enterprise Ireland is registered as a Data Controller with the registration number 4364. The site can be reached through the domain name “.ie” or “.com” which identifies it as an Irish registered website as well as a commercial site. It is a
Government Organisation that aids business development. The information on this site is
accurate and holds no bias towards different industries. The resource fits its purpose as a
source for Irish Business start up. The site is not available in different languages but as an
Irish start up site, it addresses its target market. The language used is professional and
encouraging throughout. The site also provides helpful working links throughout the site.
Resource 5 (Consulting/Advice) WWW.STARTUPS.IE
Identity details
STARTUPS.ie is a site created by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. The site has an online
presence only. The site allows entrepreneurs to publish successful ventures and provide tips
and suggestions on matters. The site was set up by Steven Dillon.
Abstract
Its aim is to create an Entrepreneurial spirit in Ireland and thus help encourage
entrepreneurship in Ireland in an effort to kick-start the economy. It aim is to create a
community passionate and interested. STARTUPS.ie believes that by pooling resources
together. People will get the help they need.
The site has three main categories.
1) Startups Blog
2) Startups Forum
3) Startup Stories
Start up Blogs provides information on the latest start up funds available. The Forums allow
a platform for Entrepreneurs to discuss opportunities and solutions to current problems.
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 6
Start up stories provides motivation and insights into how some firms have succeeded.
Overall the site brings entrepreneurial thoughts to the forefront.
Pathway
I discovered Startups.ie through Facebook. A Facebook Friend from the Entrepreneurial
Society in UCD used the like function on Startups Facebook page. This caused it to then
appear on my homepage. I then used Google search engine to find the site. It was the first
listing on Startups search results.
Evaluation
The site is very relevant to this resource as it allows a platform for entrepreneurs to
communicate and share views. The Publisher is made known under the section Contributor
profiles as Steven Dillon. The author varies from article to article but on each article the
time, date and author of article is displayed. The reader is also permitted to leave a
response to an article.
Under the Contact section, the user is permitted to send an email to Startups. But under the
section Contributor Profiles Steven Dillon also leaves a mobile number on which he can be
contacted. STARTUPS own the copyright to the site. The content on STARTUP.ie is included
in good faith but is for general information purposes only. The domain name is registered to
Steven Dillon. The Accuracy of articles is up to question. As the Blogs, forums and stories are
contributed by the public. Therefore there is a possibility of bias and debate of accuracy, as
there is with any blog site. The Language used throughout is professional and the links
provided are all helpful and operational.
Resource 6 (Public funding) www.enterpriseboards.ie
Identifying Details This resource is the website for the Irish County and City Enterprise
Boards (CEBs). The website is copyrighted from 2011 to the County and City Enterprise
Boards. The CEBs are 35 boards set up around Ireland to provide finance for small start ups
and were established in 1993.
Abstract This resource is an informative website designed to provide information on the
organisation, what their role is, how they operate as well as locating their nearest CEB for
them. The function of the County and City Enterprise boards are to provide support for
small businesses with 10 employees or less. The aim of CEBs is to encourage
entrepreneurship and create jobs. Each CEB covers a local region well which is a huge
advantage for entrepreneurs looking to start up a new business locally. The services on offer
include advice, mentoring, grand and support for training and growth.
Pathway This resource was found while searching Google for “Government assistance for start ups in Ireland”. This brought me to a Government website www.djei.ie. On this site I
found the enterprise board’s website via a directory on the Department for Jobs, Enterprise How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 7
and Innovation website. The Department website offered a direct link to
enterpriseboards.ie.
Evaluation www.enterpriseboards.ie is very simple to use and navigate around. It serves its
function well in an aesthetic user interface. The author and publisher are the CEBs
themselves. They show no bias in their use of language. Their aim is to simply inform the
user accurately of the functions of the organisation and to encourage them to interact
further with the website. This resource is full of valuable information accessed through links.
The links explain certain terms in more detail the user might not be too familiar with. The
website is not overloaded with information; it includes a useful location tool that helps the
user find their local CEB. Although the CEBs are run and owned by the government this
resource uses an “.ie” domain name which I feel is more encouraging for users as it is less
formal.
Resource 7 (Public funding) www.first-step.ie
Identifying details www.first-step.ie was created by First Step Microfinance, an organisation
established to provide finance to entrepreneurs who have been refused credit by other
lending institutions.
Abstract This website is designed as a source of information for people looking to set up
their own business but have failed to gain financing with a bank. The site outlines who they
are, what they can offer, how to apply for funding, frequently asked questions as well as a
whole collection of other information. The website outlines the specifications for applicants
clearly as well as contact information to access further information.
Pathway This site was found through Google search and then through a link via a
government website. Originally I searched “government assistance for new businesses” this brought me to the government page for the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
From here, I navigated to the “Microfinance Fund” section. This led me to a link to firststep.ie which is the site that provides information on the microfinance fund.
Evaluation www.first-step.ie is an up to date and aesthetic information resource. The
author and publisher are clearly stated and explained in the “Who are we?” section. This section provides information on the publishers and owners of the organisation as well as
past project they have undertaken. This section is extremely informative and gives the
resource added credibility. The publisher is an Irish company offering finance to new
businesses. They allow users to contact them by email, fax or telephone. The resource
contains a copyright notice as well as information on how the company is registered as a
limited company. The sight uses the domain name is “.ie” which identifies it as an Irish registered website. Although the Microfinance Fund is sponsored by the government, it is
not a government run website; it merely provides information on the Microfinance Fund.
This could cause confusion with users. The information provided on this site is accurate and
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 8
shows no bias. The resource serves its function as a source of information for budding
entrepreneurs as well as the option to apply for financing. The language used is encouraging
throughout; this mirrors the aim of the resource, to encourage people to start a new
company. The resource offers an extremely useful section that displays links to other
relevant organisations that also offer funding, advice and government assistance for
entrepreneurs.
Resource 8 (Private funding) www.enterpriseequity.ie
Identifying details
Enterpriseequity.ie was established in 1987 by the International Fund for Ireland as a
commercial venture capital company, their objective is to stimulate viable and selfsustaining growth in the private sector of the economy. The full name of the company is
Enterprise Equity Venture Capital Group and is based in Dundalk, Co.Louth.
Abstract
Enterprise Equity Venture Capital Group designed the website to offer funding to companies
“focused on growth, backed by a solid and committed management team”, essential they are investors in start ups, they strictly state that they will not invest in property, leisure or
retail businesses, but it will consider investment in most other sectors. The site is well
designed and gives the user of the site good insight to who they are and what they’re about.
Pathway
In initially I decided to use a Google search, I searched “venture capital for Irish start-up
businesses”, which I then proceeded to click into citizensinformation.ie. From here I
decided to look into a site called aibseedcapitalfund.ie which is where I then found
enterpriseequity.ie, who is a partner of the AIB Seed Capital Fund of a fund size of 53
million.
Evaluation
The author of the site is Enterprise Equity Venture Capital Group. The publisher of the site is
Jascom Ltd. who provides web design and IT services to companies. It is clear from the URL
that the site is based in Ireland which adds to the legitimacy of the site. In relation to
accuracy the sites provides the user with past projects in which they invested and a detailed
list of requirements as well as what kind of ventures they would consider investing in. The
site is mainly fact and informative and offers no opinion on subject matters. The site offers
contact details for users by Phone, Fax or Email. The language throughout was very
appropriate and got the point across, however there was very little links to other sites or
resources. Overall I believe the site itself is mediocre, in comparison to the likes of
Enterprise Ireland, it loses on all fronts. The main problem I feel with the site is that for
someone who was actually looking for start-up capital the site didn’t appear on the first page of Google which in my opinion is not good enough for either Enterprise Equity Venture
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 9
Capital Group or the person looking for funding. However the site is very informative and
gives the user exactly what he or she needs to know.
Resource 9 (Private funding) www.mazars.ie
Identifying details
The site was created by Mazars. Mazars is a company who are based in Galway and Dublin
and offer a wide range of services including auditing, accounting, tax and advisory services
in Ireland. They have worked with many companies setting up in Ireland.
Abstract
When on the homepage of the site there is immediately a professional feel about the
website, well designed and a good layout. Mazars consulting has supported organisations
across the public and private sector for nearly 30 years in Ireland. Mazars are committed to
building lifelong relationships with their people. They generally comprise experienced
business professionals and sectoral experts as well as technical experts in order to help their
clients. Mazars would definitely be of great help to any start up company in Ireland. Mazars
ethos is to “work as closely as possible with you to ensure that your overall aims and objectives are met and we fully understand the intricacies of your organisation”. They offer consulting in Business empowerment, Business process improvement, Decision support &
financial modelling, Executive mentoring, coaching & training, IT consulting, Organisational
development & human resources, Professional services advancement and Strategy &
business planning.
Pathway
Mazars was found through a search on Google. We searched “Consulting setting up a business in Ireland”. Mazars site was the 7th in the search results to appear on the search.
Mazars is likely to get a lot of hits from people who intend setting up businesses in Ireland, it
has a good reputation and has been operating in Ireland for quite awhile and is probably
why it is found on the first page of the search in Google.
Evaluation
Overall Mazars.ie is extremely relevant to what a person looking for a helping hand in
relation to setting up a business. The website is extremely professional looking and leaves a
good impression on the user. Mazars operate worldwide which enhances their reputation
and leaves the user with a good impression and a sense of reliability. There is also a PDF file
which gives the user a look into how Mazars can help their particular company which is
helpful for the user to get an understanding of how Mazars would help. Mazars do not only
specialise in consulting, which shows they would be also useful in other areas of one’s business such as accounting and so on. In relation to their “Contact Us” section they offer a How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 10
General Enquiry form as well a number to contact them, they also have Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn and Xing making them easy to contact. The site can be found through the domain
name .ie and .com and the site is offered in English and in French, the top two business
languages of the world.
Resource 10 (European Union Information) www.EUbusiness.com
Identifying details
Eubusiness.com was founded in Luxembourg in 1997 by Managing Director Nick Prag. The
site is Europe's leading independent online business information service about the European
Union. The company is based in the UK and from our research seems like a reliable
resource as 160,000 people visit site per month. The full name of the company is
EUbusiness Ltd.
Abstract
The website was designed to cater for business orientated people within the EU, as it states
in their about us section their aim is to be the “premier business information source about the European Union”. Over 65% of EUbusiness users work for Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprises (SMEs) which would indicate that this resource would be helpful for those
looking to set up business in Ireland and maybe later delve into the European market. An
article in particular within the site located at www.eubusiness.com/europe/ireland/business
had excellent information on how one should go about setting up in Ireland. The site is
consistent throughout and is very easy to navigate through.
Pathway
I decided to use a Meta search to ensure the biggest range and most accurate results. I
simply typed in “How to set up a business in Ireland” into a search engine called dogpile.com. It gave a vast amount of results which made it easy for me select the most
appropriate and relevant to this resource guide. I choose the link “Setting up a business in Ireland — EUbusiness.com - EU Business”, it was the fourth down after the sponsored links. I noticed that this link was an EU related site and could be of value to the reader of this
resource guide.
Evaluation
The author of the site is EUbusiness, while within the site the articles written vary as it is a
publishing venture independent of European Union. While it is independent of EU it offers
solid and reliable information. The publisher of the site is Nick Prag who is also the founder.
The fact that the publisher is also the founder of this company, it would be wise to wary of
the information found while we believe it is reliable, bias can often occur in these type of
sites. This site is without doubt very worthwhile looking into, other resources would be
more reliable in the long run and relying on this site alone would not be adequate. That
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 11
being said from what we have researched on setting up business in Ireland the articles seem
legitimate and reliable. The article in particular mentioned above was purely fact based and
was not opinion based, while this is true in the case, there are other articles within the site
which are opinion based which is why we believe this site would not be one of the best sites
to rely on when looking into setting up a business in Ireland. Overall while we advise our
readers to be wary but we believe that this site is definitely worth a look at as it does
provide some great information on how to set up a business in Ireland.
Conclusion
When we chose to create a Digital resource on “How to start a business in Ireland” we wanted to ensure that we had a balance across our resource. Before researching the
selected resources we decided on the direction the Digital Resource should take. With our
backgrounds in business we decided that we would draw up the sectors to research. We
decided on having two general business resources, a legal framework resource, two public
funding resources, two private funding resources and an EU information resource.
Our selected courses of Commerce and Business and Law proved to be a great influence and
help in our research of this project. We all had a sound knowledge of the requirements
needed to start a business in Ireland” which proved very beneficial when it came to evaluating which resources to use as we held an in-depth knowledge of the business field.
We researched creating a Digital resource guide through the UCD library database. Using
the search “Digital guide” we discovered an article1. It was not direct hit for the creation of a
resource guide but did provide helpful information such as scanning the local environment
which we factored in to our guide through the selection of the Citizens Information Board as
a resource. Then we used Google to find a digital resource guide so that we could have a
better understanding of the requirements of what a digital resource was. We used Boolean
logic and parentheses to search “(digital or resource) guide” and found an article2 by Jeff
1
Zhu, , Q. and Guevara,, S.
A Practical Guide for Building a User-Focused Digital Library Collection.
Zhu, , Q. and Guevara,, S. (2009) A Practical Guide for Building a User-Focused Digital Library Collection..Computers
in Libraries, Vol. 29 (Issue 4), p.p6-10, 5p. Available at: http://library.ucd.ie:50080/ebscoweb/ehost/detail?sid=4d94ca89-b858-41ac-ac0ff2c08ed1453f%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=3719
2
Jones, J.
How to Start a Nonprofit: A Digital Resource Guide.
Jones, J. (2008) How to Start a Nonprofit: A Digital Resource Guide.. Searcher, Vol. 16 (Issue 4,), p. p20-25, 6p.
Available at: http://library.ucd.ie:50080/ebsco-web/ehost/detail?sid=0c52413c-aba2-40ac-bc2d88017cabc278%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ofm&AN=50
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 12
Jones “How to Start a Non profit: A Digital Resource Guide.” The article was not available to read freely through Google search so we retrieved the article through the use of the UCD
library database. This article then provided us with a sample of an existing resource guide.
As part of this project we also learned how to critically evaluate a quality resource.
As a group we worked well together. Upon forming the group we set up a Facebook group
page to communicate with each other. This proved to be very beneficial to us throughout
creating our digital resource. We used the Facebook group to firstly each nominate an idea
for the digital resource, so that in the first meeting we have considered the options that
were present for us. One of these options was the “How to start a business in Ireland” which proved to be a topic of interest to the group. We decided the sectors we should focus on,
together as a group. We used the Facebook page to communicate which resource we would
choose from each sector. We discovered no challenges as a group due high communication
and regular meetings and discussions through Facebook.
During our first meeting we split the workload amongst ourselves. We decided that each
member of the group would contribute at least two resources. The remainder of the
workload was split by Rory and Aonghus taking a resource each. Eunan volunteered to write
the digital resource description and Gareth the reflection.
Overall our team worked very well together. We started our project early, met regularly
and maintained communication throughout. As a result our Digital resource was well
managed and well formulated with the balance of work evenly distributed through the
group members.
How to set up a business in Ireland
Page 13