Are You Thinking about Starting Your Own Business?

SECAD will be running its very successful start your own business course, the AIR² Programme, in Cobh starting on 21st May in Cobh Community Centre.

Development Officer at SECAD, Sinéad Conroy said “AIR² stands for Am I Ready; Am I Right and helps you to decide if you are suited to self-employment and if you are, how do you go about setting up your own business. The course involves 1 full day session per week over 5 weeks.” Sinéad added “Participants will also receive an introduction to small business finance and funding sources for businesses. This will include setting up a simple set of accounts tailored to the needs of the participant’s particular business.”

The course tutor is Neil O’Brien from Quantum Business Solutions who has been a tutor on the AIR² Programme for three years. Neil qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant (C.I.M.A.) in 1990 and has over 15 years experience working as a Management Accountant. During that time he worked in the U.K., U.S. and Ireland for companies such as Pfizer and EMC.

As an experienced consultant and trainer, Neil has worked with over 850 businesses, helping them grow their profits and boost cash flow. He has successfully mentored two Dragon’s Dens participants including Dee Collins of Dee’s Wholefoods. Neil has also written a number of e-books on marketing and appeared on local and national radio.

The AIR2 Programme will help you to assess if you are ready to be your own boss and most importantly it will help you to assess if your business idea is viable.

The AIR2 Programme covers how to prepare your Business Plan so you will learn how to carry out simple market research which will help you to examine whether there is a market for your product or service. You will look at the legal and Revenue formalities involved in starting a business and also funding sources for your business that you might not have thought of. You will learn how to carry out effective marketing for your business. Most importantly you will learn about looking after your accounts which will help you to keep your business on track and help it grow.

In addition to the training, each participant will have access to free one to one mentoring from experts in areas such as sales & marketing, financial management, taxation, law, web design, internet technology.

The AIR2 Programme is delivered in conjunction the Department of Social Protection (DSP) so participants must be in receipt of a social welfare payment or be the partner or spouse of someone receiving a payment.

For more information and to book your place, phone Sinéad Conroy at SECAD at 021 4613432 or email sconroy@secad.ie