Small Businesses
Doing Business In Ireland – An Infographic
By Beatrice Whelan, Social Media & Content Specialist at Sage
The results of the Sage Business Index present a detailed picture of what it is like to do business in Ireland.
The survey results show that Ireland is in a better place than many European economies. 41% of businesses in Ireland are more confident about their prospects than six months prior to the survey. Confidence in Ireland has clearly been affected by the Eurozone crisis, with 82% of businesses saying it has had an impact.
On a more positive note, Irish businesses recognize that there are a range of factors which make Ireland an attractive place to do business. 63% of respondents cited the access to Ireland’s skilled workforce as one of the most favourable aspects to doing business here. 43% also chose Ireland’s favourable tax regime and 41% Ireland’s business culture and entrepreneurial spirit.
This infographic summarises the results of the Business Index Survey and you can download the entire report here.
Posted under: Sage Pay E-Commerce Roadshows
By Sarah Hastings
Online trading has never been more important. Changing consumer and retail patters have had a major impact on the way in which Irish businesses trade and consumers shop.
Whether you are a new internet business or are extending your ‘bricks and mortar’ business to the net, Sage Pay’s Dublin and Cork morning seminars will demonstrate what you need to focus on to develop a successful e-commerce business. From the rise of mobile commerce to digital marketing and website optimisation, the seminars will showcase e-commerce best practise. Register here (link to: http://www.sagepay.com/ireland/seminars) to attend the events.
- Dublin: May 30th in Bewleys, Sandyford – registration from 08.30am
- Cork: May 28th in River Lee Hotel, Western Road – registration from 08.30am
Guest Speakers: John Coburn- Praxis Now, Alan Coleman- Wolfgang Digital
Creating an online st
Content Marketing: Who Is Doing It Well & Where Does The Opportunity Lie?
By Siobhan McGinty, Content Marketer at Wolfgang Digital
As a content marketer with Dublin-based award-winning search and content marketing agency, Wolfgang Digital, I spend my days both reading great blogs and writing even better ones for businesses all around Ireland.
Many businesses in Ireland have realised that, in order to avoid loss of ranking positions on Google search, they need to start creating good content – and for many, that means blogging. Lots of businesses are doing a great job, but I am sorry to say it is a task in itself to pinpoint businesses doing a near-perfect job.
There are some businesses in Ireland doing a great job. In this post, I will pinpoint two businesses who are doing exceptionally well in terms of creating great content. I will also highlight an opportunity for Irish businesses, particularly those in the retail industry.
Benefits Of Using A Purchase Order System
By Laura Birchall, Business Advice Consultant at Sage
1.Get it right First Time
Sending a purchase order to your supplier is a legal offer to buy their products or services. If your supplier accepts the purchase order it usually forms a contract between you and your supplier, no contract exists until they have accepted the PO.
Purchase orders provide accurate documentation of what has been ordered in case of a dispute. A PO lists the item description, quantity, price, discounts, delivery instructions if applicable and date of ordering. This leaves less margin for error than a verbal order.
The Journey Of An Entrepreneur: Mark Breen Of Cuckoo Events Shares His Story
By Beatrice Whelan, Social Media & Content Specialist at Sage
Mark Breen is MD of event management company Cuckoo Events. Mark has recently joined the team of Sage Business Experts so you will be seeing more of Mark on our blog over the next few weeks and months. As an introductory post I asked Mark to answer some questions and share his story so far. It is well worth the read and is a really interesting story about entrepreneurship in Ireland at the moment.
When Opportunity Knocks…
Cuckoo Events is an events business I started in September of 2012. Before making the leap I was working with a marketing agency in Dublin as CEO of the youth branding element of it. I had only been in that role around four months when I was asked to go work at The Olympics in London in the Summer. I turned it down at the time as I figured it’d be cheeky to ask for that much time off from a job I hadn’t been in very long.
Sage’s Business Experts Programme Gets Underway
By Beatrice Whelan, Social Media & Content Specialist at Sage
In our continued efforts to support the business community in Ireland, we’ve launched our Sage Business Experts Programme to recognise and reward experts across the business landscape.
Our Sage Business Experts come from businesses of all shapes and sizes, but they share one thing in common – a commitment to promoting business and helping other business owners.
Business Experts have been selected due to their:
- Contribution to the business community – sharing knowledge and helping others improve and develop their businesses
- Knowledge and influence – from first-hand experience, Sage Business Experts have a wealth of understanding about business challenges and solutions
- Online presence – from forums and Twitter, to LinkedIn and blogs, Sage Business Experts are extensively connected
In return for their support, Sage offers its Business Experts a range of benefits from access to Sage mentors and software to invitation to exclusive events and promotion of their business on the Sage blog and website.
We are proud to support these members of the business community; however their views do not represent that of Sage. We want Business Experts to be completely independent, and so members of the programme aren’t obliged to promote Sage in any way.
Meet our first three Sage Business Experts and watch this space for more in the next few weeks and months:
Investing In New Business Software – Tips & Advice
By Kevin McDonald, Graduate Product Manager at Sage
Whether you are starting your own business or thinking about upgrading your current business software it can be a daunting task to find the best software to suit your needs and your budget. In my previous role as business advice consultant for Sage I was able to new and existing business every day. I wanted to write this article to provide some advice and points to think about when you are looking to get new software for your business.
1. It’s an investment – First and foremost business software should make your life easier but you also should consider it an investment and think about how you can get a return on that investment. For example if you have an accounts administrator doing your accounts manually they could spend a long time doing the accounts. If you have an accounts package in place then the time spent doing accounts will decrease. We all know that time is money so think about what you will get back from the business software you will be implementing in your business.
2. Ask questions – Nobody wants software they do not need. Think about your current business processes and how you will wrap them around the business software you are looking at. It’s just as important to know what a program can’t do as it is to know what it can do.
3. Plan ahead – Think about what you may need from your business software one year after implementation. Will you have any specific reporting requirements? Do you see the number of users you will need to access the software increasing? Is there an upgrade path so if you “outgrow” a product what do you need to do?
The Late Payments Directive, What It Means For Your Business
By Laura Birchall, Business Advice Consultant at Sage
Recent legislation from the EU, the late payments directive obliges public authorities to pay for goods and services within 30 calendar days or (in very exceptional circumstances, within 60 days) and businesses to pay their invoices within 60 calendar days, unless they expressly agree otherwise and if it is not grossly unfair to the creditor.
With this new directive in place, businesses are entitled to claim interest for late payments and can also automatically obtain a minimum fixed amount of €40 as a compensation for payment recovery costs. They can also claim compensation for all remaining reasonable recovery costs. The statutory interest rate for late payment is increased to at least eight percentage points above the European Central Bank’s reference rate. Public authorities are not allowed to fix an interest rate for late payment below this threshold.
What this means for your business in theory is that it should help encourage more prompt payments. It will be especially helpful if you often find yourself in the situation of not getting paid on time.
There is a late payment option within Sage 50 Accounts and Sage Instant Accounts which allows you to charge late payers interest on any overdue amount once a certain period of time has passed. Sage has a “credit charge” wizard that allows you to apply interest to overdue sales invoices. This can be set up on individual customer accounts providing they have accepted credit terms. The wizard option takes you step by step through applying interest to each customer or on specific transactions.
The Real Meaning of Strategy In Business
By Olwen Dawe, owner of Irish Business Intelligence
Normally, at this point, a blog about strategy will contain a pithy clipping from Sun Zu’s “The Art of War” … (“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat” is a favourite).
It’s hardly surprising that this recurring theme appears, given that Sun Zu’s statements of strategy and tactics contain very resonant themes when it comes to strategy in business.
However! The question for most businesses – SMEs in particular – is how or why strategy applies to their business (queue mutterings of “I just want to get on with it…” or “that sounds very corporate to me”). The reality is, as Sun Zu infers, not knowing why your business is heading in any specific direction (or the role resources, objectives and plans are playing in it) is almost definitely going to bring about the wrong outcomes. In some cases, rather unfortunately so. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Fortune 500 company, or a start-up operating from a shed in your back garden… without strategy, you’re likely to be setting out on a collision-course of risk and disappointment.
So, what is the real meaning of strategy in business? Opinions vary, and strategies change to suit different times in a business’s trajectory – guiding focus and resources to suit its point in the life-cycle. From my experience, here are some key roles for any business strategy:
- To provide you, your team and any other relevant stakeholders with clarity regarding the purpose, focus and objectives of the business
- To ensure financial, marketing, sales and operational targets are met – clarity, again, being the key focus
- Communication, collaboration, and cooperation: to develop buy-in, commitment and focus within your team (if you have one – if you’re a sole trader – to ensure buy-in from key stakeholders, partners, funders etc.)
- To shore-up growth by highlighting a clear path for the future and allocating the right internal and external supports in realising same
- To provide an effective means for challenging, evaluating and re-strategising decisions, objectives and growth – as well as business model, marketing, financial planning and other key operational mechanisms.
Deducting Property Tax From Your Employee’s Payroll? What You Need To Know
Sage are currently in discussions with Irish Revenue about how Property Tax will be deducted from employee’s payroll. From July 2013, anyone that is liable to pay the property tax but has not started doing so will have the option of having it deducted from their payroll. All Sage Payroll packages including Sage Micropay, Sage Quickpay and Sage One Payroll will be updated to enable payroll administrators to automatically deduct the necessary payment.
When this update is available, you will be able to update your Sage Micropay and Quickpay through your payroll software’s Auto Update feature, or on www.mysage.ie. The update will automatically be made to Sage One Payroll so all you have to do is login as normal and Sage One Payroll will be up to date with the latest legislative requirements.
More information will be made available in the coming weeks and months. For now you can rest assured that all Sage payroll software will be updated to ensure you are legislatively compliant. In the meantime you could talk to your employees and find out which employees will opt to have the payment deducted from their payroll.
Interested in seeing how Sage Micropay makes it quick and easy for you to calculate deductions from your employee’s payroll, try it now for free.
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