Ideas can become businesses. And in Enterprise Ireland we want to see more students like you think about developing a real business idea - now, while you’re still in college. While you’re doing this, your business idea could go on to win you IR£3,000. It could earn you much more in royalties; it could even put you in business for yourself.

That’s what the Enterprise Ireland Student Awards are all about. We want to encourage students to look seriously at the idea of getting into business for themselves as a genuine career option. And taking part in this Awards programme might just help you to do that.

There are two key conditions: your proposal must be for either a manufacturing project or an internationally-traded service (see Appendix).

Professionals from Enterprise Ireland and the business world will judge your projects. The Winners will be announced at a function in Dublin in Oct/Nov. 1999.

As well as the IR£3,000 for the overall winner, there will be four prizes of IR£1,000 for category/new product ideas. There will be a number of prizes of IR£500 for projects from Colleges submitting ten projects or more. In addition, two further prizes of IR£1,000 will be presented by Cruickshank & Co.(Patent & Trade Mark Agents) for a technically innovative project, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, for the submission with the most realistic section on business financing.

For the winning project, Enterprise Ireland will be prepared to work with the students to help build it into a viable business reality. This help will include assistance in such areas as feasibility support, market research and the services of a mentor.

Entering the Student Awards has helped many aspiring entrepreneurs and can help you gain experience of the areas involved in getting into business for yourself - including teamwork, planning, the application of a wide range of skills. It will also give you real-life experience in just what it takes to set up a business venture. So why not give it a go?

First, select your idea. Then research it for viability and market potential and prepare a plan in accordance with the enclosed submission guidelines.

Can you get it together? We in Enterprise Ireland think you can. More than 9,000 young people like you have done so over the past fifteen years.

Project concept: What is the product/service? Is it innovative, an import substitution, or a development? Is it feasible? Is there a market for it?

Professionalism of approach: Have you looked at all the angles? Have you identified all the skills required to build a team?

Presentation: Have you set it out in an easy to read format? Followed the Project Summary / Guidelines?

Planning and projections: Have you researched the market? Checked out competitors’ products? Have you estimated the capital investment and the operational cash that is going to be needed?

The Enterprise Ireland Student Awards provides you with the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to develop a business concept.

Set out your business idea, following the Guidelines below. Only projects aimed at the establishment of a manufacturing project or an internationally traded service qualify.

Your submission will consist of:

1. A three page Summary

2. The business plan itself

Covering: i) Promoters - names, addresses and phone numbers

ii) Product - brief details on the idea

iii) Markets - a short summary of the target markets

iv) Investment - a summary of the needs

v) Key Issues

• The name, course and year of study of each student

• Link to project, how the project came about

• Management Structure

• Any relevant experience

• Product/internationally-traded service description

• Process description

• Proposed level of output

• Investment details

• What will the investment achieve

• Raw materials, source, cost

• Quality and training as appropriate

• Environment

• A list of equipment

• Employment

The content of the marketing section will depend on the particular project and the quality of the information available. However, the following points should be addressed, if possible:

1. What is unique or special about your product/service?

2. How do you know there is a demand for your product/service?

3. What competitive edge will you have over competing products/services?

4. At what price will you sell your product and how will this compare with your competitors?

5. Where do you intend to sell your product/service, i.e. home market,

export market? Name potential customers.

6. What do you know about the market you propose to sell into; size,

growth, trends, structure

7. How are products to be distributed in the market?

8. How do you propose to let people know about your product/service?

Advertising? Promotions? Merchandising? Other?

Work out what you think will be the likely total fixed asset investment i.e.

premises and equipment and the working capital required for the first two years.

Show:

(a) Fixed asset investment IR£

(b) Working capital requirements IR£

(c) Start up costs IR£

Total Investment needed IR£

Indicate how it is proposed to raise the necessary capital

(a) Amount to be invested by principals IR£

(b) Amount to be provided by borrowings IR£

(c) Amount sought by way of grant IR£

(d) Cash from profitable trading IR£

Total investment funded IR£

Under this section you should give outline projections for the new project for the first two years. These projections should include projected sales, cost of sales and profitability, and outline cash flow statements. These can form an appendix and be summarised under the headings as follows:

Year 1 Year 2

IR£ IR£

• Sales

• Gross Profit

• Net Profit

• Net Profit/Sales %

The judges will be interested to know how "real" the figures in your projections are. Give them brief information which supports these.

Note:

Patents: See attached leaflet

Small Industries Grants

For small industries with potential to grow our financial help is simple - straight employment grants for each new full-time job you create.

Employment Grants

• How Much?

It depends on the sector of industry you are in. Up to IR£5,000

for each new, full-time job is available.

• When do you get it?

Half when the employee starts work, the rest when the job has been there for 6 months.

1. You can enter if you’re a full-time undergraduate with one exception (see 7 below) attending any Third Level Educational Institution in the Republic of Ireland.

2. You should ideally form a team of not more than 5 students from within your College, bringing together financial/marketing/production skills....but applications from individuals will be accepted.

3. The Application Form, which is required for record purposes, must be completed and returned to us separately or with the completed project. It should be signed by a college representative.

4. You must follow the Submission Guidelines - projects not meeting this requirement will be automatically disqualified.

5. The completed project must be sent to Enterprise Ireland by June 30, 1999.

6. The Winners will be selected by a panel of experts from the business world and Enterprise Ireland.

7. Cruickshank & Co., Patent and Trade Mark Agents will present a prize of IR£1,000 for a technically innovative project.

8. PricewaterhouseCoopers will present a prize of IR£1,000 for the submission with the most realistic section on business financing.

Contact: Kathleen Fitzgerald

Enterprise Ireland

Merrion Hall

Strand Road

Dublin 4

Telephone: 206 6421/857 0000

Promoters John O’Toole

5 St Brigid’s Terrace

Sligo

Tel: 071 12345

Joe McHugh

15 Grange Road

Sligo

Tel: 071 23456

Proposed Investment £84,000 investment in machinery

Sales Projections At full production in 2002 sales are projected to

be £380,000

Employment 11 people

Key Issues Breaking into a market dominated by imports

Must maintain very close relationship between

production team and customers

The project idea comes from a feasibility study they have carried out into import substitution of industrial seals. The study convinced them that an opportunity exists to supply the overseas industrial sector in Ireland with these products and they have decided to form a company, Strongseal Ltd. to pursue the project.

Specialised seals primarily for sale to overseas engineering and electronic companies based in Ireland.

Mountings, protective pads, gaskets, grommets, insulating strips, metal/glass separators and transit stabilisers all fall within the industry definition of seals. Conventional sealing materials such as foam, plasticfibreboard micanite and asbestos are being replaced by specially formulated rubber and plastic composites.

The process involves the splitting of raw material into sheets of required thickness, laminating the sheets from which the seals are punched with dies which have been machined in-house. John O’Toole will be in charge of design, production and quality control.

The target customers are multinational engineering and electronics companies in Ireland.

The market for sealing products in Ireland estimated at IR£140 million is highly fragmented and features a wide variety of materials, applications and user industries.

Over 70% of industrial seals (by volume) are manufactured to standard specifications for off-the-shelf sale, the remaining 30% are manufactured to order. This may involve a specified material manufactured to fine tolerances for a unique end use application. The company plans to target the specialist made to order part of the market.

Non standard seals are generally sourced overseas from specialist producers with proven technology and expertise. In some cases, usually where volumes are small, users make up seals in-house to ensure continuity of supply and quality. The users the company is targeting are Original Equipment Manufacturers with a high volume tight specification requirement in the telecommunications, automotive and electronics sectors. It is estimated that the sector imported seals to the value of IR£35 million in 1997.

The company’s strategy to break into this market is to target a small number of prestige customers. If these are satisfied with Strongseal’s service then subsequent sales to other overseas customers should be facilitated.

The peak cash requirement is IR£89,000 (year 1) and arrangements have been made to meet this. The project will show a loss of IR£25,000 in the first year, break even in the second year but a profit of IR£40,000 is projected for year 3 when full production will be reached with sales of IR£380,000.