ERNST & YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
Profiled below are the eight entrepreneurs shortlisted for the international entrepreneur category in this year's awards. The entrepreneurs represent a cross-section of Ireland's leading firms operating on international markets in a range of sectors from specialised pharmaceuticals to tourism. They are all involved in earning overseas revenue for the economy.
This category is designed to recognise companies who succeed in international markets. Nominees from the final category, the industry entrepreneurs, will be profiled next Monday in The Irish Times.
All the shortlisted nominees will also be featured in RTÉ programmes later in the year.
The contestants have been shortlisted from more than 140 nominations received by the programme's judging panel, which is chaired by Mr Denis O'Brien.
The contest is in its seventh year and the winners will be announced at an awards banquet on September 23rd.
There will be a winner from each category and one "entrepreneur of the year" who will be one of the category winners. The winners will be picked by a team of 12 judges, all of whom are leading businesspeople, including last year's overall winner, Mr Liam Shananan of Shanahan Engineering.
Other previous winners are: Mr O'Brien; Ms Moya Doherty and Mr John Colgan; Mr Eddie Jordan; Mr Martin McVicar; and Mr Pádraig Ó Ceidigh.
The competition is sponsored by The Irish Times, RTÉ, Enterprise Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland, InterTrade Ireland and Shannon Development.
Nominee: Patrick Brazel
Foundation: In 2001, as part of larger fundraising with Warburg Pincus, Brazel bought an equity stake in Eontec Limited and joined its management. The company employs 150 people worldwide.
Products: Eontec specialises in customer-banking software solutions. Its products support branch banking, e-banking, call centres and multi-channel lending. Clients include Commonwealth Bank of Australia, DBS Bank Singapore, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Alberta Treasury Branches, EBS Building Society, Yorkshire Building Society and Bank of Ireland.
Achievement: Eontec is recognised as the leading exponent of Java technology for banks. This led to its acquisition in April for $130 million by Siebel Systems, a quoted US company specialising in business applications software.
How did the business idea first come about? Working for banks - as employees and service providers - those leading Eontec realised banks were restrained by their software systems. They saw the potential of Java technology to address this.
What were the immediate next steps to make it happen?The first challenges were raising money, hiring technologists and finding sales people. Revenue from service and consulting allowed the technology to be developed. In 1998, Eontec was first to demonstrate a fully-functioning Java-based banking software application.
How did you identify the first customers to target? Finding potential "early adopters" was critical. First we worked with local firms. Next we targeted banks in countries with similar banking systems - the UK, Canada and Australia - later moving into central Europe and the US.
What sales practices work best, in your experience? Utilising small expert teams. Using "true believers" to front keenly targeted campaigns. Leveraging customer references.
What key piece of advice would you give to a start-up entrepreneur? "Believe in your vision and understand market dynamics. Listen to your customers. Bottom line: do anything it takes to achieve successful delivery of your product so that your customers can help you sell."
Nominee: Peter Fitzgerald
Foundation: Randox Laboratories Ltd was founded in 1982 in Crumlin, Co Antrim. It employs 577 staff, including 450 in Ireland.
Products: Randox has developed an extensive range of clinical chemistry in-vitro diagnostic kits and controls. It also develops protein biochips for diagnostic use.
Biochips involve putting a number of tests onto a microchip and means many tests can be undertaken at the same time on a single sample. It supplies about 17,000 hospitals and clinical laboratories worldwide in 128 countries.
Achievement: Randox is a medium-sized company which has developed a completely revolutionary technology - protein biochips - and built the world's first biochip manufacturing facility.
The technology was brought to market in the last quarter of 2003 and is already being used by 12 large high profile laboratories/hospitals worldwide. This has taken 11 years of development and £60 million of funds.
How did the business idea first come about? Randox Laboratories Ltd was founded in 1982 by Fitzgerald. The goal was to build a technology company at a time when the Troubles were crippling the economy.
What were your immediate next steps to make it happen? Fitzgerald built and equipped a small laboratory at the back of his parents' house in Co Antrim in a henhouse/stable, equipped with a second-hand laboratory from Queen's University. He resigned from his position as a research fellow at Queen's to work full-time developing the company.
How did you identify your first customers to target? Target customers were hospital labs mainly in the public sector in Ireland and the UK.
What sale practices work best? Randox has a comprehensive distributor network covering 130 countries. It has also built a direct sales organisation and has 24 offices worldwide.
What key piece of advice would you give to a start up entrepreneur? "Keep your self-belief, analyse all situations but do not lose your self-confidence. Hard work, intelligent analysis and team building are vital. But self-belief is vital.
Nominee: Hugh Cormican
Foundation: Andor Technology is a leader in scientific imaging and spectroscopy cameras and was established in 1989 by Hugh Cormican. The company was a spin-out from Queen's University Belfast (QUB) and is located in the Springvale Business Park in west Belfast. It exports more than 90 per cent of sales, mostly to the US, Japan and Europe. It employs 121 people, the majority of whom are based in Belfast.
Customers: Customers include many of the world's most prestigious universities and research organisations including Stanford, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, Weizmann Institute and the University of Tokyo. It also sells cameras that are built into instruments for the life sciences and process control industries.
Achievements: Despite having no previous corporate experience, Cormican has managed to build a successful firm which not only attracts high-calibre employees but ensures their retention by advancing a culture that motivates individuals and instils a sense of pride and ownership.
How did the business idea first come about? Cormican was a PhD student at QUB researching spectroscopy (measurement of light). This research provided the basis for some of Andor's early products.
What were the immediate next steps to make it happen? Early products were sold sporadically to research bodies. The breakthrough was a partnership with a company in the United States, giving access to a new range of clients and networks.
How did it identify its first customers? First clients were in the research fields that Cormican and his colleagues work in. This assured independent approval of its products and the establishment of its reputation.
What sales practices work best, in your experience? Building the firm's reputation gives staff access to foreign universities. The sales strategy focuses on key targets, strong relationships and providing strong after-sales support.
What key piece of advice would you give to a start-up entrepreneur? "In Andor, the creation of the right culture and its development has been very important. All entrepreneurs should consider the type of culture which would help to develop their business."
Nominee: Diarmuid Hegarty
Foundation: Griffith College was founded in 1974 to provide preparation programmes for students seeking to qualify as chartered accountants. It was originally called Business and Accounting Training and was renamed Griffith College in 1991 when it acquired the former Griffith Barracks on South Circular Road.
The college prepares students to meet the exacting standards of professional and academic examination bodies. The college has grown steadily and employs more than 140 people on a full-time basis and an additional 240 part-time. Its turnover is over 14 million.
Customers: With more than 5,000 students attending the college each year, it has students from every county in Ireland and from overseas.
Product: All the programmes are focused on meeting the exacting examination standards set by the professions. Among the subjects covered are law, media, computing, design, business and accountancy. The college also delivers customised training for senior managers.
Achievement: We see the achievement of the college in the successful lives of the tens of thousands of students.
How did the business idea first come about? In 1974 there was a growing demand in Ireland for professionally trained accountants. As a qualified accountant, Diarmuid Hegarty saw the opportunity of serving this market.
What were your immediate next steps to make it happen? I asked my parents for the use of their diningroom so that I could explain the examination material to small student groups.
How did you identify your first customers to target? The national pass rate for accountancy students at the time was 13 per cent, which left 87 per cent in need of educational support.
What sales practices work best, in your experience? Students performed well in examinations. Word of mouth was the only recommendation necessary.
What key piece of advice would you give to a start-up entrepreneur? "Remember the customer or client at all times. He or she pays the piper. They have chosen you for a reason. Do your very best for them.
Nominee: Cormac Kilty
Founded: Biotrin was founded in 1992 in Dublin. It employs 65 people.
Products: Biotrin has developed proprietary diagnostic products where the company would be the only supplier worldwide or it would have a clear technical/patent superiority. Its lead products are blood tests for the detection of the B19 immune status of women.
B19 is a virus which can cause miscarriage. It also produces liver transplant products and kidney products.
Customers: It deals directly in Germany, France and the US and has 40 distributors in other countries. Customers are primarily hospitals, private laboratories and pharmaceutical companies.
Achievement: Biotrin has brought new technologies that would not otherwise have come on the market. Biotrin's B19 test has allowed mothers to monitor their foetus if they believe they were exposed to the virus. Liver and kidney products have also helped patient treatment.
How did the business first come about? While working for a US multinational disease diagnostics company in the early 1990s, it became clear to Kilty that while US start-ups were commercialising university developed technologies, these technologies were not being commercialised in Europe.
What were the immediate next steps to make this happen? Kilty believed he needed some small company skills and became head of sales and marketing at Ireland's first biotech company, Noctech. He sold it after a year and started a company which eventually became Biotrin Holdings.
How did it identify its first customers to target? The first product was a test for monitoring liver transplant patients for rejection and the target was the 50 transplant centres in Europe.
What sales practises work best? Biotrin ensures its blood tests are of the highest quality and that its customers get immediate technical support. It sells directly in the three largest markets: the US, Germany and France.
What key piece of advice would you give to a start-up entrepreneur? "Control spending ruthlessly to achieve either positive cashflow or milestones for the least cost."
Nominee: Willie Leahy
Foundation: Dartfield Horse Museum and Park was founded in 1999 in Loughrea, Co Galway. The museum has 20 employees split between full and part-time staff.
Products: The key feature of Dartfield is tourism. It is the only museum in Ireland dedicated solely to the Irish horse.
Customers: The museum receives visits mainly from tourists travelling around the Loughrea area.
Its aim is to have 150,000 customers from around the world annually.
Achievement: Customer numbers are rising steadily each month with tours bringing tourists from further afield.
It is also increasing customer numbers by hosting an international three-day event. The museum is also used for local events such as craft fairs and demonstrations and private social gatherings.
How did the business idea first come about? The idea for Dartfield came from a lifetime's involvement with horses. Leahy purchased his first horse at the age of 10 and after selling it on for a profit decided he would pursue his interest in the business.
Leahy felt that the old way of life, where the horse played a vital role, should not be forgotten as the world continues its rapid mechanisation and technological progress.
He then came up with the idea for the museum, and decided that Dartfield House was an ideal location for such a business.
What were the immediate next steps to make it happen? Planning and financing both presented problems. Persistence allowed work on the museum to finally commence.
How did you identify the first customers to target? Customers came from the thousands who pass by the museum on the main Dublin road.
What sale practices work best, in your experience? The best sales practice is to believe in the product that you have to sell.
Always give the customer what you would want to receive yourself. Ensure that the customer is made to feel special and important..
Nominee: Pat McDonagh
Foundation: Pat McDonagh is the founder and managing director of Supermac's Ireland Ltd, and also founder and partner in the Claddagh Irish Pub chain in the US. He opened his first outlet in Ballinasloe in 1978 and employs more than 2,000 people.
In 2001 he decided it was time to look at another venture in the US and together with Supermac's operations manager Kevin Blair they set up the Claddagh Irish Pub, initially in Indianapolis. Claddagh employs in excess of 600 people and has an annual turnover of $24 million (19.8 million).
Customers: Supermac's operates 53 restaurants in the Republic.
Claddagh has pubs located in Chicago, Detroit and Madison, and two in both Columbus and Indianapolis.
It has plans to open pubs this year in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Marport and Houston.
Achievement: Serving both Irish and American food, the purpose-built Irish pubs are now becoming one of the most successful restaurants in the US.
McDonagh foresees Claddagh opening in all major cities in the US over the next five years and plans to franchise the concept.
How did the business first come about? McDonagh decided that, with increased insurance costs, difficulty in getting planning permission and costs, it was time to look outside Ireland. He saw an opportunity in the US for an Irish pub/restaurant chain.
What were the immediate next steps to make this happen? It was important to get a business partner who could run the US business.
McDonagh chose his operations manager.
How did it identify the first customers to target? Location in any retail business is very important and the first pub was in the centre of Indianapolis with hotels and a conference centre nearby
What sales practices work best? "Word of mouth" generated by existing customers is by far the most effective way of getting more customers.
What key piece of advice would you give to a start-up entrepreneur? "Have a definite goal, get good professional advice - both legal and financial - and then go for it, bearing in mind that you never give up, whatever it takes."
What key piece of advice would you give to a start-up entrepreneur? "Never take No for an answer."
Nominee: Finbarr Power
Foundation: CNG Travel was founded in March 1999. In 2002, it moved offices to Kenmare, Co Kerry.
CNG also has offices in New York, Boston, Chicago and LA, which were inherited through the acquisition of Tzell Travel.
It employs 60 people in Kenmare and has more than 300 employees in New York.
Product: CNG developed a piece of software called TLC (Travel Lodging Connector). It talks to all the major global distribution systems as well as back office systems.
Customers: There are three areas: the travel trade including large corporate travel agencies; small and medium enterprises in the US with travel requirements; and the business-to-consumer market, where CNG offers its hotel booking engine to other firms who have a lot of consumers.
Achievement: In five years, CNG has grown to have turnover of $550 million (543 million), is making profit and is a major employer in Kenmare. It is the fifth-largest travel agency in the US. It plans new software products and expansion into new markets.
How did the business first come about? In his previous business, Power spent a lot of time in the US.He saw the growth of the internet and the tech crash and saw an opportunity in the travel and hotel sector.
What were your immediate next steps to make this happen? A very basic site was developed first. CNG subsequently developed the interactive booking engine.
How did you identify your first customers to target? The initial target was corporate travel agents. A deal with KLM provided a springboard. Over the past four years, CNG developed the relationship and worked with KLM to develop an e-commerce business.
What sales practices work best in your experience? Always deliver on the products. Some of CNG's early development were loss leaders but helped develop the business. The key selling ingredient is passion and belief.
What piece of advice would you give to a start-up entrepreneur? "Be 100 per cent committed to the idea. Always be positive and say Yes you can do the job. Most importantly, don't promise what you can't do."
