No time like the present as top business figures inspire young entrepreneurs

RECESSIONS CAN present opportunities and the best way to succeed is through hard work, young entrepreneurs were told yesterday…

RECESSIONS CAN present opportunities and the best way to succeed is through hard work, young entrepreneurs were told yesterday at a conference in the Brandon Hotel in Tralee.

Some 650 young people heard from leading Irish business figures at the second annual Young Entrepreneur Programme Business Boot Camp.

The boot camp is spearheaded by businessman Jerry Kennelly, the founder of Stockbyte, the Institute of Technology Tralee and Shannon Development.

The students from senior cycle secondary schools and the Institute of Technology will present their business ideas over the coming months, with help from local business people, to win a trip to San Francisco and Silicon Valley along with their teacher.

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Cathal O’Connell, founder of Paddy Wagon tours and owner of Paddy’s Palace Hostels, said his business was thriving, up by 20 per cent in January alone.

“When you have a recession and no job, you may as well backpack around the world,” he said.

Hotels were cutting rates to lower than a hostel could afford but he was staying ahead by offering free bus rides from Dublin airport or a free extra night. “Do something different – that’s the main thing,” Mr O’Connell said.

When he started out he found his idea for bus tours was dismissed .“In the good times the investor should be cautious and go for it when people are scared,” he said.

In an interview on stage with TV3's Collette Fitzpatrick, managing director of The Irish Times Ltd, Maeve Donovan, said the biggest transformation in the newspaper industry had been the internet. The Irish Timeswas one of the first newspapers in Europe to go online, she said. While there had been concern that online publication would kill circulation, it could actually drive circulation, because the paper reached a wider audience.

Essentially, The Irish Timeswas about being an honest, reliable and trusted news resource for its community in an age where news came from myriad resources.

One of the keys to success was not so much inspiration as hard work and application, Ms Donovan advised.

“The more doors you knock on, the more product you will sell,” she said.

“Time ends all recessions,” she reminded the young audience.

Communications adviser Terry Prone said the Irish were great talkers but one of the great skills of the entrepreneur was “the capacity to listen”. This was the way to learn, Ms Prone advised. “Shut up, listen and ask questions,” she urged her already eager audience.

The winner of the Young Entrepreneur Programme will be chosen in April.