Donegal plumber Christy Lynch, who built a new business model thanks to his participation in the Donegal contest for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE), has urged young business owners in Donegal and those with ideas for a business – to make sure they enter this year’s competition.
The Inishowen man was one of the category winners in the first contest a number of years back and is under no illusions of the benefits it brought to helping grow the business.
“Sometimes an established business might think that it’s too time-consuming to enter a contest like this, but if you take the time it can be very rewarding.
Winning the cash prize in the best-established business category was a fantastic boost for our business cash flow, it allowed us to do more marketing and attend more trade shows and we are now getting more business as a result of that,” he said.
While they were lucky enough to be among the first winners, Christy who owns Efficient Renewables with Jonathan Doherty, said that even had they not won the cash prize the first year, the experience of the competition would still have proven invaluable.
“One of the most positive aspects of becoming involved in the competition was the opportunity to take part in the Boot Camp and the mentoring as part of the process.
Our ideas were constructively challenged, and I received valuable feedback that we used to develop a more sustainable business model and something that helped us create a much more solid business in the long run.”
Christy is one of four previous Donegal finalists – two of them winners, two not – who will speak during Local Enterprise Week on the benefit that just participating in the competition has been for their business.
“There are financial rewards on offer in the competition, but there are considerable benefits to business owners as they are put through their paces on an accelerated path to business growth,” Head of Enterprise in Donegal, Michael Tunney said.
The event in An Danlann at LYIT on Monday, March 4th will hear from previous National finalist, Jamie White join Christy, Gillian Doyle of Cerebron Technologies, Paul McMahon of The Rusted Pixel and Derek Walker of NatNoot.
Those interested in the competition this year are urged to book now for the dedicated evening on IBYE in An Danlann in Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
Applications for this year’s competition can be made online by Friday, March 15 at www.ibye.ie but anyone seeking more information before submitting their application can call Donegal Local Enterprise Office: 07491 60735 or e.mail eveanne.mccarron@leo.donegalcoco.ie
Local Enterprise Office Donegal is supported through co-funding from the Irish Government and the European Regional Development Fund 2014 – 2020.
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