Dell employees asked to consider starting their own business

Joseph brought this to our attention, a blog from Limerick Open Coffee Club where there is an offer to Dell employees of free start-up advice if they wish to use their redundancy money to go into business for themselves.

To make a start I am following Sensorpro’s Chris Byrne example by offering free start-up advice to any of the Dell employees who believe that this is NOT the end and who would like to find out more about starting their own business. Assisting these people (and others) to create their own employment and also create jobs for others will hopefully create a solid base of Irish owned businesses. These businesses in general will not move to lower wage countries at the first rise in national wage standards. It will also lead to a more solid and dependable base of employment. After all the IDA spent millions (if not more) over the last few decades on attracting foreign owned companies to Ireland. These companies will move to lower cost countries as soon as it make sense to their bottom line. Directing some funds towards creating a healthy start-up environment will have a long term positive effect on this countries economy.

The full post can be found here

The Open Coffee club is group of entrepeneurs who meet up to exchange ideas on setting up and running their own business.

  • jbkenn

    Yes we are, the reason we use the Absolute Hotel is because they have excellent wifi available, they also have an excellent conference room called the Brainbox room, from which the webcast with the Collison brothers was done by a team from the Media Studies Course in Tipp Inst in Clonmel (really clued in crew), this room has to be booked in advance, and, it is quite expensive to rent. I dont know if it will be available tomorrow.

  • crackd

    Out of interest were ye the guys that did a live webcast streaming type thing with the collison bros. I think i saw it on youtube once. If so do ye still do that. It would be very handy for someone who can make it

  • @Hoof Just trying to do our bit.

    @crackd Full details on www.opencoffeeclublimerick.com

  • crackd

    what time is the meeting.. is it in the absolute?

  • Hoof

    Thanks for clearing that up Evert, good to see a group such as yours with a positive outlook on generating and supporting local business start-ups.

  • sahara

    Hi starkie i live in oz and things here are set to worsen unemployment is set to go up even tough the price of petrol has come down under a dollar and mortgage rates have fallen (no good to us were on a fixed rate until 2010)the mining sector is in big trouble i think people trying to move here will find it very difficult thank god we moved here in 2007 and that wasn't easy it took just over a year and a half to get all the paper work for the visa's even though i was married to an austrailian i still had to go through all that crap i wish any Irish people coming here the best of luck would love to meet more Irish people here it is truly a fantastic place to live

  • curly wurly

    People have to realise also that the banks can't take the houses from everyone, if you are in trouble go and tell the bank, they have to be understanding, if not tell the incompetant idiots that it was your money that helped them out of the mess they were in.

    Also for people with mortgages and have a good few years service in Dell, remember the pledge from the government, "We'll prioritise the mid-west" for jobs, it's gas how all of a sudden they are going on about 1500 new jobs for the mid west when we didn't see a new job in Limerick in well over 10 years, they can do it when they want to.

  • @Hoof Off course there are state agencies. The people at the Open Coffee Club have dealt with most if not all of them and can advise interested people.
    As for investing your redundancy packages? That's NOT what I am referring to. What I said was that with (up to a years) wages sitting in the bank there is the luxury of devoting time to starting a business without having to worry where the money to pay the bills will come from.

  • @realist & @starkie This is obviously not for you. In my opinion people have two options:

    1) You cry doom and wait for someone else to rescue you.

    2) You pick yourself up and try to improve your situation

    The choice is yours...

  • There is a Limerick Open Coffee Club meeting this Thursday actually: http://opencoffeeclublimerick....

  • starkie

    I am grateful to be at an age and be in a sound position of not having a mortgage or any debts. it must be awful for people with mortgages and big debts to be in what I see as a very scary future. I think their will be a lot of suicides in ireland this year. for relatively young people australia seems the only hope. the uk seems to actually be getting worse according to todays news. their will be marriage break ups with the stress of all this. its shocking. I find I havent words to say to the people I know personally who are in this terrible situation. I was in a friends house today and I could see the fear in their faces, I had to be careful as to what I was saying. frightening.

  • jbkenn

    the realist
    "This may be a good idea if the redundancy package were good. The redundancy payout was extremely bad and capped at a years salary. Dell employees will not risk there small redundancy on risky ventures."

    Risky venture?, every business is a risky venture, you take a blind leap, some work, some fail, if it works, brilliant, if it fails, pick yourself up and start all over again having learned from your experience.

    If 5 people put €5,000 into a fund thats €25,000 with matching funding from State agencies of €25,000, thats €50,000, would'nt be a bad start.

    Put your faith in yourself, not somebody else.

    Remember, Dunnes Stores was started in 1944, there was a war on, there was rationing and nobody had two pence to rub together.

  • crackd

    5th feb?? thats a FF type approach. Today is the 13th of Jan. Not very innovative

  • Hoof

    Very worthy and anyone considering starting up should take up this and any other offer of advice.

    As the banks are refusing credit point-blank, it would be a risky venture to be throwing what is, in reality, a modest amount at starting a new business in the current climate. Remember, existing companies, who have relied on Dell and other firms facing trouble for orders, are redoubling their efforts to capture lost business. So advice as regards competition and raising capital from other sources will be vital.

    Anyone starting out should explore every avenue before committing their redundancy package. If there's an incentive from Shannon Development or other agencies that can be drawn on take it, and good luck to all.

    Pity Dell hasn't set up a fund- however modest it may be - through a local job creation agency like Enterprise for former employees considering self-employment to apply for grant aid from.

  • the realist

    This may be a good idea if the redundancy package were good. The redundancy payout was extremely bad and capped at a years salary. Dell employees will not risk there small redundancy on risky ventures.

  • jbkenn

    We meet on the first Thursday of every month in the Absolute Hotel @ 11 a.m. next meet will be 5th February, all welcome, totally informal

  • When what?

  • crackd

    when

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