“Delegate, don’t abdicate” has been Jack Kirwan’s mantra to turn Sprout & Co into a business on track to run 14 restaurants with 500 staff. Good hiring and a structured system are key to this phase of growth.
Mapping prospective buyers, carrying out robust internal diligence, and strengthening management teams does not mean you’re about to sell your business, but it will help you make it more resilient today – and more attractive tomorrow.
As multinationals continue to support the domestic economy, one must wonder – when will cost-of-living concerns become a drag on Irish businesses' growth?
Bootstrapping and doing everything yourself puts early-stage entrepreneurs in the seductive position of being in full control, but this comes at a growing cost over time.
A business student's perceptive question about whether the payback for long hours justifies the grind didn't get the response it deserved from me. Here's my imperfect attempt at answering her properly.
Despite several pockets of weak performance, and some early warning signs that our economy might be cooling, economic activity in SME Ireland remained buoyant in Q3 2025.
In the third part of this series, fictional entrepreneurs Sarah and Jack Harbour structure their business and assets to attract buyers and maximise their net proceeds from a sale.
In the second part of this series, fictional entrepreneurs Sarah and Jack Harbour set out to translate the principles of their strategy into a performing business.
Entrepreneurs are busy with day-to-day operations. But long-term value creation depends on much more structured plans. This three-part series tracking a fictional family business explains how.
Ireland's economic performance is masking deeper vulnerabilities such as over-reliance on corporation tax and exposure to global shocks. Now might be time for a Plan B.
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