Business
Helping businesses tap into their own strengths
A Galway man who found his niche was in marketing strategies has now written his first book to help businesses thrive by tapping into their own strenghts.
Galway City native John Mulry believes that anyone can achieve success in life, either in business or on a personal front by setting a goal, investing in it and then acting on it.
‘Your Elephant’s Under Threat’ is John’s first book, which will be launched this Friday and will hit the bookshelves this weekend.
Part memoir, part guide to personal and business development, the book details his own story from feeling lost after finishing college to feeling unhappy working in the corporate world of finance.
His degrees are in finance and economics but a sense of unfulfillment led him to South America where he says he transformed, not only through voluntary work but through seeing how others can be happy despite lives of hardship and extreme poverty.
John admits he has always been fascinated by America and he started studying business motivational gurus – not only reading their books and online material but actually attending their workshops, in the US and the UK.
He is a firm believer in investing in yourself and/or your business, in consuming that relevant material and in acting upon it.
He worked for a while in fitness and training in the Hotel Meyrick on his return to Galway but found the motivational side more interesting, which led him to starting his own blog.
“I realised that the concepts that were being put into action in the US by businesses were not being used here in Ireland so I started going to more and more seminars in the UK and US. I am now in partnership with GKIC, one of the US’s biggest marketing strategists companies and I am sharing those in monthly workshops in the Ballybane Enterprise Centre,” said John who is from Ballybane and has founded his own Expert Success Academy.
He believes that Irish people could learn a lot from the optimism and the “I can do” mentality of the Americans and is determined to help as many Irish businesses as possible.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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