Teaching English to foreign students – there has to be scope to grow this segment more – teaching english in the friendliest nation in the world!

Friendly warm people of course are very marketable to Multinationals who want to locate their customer service HQ here.
………..any other ideas please share….

For many entrepreneurs these are challenging times …but also times in which an entrepreneur’s true qualities are revealed.
As Gibran asserts “pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses our understandings.”
These new understandings – this increase in what Stanford Business Advisory Committee describes as the most important attribute a leader should develop – self awareness should be the catalyst for personal and business growth.
If you find that perseverance, willingness to learn, openmindedness, renewed focus are the consequences of the new challenging environment, you are without doubt on the road to a successful outcome.
If on the other hand your new levels of self awareness highlight that you are deeply rooted in the blame culture – you must choose to take positive action and extricate yourself from this very disempowering cycle.

The true entrepreneur always finds a way sooner or later.

Enjoy the trip!

I believe passionately that talent will always find a way – in a world “made small” by the Internet; we can showcase this talent to the world at minimal cost, and open the doors to a magical adventure.

Make this choice today!

Six questions to ponder when you dare to dream:

1. Are they specific? My first big goal was to write a Best Selling book. The first step towards achieving this was to write on an A4 Page – “I am a Best Selling Author.” Note – this is written in the brain’s language – Positive, Present tense and Personal.

2. Have you set a deadline? Every dream must have a deadline, or you could end up in the “gonna-doer” category. In the context of writing a Best Seller; I wrote “Manuscript finished by May 25th” on another A4 Sheet.

3. Have you enough reasons to achieve your dream? Remember the more reasons, the more motivated.

4. Are those reasons a reflection of your values and interests? Goals must be a reflection of values and interests if you really want to be motivated. Ask yourself the following question to cross check – “If you had 48 hours to live;  would you take timeout for your goals?” This is the ultimate test of the passion underpinning your dream.

5. Are your goals a reflection of your dreams or motivated by the “Jones!” Try this challenge – I am going to offer you two deals (i) a new job that carries a €50,000 salary – all of your colleagues are earning €25,000 or (ii) a new job that carries a €100,000 salary – all of your colleagues are earning €250,000. Which deal would you accept – you can assume all other factors are equal?

Note – would it surprise you to hear that most people consider their response to question five – and a healthy minority select the first option?

6. Are you willing to cross the longest bridge in the world – the one from inaction to action; and take your first step?
Remember Action precedes excellence – take the first step NOW!

May your year be filled with magic and adventure.

http://www.galwayindependent.com/business/business/free-seminar-for-jobseekers-and-entrepreneurs/

- Soliciting and solving complaints

- Guaranteeing your service

- Thinking and doing differently

- Leveraging the power of the team

Capture your customers imagination by:
- Knowing your business and your message

- Packaging that message: make it an experience

- Telling stories

- Being brief

These headlines and the past few years of non stop doom and gloom coming from our papers, radio and tv have brainwashed our people to believe we are in dire straits.

Many of us know people who are very well off and have now decided to “close up shop” curtail all spending because armageddon is on the way…apparently!

Business colleagues of mine tell me that people have stopped spending due to their concern over a potential death “by a thousand cuts.”

A few interesting statistics:

There are aproximately two and a half million in the tax net.
Lets put the bank bailout at 50bn euro – that works out at approx 20,000 euro per taxpayer.
As this debt tends to be rolled on, the important figure to focus on is the interest on servicing this debt say approx 5%.
This amounts to 1000 per taxpayer or 20 a week.

Is this the media’s version of end game?

If this figure was put on the front page of all the papers would this elicit the current response?

In an era where there is a vacuum in political and spiritual leadership, we need the media to fill this vacuum with balanced views – maybe even a slant towards positivity – not being misguided agents of doom and gloom.

Note: I am not or don’t ever want to be an economist!

The current crisis that has engulfed our very talented nation requires strong leadership.

Though it may require you to move outside your comfort zone, ongoing communication with the people of this country is a necessary and essential strategy.
Speaking in the Dail – though useful, isnt the only approach.

I recommend that for the duration of this Government that a State of the Nation Address happens monthly on a chosen day just after the nine o clock news. In this time period, the various pressing issues are addressed, the actions that are being taken are highlighted and indeed advice is sought from the public through forums etc so that they recognise they too have a part to play in the process.

As you are probably aware Einstein once said you cannot solve problems with the thinking that created them. Honouring this wisdom, I believe you need to look outside the current cabinet and your advisors to help get this country up and running again. I recommend you invite ten of Irelands best business minds or more to sit with you on a monthly basis and plot a potential recovery strategy. This group will also help in creating a compelling vision for this country  one that will inspire confidence and trust in the journey ahead.
As an aside, I am concerned about the focus on “the smart economy” in isolation. Based on a cocktail of gut and logic, I believe other economies will get smarter. However I believe we are not leveraging our main competitive advantage which is our friendliness. The whole world knows that the Irish are probably the friendliest in the world so how can this unique competitive advantage be leveraged more? Attacking growth markets like learning English abroad; developing new innovative business/tourism products around that theme, setting new standards in tourism that ensures that all visitors receive a truly authentic Irish experience…may be the way ahead.

Taoiseach, I know you understand the power of leveraging the talent in every community. With this in mind, I believe the unemployed should be used to harvest all the good ideas that exist in our communities from the schools to the different societies and groups. The farms may be just a better starting point for transformative ideas than Farmleigh.
Just a quick piece of research to point us in the right direction.

In 2006, Columbia University tracked the major break through companies in the US. They found that 88% of the companies were the result of exceptional execution of an ordinary idea  12% were considered new inventions/innovations. Consequently we need to look for incremental improvements right across the board, not just wait for that rare golden apple to fall off the tree.
Of course, the construction industry was hit very hard in the past few years  can the unemployed resources from this sector not be redeployed to rebuild our communities, make them green and more marketable for the future.
(Note I am obviously suggesting that the unemployed work for their jobseekers allowance.)

Let’s get Ireland working as a team again and allow those outside the establishment to shine a light of hope and inspiration for the future.

Available Easons and www.amazon.co.uk

www.asthmacare.ie

Later that day I went for my usual coffee break in the local village. That day the very talented Daniel Day Lewis was in town and enjoying the breathtaking beauty of the West of Ireland. One of the staff reminded him of his last order when he visited three years previously. I couldn’t but think of how impressive it would be if every customer’s order was remembered with such accuracy – you would definately be in exceptional service territory. The moral of the story – treat every customer like a superstar and see what happens!
And finally watched the post match interviews of some of the defeated managers and players in the World Cup – unfortunately a significant theme running through most – “it wasnt my fault!” ( Couldn’t but think of some famous politicians and others that shared this pattern.)
Has the era of personal responsibility passed …or did it ever truly begin?