When Aidan Haughey of Sliabh Liag Tours decided to take part in the Accelerate Business Programme offered by Donegal Local Enterprise Office, it was with a view to freshening up his ideas for a bus business that has been established for over thirty years.
“I had engaged with the Local Enterprise Office first when I did a programme for accounts for small business and when I received an e.mail about Accelerate, I thought it would be a good idea to take part and see if it could help the business,” Aidan said. And, having gone through the Accelerate programme, he is in no doubt now that it has been of tremendous benefit.
“The facilitator for Accelerate was Gerry Moan and I remember him asking questions on the first day that seemed so far left of field that they were almost funny. But as the time progressed you could see where he was going with them and all of a sudden you found yourself taking a step back and thinking on things in a new light.” That, says Aidan, has been the biggest benefit and he believes the other business people who were in his group on the programme would say the same.
“We were all established businesses and to be honest I think everyone went away with a different way of thinking about where their business was and how they could do things to make it better. I know that I certainly thought I knew everything about my business, about figures and projections and what not, but when things started to be questioned I knew I had to learn how to take a step back and see it how others might. It was such a worthwhile exercise.”
Looking at how things fit into an overall bigger picture has seen Aidan continue engagement with Donegal Local Enterprise Office and he says having had no contact with them for many years, he is now always on the look out for ways they can help. “We have been around as a bus company and tour operator for over thirty years but it was only two years ago that I began to engage with the Local Enterprise Office.
Since the Accelerate programme I’ve begun to look at an option for an add-on to my business, but I knew that I’d need a business plan to make it happen. I’ve been back to the Local Enterprise Office to their workshop on writing a business plan. I realise now how keen they are to help and develop businesses in Donegal and I’m sure I’ll continue to engage with them.” Other businesses, he says, should be keen to similarly engage and having just come through the Accelerate Programme, Aidan says he just can’t recommend it highly enough.
“I really did think it such a worthwhile programme to be on and I think there are so many businesses in Donegal who could benefit. In fact I am certain that for many, once they’d take part in this they’d go away with the feeling that, for their business, the possibilities are now endless.”
This article is via the Local Enterprice Office
