Business Connect Agenda
08.00 Networking Tea/Coffee
09.00 Opening Address | Minister James Lawless, TD, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
09:10 Welcome | Geraldine Magnier, SFA Chair & Co-Founder. Idiro Analytics
Session One- Survival - Supports to Business – Where do you go? Who do you connect with? Who do you need to know
Rising business costs are having a detrimental impact on small businesses. Many are struggling to cope with rising labour costs, fluctuating commodity prices in an era of expensive energy. This session on survival will see a presentation from Enterprise Ireland CEO, Leo Clancy who will outline how small businesses can utilise its networks and conduct meaningful stakeholder engagement.
09:15 Presentation: Leo Clancy, CEO Enterprise Ireland
09:30 Panel:
- Leo Clancy, CEO Enterprise Ireland
- Claire Dunleavy, Senior Enterprise Development Officer, LEO, Kildare
- Niall O’Kelly, COO, Agile Executives
Session Two- Resilience - Grow your Revenue - From branding to online sales strategy.
The foundation of all businesses are effective sales strategies. Ultimately, resilience in a competitive market is measured by sales. As consumers and business customers evolve, so must sales strategies. Kevin Kelly, Managing Director of PaceOps will provide practical sales advice when outlining key traits of selling and buying behaviours that can assist small businesses.
10.00 Presentation: Kevin Kelly, Sales Motivational Speaker, Managing Director of PaceOps
10:30 Panel:
- Gerard Tannam, MD, Islandbridge
- Olivia Nash, Digital Marketing and E-commerce Manager, VITHIT
- Kevin Kelly
11:00 Tea/Coffee Networking
Session Three – Success - How digitalisation can bring efficiencies to your business – From Analog to AI.
Digitisation can lead to essential cost and time efficiencies for a small business. The advent of AI technology provides an opportunity for small business owners that may be ‘time poor’. Today, many success stories are associated with adopting these technological changes. Maryrose Lyons, Founder of the AI Institute will outline how digitisation can have a positive impact on small businesses.
11:30 Presentation: Maryrose Lyons – Founder AI Institute
11:45 Panel:
- Louise O’Conor, Rethink Digital Advisory
- Maryrose Lyons, Founder AI Institute
- Sinead Perry, Head of SMB Vodafone
12:15 Keynote: Interview with Aimee Connolly, Founder Sculpted by Aimee
12.55 Closing Remarks: David Broderick, SFA Director
13:00 Lunch