Rings for Halloween bracks and giveaway toys in cereal packets are all in a day's work for Seamus Greaney who has been buying and selling promotional items from the Far East for nearly 20 years.
What is special about your business? We have been sourcing what's called 'premia' or promotional products direct from the Far East since 1998. In that time we have imported millions of assorted items. In the last 18 months alone, we have sold over 1.2 million brack rings and at the moment we are producing 60,000 pairs of trampoline socks for the opening of the largest trampoline park in France.
One of our first products was a 10-second message recorder for the Budweiser frogs ad and just recently we’ve become involved with cooler bags and mugs for the MyMilkman.ie campaign, which is revitalising the doorstep milk delivery market in Ireland.
What sets your business apart in your sector? I know my way around the Far East very well so I can always get what people want. We also have a database of more than 5,000 manufacturers, and 250 that we use regularly. I have yet to be beaten on a request.
Because many of these items are given away free, cost is a huge factor for our customers but having strong contacts and know-how means we can compete with anyone on price. Customers deal directly with me and I try to give them a very personal service.
This was born out of watching my parents, James and Eileen, giving their customers one-to-one attention when my family owned one of the largest independent supermarkets west of the Shannon.
What has been your biggest challenge? Surviving the recession. Promotional items were the first thing cut from the budgets of all the major FMCG [fast-moving consumer goods] companies when the downturn hit.
What has been your biggest success? Coping with the downturn by introducing a range of 'as seen on TV' items in 2009 – similar to the JML TV ads people would be familiar with now. The advertising was already in place so all the stores had to do when the goods arrived was to take the sleeves off.
We introduced this retail concept to Tesco, Dunnes, Musgraves and Heatons and this helped sustain the business, while our aggressive pricing kept us in the premia game when much bigger players had fallen by the wayside.
Are you optimistic for your business now? Yes, as there are green shoots showing. What's good for us is that many large FMCG companies are realising that they are losing product loyalty to price cuts and are ordering premia to maintain brand-awareness with customers.
We have also added a new string to our bow by becoming involved in sourcing new products and bright ideas that our partner in China, Kayee Holdings, can bring to market. So if anyone out there has an idea or a patent, we can help them.
If a product makes it on to something like the TV shopping channel QVC, the returns can be huge. That's how the very successful American inventor of the self-wringing miracle mop, Joy Mangano, started out.
What key piece of advice would you give to someone starting a business? Keep your costs down. We are a small team, deliberately so, because I didn't want the burden of overheads. This stood to us in the recession. Make sure to have a good knowledge of social media and how it works. If you don't, then employ someone who does as this is the cheapest way to get yourself and your products noticed. Always remember that people buy from people so work hard at building contacts and networks.
Who do you admire most in business and why? Pat McDonagh of Supermacs, who started a business in Ballinasloe in 1978 and has well over 100 outlets today. He continues to take on global companies and to win in a way that shows if you have the drive and vision you can do anything, no matter where you are located. Also Willie Walsh, who's a very down to earth and approachable guy. He took over at Aer Lingus and made it profitable before doing the same with British Airways. A uniquely British brand run by an Irishman – now this would have been unthinkable 30 years ago.
What two things could the Government do to help SMEs? Put a proper mechanism in place to help the self-employed if something happens and they lose their business. We need entrepreneurs and risk-takers so this really needs to be addressed and quickly.
Set up a pool of money to help people if their business runs into trading difficulties for whatever reason and the banks won’t support them. I think they should be able to get up to €100k interest-free, provided they can prove they have the ability to trade out of their difficulty within a specific time-frame.
In your experience are banks lending? Our main lender, AIB, has been very decent and understanding with us in the past few years. We are currently looking to expand the business, so long may that continue.
What is the most frustrating part of running a small business? You are the team, goalie, centre back and centre forward all in one.
What's your business worth and would you sell it? Based on turnover, maybe not a lot. Based on the worldwide contacts I have in manufacturing and retail, I would say it's priceless. I am not actively looking to sell, but you should never say never.
