In preparation for your site visit to the Guinness Enterprise Centre, we will hear the following theme throughout the presentation (which is part of a quote in the article above) – “the power of entrepreneurship and the impact that it can have on the community, which benefits everyone.” In short, individuals and organizations who are interested in community economic development often focus on supporting small entrepreneurs who are seeking to launch interesting new ventures in certain neighborhoods or in the geographic area of a city like Dublin. Based on your quick review of the article on the Guinness Enterprise Centre, identify one commercial opportunity and one commercial challenge they are addressing in their efforts to support the development of local entrepreneurs in Dublin.
Finally, acting as members of consulting teams that might choose to write a group paper about the commercial opportunities and challenges connected to the Guinness Enterprise Centre, what specific questions do you have about the business model for the Guinness Enterprise Centre that relate to our course material (Triple Bottom Line and sustainability, market segmentation, maximization versus shared value, etc.)? Give us a specific question for tomorrow’s visit.
One of the best opportunities for the GEC is to take a small commission off of its hatchling startups when they grow. By taking a latent percentage of some of the companies incomes later on can be a great source of income for the GEC. This revenue source is very sustainable and only profits from majorly profitable companies. It allows the GEC to use easy money to reinvest in itself and help more startups help the community and the world. One of the challenges for the GEC is choosing which startups to house. At the fledgling stages at which the GEC takes in the companies, it can be hard to gauge which will succeed.
As for questions, I wonder how the GEC plans to stay financially sustainable in the long term future. I also want to know how the GEC weights the possible profitability of applicants versus the societal/environmental benefits of other startups.