Brexit, Trump and online opportunities on the agenda at business showcase
EMBRACING the online market is crucial for Wexford businesses, particularly in light of Brexit and the Trump presidency according to President of Wexford Chamber Karl Fitzpatrick.
Speaking to this newspaper at the 2016 Wexford Business Expo, which had the theme of ‘Growing Your Business Online’, Mr Fitzpatrick spoke of the importance of online sales in the current climate.
‘Brexit could close our door to the UK markets and Donald Trump is talking about the possibility of imposing high tariffs,’ he said. ‘ This means that there is a lot of uncertainty there for us so we are in a situation where we need to open up to the global market.’
Mr Fitzpatrick said that internet is ‘absolutely crucial’ for modern day business, with Irish people currently spending €7bn online annually. This figure is expected to increase to €14bn by 2021.
‘Despite this, only one in three Irish businesses are online. There could be a few reasons for this. One is the fear factor. When people don’t know much about something, they tend to stay away,’ he said. ‘ The second is the cost perception. People feel that it is expensive to build a website but in fact, there are a lot of free solutions and supports.’
Mr Fitzpatrick said that another reason for the reluctance to develop an online business presence may simply be down to time, saying that the average businessperson is too busy to suss out their online opportunities.
‘We have to go where the traffic is and that is online,’ he said.
In a talk on ‘A View of the Economy’, Economist Jim Power also paid reference to Brexit.
‘It is too early to gauge the impact of Brexit at the moment and we will be saying the same in five years time,’ he said. ‘We have no idea how it is going to unfold, nobody does. It personifies uncertainty.’ Mr Power said that there are two possibilities: a soft Brexit, which will allow the UK access to EU markets, and a hard Brexit, which will involve tariffs on trade.
‘We have got to plan on the basis of a hard Brexit,’ he said. ‘One needs to be proactive in a challenging environment, particularly in context of the opportunities proposed by Brexit.’
Mr Power said that having an ‘open for business atmosphere’, qualified labour force, supply of housing, IT capability and good infrastructure will be important in order to help places such as Wexford prosper in an uncertain climate.
Ade Bamgbala from Google Garage gave a talk on ‘Reaching Your Customers’, which was aimed at those who have already found their place in the world of online business. Mr Bamgbala ran through different tools that Google offers including Google Trends, Google Analytics and Google Adwords. He also discussed the importance of SEO and encouraged his audience to focus on keyword research, creating quality content and optimising what is on their webpage.
Other speakers on the day included Chief Technical Officer at the Institute of Online Services Tony Gallacher on ‘LinkedIn’; Chief Executive of Retail Excellence Ireland David Fitzsimons on ‘eCommerce’; Director of Commercial Operations with Microsoft Colin Browne on ‘Digital Transformation’ and Josephine Holohan from RIKON on ‘Business Strategy – Getting the Basics Right’.
One hundred exhibitors were dotted around the hall and spent the day mingling with guests and other business owners alike. These included the Local Enterprise Office, Visit Wexford, Chevron Training and Recruitment, Wexford Bus and various representatives from the banking, hospitality and retail industries.
Tom Bermingham from Wexford Local Development said that, though they don’t focus solely on online business in their workshops, they do encourage people to establish a good online presence.
‘All of the indications show that the online market is very much a growing space,’ he said. ‘We have to think beyond local levels when it comes to business and begin to move online.’
Mr Bermingham said that in terms of encouraging tourists to visit the county, the internet is key.
‘We want to bring as many people as we can into Wexford. People could be sitting on their laptops in Germany planning their trip to Ireland and may not know the difference between Wex- ford and another part of Ireland. It is important that we use websites with good links to attractions in Wexford so that we can channel much of the tourism into our county,’ he said.
Despite the focus on the online, some of the business owners exhibiting have managed to stay afloat by traditional means. Michael Goggin of Bang Promo said that, although he has a website for promotion, the nature of his business means that they can’t really sell online.
‘We are a brand merchandise business so it doesn’t really work for us. People need to see samples and if they aren’t happy with the product, they can’t return it to us as everything is individual,’ he said.
Despite this, Michael felt that the Expo was a good networking opportunity for him.
New coffee company to Wexford Sublime Coffee also used the Expo as an opportunity to get their name out there.
‘We are here today to promote our coffee and vending machines to people,’ said a spokesperson, who added that owning a website is also an important means for them to communicate with their customer base.
The event saw people from all backgrounds flock to County Hall and, along with plenty of samples and free pens as expected, there proved to be opportunities for everyone. Job Coach with the EmployAbility Service Wexford Mary O’Dowd was on hand to explain the help they can provide to people with disabilities.
‘From our point of view, we are mainly here for exposure and to let people know of the free service that we provide to those with disabilities,’ she said. ‘We work very closely with our clients to identify areas that people are interested in, organise work placements and provide aftercare.’
“Brexit could close our door to the UK and Tr ump is talking about the possibility of imposing high tariffs”