08.02.2012
Export co-op to reduce costs for small and micro enterprises
Chris Gordon, owner, Trophies Awards and Gifts
A new co-operative has been set up to create opportunities for small firms exporting from Ireland, by members joining forces to reduce prohibitive delivery costs.
The initiative was sparked off by an order received from the US by Chris Gordon, owner of an Irish firm called Trophies Awards and Gifts.
He needed to ship a small package and found that the cost was prohibitive. He went on to Twitter to see if other business owners were having the same problem.
From this he got linked onto the website of SME Capital Funds, a business consultancy firm based in Cork which specialises in providing consultancy services to SMEs and this led to the creation of the Irish Export Co-Operative.
The co-operative aims to utilise the group purchasing model to create economies of scale thereby reducing cost of export for the individual member business. Run by a committee of its members and managed by SME Capital Funds, it will also bring in expertise in export markets, customs, finance, and insurance.
“This cooperative breaks down the barriers faced by too many SMEs on the island of Ireland. We have personally faced these problems and now we have a concrete solution. This opens up new markets for small firms and crafts makers. We are using time tested approaches of democratic cooperatives to create a real game changer in exports in Ireland," said Gordon.
"By creating a better platform to work together to create this initiative, we have gained the interests and support of Enterprise Ireland, the Small Firms Association, ISME, The Irish Exporters Association and the Cooperative Development Society amongst others."
Sorcha Corcoran
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