Business School

Enter the Dragon's Den - DCU Business School Budding Entrepreneurs

Enter the Dragon's Den – This month saw final year Business students and would-be entrepreneurs enter the 'Dragons Den' to pitch their final year projects to a panel of DCU Business School faculty and leading DCU MBA Graduates.

Students working in teams of four were charged with creating a new innovative product or service and putting it through the various stages of the new venture creation process including: concept development, feasibility analysis, market research, digital marketing campaign, financial planning, and finally the business plan presentation in the form of a Dragon’s Den. 

Dr Eric Clinton said “As the University of Enterprise, the New Enterprise Development Module is of great importance to students in terms of developing their entrepreneurial skills and abilities, as well as developing an understanding of what is involved in setting up a business today. I am inspired with the effort put in with the students and look forward to seeing some of these students as successful entrepreneurs in Ireland over the coming years”.

A selection of some of the product/service ideas include:

  • The Foodie Lunchbox: The Foodie Lunchbox is a lunchbox-set targeted at children of the 5-13 year demographic. This lunchbox gives a practical element to the theory of lunch preparation, consisting of four designated compartments for cereals, fruit and vegetables, dairy and a snack, while also including space for a 250ml water-flask. Each compartment fits only the specific GDA’s recommended by the FSAI, therefore not only incorporating healthy-eating but also the element of portion control. The Foodie Lunchbox provides an easy method of lunch preparation for parents while ensuring that a child receives its correct portion sizes and nutritional value with ease.
  • Silex: Silex is an onsite testing tool which tests for the presence of pyrite in stone before being used in foundations of a building. The unique selling point of Silex is the instantaneous result achieved through a colour change of the solution if pyrite is present in the sample tested. If no colour change occurs to the sample the stone can be used in the foundations of the new build, however if a colour change occurs, the site foreman should take corrective action and ensure that the pyrite infested stone is not used on the site
  • Toe Curler (Synergy Foot Solutions): The Foot Reviver is an innovative device which allows the user to perform prescribed physiotherapy exercises that will strengthen the feet and reduce future pain. The device is  inserted between the toes and the toes are then curled against the resistance. Resistance is offered as a result of the silicone material from which our device is made. This ensures strengthening of foot and lower leg muscles more effectively than current prescribed physiotherapy exercises.
  • Butter Spreader (Abofiler): The B’STICK idea is based on the observation of the difficulty to spread butter on a slice of bread. For many of us, using a knife to spread butter is annoying and time wasting as most of the time, the butter is not soft enough when it comes out of the fridge. Furthermore, parents are worried about their children safety and using a knife is not recommended. Therefore, the ABOFILER team decided to create a stick filled with butter to spread easily butter on a slice of bread.

This years “Dragons” included a number of DCU MBA  including  Sherif Gayed (Director of Global Customer Services Business Excellence, Ebay), Conor Toolan (Director, BVP Investments), Orla Clifford (Director SES  EMEA, Symantec) and Elizabeth Grogan (Marketing Product Specialist, AbbVie Pharmaceuticals). Dragons on the day said “The standards of the students are amazing. With this kind of talent and creativity, there is no doubt that Ireland will bounce back” Sherif Gayed (Director of Global Customer Services Business Excellence, Ebay); “The level of competency around the presentation skills of the students and their ability to field questions was fantastic.” Louise Duggan (Key Account Manager, Novartis Ireland Limited).             

The standard of all the student's ideas was truly exceptional and numerous groups have gone on to win business plan competitions outside of DCU. The success of the students has gone above and beyond the university module. Success from the Enterprise Development has been seen in:

  • Winning the Accenture Leaders of Tomorrow Competition  – Cents for Change
  • Altech National innovation Competition of University students –Two of the six finalists came from New Enterprise Development in the 6 finalists
  •  U Start-  two of the DCU UStart Companies are New Enterprise Development students