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283. Episode 283 – Mary Sadlier, CEO of Coole Swan: Building a Global Irish Brand When the Shelves Fight Back
47:05||Season 1, Ep. 283Episode 283 of That Great Business ShowWe normally do a 25 minute record. We thought this was sooo good that it's 47 minutes. Because who wants to spoil a great party. We didn't want to stop Mary.Mary Sadlier, CEO of Coole Swan — the Irish cream liqueur brand that decided it wasn’t enough to be “nice”. It had to be better. And not better in a marketing-deck way. Better in taste tests. Better in ingredients. Better in margins. Better in resilience.Coole Swan uses single malt Irish whiskey and Belgian white chocolate. That matters. Because when you go up against Baileys, you are not nibbling around the edges. You are walking into a category owned by a global giant.This episode is about:• What it really takes to build an Irish FMCG brand internationally• Why distribution is harder than the product• What happens when tariffs land out of nowhere• Retail shelf power — and how fast you can disappear from it• The brutal difference between cashflow and profitMary has been through the mill. Expansion. Contraction. Currency swings. US volatility. Decisions made without guarantees.Things have gone very right.Things have gone very wrong.And the gap between the two is thinner than most founders think.This is real business. Not pitch-deck business.Brought to you by our long-standing sponsor, De Facto Shaving Oil. The world’s best shaving oil. Not a beard oil. For shaving any and all of your bits. They back us, you back them. DeFactoShave.com.Our Gentleman’s (and Ladies’) Agreement is simple: we do the work, you hit subscribe. Fair exchange.
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282. E282 That Great Business Show - AI is so yesterday. It's all about Quantum and Jason Lynch's Equal1 has raised $60 million to prove it.
31:35||Season 1, Ep. 282Episode 282 — Quantum Is Coming. And Ireland Is Already In It.Everyone is shouting about AI.Very few people are paying attention to what comes next.Quantum computing is not about doing things faster.It is about doing things that were previously impossible.Finding new drugs in days, not decades.Optimising energy grids, logistics, traffic and supply chains that defeat today’s supercomputers.Re-engineering AI itself so it stops burning the planet for compute.On Episode 282 of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin sits down with Jason Lynch, CEO of Equal1 — the Irish quantum computing company that has just raised $60 million, led by Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund, to build enterprise-grade quantum computers using standard silicon chip fabs.No sci-fi. No hype.Just real hardware, real money, real timelines.We talk:• Why quantum makes AI look like the warm-up act• Why 50 qubits beats every computer on Earth combined• Why data centres won’t need to melt rivers to run quantum• Why pharma, banking, energy and defence are already preparing• Why Ireland has a once-only window to lead — and could miss itThis is a five-years-out story hiding in plain sight.Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil — made in Mayo, no foam, no nonsense, no landfill-bound cans.They back us. You back them. DeFactoShave.com.Our Gentleman’s (and ladies’) Agreement is simple:We do the work. You hit subscribe. Fair exchange.Listen on Acast, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube.Build the Tribe.
281. E281 That Great Business Show - The “Leaky Bucket” That’s Quietly Killing Profits & How to Fix It, Sharon Kearns
31:43||Season 1, Ep. 281Sales up. Bank balance looks fine. Everyone busy.So why does the business still feel… tight?On Episode 281 of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin is joined by accountant and business adviser Sharon Kearns, the woman who spots the leaks most business owners never see.This is not theory.This is what actually drains cash, time and energy from otherwise successful businesses.We talk:The “leaky bucket” problem most owners don’t want to faceProfitable businesses quietly losing money on certain products or servicesHidden time leaks, stock traps and invoicing sinsWhy “busy” does not equal profitableThe simple fixes that free up cash fastAnd the “hire in a heartbeat” answer you won’t forgetRecommended by Tom Murphy, founder of De Facto Shaving Oil — and when Tom recommends someone, you listen.Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil, handmade in Mayo. No foam. No nonsense. No landfill-bound cans. 👉 defactoshave.com Our Gentleman’s (and ladies’) Agreement is simple: we do the work, you hit subscribe. Fair exchange. Subscribe on Acast, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts Build the tribe. We do the work — you get the value.Irish business podcast, SME cashflow, business profits Ireland, accountant advice Ireland, scaling a business, working capital, Irish entrepreneurs
280. E280 That Greats Business Show - Catherine Madden, MD, Dublin Gazette Newspaper - survival in a declining industry
27:37||Season 1, Ep. 280Episode 280 – Why local newspapers still matter (and why we’d miss them if they were gone)Confession time:I love local newspapers.And I cannot go past the small ads without reading every last one of them.While national newspapers are having a torrid time — and some may not even survive this decade in their current form — one part of print is quietly going against the tide.The local free newspaper.On Episode 280 of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin is joined by Catherine Madden, Managing Director of the Dublin Gazette Newspaper — Dublin’s number one free weekly, reaching over 300,000 readers every week.We talk about:Why local papers are surviving while nationals struggleWhy small ads still work for real businesses - and that's important for your businessWho is actually keeping an eye on councils, planning and courtsWhy “free” doesn’t mean low qualityAnd why local journalism matters more than everIf you care about your area, your business, or who’s minding the shop locally — this one matters.🎙 Sponsored by De Facto Shaving Oil — all-natural, made in Mayo, no foam, no nonsense, and none of those pressurised cans quietly (and unneccesarily) heading for landfill.👉 Listen now. Share it with someone who still picks up the local paper.
279. E279 That Greats Business Show - Billy Griffin, VP BITA, is UK changing its Brexit mind??
31:13||Season 1, Ep. 279Brexit, Britain and the business opportunity Ireland shouldn’t ignoreA lot of Irish businesses quietly turned their backs on the UK after Brexit — paperwork, friction, hassle.But here’s the thing:The UK never stopped being one of Ireland’s biggest trading partners.In Episode 279 of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin talks to Billy Griffin, Vice President of BITA, about why now may be the time for Irish businesses to take a fresh look at Britain — and where the real opportunities (and blockages) lie.We cover:Why Brexit is still costing UK growth — and what that means for IrelandHow red tape, permits and skills recognition are quietly choking tradeWhy services travel better than goods post-BrexitThe surprising truth about doing business in Manchester vs LondonWhat BITA actually delivers beyond business cards and bad coffeeAs always, we bring you insight, not hype.Thanks to our sponsor De Facto Shaving Oil — all-natural, made in Mayo, sold worldwide. No foam. No nonsense. Available at defactoshave.comListen, subscribe, and share with anyone thinking about exporting — or re-exporting — to the UK.
278. Episode 278: Is AI the next boom — or are we lending money to ourselves?
26:25||Season 1, Ep. 278On Episode 278 of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin is joined by Aidan Donnelly, Head of Equities at Davy Private Clients, for a plain-English global market update — and a hard look at the biggest investment story of our time: artificial intelligence.Markets have rallied.Investors have relaxed.But a simple question sits underneath it all:What happens when companies start lending money to their own customers just to keep the story going?In this episode, Aidan explains:why AI is transformative — but valuations still matterhow today’s AI boom is being fundedwhy debt is quietly replacing equitywhat happens when sellers subsidise buyersand why “everyone cheering” is not an investment strategyNo jargon. No hype.Just a calm explanation of where risk may be building — and what investors should really be watching.Powered by De Facto Shaving Oil — the all-Irish, all-natural shave, made in Mayo and sold worldwide.If you found this useful, share it with one other business owner or investor.That’s how we grow our tribe.
277. Episode 277: Irish startup Coso.ai is replacing your social media agency — and raising €5m to do it
32:41||Season 1, Ep. 277On Episode 277 of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin speaks with James Flynn, co-founder and CEO of Coso.ai the Irish startup automating one of the biggest headaches in small business: social media.Most SMEs know they should post.Most don’t have time.Most can’t justify agency fees.Coso.ai solves that problem by automatically writing, scheduling and publishing social media content — without needing a full-time marketer or a €2,000-a-month retainer.In this episode, James explains:why 90 percent of SMEs don’t have a social media managerhow Coso.ai actually works in practicewhy AI failed before ChatGPT — and why it works nowhow Coso.ai is raising €5 million to scale internationallywhy AI isn’t replacing marketers, but rescuing business ownersThis is AI doing something useful — reducing cost, saving time, and fixing a real business problem.Powered by De Facto Shaving Oil — the all-Irish, all-natural shave, made in Mayo and sold worldwide.If you enjoy this episode, share it with one other business owner.That’s how we grow our tribe.