The app was designed after receiving feedback from the public and realising that businesses’ reported difficulties in making sense of the overwhelming and disjointed amount of information from many different sources on support and incentives available to them.

The app aims to be a practical and streamlined platform that can help local businesses rifle through the available collection of schemes and other incentives available from all government organisations.

Support measures available through the app are grouped based on the type of funding mechanism and are further categorised by the sectors they target.

Each page relating to a particular incentive provides basic information about the scheme, with direct links to more detailed information along with contact details pertaining to the entity managing each initiative.

The mobile app entitled Enterprise Incentives is available on Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.

Malta SME Week kicks off with StartUp Café

The Malta SME Week is also taking place now. Mr Cardona’s launch of the week-long event series, as well as the app, was announced at the second edition of Malta Enterprise’s StartUp Café. During this event, Malta Enterprise said it has supported startups with €2m since 2015.

The Malta SME Week is part of the European Commission’s EU-wide SME Week events, which aim to generate public awareness among people who wish to start a business or are already in business and wish to grow their activities. The event series lasts for six weeks. This year’s edition is featuring a wide range of events targeting different audiences.

The SME Week in Malta ties with the economy ministry’s efforts to promote entrepreneurship as a career option while providing information on national and EU entities assistance to micro, small and medium-sized businesses and also giving recognition to entrepreneurs for their contribution to Malta’s welfare, jobs, innovation, and competitiveness, according to the DOI press release.

“October has become synonymous for the local business community with events that bring us and the relevant stakeholders all together, where we update each other on local and European trends. It’s also an opportunity for us to have a better idea of what challenges and realities our businesses are facing,” said economy minister Mr Cardona.

The StartUp Café brought together some 120 young enterprises looking to start their own business. During the event, professionals and academics shared their experiences in order to help participants to develop their entrepreneurial skills. In addition, participants participated in workshops and networking sessions with the panellists.

The post Mobile app aims to assist businesses in Malta first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The Malta Enterprise recently held the second edition of Startup Café; an event providing a space for newly established startups and the youth to meet and network with mentors from different fields and backgrounds.

During the event, seasoned entrepreneurs shared their experiences to help participants further develop their business enterprising skills. The event offers a venue to discuss ideas, pose questions or simply catch up with the current and emerging trends and business realities.

Startup Café is organised by Malta Enterprise with the support of the Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses and Young Enterprise Malta Foundation (JAYE Malta), within the framework of the Malta SME Week.

Kurt Farrugia, CEO of Malta Enterprise has promised the startup community that the ME will continue working to help those interested in setting up their own business.

The post Malta Enterprise supports startups with €2m since 2015 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Mr Doherty started selling jams around his neighbourhood when he was only 14 years old, after falling in love with the process of jam making when cooking together with his grandmother. Selling his product was a demonstration of how much he always wanted to start his own business and become a businessman in the future.

“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to start my own business. I was always interested in the idea of creating a product and making a career out of doing something I loved,”

MR DOHERTY SAYS.

After many years of effort, his dream became a reality. Newspaper articles and TV interviews followed suit as next milestones, confirming the success of his work. “I took advantage of media coverage by embarking on a ‘rock and roll’ tour of all the Waitrose supermarkets; handing out samples and telling people all about my gran’ and our 100% fruit jam recipe,” says Mr Doherty about how he was trying to boost the sales of his products already available in Waitrose.

His debut before a bigger audience happened when Waitrose decided to hold a “meet the buyer day”. Mr Doherty believed it was the perfect chance for him to introduce his SuperJam to the big market. “I convinced my dad to drive me there. My dad waited in the car outside, I borrowed his suit and got ten minutes to ‘pitch’ my idea to the senior jam buyer of Waitrose,” Mr Doherty recounts his story.

“He said it was a great idea and explained what I would need to do if I was serious about supplying their stores — I would need to set up production in a factory, offer him a good price and get labels designed that would catch people’s attention. It was at this point that I became sure that running my own jam business would become my career,” he adds.

Open-mindedness fuels foreign expansion

The ability to always stay open-minded allowed Mr Doherty to expand his project and his ideas abroad. As a matter of fact, South Korea has become the largest market for SuperJam. “We supply thousands of stores there and have also launched snacks, peanut butter and honey,” Mr Doherty says, adding that currently, his products are available in five countries.

Moreover, one of the most interesting projects launched by Mr Doherty is the “SuperJam Tea Parties” series, which also represents a fundamental pride for the company and its founder. This activity is based on the organisation of hundreds of parties over the world. The main target is the elderly. As Mr Doherty says he always remembers when his grandmother used to take him to tea parties and this project represents a kind of tribute to his grandmother; the main inspiration for his product.

In addition, the longing for business brought him to open his business interest to startups. As the cofounder of Beer52, indeed, he supported the development and the growth of new beer types, different to the usual ones and more interesting, causing the capture and the attention of more and more markets. “Beer52 has been at the forefront of this in the United Kingdom and we have now become the largest craft beer club anywhere in the world, with more than 60,000 monthly subscribers,” adds Mr Doherty.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Business Leaders Malta is organising the Breakthrough – From Good to Great conference by Business Leaders Malta on 14 June at Teatru Manoel, Valletta. If you want to hear what Mr Doherty has to share, come and see him in action at the event.

Business Leaders Malta started life as an alliance between three diverse companies in 2009 — Mdina International, Jugs Malta and Konnekt, fusing capabilities, experience, professionalism and creativity to pursue their original goal of creating a forum where thought leaders and professionals could come together to share knowledge and ideas.

The post SuperJam producer kickstarts business at age 14 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.