Eric Clinton, Tom Cronin and New Enterprise Development Students
Eric Clinton, Tom Cronin and New Enterprise Development Students

Rye River CEO Tom Cronin tells New Enterprise Development Students that starting a business requires teamwork, diverse skillsets and trust

Learning from Rye River's Start-Up Story

Visiting Dr Eric Clinton’s final year DCU Business Studies students on the morning of November 14th Cronin distinguished between the ‘bottom line’ (total turnover) and profit. While a focus on profit is a choice of vanity, a focus on profit is a choice of sanity. Cronin explained that while a business can have a very high turnover rate, high turnover does not necessarily mean high (or any) profit. Advising the future global entrepreneurs, he warned them to put their egos aside when it comes to turnover and focus on creating profit.

Creating a new venture or start-up requires true grit, resilience and an investment in the people around you tells Tome Cronin Chief Executive Officer of craft beer success, Rye River.

Craft beer

Reflecting on Rye River’s own start-up journey, Cronin gave the New Enterprise Development (NED) class three actionable tips in approaching a new business venture:
  1. Know that you cannot do this alone. Entrepreneurship requires teamwork, diverse skillsets and trusting communicative relationships.
  2. Prioritise your profit margins. A high turnover or ‘bottom line’ is useless if there is zero profit after paying your employees, the electricity bills, and so on.
  3. Work smart. Know your market, your audience and where your competitive advantage is.

Two lucky NED students were chosen by Cronin to receive product samples for their engaging questions and contributions to the large class discussion. We wish Tom and his team at Rye River every success for the future.