Bizstartup.ie - ENTREPRENEURS

Tim Macdougald

The Auld Sod Export Company

When starting a company, the first thing you need to look at is what product or service you can offer. For Tim Macdougald, managing director of The Auld Sod, the answer was right beneath his feet. The company specialises in selling Tipperary soil to the American market under the brand name Official Irish Dirt.

An accountant by profession, Macdougald has worked all over America since the mid-Nineties and spent many’s a St Patrick’s Day there, giving him a clear understanding of what it meant to be Irish in America.

Celebrating Irishness

“It’s truly extraordinary the amount of goodwill directed towards the Irish. Being Irish is seen as being non-confrontational, being cool, there’s the connection with drink and dancing and music and laughter. It encourages all sorts of people to join in in celebrating being Irish.”

Back in the Nineties, Macdougald had the idea of setting up a company that would be called The Auld Sod and would sell pieces of grass in an Ireland-shaped tray “as a kind of three-dimensional greeting card” to Irish Americans. However, he did nothing about it until years later, when he read about a company that had had the same great idea! He contacted the company and ended up effectively buying out the majority shareholder. He then refinanced the business and started selling to America early in 2009.

Making connections with customers

Macdougald says the company’s products appeal to people who feel they want to connect to Ireland on both a physical and emotional level. “People often collect a piece of a far off land that they want to retain an emotional connection to, such as a seashell from the beach on your honeymoon. There’s a longing to belong somewhere and to be able to demonstrate it. Our approach is new, but the concept of having a piece of a far-off place is not.”

He is also aware that just selling soil is not enough – it must be packaged properly to appeal to the gifts market. The Auld Sod sells soil in pouches as well as shamrock growing kits at differing price points. “You have to be able to do something with the soil,” Macdougald says. “When you’re in the gifts market, particularly in America, it needs to work right out of the box. People want the gift to do something, which is why we have our shamrock-growing kits.”

The American market

The American market can be particularly difficult to break into, he says, as the country is so varied. “It’s very hard to research a market the size of America. You have to bear in mind that Texas is totally different to Massachusetts,Massachusettsis totally different to Washington and Florida is different to Vermont or Wisconsin.”

In order to make the most of the market, The Auld Sod has deliberately targeted all Americans, not just those with Irish connections. “Sales to Americans either through American stores or online customers are five to one compared to Irish people. Most Americans would have Irish friends and our products, when they are not marketed alongside other Irish products, stand out. When you sell into America you sell into America, not just one segment of America,” Macdougald explains.

Changing business plans in a recession

He also acknowledges that the past year was a particularly difficult one in which to launch a new business. “The business plans that this business was predicated on were made from 2006 to 2008, and the world has been turned on its head since. We’ve had  a gale-force storm blowing in our face during the start-up phase of this venture, and no matter how well founded your plans were they would always be totally undermined by the reality when you go to implement them. In our case, plans and research were rendered totally useless by the macro-economic environment,” he says.

Enterprise Ireland

However, the company did receive a lot of help from Enterprise Ireland. “It has been an invaluable resource. They become much more effective when you know what questions to ask, when you know what their capabilities are. We have found them to be exceptional,” Macdougald says.

Advice for start-ups

When asked about his advice for new entrepreneurs, Macdougald advises potential start-ups to take a good look at their finances. “Whatever your business plan is, halve your sales and double your cash resource,” he says.

He also recommends a book by James Borg, Persuasion: The art of influencing people. “Being an accountant, I had to learn sales. When you’re selling you’ve got to meet people more than half way, you’ve got to see things from their perspective. The really good exporters know the people they’re selling to, they know what they want,” says Macdougald.