Turning recession into opportunity

RECESSIONS can often lead to a burst in entrepreneurial activity as people who are laid-off use the opportunity – and redundancy package – to invest in an idea for a new business that had been lurking at the back of their minds as they plodded away at the nine to five job for years.Taking the plunge from actually having an idea, to acting on that idea and transforming it into a thriving young business is difficult to take, particularly for new software and ecommerce businesses where the cost of the necessary developer software and developer tools are often prohibitively expensive.But a new Microsoft BizSpark programme for start-up software innovation businesses in the Galway region could eliminate these stumbling blocks and nurture new startup IT businesses in Galway through the incubation period and the difficult early days of trading.The programme is free to...