Micro-Businesses in Ireland: From Ambition to Innovation

On April 3rd, Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh officially launched the Micro-Businesses in Ireland: From Ambition to Innovation report at National University of Ireland, Dublin 2. 

Micro businesses play an important role in the Irish economy in terms of stimulating innovation, employment & growth. In Ireland, micro-businesses, with 1-9 employees, comprise over 90 per cent of all businesses. However, this important segment of the business population is often excluded from official surveys. Therefore, our knowledge of what motivates micro-businesses is relatively limited. In addition, we know little about innovation activities, work practices & digital technology adoption within micro-businesses. In order to support micro-businesses to innovate & grow, we first must have an in-depth understanding of this important section of the business population. This report, using new survey data of 1,500 Irish micro-businesses, presents new information on the ambitions - business and personal – of the owners, as well as innovation activities and digital technology adoption within micro-businesses.