That Great Business Show

She GAVE AWAY her company. To the staff.

No Silicon Valley gimmick. No kumbaya management retreat. No hippy dippy stuff. Just hardnosed business.

Just one brutally practical question: “Michael Smurfit regarded equity as blood… so why would you ever sell ?
Conall Ó Móráin sits down with Joan McCoy of White Ink Architects — one of the leading voices in employee ownership across Ireland and the UK — to explain why businesses owned by staff often outperform traditionally-owned firms.

And then comes the jaw-dropper. In Ireland? It is often CHEAPER to sell your business to a foreign buyer than to your own employees. Madness.

This episode covers:
• Why employee-owned firms often grow faster
• Why staff suddenly start acting like owners
• Why Ireland is behind the UK and Canada
• Why ordinary workers getting wealth matters
• Why architects are suddenly talking like economists
• Why the Tánaiste may finally be waking up to this issue
Plus:
• Wolfgang Digital
• John Lewis
• ARUP
• Housing chaos
• Social housing economics
• And the most Irish Department of Finance problem imaginable

Joan's 'hire in a heartbeat', Michael Keaveney, Director of Land and Acquisition at Grainger plc.
She described him as someone with a very direct style who can “cut through the noise and really get to the crux of the matter”, particularly around housing viability, social housing economics, and having “the right conversations” about the real scale of the housing crisis.

This is one of those episodes that quietly changes how you think about business.

Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world’s best shaving oil. Not beard oil. Shaving oil. DeFactoShave.com

#EmployeeOwnership #IrishBusiness #SMEs #SuccessionPlanning #Architecture #Leadership #BusinessIreland #WolfgangDigital #JohnLewis #ARUP #HousingCrisis #Entrepreneurship #ThatGreatBusinessShow
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E296 That Great Business Show
How to get a month a year of your time back. And it's free.

The Two Barrys: One Built the System. One Was Drowning — Until It Worked.
What if you could get a THIRD of your working week back?
Not by hiring. Not by working longer. Not by burning out (more). But by stopping bad decisions.

ON this episode, two Barrys walk into the studio — and one walks out with his life back.
Barry Cryan built a system to eliminate “micro-decisions” — the tiny interruptions that kill momentum, drain energy, and keep founders trapped in their business.
Barry Flanagan was running THREE businesses — Lock 13 pub, Kildare Brewing Company, and Pro Culture Kombucha — and hit the wall.
60-hour weeks. No clarity. No headspace.

Now? Structure. Systems. Staff aligned. Time back. (And he's no longer manning the chip fryer on a Friday evening).
This is not theory. This is before-and-after business.

Expect:
• Why “busy all day” is actually business failure
• The hidden tax of micro-decisions
• How founders become the bottleneck (and don’t realise it)
• Why 2.5 hours a week can buy back 10–40 hours
• The moment a business owner realises… they don’t actually have a business
And yes — we ask the uncomfortable question: If you’re working IN the business… do you even own one?

This episode is brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil. No waste. No cans. No landfill. Just the best shave you’ll ever have.
DeFactoShave.com

Our Gentleman’s (and ladies’) Agreement is simple:
We do the work. You hit subscribe. Fair exchange.

CHAPTERS
00:00 The question that changes everything
01:30 What “systems” actually mean
05:30 From burnout to 5x productivity
10:00 The Instagram ad that changed everything
15:30 Why founders are the bottleneck
20:00 The solopreneur reality (and opportunity)
25:00 Delegation vs control
30:00 The cost of NOT changing
34:00 Hire in a Heartbeat
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Rihanna’s knickers.

That’s where this episode starts.
From there, Conall Ó Móráin meets Lisa O’Riordan live at the RDS Finding Common Ground Festival to unpack one of the biggest unseen business opportunities in the world: Waste.

Her company is tackling single-use PPE — used in the tens of millions across healthcare and industry — and turning it into a circular, compostable solution.
But this is not a feel-good story.
It’s a hard-edged business reality:
Margins matter
Procurement blocks change
And “cheap” is still king

Supported by De Facto Shaving Oil
The shaving oil that goes on your face — not into landfill. DeFactoShave.com

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€50 MILLION.
MULTIPLE ACQUISITIONS.
ONE PLAN TO BUILD IRELAND’S FIRST LUXURY EMPIRE.

This is not a startup story. This is a land grab. Ashley McDonnell — back on That Great Business Show and one of the tribe since Episode 181 — is building Vyko Group to buy, scale and globalise Irish fashion, beauty and luxury brands. She’s not launching a brand. She’s building a portfolio to compete with the biggest players in the world.

From working on Europe’s biggest IPO at Paco Rabanne owners Puig (how she got to work there is one of the best stories...)… to scanning 500 Irish brands… to lining up her first acquisitions — this is one of the most ambitious Irish business plays in years.

And we’ve been following it from the start.
In this episode:
Why Ireland has never built a luxury group. Tony O'Reilly did try (Waterford Wedgewood), Don Carroll (Carroll's cigarettes) did try. As the Americans say, 'Third time is a charm'??
How Vyko plans to scale Irish brands globally
The smell of money Why fragrances are the secret weapon
The real power of negotiating as a group
What she learned inside LVMH, Dior, Google and Puig - she really has served her time

Sponsored by another great brand name, De Facto Shaving Oil
No cans. No landfill. Just the best shave you’ll ever have.
DeFactoShave.com
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ON Episode 293 of That Great Business Show, recorded at the RDS Finding Common Ground Festival, Conall Ó Móráin speaks with Enda Buckley of Carbery Group.

This is not a farming story.
This is an energy story.
A profitability story.
A “what are we waiting for?” story.

Denmark is moving fast on biomethane — turning farm waste into gas and aiming for self-sufficiency by 2030.
Ireland?
We have the farms.
We have the feedstock.
We have the need.
But, according to Enda, we do not yet have the push.
And that is only the start.

In this episode:
Why sustainability-focused farmers were about 28% more profitable
How “green poo” could replace imported soya
Why grass could become a human food ingredient
The parish-level biorefinery model that could transform rural economies
How biodiversity may become a revenue stream, not a regulation
Why Ireland risks missing a major energy opportunity

This is about turning what we already have into something far more valuable.
This is real business.
Brought to you, as always, by De Facto Shaving Oil — the world’s finest shaving oil. Not a beard oil. It’s for shaving any and all of your bits.
DeFactoShave.com
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