{"id":38991,"date":"2025-09-23T16:45:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/38991\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T16:45:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:45:20","slug":"it-wasnt-even-that-we-had-some-business-tech-savvy-background-we-just-had-an-idea-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/38991\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It wasn\u2019t even that we had some business, tech-savvy background … we just had an idea\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emilie Williams (24) \u2013 Ditsy Bits <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a young person who keeps up with the latest trends, it\u2019s likely you\u2019ve seen Ditsy Bits<\/a> on your social feed. Known for its signature Irish designs on funky T-shirts, the fashion business was started by Dublin City University (DCU<\/a>) graduate Emilie Williams in 2022.<\/p>\n

Ditsy Bits began as an \u201coutlet for the fact I didn\u2019t like my college<\/a> course\u201d, says Williams, who studied primary teaching for a year before switching to geography and human development in DCU. She began hand-painting T-shirts with Irish designs and selling them on clothing resale app Depop. <\/p>\n

Williams says she \u201cused the motivation of loving what I was doing with Ditsy Bits\u201d to push her to get through her university work quicker, often handing assignments in early so she could have time to work on her business, which she was funding from the wages of a part-time job. <\/p>\n

One design in particular \u201ccompletely blew up\u201d her brand overnight. She calls it \u201cthe Sl\u00e1inte tee\u201d, a plain T-shirt with a pint of stout and the word Sl\u00e1inte written across it. <\/p>\n

Williams soon found that demand for her products was outstripping her stock. \u201cSo overnight, I set up a website, I made more stock, and literally from there it\u2019s just been an ongoing kind of sell-out, which is crazy,\u201d she says. The growth of Ditsy Bits \u201csnowballed\u201d; she registered it as a business, quit her part-time job and began outsourcing production. <\/p>\n

\"EmilieEmilie Williams (24) <\/p>\n

\u201cI have someone in Dublin who prints my T-shirts for me. And then at the start of this year, I got a distribution centre, so it\u2019s very much more professional now than it was at the start,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Williams now also employs two interns and has an accountant. However, she has found that, as a business owner, it can be difficult to delegate work to people because \u201cyou\u2019ve grown this thing by yourself, and then you have to trust someone else to work to the standard that you would hold yourself to. But it\u2019s something I\u2019m learning to do.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"SophieSophie McKeon wearing a Ditsy Bits T-shirt. Photograph: Zoe Ardiff <\/p>\n

She has also expanded sales beyond her website, hosting pop-up shops around Dublin. <\/p>\n

\u201cI did a few [pop-up shops] in Urban Outfitters when the brand hadn\u2019t really taken off yet. But I\u2019ve done three independent ones myself, where I\u2019ve rented out a space in town and advertised on social media and sold the stuff there, and they\u2019ve all been the most successful days of business. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s insane the amount of people that turn up, and just seeing everyone in person, it\u2019s so surreal because you\u2019re like, woah, the people that follow you online or order online are actually real.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"CamillaCamilla Anele wearing Ditsy Bits Claddagh knitwear. Photograph: Alex Sheridan <\/p>\n

Ditsy Bits has expanded into knitwear products, and Williams hopes to continue growing the brand, \u201cwhile also staying true to what Ditsy Bits was at the start\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to keep it kind of niche and special, and something that people can see themselves in, and also keep the community aspect as well, because I think that\u2019s really nice. I love when people come to the pop-ups and stuff and they\u2019re chatting to me about the brand.\u201d <\/p>\n

Her advice to young people thinking about setting up a business is to use the supports available to them. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think I could reach out to these business supports because I had a bit of impostor syndrome,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause of that, I missed different deadlines for grants or funding.\u201d <\/p>\n

She advises young entrepreneurs to \u201cgo to the local-enterprise office, because they are there to help\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey have different courses; there\u2019s some free ones; there\u2019s some ones you pay for. You can do one-to-one mentoring, all of these things, and they\u2019re just brilliant.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chris (23) and Vicky Reilly (33) \u2013 The Cookie Bro <\/p>\n

When Chris Reilly started making cookies during the Covid lockdown, his sister Vicky called them an \u201cabsolute disaster\u201d. <\/p>\n

However, he tried again and again, eventually perfecting his recipe, until Vicky told him they were \u201cso good we could totally sell these\u201d. <\/p>\n

The pair began selling cookies in their mother\u2019s newsagent\u2019s, at \u20ac1 for a box of four. After noticing the cookies were \u201cflying\u201d off the shelf, the siblings decided to start an Instagram page to sell cookies for delivery around their area. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Cookie Bro products <\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t even that we had some business, tech-savvy background,\u201d says Vicky. Chris was still in secondary school at the time and Vicky was a HR graduate. \u201cWe just had an idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vicky invested around \u20ac150 at the start to buy ingredients. Friends and family shared The Cookie Bro Instagram page<\/a> with others, and within the first week, the siblings had five orders for cookies. They were \u201cdelighted\u201d with that, says Vicky. <\/p>\n

Orders quickly built from there, until Vicky found herself \u201cstaying up to three o\u2019clock in the morning taking orders, because one weekend we had, like, 100 orders of people just wanting to buy cookies. It spun so quickly we didn\u2019t realise this was actually happening.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Cookie Bro: ‘Just give it a go’ <\/p>\n

Vicky believes that it was a combination of social media and the pandemic that helped to grow their business. \u201cPeople couldn\u2019t go out, they couldn\u2019t do things, so they were ordering all these boxes [of cookies] because that was their treat\u201d. <\/p>\n

The siblings\u2019 \u201cwhole mindset\u201d about the business changed when cafes began reaching out asking if they could stock The Cookie Bro products. They transitioned from making cookies in their kitchen to renting a commercial kitchen, and have employed their mother to work with them full time, as well as employing a part-time driver when the siblings\u2019 take holidays. <\/p>\n

Their cookies are now stocked in more than 50 cafes around Dublin, Meath and Kildare. Chris and Vicky hope to eventually open their own shop to sell their products. <\/p>\n

Vicky\u2019s advice to young people with business ideas is to \u201cjust give it a go\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt might be the most successful thing that you ever do in your whole life, or it might not work out and you move on to the next thing. And that\u2019s okay too.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sadhbh (23) and Aisling Wood (21) \u2013 Bean Around <\/p>\n

When Sadhbh Wood\u2019s exfoliating mitt was thrown away during a pandemic clear-out, she had to come up with a way to remove her fake tan. She remembered that her dad, who suffers from psoriasis, had been using coffee grounds in the shower to soothe his skin. So Sadhbh decided to give the coffee grounds a go for removing her tan, and, while it worked, it was messy and didn\u2019t smell great. <\/p>\n

In 2021, Sadhbh and her sister Aisling decided to begin experimenting by making different formulas and scents to create a solid-form coffee exfoliating bar. They asked local coffee shops for their grounds to repurpose for production. <\/p>\n

\"SadhbhSadhbh (23) and Aisling Wood (21) of Bean Around. Photograph: \u00c9ibhe Kehoe <\/p>\n

When they began the business, Aisling had just started studying business and law at UCD and Sadhbh had just started sixth year of secondary school. Now in her final year of business at DCU, Sadhbh feels their college experiences have allowed them to \u201capply what we were learning in real time\u201d. <\/p>\n

Balancing operating a business with their studies \u201cdefinitely took a lot of time management\u201d. \u201cWe had to schedule studies and exam timetables weeks in advance\u201d to stay on top of things, says Sadhbh. <\/p>\n

The product was picked up by the Supervalu Food Academy in 2022, which the siblings say taught them how to \u201cpackage, label, market \u2013 everything to the distribution of the products in a retail space\u201d. <\/p>\n

In 2024, Bean Around<\/a> was selected to be part of the Lidl Kickstart programme, which aims to give small Irish businesses the chance to promote their products through Lidl stores across the country. Bean Around products are also stocked in Meadows and Byrne stores, in Caf\u00e9 Sol and at Arboretum garden centres, among other locations. They also sell online and at trade shows. <\/p>\n

Convincing others of the benefits of their product was a challenge for the siblings, however. Sadhbh says they have faced \u201ca lot of rejection\u201d throughout their business journey. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a lot of convincing [that] what people would throw in the bin can be used in a new way,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

However, Aisling notes that as \u201ca young and female entrepreneur, people are really willing to help. There\u2019s great supports in Dublin and all around Ireland.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 2024, Bean Around made it to the last six finalists for the Hult Prize, the biggest student-led social entrepreneurship competition in the world. <\/p>\n

As the business grows, the sisters hope it will remain as environmentally sustainable as possible. \u201cWe\u2019ve grown up in a household that\u2019s very sustainability conscious,\u201d says Aisling. They want to see \u201chow far we can take this business in terms of repurposing this waste\u201d.<\/p>\n

Their advice for any young people considering starting a business is to \u201cdefinitely just give it a go\u201d and \u201clisten to yourself\u201d. <\/p>\n

Reflecting on their own experiences as young entrepreneurs, they said: \u201cWe know the business \u2013 we set it up. We\u2019ve been there since day one. We know what\u2019s right.\u201d <\/p>\n