Cruickshank’s partner, Richard O’Connor, manages the patent aspects of small business enterprises owned and managed in Ireland.
From his ample experiences and exposure into this Irish SME’s, O’Connor pointed out that many of the companies in Ireland have failed to recognize that their activities are continually geared towards research and development.
Normally, he has worked with companies managed by the owner themselves. It is always the proprietor and typical people who push for modernization within the firm. In turn, they regard innovation as a nonentity because most of them failed to recognize that what they are doing is part of R&D.
He also pointed that whenever innovation is tackled in Ireland, it is normally focused on the actions at the third level as well as the Science Foundation Ireland. Although, R&D has been going around in Ireland since time immemorial, the Irish people have never valued its existence. Furthermore, he says that most companies haven’t understood how they can meet with the R&D tax credits.
He says purchasing a brand new stockroom management package will not pass. But if your food company tests out temperature controls in chilled storage spaces in order to determine if you can obtain lasting shelf life – it is what typical R&D companies automatically do everyday. However, they just don’t see it as it is.
With regards to tax rules, companies can obtain tax assistance whenever the amount of money spend on R&D are increased. Additionally, exception rules on patent fees pertain that profits based from patent fees are always free of taxes.
He also pointed out that innovation exists when businesses are improving their goods and services.
He explained that it is innovation when business companies do everything to make sure their customers continually patronize their company.
He also made mention of the €500 million Innovation Fund Ireland as a means to entice shareholders to invest some capital. Furthermore, he believes that the Irish businessmen should give emphasis to a countrywide goal of gaining 3pc of GDP for research and development.
He gives Israel as an example. Its population may be small but it’s gearing up for innovation. In fact, the country has attained the 5pc of its GDP towards R&D (research and development). In contrast, Nasdaq stock exchange has 125 companies while Ireland only has three.
He believes that smaller countries that have lesser natural resources need to innovate because they do not have a choice at all. On the other hand, Ireland is at the forefront of tax breaks yet they have fallen behind in putting up for innovation.
He says the path to real wealth is to produce new goods and have it sold. The Innovation Fund Ireland is already a better advancement but the Irish people should not forget that they have fallen behind the curve and a genuine commitment towards a 3pc GDP goal for the benefit of research and development.
He says the truth that lies behind small businesses is that they are Euro-deprived and so the country should do two things: removing the unnecessary things and supporting them in an uncomplicated manner. There was even this company that was rejected for grants because they passed the wrong cash flow statement. There could have been other reasons but a reason like this purely a technical baloney and just a formality.
And so, necessary steps should be undertaken to ensure that people can try out new ideas. The €5,000 Innovation Voucher Scheme is incredible. However, there are still so many other things that have not yet been done but will surely make businesses reach higher levels.
