Thursday, 20th May, 2010 · 8:50 am
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My Secret Weapon

I have no formal business training whatsoever. Nor do I have any knack for business. For me, it’s complex and daunting and overwhelming.

Not surprisingly, I am not very good at it.

I’d be a whole lot worse at it were it not for My Secret Weapon.

I’m going to share it with you.

Ready?

Here it is:

Aodan Enright of SmarterEgg

My Secret Weapon. (c) Roger Overall 2010

His name is Aodan Enright.

He runs facilitated learning groups for entrepreneurs.

If you live within an hour-and-a-half drive of Cork City, you should give serious consideration to signing up to one of his SmarterEgg programmes.

I’ve just completed his latest series, aimed at enhancing the online presence of its participants.

I could write volumes of praise. I’m not going to. I’ll just say this:

Life-changing.

Corporate documentary photography of a SmarterEgg facilitated learning programme, Cork, Ireland

We laugh a lot, and seldom cry. (c) Roger Overall 2010

At Tuesday’s closing session we had Frank Hannigan of Goshido giving us direct and insightful advice. He was one of four terrific internet entrepreneurs Aodan sourced as guest participants for the programme.

Guest participant Frank Hannigan joins in the debate at a SmarterEgg group session, Cork, Ireland

Guest participant Frank Hannigan joins in the debate last Tuesday's SmarterEgg group session. (c) Roger Overall 2010

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  • Frank Hannigan

    Great pictures – I did not even wince when I saw myself!

    Frank H

  • http://Www.h2o-consult.com Tony Cain

    Roger,

    I know what you mean & share your thoughts for Aodan’s Smarteregg programmes.

    I’m in the middle of his Break From The Pack programme and I’m disappointed that I have to wait for two weeks until the next session.

    The facilitated sessions are relaxed, informal with a small amount of structure (but not too much). It allows the building of relationships and support networks for people in business and people starting out, to share experiences and advice.

    Aodan’s enthusiasm is also a big factor in the way the course runs, each session is two and a half hours long but the time flashes by in the blink of an eye.

    I cannot recommend Aodan and Smarteregg highly enough, I only wish I’d come across Smarteregg years ago.

    Thanks for the post,

    Tony

  • http://omaniblog.blogs.ie Paul O’Mahony (Cork)

    OMG. You’re going to start a run on Smarter Egg. People will join the Smarter Egg movement (Tribe, Clan, Mob, Gang…) simply in the hope they’ll be documented by your images.

    What a ace team – Aodan Enright who draws it all out of everyone, with extraordinary care & consideration. Roger Overall who’s a walking case study in how to get your ass in gear and focus.

    I feel dead fortunate to have stumbled into you two – but also into a process that’s transforming the way business will be done in this location.

    Wait until Frank Hannigan sees his story in your photograph: it captures, brilliantly, the life, the openness and sheer attentiveness of the entrepreneur in action. If you get into bed with Hannigan, this is what you get – the photo suggests. If you don’t want this sort of Hannigan, you can go elsewhere. The thing about your photographs is that they promote choice…

    They reveal so much that I feel I am enabled by you to make a decision. Only some people suit me: I don’t want to spend ages in indecision, finding out slowly that the person is not whom they seemed, and the fit doesn’t work. You cut thru.

    By cutting thru to the person under the suit, you save me time. You save Hannigan (just using that word as archetype) time.

    The documentary photographer in business does a lot that the photographer may not even fully understand.

    Honoured to be a sliver.

  • http://www.rogerverall.net Roger Overall

    Thanks Frank!

    You raised some great questions on Tuesday. I think everyone benefited greatly from your candour and vision.

  • http://www.rogerverall.net Roger Overall

    Thanks for reading and commenting, Tony.

    I wish SmarterEgg had been around when I first went into business. If Aodan ran a beginner’s business course, Cork’s freshly-minted entrepreneurs would get such a boost.

  • http://www.rogerverall.net Roger Overall

    Thanks Paul.

    As usual, you bring an added dimension and have shown me something I hadn’t considered. Documentary photography as a time-saver.

    It’s an interesting concept and worthy of a blog post of its own.

  • http://smarteregg.com Aodan Enright

    Roger – thank you very much indeed for your kind words. It’s an absolute pleasure to work with your groups and I’m delighted to hear that people are not only enjoying the experience but also deriving obvious benefit.

    As for your wonderful photographs, all I can say is WOW! Once again you have managed to capture the interactions that enliven our sessions. I know I’ve said it before but your photographs appear in three dimensions (without the need for goofy glasses!)

    @Tony – thank you so much for your generous praise. It’s great to have you as part of our latest group – a long way to go yet!

    @Paul – I hope we don’t move from a tribe to a mob any time soon!