Recession and time of economic difficulty offer many opportunities. It has often been said of the most enterprising of individuals that they made their move at a time when others were struggling.

This can definitely be said for two UCC graduates who, upon deciding that they both wanted to start a business, did just that and came up with Mi Card.

The two are based in the Rubicon Centre in Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), which plays host to many internationally trading technology companies. They have also been accepted into the prestigious Genesis Enterprise Programme (GEP) and recently came second in the €30,000 'The Sky is the Limit' competition, with the winner being an already established business.

Mi Card is a student discount card that offers students, in Munster for now, savings on a whole host of everyday items. According to the two who started it, Eoin Hallahan and Sean O'Mahony, the idea came about while they were away on their Erasmus year from college in Grenoble, France. "In third year, as part of our course, we go to France for the year," says Seán. "And there was five of us from UCC in Grenoble, in the Alps. Unfortunately we weren't very studious while we were over there and spent most of our time either skiing or sampling the fine French cuisine and wine. We both read Richard Branson's autobiography. That kind of kick-started us a bit and it got us into the start your own business mind frame". Eoin believes that if it wasn't the Mi Card, they would have come up with something else.

"The more you read and the more you see what people can accomplish then you begin to get very motivated yourself," he says. "These are very capable and smart people but you look at yourself in the mirror and say am I all that different? Maybe I can do it too. I think the two of us decided there and then in France that we weren't going to be in college everyday so we decided to sit down and try to put a business plan together so we sat down everyday and bashed out ideas – what would work, what might work and what definitely won't work. We had a load of ideas to be honest, we just wanted to start a business".

The actual idea for this business came about through the difference between the treatment of students on the continent compared to Ireland, according to Eoin and Seán. "In France and Europe in general there is a completely different culture," Eoin says. "Students are given cheaper prices – they expect it and shops and businesses are happy to give it and we were almost taken aback because in Ireland some places will give discounts but it's not the way it is in general.

"Also, even then things were starting to tighten up. Some of our friends were finding it hard to get part time work and people were saying, wouldn't it be great if you could get discounts on everyday things that students buy. That's where we started out." From there it was a case of working hard and having belief in themselves and their ideas, something these two are not short on. The response they have received has also spurred them on.

"There has been a very positive response," says Eoin. "I think this year more than ever, students have less money than ever and that's the case in colleges across the country. The timing is good for the product. We are there to help students save money. To date we haven't received any major complaints and people are giving us good feedback and ideas and that's the brilliant thing. When you are dealing with young people and you engage with them and talk to them and even tell them a bit of your story then there are more than happy to help and give you advice and a few ideas."

Sean agrees and says: "We've definitely exceeded our expectations. We haven't a clue what we are doing a lot of the time. You wake up in the morning, you make a plan and you do it. We know where we want to be in 12 months time but we don't know how we're going to get there either. It's very exciting that way. It's a huge learning curve. We learn ten new things every day. It's very exciting. Sometimes you might make a mistake but you definitely won't make it a second time. We've been fairly lucky to date because we try to plan everything out and we do speak to a lot of people which has helped us avoid a lot of pitfalls".

You may be reluctant, considering the relative youth of the two people in charge, to take their operation seriously and this is something that they have faced from some retailers. But consider the fact that their business employs eight people, albeit on and off, and many people their age don't even have a job, let alone offer employment. There have even been interesting phone calls from the US regarding their business. The most convincing element of their whole operation is their ambition. There answer to the question of where they see themselves in the future is telling.

Eoin says: "Within the next 12 to 18 months we hope that every third-level student in Ireland will have a Mi Card. We hope to have in or around 90,000 to 100,000 cards in circulation. It's an ambitious goal but it's something we can and will achieve." Sean adds: "I don't think there is anything I'd rather be doing. We're not getting much financial reward out of it at the moment, but we're learning a hell of a lot."