A ROOM charged with can-do energy and the at-times infectious entrepreneurial spirit.
This was the scene at the All-Island Entrepreneurs Conference, the seventh such event presented by Women in Business which seeks to bring together the dream-chasers and the go-getters to hear first-hand those inspired stories of soaring start-ups. Women business owners who have themselves overcome all manner of challenges to become business role models for the next generation. Their growth journeys a roadmap for future success.
And make no mistake, the appetite is there. Even in the current climate of rising interest rates and their subsequent squeeze on a business’ bottom line, the pursuit of entrepreneurship remains palpable. Figures released last month by the ONS confirmed the number of new UK businesses created in 2021/22 was up 5 per cent year on year, which in itself is the fastest rate of growth for new business creation since before the pandemic.
It's that sense of confidence and resilience that we’ve seen on a local level, too. In the past year alone, Women in Business has brought almost 200 women through the ‘Yes You Can’ entrepreneurship programme. It is, in essence, a platform on which women business owners develop their Next Big Thing, propelling new and fledgling start-ups to grow and scale successful businesses
Over 100 applied this year for the £20,000 ‘Yes You Can’ pitching competition, from which a short list of six excellent candidates pitched live to an all-island audience. In fact, since the programme began five years ago, more than 30 women have won a share of £100,000 in business support.
Our goal with ‘Yes You Can’ is two-fold: firstly, to draw out and platform the ingenuity that we know exists within the women business community. And of course, to provide opportunities for securing capital.
By warmly encouraging women-led start-ups (yes, you can!), at Women in Business, we want to kindle that blue-sky ambition and also support job creation and economic growth. There are some truly brilliant women-led firms out there and we are here to support their growth journeys, from inception to impact. From spark to scale.
Equally important to ‘Yes You Can’ participants is how the programme opens up avenues for securing capital, itself a perennial challenge in the entrepreneur sphere.
Indeed, for women entrepreneurs, the barriers that exist around access to finance are only amplified by ethnic and economic background and place a sizeable strain on entrepreneurial opportunities and outcomes.
Even when accounting for societal inequalities and established gender roles – primary caring duties, for example – women entrepreneurs still experience less success, as British Business Bank’s report, Alone Together, illustrates.
Change is needed, then, so that women business owners aren’t facing disadvantage. Together we must harness the entrepreneurial enthusiasm that’s rallying against the challenges of our time.
Our 300-plus audience at the All-Island Entrepreneurs Conference heard from one of the UK's leading women entrepreneurs Alex Depledge MBE who echoed the event’s theme of daring attendees to compete in all areas of their business whether to grow their business, expand their market or connect with key investors. And, in so doing, helping to turn the tide on what has for too long been a male-dominated sphere.
:: Lorraine Acheson is managing director of Women in Business Group
