Key Objectives

To provide a national networking forum for women in business that will support them in starting and growing their businesses.
To promote best practice of networking and facilitation for women in enterprise.
To facilitate female entrepreneurs from throughout Ireland in developing useful business contacts and in improving their own business management / networking skills
To facilitate access to a broad range of specialist business information from relevant agencies
This will involve entrepreneurs engaging in networking and learning.
To highlight female entrepreneurship.

The late 1980’s and the 1990’s saw a period of rapid increase in the numbers of women becoming self-employed; however it remained a truism that women were less likely than men to start a business and the number of female entrepreneurs remained markedly lower than the number of males. Following the explosion in female entrepreneurship in America, and the widespread recognition that ensued of women’s ability to contribute significantly to national economic performance, female entrepreneurship found its way onto the policy agenda.

Researchers emphasise, over and over, that access to training and a supportive structure are key elements in successful enterprise supports for women. In female business failure, the three most commonly cited causes are: lack of proper financing, lack of prior experience, and lack of training. From the extensive research which has been undertaken internationally it has been shown that most women entrepreneurs start from a position of disadvantage and it is upon this point that the majority of enterprise programmes designed specifically for women are based. Specially designed programmes and events are considered an imperative in order to address such disadvantages and enable equality of access and participation in the first instance, and in the second, to enable such a potentially significant contribution to the economy to be realised.

The Report of the Small Business Forum which was published in 2006 recommended to the Government that it should adopt a National Entrepreneurial Policy focused on optimising the number of start-up businesses and, in particular, on maximising the number of start-ups aspiring to and achieving high growth.

The SBF recommended that this policy should build upon three specific platforms:

Stimulating latent entrepreneurial potential, particularly among women and the immigrant community;
Reinforcing entrepreneurship in the education system; and
Enhancing the culture of entrepreneurship.

County & City Enterprise Boards

County and City Enterprise Boards are the principal government agency at local level with responsibility for enterprise promotion and micro business development. There are thirty-five Enterprise Boards and the Boards key objectives are:

To stimulate and promote local enterprise culture and entrepreneurship
To assist new business start ups, particularly through provision of financial assistance
To assist the expansion and growth of existing small business through a range of measures including the provision of financial assistance
To promote and facilitate greater levels of product and process innovation within small businesses particularly through the promotion of innovation management and the use of R&D.
To encourage and facilitate higher levels of exporting businesses, greater innovation, and the use of R&D in small businesses
To grow a significant number of companies for entry to the EI portfolio
To develop the management capability of promoters of small business
To develop strong business networks
To contribute to the achievement of balanced regional development and a balanced regional economy.

Enterprise Boards strive to meet their objectives by providing a number of crucial services to businesses and individuals across a diverse range of sectors, including a business information service, business mentoring, business consultancy, business training programmes, and various business networking opportunities. Grant aid is also offered to assist with business start-up or business expansion.

Enterprise Boards are acutely aware of the difficulties faced by disadvantaged individuals, most particularly the difficulties faced by women, young people and older workers. In 2006 the Boards prepared a draft national initiative based on research carried out by the Boards on a wide range of practices in this area of enterprise promotion and support at international level.

The desire to specifically support women, who are currently under-represented in the labour force and in business ownership, to enter self-employment and develop their businesses can therefore be regarded as possessing a strong degree of “fit” with the aims and objectives of County and City Enterprise Boards at local and national level.

Enterprise Boards have previously delivered specific female enterprise support services either within their own geographic area or in conjunction with other Boards and partners. This proposed national event therefore represents an opportunity to copper-fasten the organisational learning to date within Enterprise Boards in relation to female enterprise support and more importantly to share this experience with a wider audience.