Background
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. Currently an Advisory Group lead by Forfás is preparing a position paper on behalf of the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment in relation to these specific recommendations.
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
- Enhancing the culture of entrepreneurship