Going for Growth, Ireland
WOMEN
The objective is to support ambitious women entrepreneurs in growing their business and expanding their networks. It seeks to inspire more women to grow their businesses, and offers peer support.
In Ireland, women are less likely than men to be involved in entrepreneurship. Research suggests that women are often less confident in entrepreneurship, less perceptive of entrepreneurial opportunities and have less developed networks than men. Accordingly, women entrepreneurs are less likely to have significant growth ambitions for their business.
Going for Growth supports women entrepreneurs with growth aspirations by supporting the development of their businesses by focusing on growth goals and time-defined milestones. The initiative leverages volunteer contributions from successful entrepreneurs, who lead group and peer coaching and mentoring sessions in 6-month cycles. These group meetings are facilitated by volunteer “Leads” who are successful women entrepreneurs. The Leads share their experience with their group, nurture a culture of trust and collaboration and facilitate the sharing of experiences and challenges. The group mentoring provides support and “good” peer pressure and inspires women entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. The project also includes a National Forum that brings together all of the Leads and participants for developmental workshops and to grow their networks. Going for Growth also champions positive media profiling of women entrepreneurs to promote them as capable of achieving growth.
In 2016, the project was in its 7th cycle and more than 400 participants have used the project. More than 70% of the participants who completed the 6th cycle reported a growth in sales over the 6-month period. The average growth was 15%. During this period, participants hired an additional 88 people and 10 interns were engaged. There was a 22% increase in the number of exporters among the participants.
This example was adapted from a longer case study that was published in the OECD/EU (2016) Inclusive Business Creation: Good Practice Compendium. For additional information and details, please refer to the original publication.