Nynzi Maung shares her experience of Encouraging Women into Enterprise (EWE)
In 2006 Maung Consultancy in partnership with Lioness Training
delivered an ‘Encouraging women into Enterprise’ (EWE) pilot aimed to
raise awareness amongst women in deprived communities in the North East
of self-employment. Workshops and group sessions aimed to:
• Raise aspirations
• Develop and support self-confidence and self belief
• Create awareness of enterprise options
• Provide a wide and varied toolkit to enable self-development and business development.
The successful EWE pilot was followed one year later by another
programme which built on the lessons learned and an expanded training
programme which included:
• Taster sessions
• Extended group programme
• Developing a Graduate Programme (offering support to participants of the original pilot)
• Enterprise workshops for key community leaders/workers
Nynzi Maung from Maung Consultancy reflects back on the experience of delivering the EWE programmes providing a valuable insight for those who are addressing the gap in women’s enterprise in their area.
To create a successful enterprise surge in all communities, agencies responsible for setting strategic policy frameworks and funding for enterprise development must engage with the voluntary and community sector more directly.
Delivering pre-animation enterprise activities for women in disadvantaged communities requires:
• Long lead in times (reflecting back to funding regimes & commissioning programme timescales)
• Excellent partnership working with host community organisations
• Ensuring that all barriers (being free, timings of events, childcare provision, and located in community settings) are removed
Enterprise support agencies (both pre-animation and mainstream) must recognise that often women who are interested and committed to pursuing their enterprise ideas do not have ‘linear’ enterprise journeys.
The level of understanding of enterprise and the potential benefits of self-employment is very low amongst community leaders. Effort is needed to inform and educate about this option.
The confidence and self-esteem building elements play an important role in encouraging women to pursue their ideas and maintain their motivation.
Training providers need to be prepared to go out to meet prospective participants and not settle for promotion through leafleting, posters or websites.
The majority of women were unaware of mainstream business support agencies. Agencies need to engage with women in their own environment and territory – not expect them to walk into their ‘business offices’.
Both EWE programmes demonstrated that women in disadvantaged communities are interested in self-employment, if supported appropriately. The resultant range of business ideas and businesses started and currently trading reflect the imagination and passion of the women we worked with and include – livery stables, website based craft courses, driving instructor, educational stress management consultant, virtual PA and children’s gymnastics costume designer.
Click here to view a summary-of-ewe-findings-and-recommendations
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