Women ready to launch their own businesses following Elevator pilot

More than 90% of participants who took part in a pilot scheme aiming to inspire female entrepreneurs say they now feel ready to start their own businesses.

E3f, a six-week pilot programme was run by social enterprise Elevator, gave participants the chance to connect with like-minded women.

Funded by the Scottish Government through their Pathways Fund, the project also aimed to empower female entrepreneurs in Scotland by targeting three distinct communities: rural, socio-economic challenges, and black and ethnic minority women.

E3f engaged with groups in Moray, Angus and south Glasgow who had business ideas to explore.

Interactive workshops were undertaken, alongside a digital platform offering continued support.

An independent evaluation of the programme was carried out by Margaret Gibson, a founding trustee of smartSTEMS, a charity inspiring young women into STEM careers, and deputy chief executive of the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust.

She summarised that this was “a well-conceived thought-out pilot programme delivered to a high standard“, adding that “the targeted areas were chosen as three very different geographical locations with different concentrations of registered female-owned businesses”.

Nearly 60 women joined the cohorts, with 100% stating they would go on to start a business, with more than 90% feeling they are ready to do so now.

Among the other key takeaways:

• The provision of women-only spaces was significant in allowing participants the safe space to share personal experiences, vulnerabilities and challenges without judgement.
• Transport and childcare issues continue to generally cause women more challenges than men.
• There were issues relating to levels of IT skills and literacy; however, the coordinators supported the women to overcome some of these and find workable solutions.
• The focus on women as individuals and concentration on ‘soft skills’ was key to success.
• Challenges often existed around a lack of family/partner support for their business ideas.
• The use of locally based female small business owners as facilitators was inspiring and relatable.

The programme was delivered by Lucy Steading, Cat Ward and Blessing Shamaki, who all have backgrounds in business development and mentoring.

Rachel Ross, Elevator’s strengthening communities director, said: “So many participants have benefited from focusing on their own personal skills and the guidance given on how to overcome barriers that stop them from taking their business ideas to the next stage.

“Increased confidence, along with a newfound community of like-minded women providing a supportive network for each other, are major outcomes of the pilot.”

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