The programme is an initiative led by Galway chamber of Commerce in partnership with the four chambers of commerce in Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Sligo. The Mentoring Programme is geared towards the early stage of female entrepreneurship, and sees them matched with a mentor for a 12 month period of mentoring support.
The intention of the mentoring programme is to boost female entrepreneurship, to recognise and support the distinctive nature of women’s business start ups, and to ensure that the newly established women entrepreneurs can sustain their activity throughout the first very challenging years of their businesses.
Communications Officer for the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Ms Lorraine McDonnell, said that “one of the aims of this programme is to increase the numbers of female entrepreneurs; through the clinics they will be offered not only advice but practical help as well. The mentors chosen for the panel will be successful business people in their own right, both men and women, and once the applications by the future mentors are processed, the programme will be up and running in a matter of weeks.”
The programme is backed by the European Commission Directorate General Enterprise and Industry. They say that women often rely heavily on personnel rather than on external sources of capital, and they also start up their businesses with significantly less capital than men. Women entrepreneurs face greater difficulties than men when trying to access finance. One of the aims of the programme is to increase confidence and to have effective pitch presentation of value propositions (unique selling points) to investors. Another objective is that women entrepreneurs should network across borders, including co-operating with existing business networks.
In addition to the 12 month mentoring programme, a series of mentoring clinics will be held throughout the country, which will be open to all female entrepreneurs to meet with the panel of mentors.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Perry said, “the establishment of the Irish Network of Mentors for Female Entrepreneurs is an important step in providing the right environment to foster development of female entrepreneurial talent across all sectors of Irish business.
“As SME Envoy for Ireland, one of my roles is to work towards ensuring that policies at a national, regional and local level are enterprise-friendly. One of the outcomes of the European Commissions Report of the Investment Readiness for Women’s Entrepreneurs workshop was its conclusion that women entrepreneurs often have different goals for their business and face greater difficulties than men in accessing finance. It is now up to the banking sector to recognise their full responsibilities by providing the economy with the services and credit it needs. They must work closely with and actively support viable small businesses that are driving forward recovery in the real economy. As the voice of small businesses to government, I will do my part to ensure that the concerns of small businesses are brought to the attention of the banking sector,” said Mr Perry.
“In supporting mentorees to meet specific challenges that women entrepreneurs face in starting up a business, I believe the National Mentoring Programme will help to promote and encourage more women to become entrepreneurs and set up in business.”
Commenting on the launch, President of Galway Chamber of Commerce, Ms Carmel Brennan, said: “We are delighted, as one of Ireland’s leading business support organisations, to introduce this mentoring programme. We recognise the great need for mentoring support for women in business. Our selection by the European Commission to roll out a nationwide programme to early stage female entrepreneurs reinforces our commitment to supporting local entrepreneurs. Working in partnership with the four other chambers, we will be providing a valuable opportunity to women entrepreneurs to connect with and learn from business mentors.”
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