Empower, the women’s entrepreneurship programme, is now accepting applications for the next Empower Growth programme.
The Empower Programme is free to participants and aims to fast-track female-led businesses in the region. Empower is funded by the Department of Justice and Equality and the European Social Fund.
There are two programmes: Empower Start - for early stage ideas or businesses operating for less than 18 months and Empower Growth - for females with established businesses looking to grow and scale their enterprise.
“Running your own business can be a lonely journey. Empower Growth brings like-minded people together who all have a shared goal; to grow and scale their business. A core element of the programme is the peer-to-peer learning, where the business owners share ideas and knowledge and support each other to identify opportunities to grow their business and find solutions to overcome barriers to progress,” Sandra Divilly Nolan, Empower programme manager, said.
The current Empower Growth 2020 participants have celebrated many milestones since commencing the programme in July 2020; these include a business model pivot to access a new international market (USA ), treble digit sales growth which provided funds to recruit and expand the team, and the development of new product and service concept, which led to winning a national prize fund.
Through sharing knowledge and encouraging each other, many of the participants have achieved national media exposure through television, press, social media and radio to promote their business. If you would like to hear what the current participants have to say about their experience on the Empower Growth programme, visit the EmpowerHer Instagram page and view the new series of one-minute video clips, where the current participants outline why they applied and what value they received from the programme.
“Another element of the programme is the one-to-one mentoring sessions. As a business owner it can be difficult to find time to step back from the day-to-day operations of the business and make strategic decisions. The mentoring sessions invite these female entrepreneurs to allocate this time, to ‘step back and look in from the outside’ and be guided through the decision-making process by an experienced mentor with a fresh outlook,” Ms Divilly Nolan added.
The Empower team also works closely and is supported by the Local Enterprise Offices. They encourage the participants to avail of the specialized training and tailored mentoring services the LEO offices provide in their area.
Through the CUA partnership, the participants are also encouraged to avail of the research facilities and supports provided at the GMIT, IT Sligo and Letterkenny IT and other government supports available to SMEs in the region.
“This year we were delighted to work in conjunction with the GMIT Marketing Department to offer the EMPOWER business owners the opportunity to be assigned a third or fourth year student to complete an assignment on their business in the areas of social media, marketing research, branding and developing a marketing plan,” Ms Divilly Nolan continued.
Throughout the programme, guest speakers attend the group sessions to talk on a specific topic or to share the story of their business journey. These sessions are intended to inform and inspire the participants and offer them a chance to ask specific questions.
The next Empower Growth programme will run from June 2021 to March 2022. The programme is delivered on a Saturday, once per month. Due to Covid-19 restrictions the programme is planned to be delivered online until such a time as in-person meetings are permitted.
The closing date for applications is Friday, April 30, at 12 noon. Apply online at www.empowerher.ie For further information and to get involved see the Empower social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
