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ARE YOU AN aspiring female entrepreneur hoping to get started? Or an existing female business owner looking to network and improve your company?
Maybe you’re just someone who is interested to learn about entrepreneurship by listening to women from all different backgrounds?
The 2022 National Women’s Enterprise Day takes place across 16 venues around Ireland on Thursday, 13 October and a range of topics will be discussed on the day – from finance, marketing, innovation and new product development, to family, well-being, and mental health.
It is the 16th year that the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) will be running Ireland’s largest female enterprise event, and “Our Future, Our Way” is this year’s theme.
“National Women’s Enterprise Day provides a forum whereby women can learn from the experiences of other female entrepreneurs, meet role models and be informed of the wide range of supports available to assist them in their journey from the Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland, Microfinance Ireland and others,” says Orla Martin, Head of Enterprise at Offaly’s LEO.
“We are very encouraged by the findings of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for 2021, which showed that 49% of women surveyed believed they had the necessary skills and knowledge to start a business. This was up from 39% in 2018.
“The report also highlighted that Ireland has the third highest rate for early-stage women entrepreneurs across European countries, with over 1,400 women starting a new business in Ireland every month.”
Below, we hear from two entrepreneurs who will be speaking on the day…
Tell us how your business got started…
I worked as a pharmaceutical technician for 25 years and spotted a gap in the market for a child-friendly throat soother. In 2016, my two-year-old son had an accident with the babysitter while I was at work. Thankfully, he is okay now but I left work for a year at the time to aid his recovery. It was during this time I started to research how to make the product that I had in mind.
What’s the best piece of business advice you ever received?
I can’t think of a good answer right now. I got so much good advice along the way!
What would you say to an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to start a business but who has reservations?
I would say to go ahead and pursue the business idea. It’s okay not to know everything at the beginning, you’re not meant to know everything. It’s a huge learning curve but if you like learning new things and you are willing to work hard you can achieve any goal.
This is exactly what the LEOs are there for, to support you through all of the stages of starting a new business. You don’t have to leave your job straight away either if you have one, you can research your idea to see if it is viable for a while before you fully take the leap. You can do both. Lots of people think it’s an and/or scenario but it really isn’t.
Why do you think the LEOs are important for aspiring business owners?
They will connect you with the experts in the areas that you need advice on, which is so important at the start when you don’t quite know what you are doing yet or where to start. Not only that, they will potentially support this stage with grant funding.
They are extremely well-connected and have the best consultants on board to advise you and this is ongoing as your business evolves. It can be a lonely spot starting a business but with the LEO supports you feel like someone is rooting for you and understands what it is that you are trying to achieve.
In a lot of cases, your family and friends might think you’re a bit mad – especially if you’re giving up a stable, well-paid job to pursue your business idea. In my case, I had no big salary to give up so I felt I had nothing to lose by at least trying!
Do you have a business credo that you live by?
I always say ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get!’ For me, I had zero business background and as a lone parent I had zero money in the bank. I had certainly never developed a product before so it was essential that I asked lots of questions and secured all the funding I could get my hands on to get my idea from a concept to reality.
We are very lucky that there are so many supports available to start-ups in Ireland – you just have to go and grab them!
Tell us about your business and how it started…
The Little Wax Company is a family-run business. We offer a wide range of home fragrance products which include candles, wax melts, room sprays and reed diffusers. All of our products are hand-poured by our experienced team from our workshop in North County Dublin. The Little Wax Company only uses natural soy wax in all of our candles and wax melts.
Like most people, I had a love for candles and diffusers. However, I started to notice that wax melts were becoming really popular in other countries and I couldn’t get any good quality ones in Ireland at that time. So I decided to experiment by making wax melts at home with my eldest daughter.
After months of perfecting my technique and research, I knew I had a business and The Little Wax Company was born in early 2019.
What’s the best piece of business advice you ever received?
There’s isn’t just one piece of business advice that has stuck with me over the years. A few that stand out are always be consistent, no matter what you’re doing. Don’t always strive for perfection, it can really hold your business back. And remember, you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel, take inspiration from others.
What would you say to an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to start a business but who has reservations?
There is never a perfect time to start a business so do it now and don’t worry about what other people will think. You don’t always need a lot of money to start a business, use as many free resources as possible.
Why do you think the LEOs are important for aspiring business owners?
The Little Wax Company would not be the business it is today without the support of our LEO. As well as offering a range of financial grants, which are important at different stages of growing your business, it is also the support provided through networking events, business clinics, mentoring programmes and a vast range of training available to every business.
Do you have a business credo that you live by? If so, can you tell us about it?
Having a brand that puts customer loyalty at the heart of every decision.
National Women’s Enterprise Day 2022 takes place in 16 venues across the country on Thursday, 13 October. For more information on the events in each area and how to register go to LocalEnterprise.ie/NWED.
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