Deadline: 18-Nov-22
Are you facing challenges in growing your business? Would you benefit from peer support and the insights and experiences of successful women entrepreneurs? Then the Going for Growth initiative could be just right for you.
At Going for Growth, they believe that entrepreneurs learn best from each other. Accordingly, the initiative is based on interactive roundtable sessions that are facilitated, not by consultants, academics or professional trainers, but by successful entrepreneurs.
The Going for Growth initiative is funded by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG.
What is involved from a participants Perspective?
- Supporting Growth in a Unique Manner
- Participants are offered a unique learning environment with a peer led approach based on the shared experiences of both the Lead Entrepreneur and the other participants facing common challenges. Going for Growth is based on peer support.
- The roundtables are led by experienced Lead Entrepreneurs, who each give of their time on a voluntary basis to meet with a small group of women owner managers to support their development.
- Up to eight participants are invited by a Lead Entrepreneur to join her at a round table. The most important attributes of the Lead Entrepreneurs are that they have experience of growing a business and have personal experience of the growth journey on which the participants are embarking.
- Each is prepared to share her learning with the group. In a spirit of collaboration, the Lead Entrepreneurs act as role models to the selected participants and share their knowledge and experience with them. Each participant will find a group of likeminded women around the table.
- The businesses will be different but many of the issues will be similar. A circle of trust develops around the table and all matters discussed remain confidential.
- The Round Table Sessions
- Participants are expected to attend all meetings. These will take place once a month between January and June at a location convenient to the Lead Entrepreneur. As successful applicants will be placed with an appropriate Lead Entrepreneur, it may be necessary for participants to travel to attend the round table sessions. Unnecessary travel will be minimised, however. The arrangements for the monthly meetings (time and place) will be agreed by the Lead Entrepreneur with participants at their first meeting on 16 January 2023. A participant who is absent from two roundtable sessions will be asked to withdraw from the cycle.
- A Common Agenda Focused On Growth
- The focus of this initiative is on the growth challenge. Participants are invited to identify what success looks like for them and to translate this into a series of SMART goals and milestones. The continued focus on the attainment of these, combined with an agenda that explores questions relevant to growth, together with good peer pressure and support, frequently results in participants achieving more and in a shorter period than they previously thought possible.
- The National Launch Forum
- To start the cycle, a National Launch Forum will be held on Monday 16 January 2023. If selected, participants must be available to attend this full day event. The National Forum is designed to allow participants and Lead Entrepreneurs to explore a number of relevant topics and to have their first round table meeting.
- Going for Growth Comes Strongly Recommended
- Over 850 women entrepreneurs have already participated in a cycle of Going for Growth. In almost every case, the round table sessions translated into practical changes within their businesses and they felt nearer to achieving their growth goals, as a result of their participation in Going for Growth.a
Eligibility Criteria
- Going for Growth is for ambitious female entrepreneurs across all sectors who are located in the Republic of Ireland. The entrepreneur should already be the owner manager of a business of which she is a major shareholder and key influencer.
- Suitable applicants need to demonstrate significant aspiration for growth and should be working full time in the business. It is expected that the business will have been trading for at least two years.
- Applications will also be considered on an exceptional basis from candidates who have more recently set up businesses that are highly innovative and demonstrate significant ambition and expect to be selling in export markets. These businesses, however, must have generated some sales.
For more information, visit https://goingforgrowth.com/