Top Tools For Women Entrepreneurs
To empower women who might be considering the entrepreneurial route, Business Link has launched two new online services to help people to start-up and grow their businesses.
The Start-Up Service, called My New Business, which has been launched alongside the Growth and Improvement Service, is for budding entrepreneurs in the beginning stages of starting their business.
The service provides a list of recommended start-up tasks to guide entrepreneurs from the first inkling of an idea, right through to running and managing their own business. These tasks can be filtered to create a personalised list of key tasks, specific to each individual, which can be listed by priority and given due dates.
Women considering starting-up on their own will find a number of tools on the Start-Up and Growth and Improvement Services which will help them to think through the options and get started.
- Decide if you’ve got what it takes to be your own boss: This tool helps people see if they have the skills and characteristics to work for themselves: a quiz helps them see if they’ve got what it takes, while a mythbuster shows what it really means to run a business.
- Create your business plan: Creating a business plan is key to any new business, and the business plan template can be used as an outline to get started, along with a step-by-step video which covers everything that should be included in plan.
- Develop your business idea: This tool shows people how to develop an idea from that ‘eureka!’ moment right through to a fully fledged business.
Plotting goals against current positions, the tool helps identify the challenges ahead; making sure each business idea is built to succeed.
- Easy access to grants and support schemes: The updated Business Support Finder provides details of publicly-funded grants, loans or offers of expertise that individuals may be entitled to, as well as information on publicly or privately-funded business recognition awards.
- Access to business advice: For entrepreneurs looking for sources of business advice, the improved Events Finder can put them in touch with local networking, training, and peer support opportunities; while the new Mentorsme.co.uk service can help businesses across the UK to find a mentor.
- Understanding regulation: The new Business Link services can help start-ups to understand the regulatory environment, collating all relevant information on legislation and regulation so they are up to speed with the things they need to know.
The service provides access to all of a start ups necessary interactions within government in one place, such as registering for taxes and incorporating their company online.
Ray Lambe, Director, Business Link said: "Despite many women believing that there are start-up opportunities where they live and more than a third saying that they have the skills and experience to start their own business, only 4% of women are actively engaged in early-stage entrepreneurialism.
"By improving our services we want to help people, including women, who have toyed with the idea of setting up their own business but not acted on it. Amongst other things, My New Business provides potential entrepreneurs with tools that can help them to work out whether they can work for themselves; see if they have what it takes to be their own boss; and find links to financial help or expertise they may be entitled to.
"The first step is the toughest, but we’re here to help guide people through the start-up process, and ensure they have the information and support they need to help their business succeed. Visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/newservices for more information."