Having been one of eight successful organisations to secure grant funding from the RBS Inspiring Women in Enterprise scheme, The Women’s Organisation have begun to challenge local women to consider whether self-employment is for them.

The “Is Self-Employment for You?” conference, held at The Women’s Organisation’s 54 St James Street headquarters, invited local women to come and explore their business ideas and understand what is really involved in setting up a business.

Local women in business Kim Sowah of “Coffee and Fandisha” and Erin Tabinor of “Sweet Pea Cosmetics”, who have both set up in business with help from The Women’s Organisation, started the event by sharing their journey and experiences in enterprise.

Dynamic Erin advised the women that if you have a dream to “just go for it”. Erin, who had left a legal career to set up her cosmetics business, confessed that people thought she was mad at first for throwing in the towel on an established career, but how she was undeterred and can now see her hard work and gutsy determination paying off.

Kim, whose Ethiopian inspired café in Liverpool’s trendy Baltic Triangle area, shared that “social media has been essential” for getting the word out about her business.

The women attending were invited to ask questions before joining an interactive workshop session exploring the pros and cons of self-employment, understanding where their business ideas might fit within the marketplace and what help is available to get them started.

RBS Inspiring Women in Enterprise has been designed to encourage more women to explore enterprise, develop their skills and build the courage to start up and succeed in business. RBS is making £500,000 of grants available every year for the next three years.

175 organisations submitted applications for funding to run programmes and 8 winners have been announced across the UK including the POWER programme for women with The Women’s Organisation. This event is one of the first of many opportunities for local women to link in with the programme and be inspired to follow their business dreams.

Some of the comments left by women attending the day included:

“It was good to hear both women’s accounts of their business journey”

“Great advice given about the positives and negatives of being self-employed”

“It was great being able to discuss my idea and see what reaction and feedback was given”

“It made me confident to be a business today”

“It was very interesting and it was great to hear from the 2 women who had started their businesses”

Heather Waters, Enterprise Manager at NatWest, RBS’ sister bank, said:

“The Women’s Organisation’s conference provided a dynamic environment for entrepreneurs to share expertise and their business ambitions. Women from across the region attended and were give a great opportunity to network with others in similar circumstances.

“Inspiring Enterprise has been a fantastic way for innovative organisations like The Woman’s Organisation to implement programmes that positively impact communities.”

To find out more about how The Women’s Organisation and RBS are working together to inspire local women to start and develop an enterprise of their own visit www.thewomensorganisation.org.uk