The Foundation forWomen's Entrepreneurship invites women to take part in a new edition of the program "Business in Women's Hands". The initiative is addressed to women who have an idea for a business and want to set up their own firm by the end of 2015. The program will last seven months and is based on three pillars: training in the SkillShare Network of Entrepreneurial Women, business mentoring, and networking. It is being implemented with the support of The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation. The honorary partners of the program are the City of Warsaw and the Digital Economy Lab of the University of Warsaw (DELab UW).
"The previous edition of the "Business in Women's Hands" program was a big success. New companies were established. The ideas which women came to us with developed into real business concepts functioning in a market environment. We are pleased that the program is effective and not only enables women to build their businesses more rapidly and in a well-thought-out way, but also teaches them how to build up business contacts and to support each other," says KatarzynaWierzbowska, President of the Foundation for Women'sEntrepreneurship.
Likelast year, for this year'sedition of the "Business in Women's Hands"program,50participantswill be selected through a competition. The recruitment processconsists of twostages.In the first,applicationswill be acceptedthroughan online formavailable onthe Foundation'swebsite: www.fundacjakobiet.org. In the second stage, the selected candidateswill be invitedforindividual interviews. The forms should becompleted and submittedthrough the websitebetween March 30andApril10. Thenthere will bea meetingwith the selectedparticipants. A list ofthe womenthat havequalifiedfor the programwill be announcedby May 30. Those interested inthe initiativecan participatein abriefingon March 20from 10:00 to12:00at the University of WarsawLibrary (conference room316).
The program, which will lastseven months, from June to December, consists ofthree elements.The first is the SkillShareNetwork of Entrepreneurial Womenofferingtraining, workshops, andindividual consultations withbusinesspractitionersin areas essential foryoung entrepreneurs.These includebusiness modeling, strategy, finances, promotion, and sales.The second element isbusinessmentoring. Participantsof the programwill be able tobenefit from the experienceand knowledgeof businesswomenbelonging to theMentors Club ofthe Network of Entrepreneurial Women. The third component isnetworkingamong program participants.These meetingsprovidean opportunity to exchangeideas andinitialexperiences, as well asmutual support. They alsoencouragebusiness cooperation.
"The opportunity forparticipants to exchangeknowledge andexperiences enables the implementation ofthe overarching objectiveof the program,whichis to create aclusterof companiesin the Warsaw metropolitan area. Because of the business relationshipsestablished between thewomen,the results of the programsurpassed ourexpectations andshowed thatbusinessis truly inwomen'shands," says Krzysztof Kaczmar, President ofThe Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundationat Citi Handlowy.
Inlast year'sedition of "Business inWomen'sHands" program,out of 50participants, 43set uptheir own businesses. The largest number ofstart-upsdealt withfamilyissuesand health andbeauty.The nextgroupin terms ofthe numberswerecreativebusinesses,focusing ondesign and fashion. The women whoparticipatedin the programalsocreatedtechnology companiesas well ascompanies offeringmore traditionalproducts and services. With regard to legal form, the vast majority of new businesses weresole proprietorships, while some were limited liability companies and two were foundations.
Companiesset up in the programin 2015,along with thosefromthe previous edition, followingcompletion of the program,will undergofurthermonitoringin terms of profitabilityand performance. If they meet therelevant criteria,they will also beable to benefit fromcertaintraining courses andnetworking meetingsorganizedby the Foundation.
Participation in the program is free.
