Be Inspired Guide by Vinnumálastofnun

Fostering Female Entrepreneurship through Mentoring and learning in Europe LLP LLP –– Leonardo Leonardo da da Vinci, Vinci, Transfer Transfer of of Innovation Innovation

BE INSPIRED GUIDE

LLP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Leonardo da Vinci, Transfer of Innovation

Fostering Female Entrepreneurship through Mentoring and learning in Europe FFEMALE / 2013-1-IS1-LEO05-02635

BE INSPIRED GUIDE Developed by Association of Self-Employed and Entrepreneurs Women of Madrid In collaboration with Inova Consultancy

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This report reďŹ&#x201A;ects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

BE INSPIRED GUIDE © 1st edition, 2015 Handbook's Authors: © Isabel Contreras Ocaña, 2015 © Gemma Puertas Rodriguez, 2015 © Marina Larios, 2015 Graphic Design © Artés Gráﬁcas Unigraf S.L., 2015 All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the authors. An infringement of any of the aforementioned rights may constitute a oﬀence against copyright. This publication is funded by European Commission, Lifelong Learning Programme under Female project. Fostering Female Entrepreneurship through Mentoring and learning in Europe. LLP – Leonardo da Vinci, Transfer of Innovation.

Table of Contents 1.

What Will You Find In This Handbook?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08

Enterprising as a Labour Option for Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09 2.1. What is Enterprising? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09 2.2

Why being a Fempreneur might be interesting for you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09

2.3.

We as â&#x20AC;&#x153;fempreneursâ&#x20AC;?: abilities, knowledge and attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.4. Our closest environment for enterprising: family, friends and colleagues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.5. Starting my business and reconciling my personal, family and professional life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.6. Being a fempreneur in times of crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3.

What Does Being a Fempreneur Means? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Inspiring Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 4.1. Inspiring Story of Valerie Boulding from UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 4.2. Inspiring Story of Jessica Zeun from UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4.3. Inspiring Story by Rosa Jimenez from Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 4.4

Inspiring story by Lourdes Garcia from Spain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.5. Inspiring story by Fida from Iceland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 4.6. Inspiring Story by A albjรถrg from Iceland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 4.7.

Inspiring Story by Vita from Lithuania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

4.8.

Inspiring Story by Daiva Eledita from Lithuania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

What Kind of Resources do you need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Where can you go to ask for help? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

What Knowledge and Competences will You Need as an Entrepreneur? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Step 1 - Have you the makings of an entrepreneur? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Step 2 - Be sure that you have all the necessary knowledge about business management . . . . . . . . . 71 Step 3 - Network, network and network once again!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Step 4 - Be always on! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Tell the World about Your Decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

The Future of my Business. Vision over the Medium and Long Term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 9.1. My business is already running. How to detect the right moment to make a leap forward and grow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 9.2. The failure as a possibility. How to channel it in a constructive way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 9.3. Know how to realise when you have to stop and close your business and how to do it . . . . . . . . 76

1. What Will You Find In This Handbook? The present handbook has been developed thinking of you: a woman who is considering starting a business or who is currently running a business and needs a boost. We, the team behind this handbook, are also women and know that, not only do we face the same challenges as men do when starting a business, but we also face some directly linked to our gender. We understand that you might have a lot of doubt in your mind; and you might be wondering if continuing with your business is the right decision, considering the socio-economic environment. Whilst you might need help, more importantly you often need a push in the right direction. Because running your own business is the best and hardest decision you can ever take,

you need serious advice, and you need to know the real challenges you have to face and the strengths and resources you have. We are helping you to overcome all these challenges and hopefully also to discover the strengths and competences that you did not even know you had. In the process we will also highlight the areas or skills you can still improve to ensure your success. Running a business can be a question of luck but mainly a successful business relates to hard work and personal skills. Having all the necessary information is the best way of taking the right decision, this is why we have designed this handbook to help you in this process. Let us inspire you to be the best fempreneur you can possibly be!

Once your decision has been taken, the resources developed by the FEMALE programme will help you acquire all the necessary skills that you will need on your way to be a successful business woman.

ÂŤ the FEMALE programme will help you acquire all the necessary skills that you will need on your way to be a successful business woman Âť

2. Enterprising as a Labour Option for Women 2.1 What is Enterprising?

2.2 Why being a Fempreneur might be interesting for you

When we talk about enterprising, we talk about the real desire of running your own business, having a clear awareness of what it entails in terms of advantages, responsibilities and impacts on other aspects of your life.

You probably have realised that there is currently a boom of entrepreneurship. Nowadays being an entrepreneur is seen as a value and highly appreciated in society.

Many people can be enterprising people, meaning that they have some common skills, attributes and behaviours like leadership, creativity, negotiation skills but it does not necessarily mean that these people want and have the personal aim to set up their own business. Enterprising means making the most of your talent, skills and abilities to achieve your goals, your meditated and realistic goals, leaded by passion and assuming responsibilities with all the people involved in the process.

nise yourself, according to your needs. Or probably you simply have a persistent idea that you wish to implement.

By becoming a fempreneur, you will have a chance to get a job, get the opportunity for a career perspective and the possibility of growing which is not always possible in all the companies even with a brilliant CV.

Entrepreneurship is a work option that can be suitable for many women with diﬀerent personal situations and needs. The advantages of having your own business are clear: many of us have dreamt about being our own boss, running a successful business and negotiating an important contract with a client. Being your own boss is very attractive for many people but being an entrepreneur is not always easy. It is not a smooth choice or at least not in 99% of the cases. And it can be even harder if you are a woman.

You might have ﬁnished your degree a couple of years ago and have been looking for a job without success. You might have recently started a family and want a job that you can orga-

For becoming an entrepreneur you need resources. Not only ﬁnancial but also other intangible resources like competences, skills, and attitudes.

The reality is that becoming an entrepreneur and working on your own is a solution to find a job that fits your personal situation, your ambitions or needs which would otherwise be difficult to achieve with a more traditional job.

We want you to be realistic: setting your own business is hard and it will require all your patience, willingness and determination. You must be very well prepared and you need to meditate your decision. You have to keep in mind that the success of a business requires 1% of luck and 99% of hard work. Do you remember Fame, the famous TV series of the 80’s? If you are not too young you will most likely remember the famous sentence “You want fame… well, fame costs”. Of course, you may not be looking at becoming a famous singer or dancer. “I only want to open my own architecture studio” or “my own cupcakes shop” you may be thinking right now. You are right but at the end you are pursuing something that may be even more valuable than fame: you are planning to be autonomous, to not depend on anybody else’s but only on your own decisions. If you succeed you will have a worthwhile reward: you will have a job, you will take decisions and eventually you will earn money.

But if you fail, you will lose time and money. Of course, failure can be a positive experience from which you can learn a lot. You do not have to be scared of failure, but we want you to know, that if you fail, it can be independent from your hard work and skills. Our intention with this handbook is to provide you with all the information and support to take the best decision and to provide you with the knowledge, skills and abilities that you will need in the process of becoming your own boss.

2.3 We as “fempreneurs”: abilities, knowledge and attitudes While you are reading this, you might be thinking: “well, entrepreneurship is a hard process, but is it not the same for a man? What is the diﬀerence between being a man and a woman when starting your own business?”

Differences exist. Due to some social stereotypes women are probably finding more obstacles than men when setting up a business. However women also have abilities, knowledge and attitudes that differentiate them from men. The reality is that, even though the gap is closing, men are still creating more companies than women. Female entrepreneurs tend to be more cautious, more careful, more accurate and more enquiring. We are hard workers and multitaskers which are great assets to start a business. However, because many women lack confidence, we tend to research, to look for advice and listen to others… we care about what others have to say and what other needs so we are better in dealing with people: present and potential clients, suppliers or staff. As a result, women take longer to set a business and set less business than men but when we do, our companies have solid foundations.

Statistics don’t lie and women-owned businesses tend to survive longer. Don’t worry because all the doubts and fears you are facing are normal. We can even say that they are positive: once you solve your doubts and overcome your fears you will be on the right track for a successful business.

2.4 Our closest environment for enterprising: family, friends and colleagues

values related to enterprising, you may have a natural tendency to work on your own and think about establishing your business. Some researchers have analysed the role of the family in the entrepreneurial process and in the emergence of new business opportunities. We consider that there are two key roles of the family in the diﬀerent stages of the business process.

Enterprising sounds to us like a big issue, a diﬃcult and extraordinary step… so much that we forget that most of the times it is our closets environment which provides us with the necessary opportunities and resources to take this important step.

In the initial stage, the family can be a source of inspiration and business opportunities for you, already existing or new ones. Along the history of humanity, most of the businesses have been family business, in which all the members were involved and had the certainty that they would continue with the business family since it was their way of life.

There has been much debate whether entrepreneurs were born or made. Whatever the right answer to this question is, the truth is that if you live in an environment which is familiar with the

Things have changed enormously in the last decades, however maybe you are one of these members of already existing family business well established for some years. If

this is the case, take this opportunity! Continuing with the family business doesn't mean that you have to renounce to be creative and it doesn't make you a second class entrepreneur. On the contrary, you have the opportunity to bring creativity to your family business and boost its growth making it something that is yours. Even if you don't have a family business to expand, the role of family continues to be essential in the initial stage of your business creation as they probably can provide you with the economic funds that you need and with the support and encouragement to take the decision of developing your business idea. The second important role of the family comes in the stage of running and consolidating the business. Being an entrepreneur is hard so if you don't count on the support and help of your family it will be even harder and may lead you to give up with your business as you cannot resist the tension between your business and family life. Your family will provide you with

emotional support which helps you to continue facing difficulties and strengthen your motivation. But it can also happen that your enterprise becomes so time consuming that you must reduce drastically the hours spent with your family. In this case you should probably take a step back and consider a better balancing in your life so that your business remains a sustainable and pleasant way of life for you. Finally, your friends and colleagues are also a fundamental pillar in your business development process whether they will become your business partners, provide you with financial help, or just give you a hand when you need it. They also become your closest network to promote your business. They can be your first clients and the most effective marketing campaign since they will likely be spreading the voice about your business to all their contacts.

Do not underestimate what your friends and colleagues can do for you and count on them when making your business plan.

2.5 Starting my business and reconciling my personal, family and professional life Before taking the step to establish your own business you have to be aware of what this decision implies beyond the analysis that you make on costs, expected revenues and investment. There are a lot of changes in your life that you cannot consider in your business plan. Be aware that success in business is directly proportional to the passion that you bring to your activity. If you bring this passion and your business starts growing, the time that you have to devote to it will increase and the time to be devoted to other things which matter will be reduced.

It may have a big impact on your family life and you need to decide if you really want to shorten the time you spend with you beloved ones. Analyse not only if you want to but also if you can afford it. Be sure you have the necessary support to face all the situations in which you may need extra help. Even if you do not have a family probably you will have to reduce the time you devote to your friends and to your hobbies. You will be investing your time in growing your professional life and growing as a person in general, but you need to be sure that this is what you want in order to avoid later conflicting situations. However, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, mothers with at least two kids are the most productive of all women, including those without children. What the results of this study seems to suggest is that when you are faced with pressure and time become a constraint, efficiency increases as a response to this pressure. Therefore,

probably you will find the way to cope with all the personal and professional commitments in your daily agenda. To achieve this, what you have to fight against is procrastination. This article contains some tips to help you fight against procrastination. http://addicted2success.com/successadvice/10-effective-strategies-to-fightprocrastination-get-your-groove-back/ If work-life balance is something that keeps you awake at night, try reading one of these books: 

Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur. Brad Feld and Amy Batchelor

http://www.amazon.es/Startup-Life-SurvivingRelationship-Entrepreneur/dp/1480563862 

For Better or For Work: A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs and Their Families. Meg Cadoux Hirshberg.

http://www.amazon.com/For-Better-Work-Survival-Entrepreneurs/dp/0983934002

2.6 Being a fempreneur in times of crisis Of course, starting up a business is hard work and the crisis times we live in don't make it easier. If we tell you that the biggest companies were forged in times of crisis we are not helping you much as you probably have listened to this a thousand times. However, if you have an idea, or even a dream, nothing will stop you. If you are creative enough you can turn the situation around and ﬁnd new opportunities even in diﬃcult times.

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple said that what makes the diﬀerence between the entrepreneurs who succeed and those who don't, is just perseverance. Maybe you can also consider some sort of social enterprise. The resilience of social enterprises has proved to be higher making it a great alternative. Moreover, social entrepreneurship is a key element for European Commission investment in the next years since it is seen as crucial to contribute to economic recovery of Europe.

3. What Does Being a Fempreneur Means? Have you been talking about your business idea with some friends or with your family? Sometimes you may be reluctant to talk about it because you are afraid they don't like the idea or that you may not fulﬁl the expectations that you think they have of you.

But talking about your ideas is very important, and listening to other people talking about what entrepreneurship is and what it entails is very helpful, even if you do not always identify yourself with the proﬁle of entrepreneurs that they seem to be talking about.

The best way to learn what being a fempreneur really means is listening to and learning from the people who know about it best.

Kavita Ramdas: Radical women, embracing tradition

Hanna Rosin: New data on the rise of women

Investing in women can unlock inďŹ nite potential around the globe. But how can women walk the line between Western-style empowerment and traditional culture? Kavita Ramdas of the Global Fund for Women talks about three encounters with powerful women who ďŹ ght to make the world better -- while preserving the traditions that sustain them.

Hanna Rosin reviews startling new data that shows women actually surpassing men in several important measures, such as college graduation rates. Do these trends, both US-centric and global, signal the "end of men"? Probably not -- but they point toward an important societal shift worth deep discussion.

Here we are including some inspiring videos, most of them are TedxTalks.

Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders

Majora Carter: 3 stories of local eco-entrepreneurship

Cameron Herold: Let's raise kids to be entrepreneurs

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg looks at why a smaller percentage of women than men reach the top of their professions -- and oďŹ&#x20AC;ers 3 powerful pieces of advice to women aiming for the C-suite.

The future of green is local -- and entrepreneurial. At TEDxMidwest, Majora Carter brings us the stories of three people who are saving their own communities while saving the planet. Call it "hometown security."

Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. At TEDxEdmonton, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs ďŹ&#x201A;ourish -as kids and as adults.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: Women entrepreneurs, example not exception

Isabel Allende: Tales of passion

Women aren't micro--so why do they only get micro-loans? At TEDxWomen reporter Gayle Tzemach Lemmon argues that women running all types of ﬁrms-- from home businesses to major factories-- are the overlooked key to economic development.

Author and activist Isabel Allende discusses women, creativity, the deﬁnition of feminism -- and, of course, passion -- in this talk.

Sheryl Sandberg: So we learned in ... now what?

Sheryl Sandberg admits she was terrified to step onto the TED stage in 2010 -- because she was going to talk, for the first time, about the lonely experience of being a woman in the top tiers of business. Millions of views (and a bestselling book) later, the Facebook COO talks with the woman who pushed her to give that first talk, Pat Mitchell. Sandberg opens up about the reaction to her idea, and explores the ways that women still struggle with success.

Maya Penn: Anne-Marie Slaughter: Meet a young entrepreneur, Can we all "have it all"? cartoonist, designer, activist ...

The best way to learn what being a fempreneur really means is listening to and learning from the people who know about it best.

Maya Penn started her ďŹ rst company when she was 8 years old, and thinks deeply about how to be responsible both to her customers and to the planet. She shares her story -- and some animations, and some designs, and some infectious energy -- in this charming talk.

Public policy expert Anne-Marie Slaughter made waves with her 2012 article, "Why women still can't have it all." But really, is this only a question for women? Here Slaughter expands her ideas and explains why shifts in work culture, public policy and social mores can lead to more equality -- for men, women, all of us.

4. Inspiring Stories We are also presenting you inspiring stories of women like you who decided to run their businesses and succeeded, sometimes having had many obstacles to overcome. They are women from the United Kingdom, Iceland, Spain and Lithuania, the four countries in which the Go4It programme has taken place.

4.1 Inspiring Story of Valerie Boulding from UK Valerie Boulding was born in Sheffield in 1959 and grew up on Parson Cross a large social housing estate. She has 3 brothers and 2 sisters and was brought up believing that it was the boys that had the opportunities. One of her first jobs was as an office cleaner. She married at 18 and had two children. She was divorced at 31 and became the bread winner. She had very little confidence but overcame this to eventually gain promotion to Performance Manager/Trainer. She was made redundant in 2001 and went back in to education, eventually doing a degree in Sustainable Communities and a teaching degree. She started

work in Community Development and when the funding ﬁnished in 2007 she started thinking about self-employment as an option. She took an 18 month contract as Project Manager for Sheﬃeld Women’s Education and Training and when this ended in 2007 she knew that she wanted to have a go at being self-employed in Community Development. After going through the Inova mentoring programme, she became a self-employed tutor. In 2015 she went through the programme again before opening a vintage shop in August this year. She doesn’t see herself as an

Entrepreneur but as someone who has overcome lack of confidence and fear to do the things she really wants to do. Her idea for the shop started a few years ago as she became a collector of vintage items, in particular teapots, cups and saucers. She then started to see her collection as stock and started getting more and more along with other stock that she could imagine in my shop. There were a few problems before she could open the shop. For example she had to apply for a Second Hand Dealer’s licence and her “collection of stock” looked minimal once out in the shop. It was a massive learning curve, for example finding out about “job lots” and different vintage styles for clothing. Stock con-

trol and managing ﬁnances have also been challenging.

continue for many years to come and possible move to more suitable premises.

She found that the support from Inova and other women from the mentoring circle was great and support from family and friends has been amazing.

Regarding her home to work balance, she tries to leave her work at work and she always ensures she makes time for family and friends. Having had a stressful experience of working in a call centre as a manager, she has learnt to manage her work and professional life in a positive way.

For the shop, she has only been open a few weeks but for her teaching she found that a lot of her work came by word of mouth and that she was able to build relationships. She found it diﬃcult when I did her ﬁrst tax return but this got easier.

Her advice to other fempreneurs is to just do it. She says “It is hard but you don’t know if you don’t try and you will always wonder if you should have gone for it.”

Now she hopes to run the shop for a year minimum and if it becomes a viable business and she can grow it successfully then would like to

4.2.Inspiring Story of Jessica Zeun from UK Jessica Zeun was born in Sheffield. Her mum worked for the University of Sheffield and her dad ran his own local business. She did her degree at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) on a part-time basis while working full time at a bar. Years later she became a Senior Lecturer at SHU as well as doing some part-time teaching at the University of Sheffield. The Sheffield Hallam Enterprise Challenge competition was the driver for launching her first business with one of her best friend. They entered the competition for fun and to learn about starting a business, ended up as finalists out of over 100 business ideas and won second place. As she had always been passionate about helping businesses to make the most of the technology available to them, she decided to crea-

te a business oﬀering Digital Marketing, Business Systems, Data Security and IT Training. For her, she did not feel like she had any major diﬃculties setting up her business as she had already managed and been involved with several businesses over the 10 years she had been in business and she also received support from a number of agencies and support organisations. She mentioned that there are lots of supports available if you know where to look and a good network of contacts really helps. In terms of support, she noticed that her partner is extremely supportive and often helps out in the business when she needs him. Friends and family are also very important. But the most valuable support she has found is that of other entrepreneurs who are at a similar stage or have had similar experiences, this

is mostly through female business networks and mentoring circles.

re and this time around she is much better prepared for the pitfalls and hidden expenses.

The ﬁrst year of the business went well so far. She wanted to do it without having to take a credit this time, so she does not have overdraft, credit card or business loan. So far she noted that all was well and it felt great not to owe anything to the bank.

Finally, concerning the work to life balance, working for herself means she can be flexible and work around other commitments at times to suit her. As well as running her business she is also involved in running an Outdoor Swimming club which operates on a not for profit basis. She finds it to be a great hobby and a really good way to release stress.

Regarding her current business situation, having recently left a permanent job and going full time in the business she is building the business slowly but expect to get to a point where she may need to employ someone soon and get premises instead of working from home. It’s a big step but one she has taken befo-

Her tips to other fempreneurs are to ask other entrepreneurs for advice, not to be afraid to ask for help, read lots of business blogs and have conﬁdence in yourself and your decisions.

4.3. Inspiring Story by Rosa Jiménez from Spain HOW TO CHANGE FROM BEING AN AUXILIARY NURSE TO EARN A LIVING IN THE WORLD OF FASHION AND DESIGN Rosa Jimenez Noguera, owner of “The Dressing room”, is a fempreneur who has succeeded in re-training herself to switch the sector of her business, as it failed due to the economic crisis in Spain. Rosa, 42 years old, graduated as a nursing assistant. Since she was a child, she had been always attracted to the entrepreneurship world. She was born in Baza (Granada, Spain), 18th September of 1973. Once she ﬁnished her studies, she started to work as a nursing assistant, but this job was not very attractive for her. She and her sister saw how their mother made a success of her own business, and following her example, she decided to enter in the entrepreneurship world.

Using the financial help of her family, Rosa and her sister, began a new business adventure, setting up one of the unique home decor stores in the region of Baza- –“Glass Dekora”. She said those were hard times, because they had to face up something new for them. She pointed out the enthusiasm with which they rented their first premises and how they started to make people know about their business, mainly by offering quality and fashionable goods to clients in the home decoration world. Little by little the business grew and she was able to buy her own premises. By that time, Rosa was already the only owner of the business.

In 2010, when the economic crisis hit Spain, Rosa started to lose turnover. The main problem was that people had stopped spending money to decorate their houses as they needed to devote their money to satisfy other basic necessities (buying food, paying bills and supporting their family).

She started to think how she could innovate to improve her turnover. Her hobby had always been the fashion industry. Since she was a child, she had been following the fashion trends through radio, TV, fashion magazines, and nowadays by internet. As a result, she decided to design handbags, belts, head coverings, etc, which she started to sell in her home decor store.

a niche market for me”, so, 7th March of 2015 she opened again the door of her business under the brand name “The Dressing room”.

This driving force was good for her business, but unfortunately she was still unable to cope with the monthly expenses of the shop.

Following the failure of her previous business, she felt very demotivated but her family support was essential for her to be able to set up this new business. Now, she is even more motivated than before to support this new business idea.

However she did not lose her entrepreneurial spirit. Since she owned the premises, she spent more than one year thinking about how she could take advantage of it and use all the information and knowledge that she had about fashion in a new business. “All women in the region of Baza go to hypermarkets to buy new clothes and I sensed that it could be

“The dressing room” is a business which reﬂects Rosas’s strong personality and her passion for fashion. It is a women’s fashion line which coordinates glamour and fashion tendencies at a very competitive prices.

The economic support that she had had to start up her business has been from her own resources, some ﬁnancial support from her family and credit loans from the bank.

She explained that family was a fundamental pillar to get over the fear of starting a new business and even though she counts on this support, she has always had a secret fear to fail them or them not supporting her in the same way. The investment for her new business project caused her sleeplessness. She was extremely nervous thinking about her hard eﬀort and economic sacriﬁce could cause a new business failure. She painted all the furniture of the store herself and the decoration of the store was made using everything that she was able to use from her previous store. The main challenge she had to face was to show her clients that they do not have to travel far to buy economical, smart, fashionable clothes. Rosa’s shop was well received by the women from the region of Baza and she pointed out how “incredible” the support she re-

ceived was. Her clients have encouraged her to continue with her new business and congratulated her for bringing closer to them the fashion and for dealing with them in a personal way. Rosa's personality is special; she knows how to deal with the clients for making them feel comfortable, at home. The store has been opened for 6 months and is running very well, better than she would have ever imagined. She has started to make some sales by internet. Now she is thinking about the possibility to open also an online store. "My Facebook page has opened my store to new clients from a lot of regions of Spain. I got 1091 likes in just 5 months! Since my new business is opened my self esteem has improved a lot. When a business is running badly, it affects your character and your family relationships. Now I can say that I am happy and motivated. It is incredible!, a year ago, I could not imagine that it was going to really happen".

"As my business is running well and I am happy to make a living doing what I love to do, I am now committed to help other people and improve their lives. Two month ago, I arranged the ﬁrst charitable fashion show in solidarity with the Association of mentally handicapped people “Jabalcón”. It was a spectacular event and the town of Baza immersed itself in the event and all the sales that I did as a result of this event went to the association". Regarding the work-life balance; Rosa says that you have to learn to manage your own time. She has a 6 years old daughter, who she looks after and also she counts on her family support, “I bear it very well”.

She thinks that her business has very good perspectives. Now her sights are to open an online store. "If you are a woman like me and you are thinking to set up your own business, look ahead and do not be afraid it. Of course, there will be bumps in the road, however if you have your family support and you work with all your energy, you will be able to earn a living that you love and you will be happiest in the future”.

FOLLOW EL VESTIDOR NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA El Vestidor: Alamillo street, 10 Baza (Granada). Spain. / Telephone number: +34 958 86 15 05 Online orders: You can do it by email: elvestidor2015@gmail.com

4.4 Inspiring story by Lourdes Garcia from Spain Lourdes GarcĂa, 34 years old, is a fempreneur from the Canary Islands who lives in Malaga. During her school days she already knew that she wanted to study advertising. First of all she studied commercial management and marketing and after, she studied a degree of advertising and PR in Madrid. She always has seen herself as a fempreneur. She began to develop a fascination with the market research, it means, to study why the clients like some things and other things not, what is the special characteristic in a product which turns it into a success, etc. Thanks her interest in these topics, she started to work in a market research institute. In this time, she worked in projects for consumer goods brands with an international presence. Lourdes felt that in some way she had achieved to work where she wanted, but there was somet-

hing inside her that told her it was not her place and it was not a job that she would like to do during all her professional life, mainly for the future problems that she would have to face up to reconcile work and family life. "Working in a very well know advertising business, makes you to give up some areas of your life, like to be mother...I was not ready to do this". For personal reasons, she moved to live in Malaga, and it is in this city where her business project arises. Nutlu (nutlu.com) starts through Lourdes's passion for fashion and sewing together with her other passion for market research. When she was a child she learned to sew and she made her own dolls' dresses. She has always lived surrounded by patterns and sewing machines since in her family there is a long tradition in the world of sewing and fashion. "Sewing, rela-

ditional activity that it is available only for our grandmothers and mothers".

xes me a lot". She has taken advantage of her knowledge in marketing to design a new concept and a brand to bring fashion to clients. She decided to design and selling children's fashion because she started to design and sewing children's clothes for her relatives and friends. They started to say Lourdes that it would be incredible to be able to design and sewing their children's clothes, but their main problem was that they do not know how to sew. "Nowadays, sewing is perceived as a tra-

People like to interact with the product, and this was the base to focus her business idea in children's clothes design. "The base of the clothes is not very different one from another, but just changing the cloth and some adornments the result can be totally different". Nutlu satisﬁes its customers' need, she invites them to be participants in the design of their children's' clothes without learning to sew. Therefore, it is the purpose of Nutlu, achieving a level of involvement of the customers in the design of the clothes. They can design whatever they want. When she started her business idea, she faced up some challenges. The main handicap was the web platform design. "I did not know anything about the ecommerce world, and, in a little time, I had to learn hard skills related to"

the technical part and the design part". She devoted a lot of effort to find the best specialist to design the platform. In 2 year of very hard work, she had 2 bad experiences that made her thinking to give up her business idea. "....because despite the money that I spent, I felt that all the effort, time and dedication had been lost without finishing the essential part of the project. After, you recover, you win again motivation and think that if it has failed, in some place there should be a company or person who can develop my web platform". Therefore, she spent many time to produce a document which had all the information on how she wanted the Nutlu platform to be. The main aim was that the platform was simple, intuitive and user friendly for the clients. Finally, after a long search, she found the person who catch the essence of Nutlu and knew how to put it it into a web platform, someone

who had a strong personal involvement in her project. Now Nutlu has got a versatile web platform, designed with a view for future developments since in this platform you can personalize not only clothes but any kind of object that you can process as an image. To start up her business idea Lourdes has used her own ďŹ nancial resources and some economic help of her family. "My family is the main investor of Nutlu. My family and friends have full conďŹ dence in me. Now I want to grow the business and take it to the next level so I am looking for new ďŹ nancial resources". Lourdes is very conscious that she has a project with a lot of potential, because Nutlu has won several awards. Nowadays, web platforms similar to Nutlu, are appearing, like platforms for women clothes, shoes, cars, etc, but Nutlu is a pioneer for designing childrens' clothes. "It is a market niche that I want to exploit".

Her business is 1 year old, and she deﬁnes it as a year full of hard work and in which all the incomes generated by the business are reinvested on it in order to have the possibility to consolidate and grow the business. Regarding the issue of reconciling work and family life, Lourdes does not have children at the moment and therefore she has been able to dedicate herself full time to the business. She thinks that being a fempreneur she will be able to reconcile work and family life, because you manage your time as you want. Her next personal project is to be mother. To get some fresh air and better reconciling work and family life, she has started to work in a coworking space "As you are the business owner, you devote all your time on it....when I worked at home, eventually I woke up and switched on my laptop immediately, without

having breakfast and wearing pyjamas..., it is not good for my personal life, for this reason I decided to go to a coworking space to try to manage my time in another way". She recommends the experience of coworking, because it helps you to get fresh air, meet people and share experiences. "....the atmosphere in a coworking is very good" Advices for fempreneurs: "If you believe in your project and you are really excited about it, ﬁnally you will ﬁnd the necessary tools to start it up. Nobody knows everything. I have turned my hobby into a business project and I had to learn a lot regarding fashion world. All women are able to do more than we believe ourselves". Lourdes recommends to get training "Before getting into the sector of activity that you like, try to know and learn everything about it.

Make a market research before starting up your business idea, “...you do not need to make a professional research, you only need to go out and ask people to know what they want and which the products that they would be able to pay for are. This helps you to design your business plan". "Another thing that for sure you are going to feel as a fempreneur is loneliness and helplessness. You feel that you are alone moving your business forward, a feeling that I have experienced myself. I recommend you looking for a mentor with a lot of experience who wants to reinvest in the society supporting entrepreneurs like us through her/his own experience. Now, the programmes to promote entrepreneurship that I know does not offer this service and I believe that it is essential for us". Meet and join other fempreneurs. "To have the

opportunity of networking and joining other entrepreneurs to look for synergies is very important to grow up your business".

•

Spin oﬀ University of Malaga award.

• Finalist as a one of the six best projects of the Elevator Pitch National Competition.

Nutlu has won the following awards: • Emprende SM award. To the best entrepreneur business idea of ecommerce. • Startupﬁghting award, it was held in Startups Meeting. •

Best ecommerce award 2013.

http://nutlu.com/ FOLLOW NUTLU NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

• TAMDEN project: It was one of the five projects selected to find investors. • Fashion show. Official agenda of the White Night in Málaga. • Finalist of IMFE Málaga Junior awards. On 16th May 2016 and interview with Lourdes will

e-mail: info@nultu.com

be broadcasted in Onda Azul TV (Malaga local chanel ), to apply for winning the award. You can watch the interview in https://www.facebook.com/imfemalaga?ref=ts &fref=ts%20and%20voting%20for%20her.

4.5. Inspiring story by Fida from Iceland Short biography

thinking too much about things!

I was born in Jerusalem, Palestine and I have a degree in technology with an MBA in management. I moved to Iceland when I was 16 years old and it took me very long to complete my education. I have had to ﬁght for everything in my life, and I was not born with the silver spoon. Since I had gone through so many things in my life I was not afraid of starting my own company.

Why she decided to become an entrepreneur

I think that people are born entrepreneurs. Since I was little I wanted to do things diﬀerently and I noticed things that no one paid attention too. For example I always counted the lights in the houses and wondered why people needed all those lights. I wondered about how people could save money by having fewer lights. People often thought that I was

I did not see anything else than to become an entrepreneur, I wanted to do something that no one did before. That's just the way I think. I wanted to create value with something new. I never take things or people for granted. What was her business idea and how it came to her mind? The idea is to use untapped resources from the geothermal areas in Iceland. In my case it is the silica that is produced from the geothermal water in the Hellisheiðarplant. The idea sprang from my ﬁnal thesis at University “Preliminary research: The utilization of Silica and

Brine from Reykjanes Geothermal Power Plant and their sterilization eﬀect on Human Health”. The results were very positive so I just had to go on with the research and development of this untapped resource and to use the 40.000 tons of silica that go to waste each year. How was the process of setting up the business? What problems, barriers and challenges she found? To start a company is no big deal but how to run it and keep it going with little ﬁnance is very hard. If I am to be honest I have often been on the verge of giving up on this journey. When we started the company in 2012 entrepreneurship was relatively new, especially for young people and women. The entrepreneurs I know are either men that are retired or have a lot of experience that they can use in mentoring and counselling others. I always had to explain to them that this was not a

dream or a hobby but an idea that I would see through and implement. What kind of support and resources she counted on? In the beginning we got a grant from the Technological fund in Iceland that made it easier for us to start. Next year we got a grant from the Welfare ministry and from a local fund. Without these grants I am not sure that the company would still exist. To get a recognition of the idea, the business plan and the project action plan is very important and a prerequisite for starting the company. I did not know what was oﬀered to entrepreneurs at that time. The company started at home and I had to ﬁnance it with my own funds, but at that time I was recently graduated and had little money. This time was very hard for us, until we got the

technology grant but then we could rent a small office in the incubator at Ásbrú. The first year was a lot of work, and a lot of pressure and not many that understood that the technological development takes time and to develop a product to sell takes even longer time. There were times when we were not sure if we could go on, my partner had to find another paid job so I was alone for a while. When we were able to hire our first staff member things got easier and now we have a total staff of 5. We are very lucky with our staff that also owns a share in the company. If I did not have the team I probably would not have gone so far!

How was the first year of the business and how is the current situation? Geosilica put the first product on the market in January 2015 and the company has been upwards ever since. The sales grew fivefold from June to July this year and we broke the record in July. The product has been very well received by the market and is above all expectations. We have now a lot of knowledge about technology and the raw material but we need more research. The aim is to strengthen the research and make clinical researches a part of our business.

We have also invested our time in helping other entrepreneurs that are in the beginning phase with their companies. The business is growing and we are at a good spot today. We have also have increased our partnership that has strengthen both the operation and the financial status of the company. How she manages to reconcile personal and professional life? This is very hard, to be honest, but to get it all together you have to get support from the people that are closest to you. My husband and my daughters are with me all the way. I heard my 8 year old daughter explain to her friend the impact of silica on the body and why her mother should take it so she is very well aware of the business! My husband took time off after he graduated and was home for the first 2 years taking care of the home and the children. 36

To be a women entrepreneur is more demanding since the mother is not home so much, has to work on evenings and on weekends. The family supported me but I found a lot of prejudice from others. Especially since I did not take parental leave and just started working right after I had my daughters. I think that the society does not accept this from women but I hope it will change, even though I feel that it will not happen any day soon. Tips and advice to the fempreneurs who are starting right now. I would strongly recommend that you build up a team around you because it is so important to get good people with you in the process. You cannot know everything by yourself and you cannot do everything alone. Also I recommend that you get partners in that can strengthen the company. It is also very important to follow up on your idea and not to let negative people or discussions aﬀect you. It is

fine to ask for help and use your network. And finally, do not work too much and be careful to plan your days. You cannot to everything at once but if you plan and organize you can get very far. Any other interesting information that she tell you during the interview. If you look at the results I have clearly done a lot of things the right way but that you cannot know in the beginning but you learn by doing. If there was something I would do differently I would have defined the ownership more clearly and to take the work hours of the founders into consideration to prevent dispute. Secondly, do not sign a contract that binds the company for many years in the beginning, that is, a contract that might only benefit the larger partner.

You can better know Fida in the following video

4.6. Inspiring Story by Aðalbjörg from Iceland Aðalbjörg Þorsteinsdóttir Villimey (http://villimey.is): Where were you born and what is your background? I was born and raised up in the village Tálknaordur until I was 14 years old. Even though I had moved from Tálknaordur to Reykjavík, I worked there during all summer and Christmas holidays. I studied business in a college in Reykjavík. I have always worked much, for example at the age of seven I worked as a babysitter and at the age of eight I started to work in stock ﬁsh production. I think that I have always meant to become an entrepreneur, I was very interested in herbs from a young age. I was always collecting knowledge about the functionality of the plants.

Right after I started my company I had information about my ancestor, that they had worked with herbs and plants in the past. Actually, my great-great grandmother, which I am named after, was an expert in herbs and nature healing. During my childhood I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and I observed my grandfather at his work but he was self employed. He had his own garage and ran the public transport in the area and the airline service. I spent a lot of time with him at his garage but later on I bought that house from the municipality and this is the place that my company is situated. I think that to work hard and be independent from early childhood had eﬀect on my development as an entrepreneur. My role model was my grandfather so that had a big impact on me.

What was your business idea and how did you get the idea? I started seeking knowledge about herbs for myself personally. I had had muscle intention in my shoulders from teens so I tried a lot of medicine and creams but nothing seemed to work for me. Therefore I began to seek knowledge about herbs that could have healing power but I had been gathering a lot of knowledge of herbs during the past years. This began to spread out to my family and relatives and I began to develop and experiment with creams to heal many things that were troubling me and my relatives. As I started I began developing cream for muscle intention and arthritis called Muscles and Arthritis Magic. Then I developed Feet and Sores Magic and later Skin, Bottom and Belly magic. It was always something that caused me to start developing new products. For example I gave birth to three girls in four years and I could not ďŹ nd

any cream good enough for their bottoms and my stomach area. Then I started to developed a cream for the bottom and belly. I have always been interested in plants and before the age of twenty I began searching for pure nature products that did not involve toxic chemicals or preservatives. They have organic certiďŹ cation but it has always been very important for me to produce pure nature products. I launched my products in the year 2005 and my company has been growing ever since. Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur and run a business? My family encouraged me to do something more with the products I had produced. In the year of 2003 people outside the family started to contact me and ask me for some creams and balms for their discomfort. My original aim was to improve my family's health and my own, but then my sister in law encouraged me

to establish a company. I have always had this burning interest in nature healing. How was the process starting up a business? Did you meet some challenges or obstacles that you had to deal with? I met many obstacles in the beginning and I am not sure I would have started a company if I had known how much work it included. I got a lot of assistant and consultancy from The Development Agency in South Iceland from a woman named Bjarnheidur. She led me through the jungle of law and regulations and informed me where I could apply for necessary licenses. She gave me all the information about most of the things I needed in the beginning which was crucial for the start up. Perhaps it was important that she was a woman but I have also had good advices and assistant from men for the business since then. I started very small and worked nearly everything on

my own, it was very hard work, especially the packaging and the nature pure certification. I was often about to give up but every time I felt like that, I got a phone call from someone telling me how my products had helped him or her or someone else. That really empowered me to move on. The difficulties were mostly the heavy workload because I did everything by myself, I was working every day from early morning to late at night, all year round. We collected all the herbs by ourselves in areas that had had nature pure certification. It was very demanding physical work but also giving. I have often needed to solve challenging tasks and seek solutions but usually found solutions at the end.

came on the market in 2005. The company had its own Id in the year 2006. The packaging was a hard task, to decide the design and so on. At the beginning of the sale process I went to diﬀerent stores that sold nature products and invited them to oﬀer my products. Afterwards other stores started to contact me to get the products for sale, the demand for such products was growing, and they had a good reputation. At that time I had three young children so I was quite busy. I did not work so much on marketing at that time, the products sold themselves by theirs good reputation. And that's how it all began, me developing

How was the first year in the business? How did it proceed? I started with the company in 2003, first as a private company and the first productions

creams for the family and the story spread out! I took little steps at each time and did everything by myself. Most of the things that I had learned through former work were useful in the business, I had been working in a bank, both as cashier and as a bank manager. I had learned bookkeeping and ran a small boat industry and all this experience was useful. In what position is the business now? What plans are for future growth of the company? The company is doing well, we have a large group of good customers. The Food Institution in Iceland MATIS, examined our products and the results confirmed the activity of our products that we had stated. People buy the products because they work for them but now we have official research that confirm the functionality of our creams which is very pleasant for us which will make a huge difference. Today we sell our products in more than 100 stores and

pharmacies all around the country. We have been working on exporting our products to other countries and gain a new market. We have been negotiating with some dealers but it is hard to find dealers that are reliable. We have had discussions with several ones but nothing has come out of it yet and it is nothing we can count on. Despite of this, we can say that we are in some kind of an export because our production are sold on an English website http://webshop.villimey.is/ and some customers are from abroad. The products are also available at the Duty free store at the international airport in Keflavík and on the airplanes. Our goal is that the products will be sold in foreign stores. How do you combine your personal and family life and running the business and how have you empowered yourself? It has always been difficult to combine the busi

ness and family life. I've been alone with three daughters, teenagers at home for last ďŹ ve years but I have four daughters. It is beyond doubt not much time for anything else but the company and the family and little time to do something else. I have always spent a lot of time in the development of the products and have many ideas to put into action but the development process is long. The family has been working together in the business and the children have joined me in picking herbs every summer. We have not gone on vacation since 2006, and then only for one week. All the time during summer is spent collecting herbs and plants to provide raw materials for the production. Sometimes we have hired some extra people like classmates of my children. I have put extremely much work in this and so has the whole family. Family members, both daughters and sons in law work for me but I've got some temporary workers in urgent cases. I have also been using subcontractors in various works such as designers and web de-

signers. It is very important to get professionals to take care of certain works. Good advice to entrepreneurs that are in the start up process? Examine most of the things before jumping into the deep end of the pool. I think it is good to take it slowly and take one step at the time. For example I do not put a product on the market without testing it for at least three years and see the results from it. Take small but secure steps forward. You can expect to work hard for years before the company begins to pay you salary and you need to be able to do most things by yourself to begin with. My advice to those who are starting is to get help and assistance e.g. at The Development Agency. The people working there know how to run a business and what licenses and regulations must be met and there you can receive encouragement and advice.

4.7. Inspiring Story by Vita from Lithuania A short biography and introduction I am Vita Markevičiūtė. I hold a master's degree in international business (EMBA, IE, Madrid) and have more than 20 years of work experience at various Lithuanian business and ﬁnance companies. Currently I am the founder and managing partner of Innospark. I am guided by the belief that I create things that are important not only to me and by the desire to contribute to progress. A brief introduction to a business idea By raising children, we create the future. Therefore, each moment spent together with children has great signiﬁcance and can determine their future possibilities. We develop, produce and propose to purchase creative educational tools that inspire

children to simultaneously play, create and learn. They develop imagination, logical reasoning and independence, and enhance selfconﬁdence. http://www.edu2.lt/en Why did you decide to become a business woman? I belong to the category of people who ﬁnd the strongest motivation within themselves. I realized this when I was still a hired employee. As soon as I delivered the development of motivation to the employer, I felt no longer responsible for it. Thus, starting my own business became a journey to myself. When I was a hired employee, I used to say that if I had a good idea, I would set up my own business. I quit my last job at a

time of economic crisis and this was the final kick to undertake business - now or never. How did you come up with your business idea? When I began thinking about running my own business, I saw that I had a number of ideas that were waiting for a chance to come into existence. Later on I realized that the most important thing is not to find a unique idea but to be able to put an idea into practice. My family came up with the edu2 business idea. My mother devoted a major portion of her life to children's education. She is the first to see our latest products and if we can spot a sparkle in her eyes, we know that we are moving in the right direction. Was the start of your own business successful? What problems and challenges did you face? I received my first income 3 months after the set-up of the company. I was running things quickly because I knew exactly what to do. Initially light tables were successfully purchased by preschools and elementary schools. After the first year it became clear that this is not a rubber market – in Lithuania the number of kindergartens is growing very slowly

and due to the durability of these light tables there is no need for their quick replacement. We have also begun exporting light tables to our neighbouring country Latvia, however, its market is even smaller, although its interest is greater. We deal with a lot of challenges but we ﬁnd an answer to each of them. What outside assistance and support did you receive? It seems that there are a lot of support measures available, however, often a small company has access only to nonﬁnancial measures and consultations. I regret to say that this was of no relevance to me. For the most part assistance or support is required for getting to know new markets because the Lithuanian market is too small. However, I am grateful for the opportunity to use an innovation voucher for new product development.

How was your first business year? The first year was filled with belief, enthusiasm and creativity. It was easier for me than the second year, when initial investments came to an end and it was necessary to achieve results that would validate the business model and the need for products. How are you doing today and what are your future plans? I am doing fine today - I am an optimist. During my years in business I realized that miracles come in small amounts and I can achieve goals through consistent and persistent work. This year I have set a goal to enter at least one large market and at the moment I have made contacts in Germany, Poland and Spain.

How do you manage to combine your business and personal life? This question sounds diďŹ&#x20AC;erent when you are a hired employee and when you are selfemployed. If I still were a hired employee, I would probably have more time for my family, at least this would be my condition of employment . However, now I belong on the other side of the fence. I discussed this with my family that for a couple of years I would not be able to spend a lot of time with them on holiday and at weekends. Despite everything, I hug my son every day and tell him that I love him very much.

takes, losses and discoveries. Putting something into practice is no less, may be even more, important than an idea. The start of the new business often reminds of a bottle containing notes and drifting across the ocean â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you never know which direction it will take, who will read its notes and whether it will reach the coast in general. The longer this happens, the clearer notes become and the more accurate predictions of ocean currents collecting the ďŹ&#x201A;oating bottle are ensured. I would like to wish myself and other people starting their own business that eventually the bottle with notes would reach its destination.

What advice would you give to women starting their own business? For those who have not started and want to start their own business I would like to advise not to look and wait for that one unique idea. Just take it and do it. Learn from your mis-

Mobile Phone: +370 699 96092

4.8. Inspiring Story by Daiva Eledita from Lithuania A short biography and introduction I am Daiva Eledita - the conceiver, founder and implementer of the http://www.eleditadesigns.com project featuring handmade items for children and home. I grew up and studied in Šiauliai. My first studies were related to the field of educology. My first job was a kindergarten teacher. It was an interesting job and I think it would have been my main choice but for political and economical changes. Since then I have entered a different stage and have been focused on knitted fabric manufacturing. Initially I was involved in mass production aimed at the Eastern market. Subsequently I was engaged in creative and

managerial work at a company that specialized in hand-knitted products. Currently I am involved in technical and managerial work at a company that pursues activities of knitted fabric manufacturing. Most of all I miss creativity here, therefore my business, which I am building right now, perfectly ﬁlls up its absence. A brief introduction to a business idea My business involves creating original and high-quality hand-made items for children, home and festive occasions. To date this has not been my main occupation. It has been a hobby gradually turning into a business. http://www.eleditadesigns.com/ http://www.etsy.com/shop/EleditaDesigns/

Why did you decide to become a business woman? Hand-made items have always occupied a major portion of my leisure time. I was delighted to see clothes, accessories and interior decorations coming as if from nowhere. First I made them for myself and then for my relatives and friends. And by continuously hearing suggestions that I should share with other people, this thought would often come to my mind â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Why notâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; How did you come up with your business idea? When I decided to do business, I was forced to choose from a variety of available options that would be most appealing to me and a customer. I selected items for children and home. My premonition did not deceive me: not only mothers, but also grandmothers and aunts

want to indulge children and give gifts to them. Everybody wants to decorate their homes. I do not create single-unit items, I make groups of items because it is much easier. There is no need to look for diﬀerent raw materials and to take photos of new items every time. This saves time and money. Was the start of your own business successful? What problems and challenges did you face? Initially I was mostly concerned whether I really want to devote my leisure time to additional activities instead of rest and relaxation. I also considered whether created items are beautiful enough to attract not only my relatives but also other people. Another task was to learn how to set a value for an item and to let your relatives know about its price. It has always been interesting to make groups of items for purchase, to ﬁnd a photographer

with whom it would be a pleasure not only to maintain working relationships but also to communicate, to build a website on my own and to try various methods of advertising and communication with customers. What outside assistance and support did you receive? I did not require ﬁnancial support because the amount of 300 euros was suﬃcient for initial investments, such as website maintenance, photographer’s services, charges, minimum raw material stocks for items, packing materials and advertising tools. The most important thing has always been that my relatives understand and support me, and I also care about the opinion of current and potential customers.

How was your ďŹ rst business year? How are you doing today and what are your future plans? It has been 1.5 years since I started doing business. I am doing great. It is not only about investments that have paid oďŹ&#x20AC; and proďŹ ts that are earned but also about pleasures that are experienced when creating items and receiving feedback from customers, including new experiences and acquaintances. My future plans include the making of various items and the testing of new methods of advertising and the participation in various projects and events. I hope that in process of time I will be able to turn the creation of original hand-made items for children, home and festive occasions into my main activities.

How do you manage to combine your business and personal life? For the most part the main problem I deal with is the lack of time. I would arrange my priorities in the following way: the main occupation, my own business and personal life. I am glad to know that I belong to the category of those happy individuals who make no distinction between their business and hobby. What advice would you give to women starting their own business? I would give the following tips for women who are ready to start doing business: Use your and your relatives’ capabilities, experiences and acquaintances when looking for a business idea and putting it into practice. Avoid rushing into activities if you are not pro-

perly prepared for them emotionally and technically because the first impression of your introduction will last for a long time. However, having made a decision, don’t put it off for an indefinite time because otherwise you will start to doubt. It is dangerous to expect quick and large profits as this may leave you disappointed. It is a mistake to think that when your business starts running, you will have to work less. Due to your new responsibilities and your desire to expand everything will be in the opposite way. And the most important thing is not to be afraid of trying new things. It does not matter how old you are - 20, 30, 40, 50... If you are not courageous enough or you do not have possibilities to undertake a large business, then try to turn your hobby into a business.

Other relevant and interesting information

when it comes to your body and soul."

A magazine article about me is available here. Maybe it will provide you with information you are interested in...

YOU NEVER KNOW UNTIL YOU TRY

BZN START Magazine, 2015 (Spring) Having turned her hobby of occupying herself with handmade items into a small feminine business, DAIVA ELEDITA STANKEVIČIŪTĖ states: "When you do an unenjoyable job, you can do it well, but it will not make you happy. It is worth searching for an appealing area. Then you will experience a pleasure and sooner or later it will reap a reward. It does not matter how old you are: twenty, thirty, forty or ﬁfty. If you do not have possibilities or courage to rock your life with a large market, think of small things that make your leisure time indulgeable and you will be surprised to realize that they can become a source of livelihood

The woman who decided to bring joy into the lives of residents of Šiauliai City through creative handmade items still devotes a major portion of her time to stock accounting at a company manufacturing clothes. She ﬁnds these activities interesting but slightly monotonous. "Occasionally I miss creativity so my business perfectly ﬁlls up its absence. I really hope that in process of time I will be able to turn the creation of original handmade items for children, home and festivities into my main activities, - the interviewee shares her dreams. – Handmade items have always occupied a major portion of my leisure time. I was delighted to see how something new came into existence step by step in my hands from a ball of threads, a strip of fabric and a handful of beads. Initially I created beautiful things only

for myself. Subsequently I made them for my relatives and friends. Suggestions kept coming that I should share with other people but at that time I could not find an answer. Thus the Eledita Designs project began with the thought ‘Why not’." THE AMOUNT OF 300 EUROS WAS SUFFICIENT FOR THE START OF THE BUSINESS Having set up her business of handmade items almost a year ago, the woman states that in the beginning, time was her large-scale investment. "It was necessary to create things that would be appealing to a customer. The amount of 300 euros was sufficient for initial financial investments, such as website maintenance, photographer’s services, charges, minimum raw material stocks for items, packing materials and advertising tools -, D. Stankevičiūtė reveals after turning her hobby into a bu-

siness. – It was interesting but not easy to make groups of items that would be in demand; to ﬁnd a photographer with whom it would be possible not only to work on a technical basis but also to create; to build a website on my own; to try various methods of advertising and communication with customers; to ﬁnd small shops that would be excellent for and interested in selling my items." By listing the main stages of the spinning of the business, the woman has no doubts that it was easier to overcome everything due to her valuable experience in technological and managerial work while working for companies involved in knitted fabric manufacturing. "What can be more pleasurable than seeing and reading yourself a mother’s letter about her child’s joy prompted by a handmade item of my creation?" - D. Stankevičiūtė points to a pleasure that redeems stress experienced on a daily basis.

A HANDMADE ITEM HAS BOTH AN EMOTIONAL AND A MONETARY VALUE When building her business, the interviewee was mainly worried if she really wanted to devote her leisure time to additional activities instead of rest and relaxation. "In addition, I also took into account the fact if my created things were beautiful enough to attract not only my friends but also other people. Another task was to learn to set a value for an item and let relatives know about its price. It was diﬃcult because it was necessary to place my hobby

on a different level. My advice for those who are still on this way: avoid rushing into activities if you are not properly ready because the first impression of your introduction will last for a long time. It is also dangerous to expect quick and large profits as this may leave you disappointed. And it is a mistake to think that later on you will have to work less because due to your new responsibilities and your desire to expand everything will be in the opposite way", -the businesswoman shares her experience.

5. What Kind of Resources do you need? When you start a business having clear ideas of what you want to do and what you want to achieve can make the diﬀerence between succeeding or not. The essential thing is deﬁning your business model and a business strategy according to this model. Actually the most useful tool for this is the Business Model Canvas https://youtu.be/QoAOzMTLP5s Having a look to the Go4It module on Business Strategy can also be useful for you. Access to Business Strategy learning module By using the Business Model Canvas you will get a clear overview on what are your business’ value proposition and the business model that you have to implement, identifying clearly all the resources that you will need for every aspect or area of your business. It would be really helpful that you make a check list with all the elements and resources that you need to create your own business so you can consult it from time to time and be sure that you are in the right track.

ke into account any other resources that you have that can be an asset in your business: a space suitable as premises, a vehicle that you can use for distribution, a computer, necessary equipment… Make a clear ﬁnancial plan and identify how much money you need to invest. In this plan, you need to identify, one by one and in detail all the investments that you have to do. The most usual ones are: Rent of premises Rent/purchase of a vehicle

In this list, remember to pay special attention to the following points: Rent/purchase of furniture and similar elements. Check and make a list of the ﬁnancial resources that you actually have. Consider the savings that you have and the money you can get from your family and friends. Apart from money, ta-

Investment in the technology/equipment necessary to develop your products or to oﬀer your services. It can

be hardware, software, machinery, etc. Raw materials for making the necessary products to cover the estimated demand in the first year. Identify all the possibilities for getting funds, analyse the pros and cons of every one and go for the options that best suit your needs 1. If you have a minimum financial solvency you can consider asking for a bank loan. Getting a loan can difficult so it is important that you collect all the necessary information from the banks on the guarantees and requirements that they ask for and prepare very well the presentation of your business idea when you go to the interview with the bank to ask for the loan. In the different programmes supporting entrepreneurs they can offer you assistance on this aspect and helping you to prepare for this interview with the bank. You can consult the current programmes in your country in the following section. 2.

If the business loan is not enough or not the

right option for you, you can consider other alternative sources of funding. The most relevant ones at the moment are: Crowd funding. This is the funding of a project of any kind by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people. The emergence of crowd funding is closely link to the extension of Internet which is the natural mean for organising crowd funding activities which have become very popular in the last years. There are hundreds of crowd funding platforms. In the next section you will ﬁnd information about Crowdfunder, the main crowd funding platform in the UK Business angels: This name is given to private individuals, usually wealthy who decide to invest their money in start-businesses in return for an equity stake. They are becoming more and more popular and business angels networks can be found at the moment in all the countries. In the next section you will ﬁnd information about the UK Business Angels Association.

3. Consider all the public funds are available for supporting new entrepreneurs in your country or region. Check the next section for the programmes oﬀering advice and funding for entrepreneurs in your country. Assess your skills and capabilities in a realistic way to determine if you need to hire some people to help you developing the activity or if you can manage yourself. Do not underestimate this point. Be realistic and don’t try to be a super-hero, especially if you have family responsibilities because it can take its tolls to you in some months.

6. Where can you go to ask for help? Even if you have all the necessary financial resources in your hand, any help you can get is more than welcome in this hard process of entrepreneurship. There are many public and private services and programmes that can offer you the help you need, not necessarily financial advice but they can also provide you with the necessary tools and knowledge to be better prepared. Here below you can find the existing programmes in the United Kingdom. http://www.startupbritain.org/ StartUp Britain is a national campaign by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, harnessing the expertise and passion of Britain's leading

businesspeople to celebrate, inspire and accelerate enterprise in the UK. The campaign was founded by eight entrepreneurs and launched on 28th March 2011 by the Prime Minister, with the full support of the Chancellor and HM Government, although it is completely funded by our private-sector sponsors. The campaign is now run by the Centre for Entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurs' think tank, enabling us to communicate better policies for entrepreneurs to government. https://www.gov.uk/business-support-helpline Get business support and advice on the phone or online from the UK Government.

https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/business-economy/development/starting-a-business.html Thinking of taking the first steps to become your own boss? Sheffield City Council coaching team offers a series of group coaching sessions providing you with helpful hints and tips whilst giving you the opportunity to discuss business startup issues with other people in the same position.

http://www.prowess.org.uk/ Support for women in business. Our growing membership network delivers women-friendly business support and services across the UK. Check-out the directory of business support and services and our events guide for what's on near you. We also coordinate a ''listing of womens business networks and we directly deliver events and business clubs in Norfolk. Support for professional advisers. Prowess manages the Charter for Women in Business, a code of practice, training and marketing tool to help drive better business to business support for women. Shared learning, information and inspiration. Over 100 women in business and professional advisers share their experience and advice on our blogging platform. We share the latest news and opportunities for women in business, plus the best blogs and events, in our monthly e-newsletter. Sign up here. Or join the conversation on Facebook and LinkedIn. And we bring together and curate the best of the women's business web in topquality articles and in our Daily News. Campaigns. We coordinate Prowess Connect, a group for those who are working to support women in business and drive positive change for women, locally and nationally. See our Manifesto for Women in Business.

http://startups.co.uk/women-entrepreneurs/ All the necessary information you need to start a business in the UK

http://www.bawe-uk.org/ An Association run by Women Entrepreneurs, for Women Entrepreneurs. The British Association of Women Entrepreneurs is committed to helping you ensure you have the skills, knowledge and global contacts to make your vision happen. Bottom line is that it's up to you. We'd like to help you make it happen.

http://www.finance-yorkshire.com/ Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2million, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses meet the gaps in the market for the funding they need for growth and development. Finance Yorkshire has been developed as a European JEREMIE* initiative and is capitalised by grants from UK Government, European Regional Development Fund and finance from the European Investment Bank. (*JEREMIE stands for Joint European Resources for Micro to medium Enterprises) Finance Yorkshire invests in businesses based or moving to areas within Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/?e=B Crowdfunder is an alternative means of funding that allows individuals to take their ideas forward and make them a reality with the power of the crowd. Crowdfunder enables people with a great idea to raise the money they need in return for 'rewards'. The public can back an idea with pledges of money and project owners can 'thank' their backers with rewards that reďŹ&#x201A;ect the money contributed. The reward can be a product, service or experience that is produced by the project. Whether you are a community group, business, social enterprise, school, charity or are just an individual with a fantastic idea then we can help you raise the funds needed for your project.

http://www.ukbusinessangelsassociation.org.uk/ The UK Business Angels Association is the national trade association representing angel and early stage investment in the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). It has superseded the BBAA and was re-launched in its new strengthened role in July 2012. Each year private investors account for between £800 million and £1 billion of early stage investment in the UK – the single largest source of early stage capital in this country. The angel community in the UK is also very diverse reflecting a range of different models and approaches including angel networks, small groups and syndicates; super angels; individual investors and new models such as accelerators. The UK Business Angels Association represents and connects all those involved in the angel investment market, including early stage VC funds, Banks and also non traditional sources of finance, as well as advisers and intermediaries; policy makers and academics with a view to ensuring a coherent ecosystem for financing the growth of start-up and early stage businesses.

7. What Knowledge and Competences will You Need as an Entrepreneur? Step 1 - Have you the makings of an entrepreneur? The most important thing you need to clarify before jumping straight into the adventure is if you have the necessary enterprising competences and soft skills for being an entrepreneur. Being aware of your own strength and weaknesses, knowing clearly your talents and knowledge but also the gaps, and the skills you need to improve, is of key importance and can make the diﬀerence between the survival and the end of your business. In order to help you identify if you already have them or not and to improve them, you can participate in the FEMALE Mentoring Circles™ included in the FEMALE Go4IT programme. Get information for the FEMALE programme in your country and how you can participate here: (http://inovaconsult.com/) You can start by completing this short questionnaire to have a quick insight of your readiness to start your own business. Just for Fun: Quick Quiz- Are you ready to Work for Yourself? 1

Score 1

Do you want independence, to be your own boss and have no one to answer to but yourself (and your customers)?

Yes

Do you want to have ﬂexible working hours?

Yes

Score 3

Do you enjoy making decisions?

Yes

Do you enjoy thinking creatively about problems?

Yes

Are you able to spot gaps in the market?

Yes

Are you the type of person who is always ďŹ nding or creating opportunities?

Yes

When you have a good idea or notice an opportunity, do you do something about it?

Yes

Do you like change and look forward to it?

Yes

Do you like to constantly improve things?

Yes

Have you ever worked in a business like the one you want to start? Do you have previous experience in this area?

Yes

Do you enjoy selling things and negotiating?

Yes

Do you have the support of your partner or family and friends?

Yes

Are you able to stay enthusiastic by yourself even when the going gets tough?

Yes

Are you organized enough to manage your tasks and prioritize your time? (Remember, no one is watching!)

Yes

Are you self-disciplined? Do you ﬁnish what you start?

Yes

TOTAL

© Inova Consultancy - All Rights Reserved For every yes you've ticked put 2 points in the Score column, for every 'no' put 0 points. Add up your total score and put in the Total box. Go to 'Fun Quick Quiz Scores' see how ready you are to work for yourself.

Fun Quick Quiz Scores: 0-6: It doesn't sound like you are quite ready to work on your own just yet. Perhaps you can speak to a business adviser or a mentor/coach to review the areas where you need to gain additional support or experience in developing skills to give you the conﬁdence to start up in the near future. You could also think about starting up a business with other people who compliment your skills and experience. 8-14: You seem to feel you are lacking some of the qualities, attitudes or support to enable you to feel ready to start up in business. Don't get discouraged though! With some work, skill development or ﬁnding a business partner who complements your skills you could still start up a successful

business. A business mentor or coach could also be a source of inspiration and support to help you gain confidence to start up in business. 16-20: You are capable of making a business succeed and you seem to feel ready to start up. You might still want to speak to a few people to look over any areas you feel you need more support or help in before you make the final move of working for yourself. 22-30: Go for it! You sound like you've got the basic attitudes and characteristics required for successful business start up. Remember it's still ok to ask for help in those areas you want to develop further either in business or personally. You could try and find a business mentor to help you on your journey in business who will look at these kinds of issues in more detail.

Step 2 - Be sure that you have all the necessary knowledge about business management Think about what you actually know and what other aspects you need to learn about. Ask yourself all these questions. Using the business canvas that we have already introduced in section 5 is a good way to guide you in this process of discovering your knowledge gap. As a brief overview, the Enterprise4All EU funded project has developed a diagnostic tool that might be helpful for you as well as some learning units for each area of the Business Model Canvas. The registration is free and you can access them in the following link

cific business areas. These areas were defined by the users in the user's needs analysis carried out by the FEMALE consortium in the different countries:

Business Strategy Product development Marketing Social Media Exportation

http://enterprise4all.eu/business-bootcamp/ To go more in depth, we, at the FEMALE project, have developed training materials especially addressed to cover the knowledge related to 6 spe-

Step 3 - Network, network and network once again!!



Keep an analytical mind and try to discover trends and anticipate changes in your customer’s tastes.

Having contacts that can help you or just provide you with the materials or resources that you need (providers will be essential).



Attend fairs and congresses relevant in your sector and which oﬀer opportunities for networking and for the growing of your business



Keep updated on the latest laws and regulations concerning your business sector.



Never forget about innovation. Review your value proposition on a regular basis and try to analyse if it still valid in the market and if it still suits your clients demands and expectations.



Continue training yourself in all those areas which can be beneficial for you. There is a huge training offer and the new e-learning methods allow you to learn at any time in any place that fits your busy agenda. Explore the option of MOOCs, massive open online courses that you can access freely through the Internet. Many prestigious universities are offering MOOCs on a wide range of topics.

Networking is one of the skills in which women have particular weaknesses. 

Firstly you have to check who is in your contact network. Try to identify what your current network (basically family and friends) could oﬀer you. Expand your network to the following level: probably you have never thought of them as professional contacts, but they can also have a role in the development of your business: the mothers of your children’s classmates, the gym colleagues, other members of the volunteer association in which you participate.... For improving your networking skills and continuously increase your professional network you can:

Join an entrepreneur association in your city. It will allow you to be updated on what’s going on and be invited to networking and other events on a regular basis.

Step 4 - Be always on! 

Keep searching the web for the last trends and news to keep your business up-to-date with the last development in your sector. Gossip blogs, social networks, and magazines; every time you can you should read books about the topic of your business.

8. Tell the World about Your Decision Have you decided to become an entrepreneur?

your lessons learnt, or your advices for other women who are in the same situation.

Did you ďŹ nd this handbook useful?

If you prefer, you can just upload a picture and write down your thoughts.

Remember that promotion is a key part for your business and your digital brand and online reputation is very important. Use all the social media available to promote your business. They are free and you never know where your potential clients may ďŹ nd you. You can use our platform to open your business to the rest of the world. www.femaleproject.eu/connect-in-europe?lang=en

You can go to your FEMALE account and upload whatever you want to share with your colleagues in the network, probably another woman from the UK, Iceland, Spain or from Italy is watching your video or reading your story and becomes inspired to go for it. This will be your contribution to promote female entrepreneurship.

Record yourself with your smartphone or by any other means, talk about your experience,

9. The Future of my Business. Vision over the Medium and Long Term 9.1 My business is already running. How to detect the right moment to make a leap forward and grow Probably in the starting phase you may not consider that your business will grow and you might need to restructure this to keep growing. Just starting it and see it working is a dream for you. But if you work hard and you persevere, one day your dream can become true and you will discover that you need to take a step forward and move your business to the next level. It is essential that you keep your eyes open and implement a continuous monitoring of your business, being aware of all your clients' needs and anticipating the changes in the business needed to cope with their needs. Eventually you might need to rent bigger premises, to

change providers or establish contact with new ones, hire new staff or implement a new service demanded by the market that you will provide jointly with your other services. How to identify the right moment to take this decision? Will you be sufficiently aware to detect these needs? It is all about problem solving. You have to question yourself: How much energy, time and money am I spending? Would I save money and then increase my benefits if I did things differently? These are questions which have to be continuously in the mind of an entrepreneur. This is being creative and innovative and thinking how to do things differently to be more efficient! Probably you will feel that you cannot do it alone so once again, ask for help!

9.2 The failure as a possibility. How to channel it in a constructive way Failure is as equally possible as success. Whilst nobody likes failing, the reality is that failure is part of the natural process of growing. We can fail in our personal projects, in decisions that we take and of course we can fail in the business that we undertake… what you must remember is that you will learn from it! Failure in a business is the most eﬀective and reliable source of knowledge on how to run and not run a business. All you need to do is have an open mind and a positive attitude to analyse your performance and detect what can be taken as a lesson learnt. It is important that you don’t make the failure of your business something personal. It is your project who failed not you. You, on the other hand, have grown as a person since you have

now more experience and have learnt values lessons. The key point is that you know how to analyse the reasons why the business failed in order to avoid repeating similar situations in the future. Maybe now is the time to start again in the right track, avoiding the aspects that propitiated the failure. Frequently they can be related to: 

Not clear goals and or bad planning of your actions.

a proﬁt of the business rather than in creating and adding value with your business project.

"I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate." ― George Burns.



Lack of knowledge.

"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable." ― Coco Chanel.



To think that you can do everything yourself and that you can do everything right.



Lack of strategic vision to take crucial decisions for the business.



Lack of funding.

Failure tends to be stigmatised by society but the consequences of failure are bigger in your mind than in the reality.



Lack of focus. You didn’t put all your attention in the business because you were trying to do several things at a time.

Don’t be afraid of a previous failure experience is going to be an obstacle in your new current or future business plans.



Excess of self-conﬁdence.

Remember that failure is always a possibility but the fear of it cannot stop you in your way!



You rushed and wanted to make things happen before they were mature enough.



You focused on making money and getting

The following quotes are very clear and great to help you understand the value of failure and that there is no point in being afraid of it:

"Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success." ― Denis Waitley. "It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." ― Theodore Roosevelt. "Success is not ﬁnal, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." ― Winston Churchill. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill. "One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again." ― Henry Ford.

9.3 Know how to realise when you have to stop and close your business and how to do it In the consolidation phase of your business you can face diﬀerent types of situation. Of course if the situation is that after 2 years you are losing money and you know that you cannot keep funding your business anymore, that is clear, you have to close down your business. Another situation, often frequent, entails being in a kind of standstill situation in which you are neither losing nor making enough money. You work hours and hours and you start to feel bored and frustrated. When you detect these symptoms it is the time to take a decision. Maybe you don’t realise the symptoms yourself so be open and listen to those around you. The ﬁrst thing to take this important decision is to analyse the situation. Why is this situation happening? What is the main cause for this situation? Has there been a change on the side of the customers or is this a change in your expectations and feelings?

In this analytical process you have to consider something that normally is not taken into account: the opportunity cost. That is, what are you giving up to in order to keep the business running? Maybe you are not only losing money but time to devote to your family or to the things you like to do the most. You have to decide if it is worthwhile to devote all your energy to this business and giving up to other important things for you. You have to put everything in the balance and weigh up! According to the answers to all these questions you have to decide if a solution can be implemented, how much invest the solution needs and the most important, what are your levels of energy and enthusiasm to face this solution. If you see that the cost is too high or you are not motivated enough, then it is the time to start ﬁnishing your business.

In this point a next step is to analyse if you can maybe save only part of the business or if you can transform the business in a new different one that better fulfil the market needs or excites you more than the previous one. In our Inspiring Stories section you have the case of women who underwent this process of totally changing their business and succeeded. If you decide to change the business you have to start with the necessary steps for doing this. On the contrary, if you decide that it is the time to definitively finish it, you have to proceed to the closing down. For this process it is important that you count on with a professional who advice you on all the necessary steps, in order to avoid unnecessary mistakes. The main 3 steps are the dissolution of the company, the liquidation of all the debts and pending receipts and the extinction, unsubscribing the company in the official registries.

Whatever is the stage of the business life in which you are, whether starting or considering the closing down, we hope this guide has inspired you to continue walking ahead with new energies. Remember, asking for help in the right moment can make the diﬀerence. You are not alone! Contact your nearest entrepreneurs advice point and do not hesitate in any case to also contact us: Inova Consultancy Ltd. Leecroft House, 58-64 Campo Lane, Sheﬃeld S1 2EG, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)114 279 9091 http://www.inovaconsult.com/ https://www.facebook.com/inovaconsultancypage https://twitter.com/inovauk

Inova Consultancy provides a ﬂexible consultancy service that responds to the needs of organisations and individuals internationally in the area of diversity, equal opportunities and entrepreneurship. Inova's team has specialist experience and a proven track record in bid writing and the management of European and national funded projects in these ﬁelds. Inova has specialist experience in the development

and delivery of programmes in the UK and on an international level for women entrepreneurs and women in management. Inova represents WITEC, the European association for Women in SET (Science, Engineering and Technology). Inova has beneﬁted from the knowledge and expertise of more than 20 years of experience in the delivery of gender programmes across Europe.

Inova’s employees and associates combine experience and qualiﬁcations in organisational development, psychology, mentoring and coaching in addition to bringing in best practice from across Europe to assist organisations and individuals in the ﬁeld of personal and business development.