Free Project - Policymakers guide EN by Vinnumálastofnun

A Guide for Policymakers:

The Voice of Female Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas

CESI - Anamarija Tkalčec & VMST Ásdís Guðmundsdóttir 26-3-2018

CESI - Anamarija Tkalčec & VMST - Ásdís Guðmundsdóttir

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction to Project FREE: Empowering, Encouraging and Supporting Fempreneurs in Rural Areas

Overview of Gender Equality in Partner Countries

Challenges for female entrepreneurs in rural areas 7 Economical Challenges 7 Changes in industry 8 Personal Challenges (experience and knowledge) 8 Level of complexity of establishing a company 8 Possible Solutions and Support for Female Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas using tools developed by the FREE Project 9 1. FREE Rural Networks 10 2. The Rural Women’s Enterprise Academy, it’s teaching approach and place in the current VET market 11 3. Virtual Enterprise Circles and how they can help to develop the skills of women for business? 11 Recommendations for policymakers The education/training/support female entrepreneurs need and ways to carry this out. Success Stories from the Female Entrepreneurs of the FREE project Supplements from the pure nature of Iceland Love, peace and strawberries Organic – from passion to business Health is my passion!

13 13

15 15 17 19 20

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects 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.

A Guide for Policymakers:

The Voice of Female Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas Dear reader, This Policy Guide is made with a simple goal: to encourage policymakers to assist female entrepreneurs in rural areas, by introducing them to the results of the FREE project and giving them some ideas on how to encourage and support these women. The target group for FREE were women living in rural areas who were in the process of starting a business, or who had established a small business in their community and were trying to develop their knowledge and skills, build bigger networks and get access to support and funding for their business. This guide was prepared for policymakers who make decisions at a national and local level to promote the importance of making enterprise support available to female entrepreneurs in rural areas. It is essential to ensure that more women in rural areas across Europe can set up their own businesses and live their dream of being an entrepreneur, creating successful companies and wonderful products and services. We find that Lifelong Learning is in constant need and is especially desirable for entrepreneurs and leaders in the community. Being open towards education, sharing and networking is a crucial quality and a requirement to become a successful entrepreneur. The FREE project partners together from rural areas in Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Lithuania and the UK have created innovative learning tools and a methodology, which has supported female entrepreneurs in the partner countries, women who are on a life journey of entrepreneurship or thinking about starting their own business. The same model can be replicated widely in other EU countries. The FREE partners believe that teaching, virtual business training modules and a coaching academy, a unique exchange of ideas and experience among women, networking, mentoring and available support are important on the pathway to entrepreneurship. All this has been applied as a methodology in the FREE project. We have been listening and learning from the women who participated in the project, and by listening to their needs and feedback, we have made a unique and holistic program, strong in education, peer mentoring and networking. In this Guide, you will find recommendations gathered by project partners from evaluation forms and focus groups implemented in all partnership countries. Enjoy the read!

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Introduction to Project FREE:

Empowering, Encouraging and Supporting Fempreneurs in Rural Areas The main objective of the FREE project is to assist women from rural areas in 5 partner countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Lithuania, and the UK,) to become successful entrepreneurs with a focus on small business development. The main target group is women with a concrete business idea or currently running a newly established company. Project partners have created a project to support the increasing number of women in rural areas who are interested in starting their own business but are still facing some obstacles such as access to finance, training, mentoring and networking opportunities. During the project, partner organisations in all 5 countries have been helping and supporting women to overcome these obstacles and have provided support and practical instruments to empower and encourage female entrepreneurs. The main aims of the project are to strengthen their skills and competencies, help them grow their network, and encourage creativity and start-ups through coaching and mentoring in virtual Mentoring Circles™, created by Inova, our partner in the UK. For that purpose, partners invested in their training capacities and methodology, and have learned how to facilitate Mentoring Circles™, with the aim to build the soft skills of participants and encourage them to learn from each other and share mutual challenges. Throughout the lifetime of the project, we have succeeded in establishing eleven networks in rural areas with active and skilful female entrepreneurs, driven by engaged local Network Facilitators. The networks have engaged women entrepreneurs in their local communities and helped them to build networks of support and knowledge. Altogether over 250 women have participated in the project and helped us to build strong networks of support and knowledge in Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Lithuania, and the UK. More about the project can be found on the project website: http://ruralwomeninbusiness.eu

CESI - Anamarija Tkalčec & VMST - Ásdís Guðmundsdóttir

Overview of

Gender Equality in Partner Countries • Membership of the EU mandates the implementation of EU Public Policy. This includes policy that promotes gender equality. All partner countries except Iceland are members of the EU, although the UK is now in the process of exiting. • Gender equality indicators in employment consist of equal pay for equal work, access to training, career development, promotion, and career development. • Disparities exist in all partner countries, and in Bulgaria, they are expressed mostly in access to resources (including finance, incentives, training, and promotion). In some sectors, including the Health and Social Care sector, the average salary of women is more than 30% lower than that of men.

BULGARIA Gained EU membership in 2007 following an extended period of adopting and harmonising the national legislation with the “acquis communautaire” and implementing good European practice in the field of gender equality. ® A National Strategy for the Promotion of Gender Equality for the period 2009 – 2015 was adopted and implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs. ® In 2016 a new strategic document will be published to outline the measures, policies and support in the field up to 2021.

REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

ICELAND

The Republic of Croatia is one of the rare countries that have a Strategy of Women’s Entrepreneurship Development, and the obligation to apply the gender equality principle is not a novelty. However, the new EU planning period of 2014 – 2020 requires an adjustment of the existing document. ® The extended recession in Croatia has emphasised the need for an intensification of gender equality activities, as the risk of a higher poverty rate and unemployment is more significant for women in a time of recession. ® Croatia entered the EU in 2013. During the process of negotiation and joining EU, laws were adapted to EU standards. It was a definite change for gender equality issues since all directives were respected and implemented into national laws. The functioning and implementation, with the support of substantial financials, are still an issue, however.

The Icelandic parliament has approved a Plan of Action on Gender Equality effective for the next four years. ® Gender mainstreaming is required in all governmental policies and decision making, according to the Gender Equality Act. ® The Action Plan includes the government, the labour market, gender pay gap (GPG), political representation, gender-based violence, education, and engaging men in gender equality, and international cooperation. ® New laws took effect in 2013 that obligates limited and private companies that have over 50 employees to have both women and men on their company boards, and if the board-members are more than three, the percentage of women or men cannot be under 40%. As a result, the proportion of women as board members is slowly increasing.

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LITHUANIA

UNITED KINGDOM

All recent Lithuanian governmental documents have an explicit reference to gender mainstreaming as a gender equality strategy, either as an objective or as a principle governing gender equality policy. ® The government has implemented four consecutive national programmes on equal opportunities for women and men. ® The programme in 2010 -2014 prioritised promotion of entrepreneurship in regions, reducing sectorial and occupational segregation by gender, and integrating gender equality into social partnerships and social dialogue. ® Despite formal legislation and declaration, Lithuania encounters problems in the field of gender equality; as reflected by key indicators, there is a reverse trend of gender equality.

Since the formation of the suffragette movement in the UK in 1867, women’s rights have come a long way in British society. From the creation of the Federation of Women Workers set up by Mary MacArthur in 1906 to the 2010 Equality Act passed by the UK government to legally protect people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society, women’s equality has remained on the political agenda. ® In spite of the progress in gender equality, a wider gender gap remains.

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Challenges for Female

Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas Female entrepreneurs in rural areas face many challenges, whether they are in the process of beginning their business or already have established small businesses. At a personal level, women are trapped in traditional gender roles, which simply means, that much of the family care and housework remains on their shoulders. Even when they have the opportunity to attend workshops and lectures, which will potentially build their knowledge and skills, they struggle with lack of time. When running a small business and having to care for a family women often struggle find the extra free time. At community level, there is a lack of affordable services supporting female entrepreneurs in the community such as childcare facilities and care homes for the elderly. These services are of great importance if we want to have more women entrepreneurs succeed in rural areas. Also, there must be a greater supply of support and educational services for entrepreneurs in the local community, so they don’t have to go to larger centres or towns in search of it. Provision of more online tools could also support this. At national level, women in rural areas struggle to access networks formed on a national level. Networks are vital and can be crucial for a successful business to create influence. There is no real influence from female entrepreneurs in rural areas, as measured using government indicators. The local budget is not gender sensitive, this would mean better planning of existing resources in line with a need for female entrepreneurs. Here are also some of the economic, industrial and personal challenges that women face. ECONOMICAL CHALLENGES

The main challenges identified by participants were: understanding of financial matters, lack of access to capital and a lack of confidence to apply for loans.

LEGAL/GOVERNMENTAL ISSUES (KEY POINTS FROM FOCUS GROUPS)

LICENSING

In some sectors legal and governmental issues are particularly relevant, especially where licensing is involved such as in the tourism industry, food and drink industry, insurance industry, beauty services and cosmetics production.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION ABOUT LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

This is hard in Bulgaria, Croatia and Lithuania. The women mentioned that the main problem was finding information on the legal requirements for starting and developing a business in different sectors. The women in the focus groups that have a background in accounting declared no problems regarding legal requirements when starting up their businesses activities.

E-COMMERCE CHALLENGES

One woman had problems organising e-commerce outside Bulgaria, recovery of VAT on e-commerce and credit card payment. All the Bulgarian women were disappointed with the support they had received from tax counsellors, and found it difficult to decide which legal form of the business was best for them.

ACCOUNTING

The participants in Iceland did not mention much about legal issues but said that it is essential to have an accountant. None of the women in the UK identified legal or regulatory matters as being a difficulty. There may have been problems in Iceland but the women forwarded the legal or administrative issues to their

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Women are reluctant to put their homes at risk for their companies. There is a need for greater access to risk capital without burdensome requirements regarding collateral and mortgages, especially when investments are intangible. Also, more practical information is needed on all aspects related to the establishment and operation of small businesses.

CHANGES IN INDUSTRY

Women tend to focus on the service and creative industries. The service sector is rapidly growing, especially in tourism. However, tourism has its own challenges, for example, winter destination businesses face a downturn in the summer and vice versa. Therefore it is important to diversify and make a variety of activities available to tourists to increase the duration of the tourist season. Businesses in rural areas undergoing rapid change from traditional agricultural industries. Women often meet prejudice in rural areas. It is harder to get grants for business ideas based on services than it is for those in the agricultural and manufacturing sector and it is more difficult for smaller business ideas to gain financial support. If the goal is to increase the number of women in business, then there is a need to look at the concept of innovation and business and perhaps to revise the definition of it. In Iceland, the financial service system has been changing, offering fewer large grants and reducing the overall number of grants given. This makes it even more difficult for women to fund business ideas since they are usually on a smaller scale. However, in Iceland, women can access small grants and loans through regulatory initiatives.

This chart shows World Bank data, they have ranked economies based on their ease of doing business; the rankings are benchmarked to June 2015. The number indicates the ease of doing business; a low number means the regulatory environment is more conducive to starting and operating a business.

PERSONAL CHALLENGES (EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE)

In general, female entrepreneurs who decide to start their own business have the expertise and skills in their chosen field but lack self-confidence. This may be reflected in less commitment to developing their business ideas and fear of taking risks. Women need to boost their confidence and increase their network in rural areas where they often feel isolated and overwhelmed with work and a lack of support or encouragement from networks and peers. Research and feedback from our evaluations and interviews have shown us that it is essential for female entrepreneurs to have access to support in education, coaching and mentoring as well as the opportunity to be part of the network.

LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY OF ESTABLISHING A COMPANY

When first starting up their business, entrepreneurs have to be aware of the many regulations they have to comply with. Their legal status will, for example, affect their tax obligations and their financial liability if the business runs into trouble. Each legal status could bring several advantages and disadvantages to a business venture. Thus it is appropriate in all partner countries to consult a business advisor before deciding on the structure the business will take. Women are seeking all available help in their communities at the local and national level, but there are still a lot of challenges for women who are just starting a business. BULGARIA

CROATIA

ICELAND

LITHUANIA

Ease of Doing Business Rank

Starting a Business

Dealing with Construction Permits

129

100

Registering Property

Getting Credit

Protecting Minority Investors

Paying Taxes

Trading Across Borders

Enforcing Contracts

Resolving Insolvency

Getting Electricity

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Possible Solutions and Support

for Female Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas using tools developed by the FREE Project Throughout the lifetime of the project the FREE project have been offering education, mentoring, coaching, networking, online training and support to female entrepreneurs in our countries. Here three primary actions we have implemented during two years.

1. FREE RURAL NETWORKS A GREAT WAY TO BRING FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS FROM THE RURAL AREAS TOGETHER

Their nature depended on the group leader, conditions in each area and other country-specific aspects. Network facilitators are crucial in motivating the networks so we were curious to know what network facilitators would suggest to future network facilitators.

The networks were based on the idea of ‘Community Driven Learning and Development’. The concept of ‘Community Driven Learning and Development’ is that authority is given directly to the community group (in this case the network), to develop, organise and make decisions on their learning. The underlying assumption is that ‘the communities themselves are the best judges of how their livelihoods can be improved, and if provided with the right resources and information, they can organise themselves to provide for their needs’.

Below are some of the messages and advice leaders have for other women and future Network Facilitators:

During the project, our network groups were working all over Europe in Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Lithuania and the UK.

GORDANA

Within this project, we have provided training and support to Network Facilitators who were entrepreneurs, to set up their own learning networks, which they took forward themselves to ensure sustainability. All groups used the same methodology; the Network Facilitators attended a joint five-day course in Sheffield (UK) in 2016 to train and learn the concept of the initiative. In practice, each group was different and each presented new insight into the project.

“Dare to be a leader! It’s good to see that the group has its firmness and strengths. To be a Network Facilitator and a good source of encouragement to others is a happy and entertaining process on both a personal and professional level.” “Just to understand that even if there are not a 100 women waiting in line to enter a network doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. Supporting one or two women and their small business in rural areas is making a huge difference in our local communities.” SUSAN

“I would create a special network only for leaders to support each other and share their experience and ideas about how to create and maintain the women’s motivation and strengthen the network.” TATJANA

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Advice from the FREE project consortium: 1. Be patient – during the first two sessions, women need some time before being able to relax and speak openly about their existing businesses or business ideas. 2. Listen, Listen, Listen – make sure you speak less than your group members. Listen to them carefully. 3. KISS – Keep It Short and Simple – start with shorter sessions and urge your group members to meet more often. After the third session you can expect that your meeting may last longer than you anticipated. 4. Do not be too self-critical – whatever you do, you will never be able to please everybody all of the time. 5. Even if there are not 100 women waiting in line to enter your network, it doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. Supporting one or two women and their small business in rural areas is makes a huge difference in our local communities.

Altogether about 150 women participated in the network meetings. The main reason women joined the networks were: • to gain new experiences; • to improve business development; • to network with other persons which they would not meet normally; • to acquire entrepreneurial skills; • to exchange knowledge and skills; • to receive advice; • to network with other female entrepreneurs in the region; • to develop new ideas; • to learning from experienced women; • to gain confidence in starting a business; • to gain support and encouragement. Women said that meetings were well organised, that leaders were well-prepared, supportive, open to ideas and that they would gladly participate in a similar or the same activities in the future. They would like to know more about topics including: how to use EU funds for small business; develop biodynamic agriculture; improve communication and marketing; organise market research; build self-esteem; improve time management. In general, participants prefer workshops and practical examples as a way of learning. They would all recommend the FREE Networks to their friends and colleagues. We, the project team, are happy to have a devoted network of women who dared to take part in such experiment and took on all the responsibilities that come with it.

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2. THE RURAL WOMEN’S ENTERPRISE ACADEMY, ITS TEACHING APPROACH AND PLACE IN THE CURRENT VET MARKET

The Online Enterprise Academy was developed in the frame of the FREE project “Female Rural Enterprise Empowerment”. It includes two main sections that aim to provide women with learning options to help improve their entrepreneurial and business-related skills. The first section of the platform includes a variety of e-learning modules that aim to teach women about product development, marketing, social media, finance, business strategy and export, which are some of the most important aspects of running a small business. The other part of the platform Enterprise Circles includes 15 topics including problem-solving, setting goals, mapping out your business, and motivation, all with the aim of developing and improving learner’s soft skills. Topics were explained simply with the support of online interactive features. The Academy is available in all the project consortium languages (English, Bulgarian, Croatian, Icelandic, and Lithuanian) and includes many external resources and supporting material, such as tests, exercises, quotations, examples and articles. The aim is to allow women an entrepreneurial spirit to start up or develop their small business. Altogether over 50 women participated in the pilots of the Online Rural Women’s Academy. Overall they found the academy to be useful and easyto-use, they said that the found the contents of the learning materials rich, through and useful and applicable to their businesses, the presence of case studies was also useful. The rural female entrepreneurs who tested the platform felt they could put the skills and practices they had learned into practice. There was however some issues with the online platform that users felt spoilt the overall positive experience of the academy. These issues were fixed as much as possible after the end of Pilot 1 in preparation for Pilot 2. The users also mentioned that they would like to communicate with other learners and female entrepreneurs in other partner countries.

3. VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE CIRCLES AND HOW THEY CAN HELP TO DEVELOP THE SKILLS OF WOMEN FOR BUSINESS?

The third outcome of the project was the Virtual Enterprise Circles™. This was adapted from successful pilots with other groups such as the long-term unemployed and young people wanting to start up in business, to suit the needs of rural women in business using online tools such as Skype or Google Hangout. The methodology was initially designed by the UK partner Inova in 2001 and has been transferred to FREE’s Virtual Enterprise Circles™ to test out whether the same benefits of group support and motivation occur when the group meets virtually. The Virtual Enterprise Circles™ for rural women in business are led by trained facilitators and makes it possible for women who live in rural areas to come together online for meetings to share experiences and learn from each other. Sessions were done in a combination of online and face-to-face from May 2017 until March 2018.

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In each session, the facilitator leads the learning process through mentoring and coaching. The Circles™ covered sessions on building soft skills such as self-esteem, setting goals and prioritising, motivation, strategic thinking and time management, networking, communication and presentation. The Circles™ used online materials from the Rural Women’s Enterprise Academy, which included interactive soft skill exercises, and the hard skills content, which participants were encouraged to go through. In total over 60 women participated in the Circles™ during the project lifetime, partners continue to use this method in their work with female entrepreneurs. WHAT DO THE PARTICIPANTS SAY ABOUT THE CIRCLES™?

“I have learned that I am on my way, I have overcome my first hindrances. I have also learned that there are different things that we have to do.” “We all have and face challenges in our businesses.” “Virtual sessions are making us all more focused on listening.“ “The feeling of freedom – the freedom of the independent woman, the freedom to express my ideas without fear of criticism.” “I found out my competences and how to exploit them in business.” “Now I have a clear plan and vision for my future.” “I have determined my goals, my preliminary action plan. I have started to look for finances; my business vision is much more clear now.”

WHAT DO FACILITATORS SAY ABOUT THEY WORK IN THE CIRCLES™?

“Facilitating through the Internet is very challenging. You have to be sure that you keep everyone active and to boost the conversation by asking the others if they have comments. It is also a challenge to prepare contracts and evaluation forms online, but still, it is easy to do with Google forms.“ “For me as a facilitator it was a great pleasure to work with these women, and I was impressed with how much respect they treated each other. Especially using the approach of questioning rather than advice quickly changed their attitude. It was something that most of them weren’t aware of, and they immediately applied this knowledge during the sessions.“ “To be honest, I was a bit nervous about how the online sessions would work, but now, in the end, I am pleased with the results and that I learned how to run sessions in a virtual environment.“ “Most of the women have already started their own business. They all willingly shared their ideas and the problems they faced. Some of them faced some difficulties in realising their business ideas and experienced a lack of self-confidence and motivation. The women who haven’t started yet wanted to find inspiration, exchange ideas and gain experience from others.“ “Talking about facilitating the circle, I must say that it is a very responsible role. You must be very concentrated all the time, see the whole picture of the group, be empathetic to each person, but, at the same time lead the whole group.“

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Recommendations

for Policymakers Below are some suggestions on how to best guide and support female entrepreneurs in rural areas. We hope they will make the entrepreneurial climate more attractive and meet the needs of the women who live in these areas, to benefit not only them, but also their families, their local communities and society in whole. The FREE partner organisations studied state bodies, ministries, supporting organisations, economic forums, entrepreneur organisations and local government authorities and have developed the following recommendations: 1. Just a small amount of financial resources would make a huge difference to help improve access to funding for women ‘s businesses in rural areas. 2. To make women’s business more influential and international it is important to focus on develop women’s networks 3. Promoting women´s entrepreneurship and women-led businesses should be proactive role of business networks and support organisations. 4. More support and legislation is needed. For example, self-employed women should have access to paid maternity leave from the State.

THE EDUCATION/TRAINING/SUPPORT FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS NEED AND WAYS TO CARRY THIS OUT

These tips were gathered from participants of the focus groups and responses from the online surveys, which were completed in all partnership countries. The most popular advice was that counselling should be adjusted to the needs of female entrepreneurs. It is essential that the support system builds their self-confidence and encourages those who have business ideas and want to be entrepreneurs.

Data gathered from female entrepreneurs in the focus groups and online surveys shows that learning tools and teaching should include the following: • Practically oriented training and mentoring for the how to build a business and business development for successful entrepreneurs. This would encourage learners to be more active and increase their desire to train. • Training for starting up and running a business including all modules in the respective field including training on the use of European programs for financing a business. • Seminars that present practices and role models from areas of female entrepreneurship to motivate more women to start their own business. • Coaching for motivation and building self-esteem. • Access to basic business skills, marketing and financial tools which will support the development of the business idea and improve its market value. • There is a need to connect female entrepreneurs more efficiently and assist them to utilise their networks. • Gender perspectives have to be used to reinvent the support system, for example changing the rules for grants so that women can apply for tools and equipment, and fund smaller business ideas since women tend to start lower than men and develop their businesses in smaller steps. • Consistency is needed in motivation and training to build knowledge of entrepreneurship. In this way new entrepreneurs will not be overloaded with knowledge over a short period of time. • It is essential to teach creative and innovative thinking in rural areas, especially to support farmers in diversification and link them to newer, creative industries like designers. • It is necessary to organise the exchange of experiences between successful female entrepreneurs and business start-ups through the introduction of mentoring and public presentations of their own experiences as successful entrepreneurs.

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• There is a need for online tutoring, counselling and educational support. • Support women´s entrepreneurship at both a national and regional level, and promote the exchange of best practices.

PARTICIPANTS OF THE FREE PROJECT HAVE IDENTIFIED SPECIFIC NEEDS:

• Access to financially available business support; • Access to specialised support for women entrepreneurs; • More fempreneur role models motivation techniques; • Information about available grants and investments; • Access to training about a variety of business issues; • Financial literacy to be taught earlier in the education system; • Access to administrative support on how to set up a business; • Advice on how to capitalise on unemployment benefits to start a business; • Coaching and mentoring to build up confidence – one to one coaching; • Develop a web-based platform for simulation training and implementation training program in entrepreneurship; • Training in writing applications for grants and loans.

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Success Stories

from the Female Entrepreneurs of the FREE project SUPPLEMENTS FROM THE PURE NATURE OF ICELAND

Pure Natura Ltd. is an Icelandic company focused on marketing the purest whole food supplement in the world, using only all Icelandic natural ingredients. The company uses organ meats from free-range; grass-fed lambs that are raised without pesticides, hormones or antibiotics, in combination with Icelandic wild harvested herbs. The company is owned by Hildur Þóra Magnúsdóttir, Rúna Kristin Sigurðardóttir, Sigriður Ævarsdóttir and Halldór Gunnlaugsson. Hildur Thora Magnusdottir is the founder and manager of Pure Natura. Her background is in finance, management and business consulting. She lives in rural Skagafjordur with her husband, three children, hens, horses and a cat. It all started when Hildur attended a course where the topic was an improvement of women´s health and how women could improve their well-being. The course discussed the ill effects of toxic substances in the environment and on women´s hormonal activity. The company is in Saudarkrokur, Northern-Iceland, where there has been a decline in population for many years. This is mainly attributable to lack of job opportunities for women, says Hildur. Our company aims to employ women, which makes it an important input for the society. We want to be a role model for business entrepreneurs by showing that it´s possible to run businesses on a win-win basis. Our vision is to run the operation in such a way that everyone is benefited from it: the animals (due to good living condition during their lifetime), the farmers (by getting better prices for their products), the slaughterhouse owners (by reduced disposal costs), the environment (because of less pollution of water and soil), the community by creation of jobs/taxes and the company by profit and the consumers (improved health, better quality of life). Pure Natura takes ingredients that are little used in Iceland today for human feed and turns them into highly nutritious whole food supplements. The company is currently producing and selling four supplement products from desiccated lamb organs and herbs: 1.st is Pure Liver, which is a mixture of lamb liver and wild, handpicked herbs known to be good for the liver. This product is for consumers who want to support their liver on a daily basis and after too much consumption of heavy food, drugs, alcohol, etc. 2.nd is Pure Nutrition, made from lamb liver only. It is for those who lack nutrients in their diet, the elderly, children etc. 3.rd is Pure Heart, made from Icelandic lamb hearts and wild handpicked herbs.

https://www.purenatura.is

“To all women who want to set up their own business, I would say: Perseverance is the most important tool to overcome obstacles. Look for assistance; you don´t need to invent the wheel! Believe in yourself, your business idea and have fun!”

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This product is nutrition for the cardiovascular system and is for all who want to take good care of their heart. Pure Power is the 4th one and contains both lamb heart and -liver in combination with nourishing herbs. It is for those who aim for energy and vitality or are under physical or mental strain. We take old knowledge from our grandmothers because they knew how important and wholesome the organ meat is. In our product we combine this knowledge with new technology, to make a product that modern people can relate to and make use of. We try to work sustainably, think globally and act locally. And we create a company that leads from the heart and cares for life in its big and complicated form, says Hildur! “It was not easy to start the company” says Hildur. “And I met many obstacles, it was hard to get start-capital and some ideas ended in the blind gate. There were a lot of new things that I needed to learn, but the whole process has been very instructive. I think the authorities in Iceland need to create an even better entrepreneurial environment to promote and support innovative activities”, states Hildur. To all women who want to set up their own business, I would say: Perseverance is the most important tool to overcome obstacles. Look for assistance; you don´t need to invent the wheel! Believe in yourself, your business idea and have fun!

CESI - Anamarija Tkalčec & VMST - Ásdís Guðmundsdóttir

LOVE, PEACE AND STRAWBERRIES

I own a small family agricultural business but I grow strawberries together with my family. We all love nature and agriculture. My full-time job is selling. I worked in some other company until I got fired in 2012. Since we needed money for my son’s education, and the only husband worked at that time, I went to Kutina, a small town in the south of the country to my friends who needed help with their own business; collecting strawberries. I had plenty of time, and I enjoyed collecting them. I love the way they smelled and tasted, and the work wasn’t too hard. They gave me a lot of information about strawberries, and how to grow them and I was fascinated! It didn’t seem easy at all, but my family has cultivated the land for a long time, so I was sure we would make it together. They laughed at me in the beginning, since I grew up in the city and now I had decided to work on the land. We started planting strawberries in 2012 on the land near our family house. My husband took care of the preparation of the land, and I got everything else we needed. We didn’t have proper tools, so we took shovels and a tablet and tried to see how others did it. It was great to use technology and (in) nature at the same time. We prepared the land, and we finally got the seedlings. And then: Shock! The seeds were delivered to us as small icebergs! We weren’t prepared for that! We started dicing them and separate the seedling, which reminded us of little squids and then planted them. When they were finally planted, everything looked very miserable - black nylon with brown heads of strawberries. But after two days the plantation was beautiful and green. We were so happy! Every day it became more and more beautiful. Our first harvest gave us more strawberries than we expected. We even had some profit. In the next few years, our strawberries didn’t give us as much as we expected because of climate changes (frost, hard rain). But we didn’t give up! In the next few years, we made new plantations, and we bought a greenhouse. This year, frost also came, but it didn’t harm our strawberries:). Our strawberries regenerate us. During May our backyard is full of children, young people, old people, cars and bicycles. Everybody knows that our strawberries are pesticide and germicide free, and there is always one cup of strawberries waiting for them. People often come to the greenhouse and help us collect strawberries they want to buy! Children love it because they can eat strawberries directly from the plant.

Entrepreneur: Snježana Ljubić Company name: OPG Ljubić Area: Strawberry cultivation Location: Hrvatsko zagorje, Zabok, Croatia Date: 2012 More information: https://www.facebook. com/pages/OPG-LJUBI%C4%86/1818922651757507?pnref=story

“If you have even a small piece of land, grow something that you love and take care of it because nature gives back a lot more than we gave to her!”

Now, the harvest is over, and we are all resting. Since the temperatures were high this year, fruits were ripening fast, and we had to

CESI - Anamarija Tkalčec & VMST - Ásdís Guðmundsdóttir

collect them non-stop! As we were gathering, people were buying and taking them away, and in the evening, shelves were empty again, like we didn’t do anything whole day! At the moment we have a plantation with 3000 seedlings. But demand is higher, so we are preparing fields for one more plantation where we could plant 5000 seedlings. We would like to make some products from strawberries; jam, marmalade, there is a demand for that also, but we sell all strawberries during the season, so there’s no left to process! I love the peace that the strawberry land gives me; birds are singing, bees are flying, and this year a lot of crickets. So we joke that we have all in one: sauna, gym, healthy food and good music! It is not too hard to grow strawberries since you do it in segments: in March we cut down dry leaves and prepare greenhouse, in May we harvest, after that we take off the greenhouse. Every work has its pros and cons. After the harvest, we all get back pain, but the smell and the taste of the strawberries heel everything, and the profit is excellent:)

CESI - Anamarija Tkalčec & VMST - Ásdís Guðmundsdóttir

ORGANIC – FROM PASSION TO BUSINESS

There are those types of people that can motivate others and “infect” them with their passion, self-devotion and enthusiasm. Such is the story of Ani Simeonova from Sandanski who is currently living her dream of owning and managing her own organic cosmetics e-shop. Ani, a mother of two, has been working as a project manager in a non-profit organisation for the past 20 years. “I have always had the passion for organic products, bio cosmetics and clean food”. During her work as a project manager, she has participated in many projects that dealt with supporting local producers and manufacturers in growing and producing organic food and products. “I have always worked for promoting the production of organic producers among my community and helped many producers and food companies find markets abroad”. “I have always thought of setting up an organics shop myself, but never had the time or courage to do it …or at least I always had that as a reason for my lack of confidence”. It all changed when she visited her first trade show for organic products where she met many women who have already started their businesses and had their stories to tell and share. She came back home full of energy, plans, confidence and she started. “At first it is always difficult. I have invested a lot of time and energy into my first shop. But when you do something with passion, you get much more than you give.”. In the beginning, Ani opened a small shop in one hotel in the town of Sandanski, where she tried to sell her first products to the visiting tourist, who were often foreigners and people that did not bother spending more money on organic cosmetics and products. “Sandanski is a small community where everyone knows each other, so “word of mouth” and nowadays “Facebook” can do miracles”. This is how she started. Halfway through she realised that it is time to move to the next challenge – setting up an electronic shop. This is where she used the help of some colleagues and friends that she had worked with and who helped her with the purely “technical” aspect of going online. Two years after she owns a very successful organic e-shop where she sells various products to clients from all over Bulgaria. She has signed contracts with famous brands and distributors of natural cosmetics and plans to expand even further. “It is wonderful to see the joy in the eyes of the clients. Words like „Thank you for the wonderful products”, “We are happy to have you” give me great confidence to continue and to know that what I do is right. “My biggest inspiration is my clients”.

Entrepreneur: Ani Simeonova Company name: Bio Family Ltd. Area: Organic cosmetics Location: Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria Date: 2015 More information: https://www.facebook.com/BioCosmeticBrands/

“At first it is always difficult. I have invested a lot of time and energy into my first shop. But when you do something with passion, you get much more than you give.”.

She tries to motivate other women to follow her path. In the meantime, she continues working as a part-time project manager and strives to promote organic products and “way of living” even further in her community and region.

CESI - Anamarija Tkalčec & VMST - Ásdís Guðmundsdóttir

HEALTH IS MY PASSION!

I’ve been lucky in life. From a young age, I discovered what my passion was: Health. In pursuing a healthy lifestyle, this led me to become a professional athlete. The happiness and enjoyment I find in being active and eating healthily, plus the psychological growth that comes hand in hand with pushing your limits and bucking the norm is something that I love to try and share with others. And so my business Tryumph Health was born: Helping people to Try-umph with a Y. Being healthy these days requires a concerted effort, but ‘with a strong reason ‘Y’, you can achieve any ‘how’’ (Viktor Frankl). Rather than to impose, – which as a young girl I soon realised doesn’t work when self-righteously trying to get my Grandpa to stop smoking! – I hope to inspire people to take action themselves. I offer a range of Try-Sports and Fitness Sessions for all ages and abilities, Corporate and School Wellness Workshops plus Children’s Holiday Camps. The core values of community, empowerment and fun are at the heart of all that I do. Likewise, all of the services have ethical foundations and angles such as in supporting a number of local charities by donating up to 10% of sports subscriptions to them, offering Kenyan Twinnings to schools I work with and upholding a ‘one for one’ deal on Corporate Packages whereby companies can nominate another not-for-profit organisation to benefit from my services at an equivalent value. I saw the FREE project advertised in a Derbyshire Dales business newsletter. As a fledgling business, and with zero experience of running one, I was very open to receiving any help and guidance in building and developing. Right from the very first meeting, I felt a real sense of belonging and support from the group. I was inspired to be around such intelligent and hard-working women that uphold such high levels of integrity in all that they strive to do. I was also comforted to learn of the challenges that they face in their businesses and subsequent thought processes, as they were so similar to my own.

Entrepreneur: Becky Lyne Company name: Tryumph Health Area: Health and fitness Location: Yorkshire, England, UK More information: www.tryumphhealth.com

“My mission is to help as many people as I can to lead a healthier life. My involvement in the programme has been a real catalyst in helping to achieve this”.

I received so much encouragement, reassurance and good advice from the ladies that shed new light and confidence on what I endeavour to achieve. I left each meeting with much food for thought and action points to fulfil. An unanticipated side benefit was in negotiating skill swaps and gaining new clients! My mission is to help as many people as I can to lead a healthier life. My involvement in the programme has been a real catalyst in helping to achieve this.

CESI - Anamarija Tkalčec & VMST - Ásdís Guðmundsdóttir

As well as the progress I made in developing my ideas by bouncing them off the ladies in the group, the subsequent networking and contacts I have gained have set me headlong on a journey to turning these ideas into tangible services that can be rolled out with maximum efficiency and reach. On a personal level, I have also noticed a palpable shift in my approach to business. I improved significantly on all the soft skills that we ranked ourselves on at the beginning of the mentoring circle, and I now no longer feel like an ‘amateur’ tentatively playing at seeing if I can run a successful business. I’m so grateful for the support I have received in the circles and highly recommend any female entrepreneurs to join one. We can achieve so much more in working together. It was heart-warming to know that the only agenda in the meetings was to help each other to be the best that we can be. It was precisely the boost I needed to take the next steps in my business and has expedited the process far beyond what I anticipated. And so my ‘luck’ continues…

CESI - Anamarija Tkalčec & VMST - Ásdís Guðmundsdóttir