Women’s enterprise scheme pays dividends for Consett

A scheme designed to encourage entrepreneurialism among women has boosted enterprise in Consett, one of the programme’s coaches says.

Derwentside’s Enterprising Women (DEW) project was established in 2013 via a grant secured from RBS’ Inspiring Enterprise Campaign.

Under the mentorship of enterprise agency business coaches, several women from Consett and its surrounding area have been helped back from unemployment to establish their own sustainable businesses.

As the nine-month long scheme draws to a close, Gillian Khachikian, enterprise coach at Derwentside Enterprise Agency, said it has left a successful legacy for Consett, County Durham.

She said: “Although all of the businesses we’ve established are rather small, many of the ladies have plans to develop and expand, to recruit and train staff in the future and I’m confident we will see many more positive outcomes of this project in the years to come.”

The women learnt about business planning, cash forecasts, how to understand their market and accounting processes.

The scheme also included monthly ‘MumPreneur’ sessions with free childcare provision, so the women could network and chat with other mums thinking about starting a business.

The DEW programme also included a series of master classes led by other local business people. These training events included social media, marketing, book keeping, how build a blog website and how to manage a work/life balance.

The grant also funded a number of showcasing events for the new businesses including a gift fare in Durham Town Hall last September and the Christmas Market in Stanley on December 15.

An application for funding for a similar project will be submitted in April.

Gillian added: “If we get further financial support we would love to be able to continue the good work and support more women into the world of self employment.”

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