The economic climate may pose challenges for new business start ups, but women entrepreneurs across the county are being urged to kick-start new ventures with support from a £120,000 loan fund.
The Women's Employment and Enterprise Training Unit (WEETU), based in the city centre, is offering fixed-rate loans to help establish new enterprises and develop existing ones.
It is hope the fund - which has already helped set up and expand 115 Norfolk women's businesses in the past 10 years with loans totalling more than £100,000 - will provide alternative sources of cash to women who have been denied bank loans.
The money is being offered through WEETU's Full Circle programme in which women entrepreneurs join “enterprise circles”, groups of four to six women who provide peer support and mutual encouragement.
About 30 enterprise circles are currently active in Norfolk.
Businesswomen must come up with a business plan for their venture, which must be backed by fellow WEETU circle members, to qualify for loans of £250 to £2,500.
Jeanette Flemons, enterprise support officer at WEETU, said: “There are many women in Norfolk who want to go into business and self-employment but find it difficult to borrow through high street lenders and other traditional routes because they have a poor credit history, for example, or they are not homeowners.
“We want more women to be aware of WEETU's Full Circle loan fund, which can prove invaluable and make all the difference when it comes to getting a business off the ground.
“We're not talking about big businesses. These are more micro-businesses - people who require funding for things like computers, stock, raw materials, transport, cooking or craft equipment, or for attending training courses. We want to hear from women with business ideas and see how we can help them move forward.”
One entrepreneur who has benefited from a WEETU loan is Kate Jackson, who set up educational business the Minimonsters Creepy Crawly Roadshow, in 2004.
Ms Jackson, who lives in Bungay, takes an assortment of insects, arachnids and reptiles around schools in the Norwich area.
Facing a big public liability insurance bill in her first year she got an £850 loan from WEETU to help her through her first year.
She said the money, which she has repaid with interest, and the support and training offered by the organisation had been a big help.
She said: “I would have struggled to get into business if it hadn't been for them.”
To contact WEETU visit www.weetu.org or call 01603 230625.
Are you a woman who has achieved major business success? Call Evening News reporter Sam Williams on 01603 772447 or e-mail sam.williams@archant.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment