CONCLUSIONS

EU Women – Needs analysis report

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The report has been co-financed by the Leonardo da Vinci Programme of the European Comission. The finding expressed and view expressed herein do not reflect in any way the opinion of the European Comission.


CONCLUSIONS.........................................................................................................................3Overview :....................................................................................................................................5

What is WOMENOMICS?.......................................................................................................6Capter 1 . Study case on woman entrepreneurship.................................................7

1.1 The general environment....................................................................................................7Chapter 2: Benchmarking analysis at glance in partner countries...................11

2.1 BULGARIA......................................................................................................................112.1.1 Current situation – statistical information...............................................112.1.2 Difficulties & constrains.................................................................................122.1.3 Good practices...................................................................................................12

2.2 CZECH REPUBLIC......................................................................................................122.2.1 Current situation...............................................................................................122.2.2 Difficulties & Constrains.................................................................................132.2.3 Good practices...................................................................................................13

2.3 ITALY..............................................................................................................................142.3.1 Current situation...............................................................................................142.3.2 Difficulties & Constrains.................................................................................152.3.3.Good practices:.................................................................................................15

2.4 LITHUANIA...................................................................................................................152.4.1 Curent situation.................................................................................................152.4.2 Difficulties & Constrains.................................................................................172.4.3 Good practices:.................................................................................................17

2.5 SPAIN.............................................................................................................................172.5.1 Current situation...............................................................................................172.5.2 Difficulties & Constrains -..............................................................................182.5.3 Good practices:.................................................................................................18

2.6 PORTUGAL...................................................................................................................182.6.1 Current situation...............................................................................................182.6.2 Difficulties & Constrains.................................................................................192.6.3 Good Practices:..................................................................................................19

2.7 ROMANIA......................................................................................................................202.7.1 Current situation...............................................................................................202.7.2 Difficulties and Constrains............................................................................212.7.3 Good practices:.................................................................................................21

2.8.NORTHEN IRELAND..................................................................................................232.8.1 Current situation...............................................................................................232.8.2 Difficulties and Constrains............................................................................232.8.3 Good practices:.................................................................................................23

Chapter 3: The survey........................................................................................................25Annexes...........................................................................................................................38

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CONCLUSIONS

The main conclusions are:

The most interested women in starting a business are situated in between 26 and 55 years;

Women are interested in their own development;

Women are the most important resource for the future perspective of business environment;

the most important obstacles when developing of business are:

Awareness / access to business support 38,6 %;

Start up finance: 34,5% ;

Finding the right contact for business venture: 20,8 % ;

Lack of information / advice on how to start a business 15,9%;

Combining family and work life: 16%;

Lack of intercultural and language skills for foreign markets: 14,9%

Management skills/ entrepreneurial skills: 14,8%

Being a woman/ gender discrimination : 6%,

And that means when approaching the training materials we need to take into consideration this factors when designing the training modules.

Another important point for designing the content of the modules is connected to the support needed for starting a business. There is a huge need for financial support ( 80%), legal advice ( 50%) and assistance for developing a business plan ( 48%). In this respect, it is very important that these aspects to be included and developed in the training modules tailored to the needs of the target group: women with low abilities and skills.

Concerning the capacity of delivery the training there are many differences among partners as infrastructure and e - learning skills.

Concerning the training infrastructure:

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Each partner has an internet connection

Each partner has the necessary software and hardware necessary for the training even if there are big differences as quality ;

There are no problem connected to the average training infrastructure

As for the skills

A guideline will be necessary for Moodle based training for all partners and for end users.

An intensive instruction on Moodle is necessary for all partners.

Overview :

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“Women have become probably the greatest neglected resource in business, both in their market potential as consumers and in their productive potential as employees… It is a fundamental weakness of business models that were designed for a male-dominated world… we need a revolution in thinking.” The Financials Times - 26th February 2008.

Women seems to be seen, by all key players in the economical and political world, as essential economic actors based on their role and status as citizens, consumers, leaders and employees.

The ageing of the workforce in Europe is a reality and women’s growing participation in employment is offering an important an important solution to the challenge opened by the declining birth rates and skill shortage. That is why countries and companies are in urgent need of concrete policies to enable women to fulfill their potential.

An estimated 6 million small business owners will retire over the next ten years and Europe cannot afford to risk losing these businesses1. In order to fill the gap, entrepreneurship potential needs to be better exploited. Women involvement could be the answer yet there is a continuing gender gap in terms of entrepreneurship, which translates into fewer women entrepreneurs.

The proportion of tertiary education graduates in the EU27 has increased more for women than for men through the generations. In the oldest age group, a higher proportion of men than women had completed tertiary education (21% for men and 18% for women); in the middle age group proportions were nearly equal (24% for men and 25% for women); and in the youngest age group a higher proportion of women than men had completed tertiary education (26% for men and 34% for women).

1 Small Business Act for Europe

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Source: Bologna Ministerial Conference (Doc. 3-28042009-AP-EN)

What is WOMENOMICS?

In her book “Why Woman Mean Business” the author, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and the co-author Alison Maitland say organizations that become savvy about “womenomics” will win in the war for the best talent and leadership and the war for customers.

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Womenomics is a term leading investments backs such as Goldman Sachs have come to using to refer to women as one main engines of growth. Many economists say that women are one of the three emerging forces shaping the 21st century, the three Ws: Weather, Women and the WEB. It’s an approach to gender rooted in the economic opportunity afforded by a majority of the 21st century’s talent pool and a majority of its market – the female part. It argues that only ‘bilingual’ companies, able to speak the language of both men and women proficiently, can optimize the huge opportunities of women’s talents and purchasing power today.

Capter 1 . Study case on woman entrepreneurship

Why can’t a woman be more like a man?

– Henry Higgins (My Fair Lady)

1.1 The general environment

It is widely recognized that women are still under-represented in European business, both in number and in status, both at level of top management or simply as an entrepreneur.

In most countries, regions and sectors, the majority of business owner/managers are male. There is a male centered business environment. However, there is increasing evidence that more and more women are becoming interested in small business ownership and/or actually starting up in business. In addition, rates of self employment among women are increasing in several EU countries.

It is important for the beginning to recognize the ‘Factors of Business Success2’ (FOBS) that determine the success and growth of newly born enterprises, run by men or women, and especially to define the motivations for starting up one’s own business, the barriers and risks encountered during the first years of existence, the current situation of the enterprise, and business plans for future development.The main findings of the survey are:

Experience of having worked in the branch and in running an enterprise help but are not essential in becoming a successful entrepreneur.

The younger the entrepreneur, the faster the enterprise grows in size.

2 Eurostat: The profile of successful entrepreneur : Catalogue number: KS-NP-06-029-EN-N

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Entrepreneurs consider ‘contacts with customers’ and ‘administrative problems’ as the main start-up difficulties.

Dealing with outstanding invoices to customers is one of the start-up difficulties more often perceived as problematic for men than for women.

Men are more optimistic about the profitability of their enterprise, compared with women.

The degree to which entrepreneurs consider their enterprises to be innovative increases with their educational level.

The most often-cited motivations for starting up an enterprise are ‘the desire to be one’s own boss’ and ‘the prospect of making more money’.

Generally speaking men and women face more or less some general barriers when developing a new business. The level of difficulties by fie

Figure 1: Start-up difficulties by managing experience, average of available countries, in %

Source: FOBS 2005Figure 1 shows for eleven different start-up difficulties the potential role of entrepreneurial experience. For some of these difficulties, experience seems to have an effect. This is the case for ‘administrative matters’, ‘establishing contacts with customers’ and ‘to be aloneas entrepreneur’, whereby the share of entrepreneurs citing one of these rises as their level of experience decreases. For other difficulties, however, such as ‘finding suitable premises, ‘finding suppliers’, using‘information technology’ and getting ‘backing from the family’, this was not the case. As shown in Figure 2, shares of men and women vary between NACE activities. Whereas NACE Section F ‘Construction’ is clearly a male domain (96.1%), women would seem to prefer starting up their own business in

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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Admini-stration

Contactsw ith

customers

Financing Alone asentrepreneur

Pricing goodsOutstandinginvoices

Findingpremises

Findingsuppliers

Suitablepersonnel

Informationtechnology

Backing fromfamily

No experience One experience More than one experience


‘Hotels and restaurants’ (NACE Section H, 43.2%), where they are however a minority as well.

Figure : 2 Successful entrepreneurs (of enterprises created in 2002 and which survived to 2004), by gender, in different economic activities (NACE Sections), average of available countries, in %

Source: FOBS 2005

Having in mind the previous occupation men and women have before creating their own business we can find that the most common situation for male and women as well is being employee. For both groups, the first three motivations are ‘the desire to be my own boss’ (F: 73.6%, M: 75.7%), ‘the prospect of making more money’ (F: 70.6%, M: 73.4%) and ‘the desire for new challenges’ (F: 67.2%, M: 68.0%)

Figure : 3 Previous occupation before the decision for entrepreneurship.

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0

20

40

60

80

100

Industry Construction Wholesale andretail trade

Hotels andrestaurants

Transport,storage and

communication

Financialintermediation

Real estate,renting andbusinessactivities

(excluding74.15)

Males Females

Previous occupation (%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Employee Running another enterprise

Student Unemployed and available to labour market

No gainful activity and notavailable to labour market

EU Females EU Males


Based on GOLDMAN SACHS GLOBAL RESEARCH CENTRE“ reports some findings arrived :

■ Economies where the problem of population ageing is most acute – such as Japan and Italy – also tend to be those where female employment is lowest.■ Closing the gap between male and female employment would have huge economic implications for the global economy, boosting US GDP by as much as 9%, Eurozone GDP by 13% and Japanese GDP by 16%.■ A reduction in the male-female employment gap has already been an important driver of European growth and Europe is best placed to benefit over the next 10 years. Japan has the biggest potential windfall but has made little progress in the past 10 years. TheUS has the smallest gender gap of the G3, but this gap has risen in the past 10 years.■ Education is key to gender equality. Educating girls and women leads to higher wages and a greater likelihood of working outside the home. The impact is felt not only in women’s lifetimes, but also in the health, education and productivity of future generations.■ At the macroeconomic level, female education is a key source of support for long-term economic growth. It has been linked to higher productivity; higher returns to investment; higher agricultural yields; and a more favorable demographic structure. The economic growth that results from higher education feeds a virtuous cycle, supporting continued investments in education and extending the gains to human capital and productivity.

Chapter 2: Benchmarking analysis at glance in partner countries

2.1 BULGARIA

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2.1.1 Current situation – statistical information

Bulgarian women consider their professional experience as a way

of social realization, economic independence and self-esteem; ¾ of women would prefer to work and to be economically active

even if they were totally materially satisfied; According to recent data there are more than 60 000 women

entrepreneurs and managers in Bulgaria, most of them of small and medium-sized enterprises. In total, of the number of newly established companies over a quarter are owned by women. In addition, a number of firms whose owners are male are run by their female partners;

Over 33% of the interviewed have their own business;

82% of the interviewed manage micro companies with staff from 1 to 9 people

15.5% manage small companies with personnel up to 49 people

2.5% manage big companies 63% of the Bulgarian business ladies have higher education

degrees ; 84% of the interviewed work more than 50 hours per week ; 8.4% of the interviewed women work 40 hours per week 77% of the Bulgarian female entrepreneurs receive support from

their families; 62% of the Bulgarian female entrepreneurs have started alone

their own business; A high percent of the Bulgarian female entrepreneurs are married

and have kids to look after. Bulgarian women devote a lot of time for their career and personal

development, for education, and for the development of their business.

2.1.2 Difficulties & constrains

financial difficulties to start their own business – 56% of the interviewed

• lack of confidence and believe in success – 20% of the interviewed • finding the right contact points and people who can help – 25% of the

interviewed. • the regulatory system and lack of clarity of the process of starting your

own business • lack of support and responsiveness from the institutions

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• lack of proper education about entrepreneurship, development of business plans and managing your own company

• lack of information about funding opportunities for start-ups.

2.1.3 Good practices

The first component of Project ‘Family Centres for Children - , Encouragement of Entrepreneurship of Unemployed Women” – Up to now the activities under this component were implemented in all 264 municipalities in Bulgaria and unemployed women from different regions received support and trainings in order to start their own business through the project.

2.2 CZECH REPUBLIC

2.2.1 Current situation

77% of the Czech population (88% women and 65% men) think that women are definitely disadvantaged at the labor market. Although there is an effort to make women and men equal in the labor process, majority of women and men are oriented to traditional rules. In the past women were forced to work mostly of economical reasons and they were involved in the activities with the lowest social appreciation. In the present time women more easy achieve independence especially women having high quality education. But unfortunately the number of such women is very low. Majority of women are afraid of current labor market making them hopeless.

Women represent 26%3 of the total number of entrepreneurial subjects in the Czech Republic.

Amongst employed women, female entrepreneurs represent 9.7% of the total number,

As the most important factors to establish own business the women presented independence, personal improvement, work freedom, challenge, self-determination, family interests, organizational dynamics and barriers of development.

As a motivation they named the need to keep the family business, as an alternation of unemployment, chance or accident, natural process, necessity, businesswoman as a life style.

3 www.czso.cz

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2.2.2 Difficulties & Constrains

the main big barrier pointed out - lack of courage . – low level of education,– longtime practice in routine work, – lack of continuous education increase or trainings and retraining, – care of the child or senior – family member, higher age.

2.2.3 Good practices

Project How to Go On: practical training covering accounting and fiscal matters, the image of female entrepreneurs, communication skills Project Inspiration: educational seminars, support for international cooperation, establishment of advisory centre, issuing bulletin and calendar

Project Improving Social Competencies of Women as a Precondition for Successful Business: seminars for entrepreneurs on business ethics, self management, handling stress situations etc.

Project Competitiveness of Female Entrepreneurs and Managers II: educational seminars for female entrepreneurs

Project Professional and Personal Growth of Female Entrepreneurs and Managers: seminars and workshops focusing on the development of management skills

Project held by APM BPW conference: support for women in business in the Czech

Project Compendium for Starting Female Entrepreneurs: seminars for starting female entrepreneurs

2.3 ITALY


According to the Observatory on Women entrepreneurs 2007 female-owned companies number more than 1.2 million, thus representing 24,02% of the total number of companies in Italy. As such, in 2007 the number of female enterprises increased twice as much as the national average. This means

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that while the labor market is still unable to offer adequate opportunities, women making the choice of starting or running an independent business are on the increase, thus showing a deeper motivation and need for self-achievement than men. What are needed are policies and actions to support the current positive trends, as well as practical solutions to the problems which are hindering the full development and use of feminine resources, in order to guarantee a more equal, harmonious economic, professional and social development of the country.

Table: 1Female-owned

companiesrepresent

Women entrepreneur

commerce health care

and social services

household care

services

public, social and personal

service

hotel and restaurant

sector

Education

23.5% 26.9% 38,5% 36,2% 47% 33.5% 6%

Motivating factors and challenges:

– 40,7% desire for autonomy and independence, – 54,8% a higher quality of work, – 37,4% difficulty in finding a job– 47,9% family tradition– 41,3% committed to achieving their objectives/desires or,– greater freedom and control over one’s job and life and – social recognition are cited as the motivating factors behind

women choosing to run their own business


– family constrains : 56,6%– need to combine employment and private life: 25,9%– raising funds for their businesses: 47,6%– acquisition of clients: 35,4%– committed to achieving their objectives/desires : 41,3%

2.3.3.Good practices:

Within the framework of Law 215, as far as the Regional Programmes are concerned, the Ministry for Economic Development has co-financed 18 Regional Programmes related to the promotion of women entrepreneurship.

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2.4 LITHUANIA

2.4.1 Curent situation

In 2007, employed women consist of 49.3 % of the total number of employed persons, in 2006 – 49.6 %, while in 2000 – 50.9 %. It is interesting to note that according to Eurostat figures published at the beginning of 2008 Lithuania has the highest proportion of women managers in the EU (41%).

The main activities in the area of women remains a health and social work, where in 2007 her amounted to 85.5 % of workers, and education, where women made up 81.9 % of employees. Women's employment and the role of the national economy last year increased. However, the integration of women into the private business is still relatively weak. A few years’ statistics showed that women entrepreneurs constitute only a third of all entrepreneurs. This results from a series of reasons, and especially a "double burden" (the family - business), which they have to carry. Therefore, only a very strong personality that can lift the burden. Lithuanian women entrepreneurs develop the most common activities in these areas: apparel, hair cutting, beauty salons, small restaurants and cafes, private dental surgeries and private doctors' offices, sports clubs and others. Guides are mainly women from the age groups 41-50 and 51-60 years, this fact suggests that the business mainly involved in the women with significant experience.

Table:2 Entrepreneurs by gender (%)

Most women entrepreneurs working in the fields of economic activity:Table:3 – women in economic activities

Types of economic activity Women %s2007 2008

Overall: 31,3 28,0Manufacturing 18,9 25,6Electricity, gas and water supply - 33,3

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Construction 6,9 12,7Wholesale and retail trade 35,5 32,2Hotels and restaurants 54,0 49,2Transport, storage and communication 19 18Financial intermediation 60 50Real estate, renting and business activities

35,1 15,4

Other community, social and personal service activities

40 52,7

Other activities

The situation of women in the major economic activities:

Table:3 – women in major economic activitiesMajor economic activities Women %sIndustry 12.03 %.Construction 2.87 %.Retail 47.42 %.Hotels and restaurants 9.6 %s.Transport, storage and communication 5.87 %.Financial intermediation 3.87 %.Real estate, renting and business activities

18.34 %.

Reviewing the statistical data shows that there is no reason to believe that women can not lead the business, Lithuania higher education must be about 15 % for women.


Research has shown that both men and women, starting or expanding businesses are faced with many challenges, but often they are important for women entrepreneurs. Lithuania, women wishing to start a business, often face the following problems:

lack of capital and business support for start-up Lack of business experience and the difficulties in competing

markets and access to business support Financial support to business development and bureaucratic

difficulties. intellectual property rights , business support providers,

discrimination and access to new technologies, etc.

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2.4.3 Good practices:

There are no special business promotion strategies or programmers for women in Lithuania. However measures to promote female entrepreneurship and support women's business ventures have been incorporated into a variety of national programmers. An initiative to promote female entrepreneurship in rural areas is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture together with organizations such as the Chamber of Agriculture and one of the most active Lithuanian rural women's umbrella organizations, the Association of Lithuanian Women Farmers, which aims to strengthen rural women's self-confidence, develop their skills and provide them with knowledge, especially in the area of alternative enterprise.

2.5 SPAIN


In Spain, the approval in March 2007 of the Organic Law for effective gender equality constituted a commitment by the government to eliminating all sorts of discrimination giving rise to inequalities between women and men in all areas, and especially in economic affairs.According to the Labor Force Survey (EPA) for the last quarter of 2007, women still represent just over 31% of entrepreneurs.

2.5.2 Difficulties & Constrains -


1. Business Creation and Consolidation Programmes1.1 Training for the development and consolidation of businessesThis programme of 400 hours of individual and group training is especially aimed at businesswomen who would like to consolidate their businesses, improve their profitability or evaluate other expansion alternatives. The aim is to provide an overview of the different functional areas of business so as to enable participants to identify market opportunities using management tools to improve the training of businesswomen and make their businesses more competitive. In 2007 84 women took part.

1.2 Business Management Training In conjunction with the Industrial Organisation School Foundation, a training programme on setting up and

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managing businesses is being provided with the objective of promoting entrepreneurship. This is aimed at women with a business idea they want to put into action. In 2007 221 women took part in this programme. Tutorials are provided for every single project.

3. Business tutoring, follow up and coaching This programme provides individual technical tutoring in aspects of the setting up and management of businesses. It is backed up with follow-up and coaching measures to provide the personal tools to help businesswomen take decisions that will make their businesses competitive. To date 300 businesswomen have taken part.

2.6 PORTUGAL


In 2007, women accounted for 46% of the employed population in Portugal and the female employment rate was 61.9%. Of the employed population in 2007, only 22.96% are self-employed workers, of which 41.4% are women and 58.6% are men. Overall, the major percentage of women entrepreneurs is in the age category of 36-55 years old although the age category of 26-35 years old comprises more than one third of all female entrepreneurs.

Percent Women entrepreneurs in Portugal

46.0 of employed population41.4 self employed -30.5 of the entrepreneurs40.4 Degree level of education


2.6.3 Good Practices:

The programme “BIM – Bolsa de Ideias e de Meios” – supports (consulting services) entrepreneurs during the phases of developing the business idea/plan and the start-up. It also aims to facilitate access to finance, business incubator services and other specific programmes. In 2007, 27 projects where women were the entrepreneurs (17 projects) or

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the partners (10 projects) received support to develop the business idea/plan.

The programmes “Local Employment Initiative”, “Creation of Self-Employment” and “Family Care Local Employment Initiative” – support entrepreneurs to create new start-ups through management training, recruitment of workers, consulting services and financial assistance. In 2007, 4,162 people started their own business under these programmes, of which 2,350 were women (56.46%).

There are also specific government measures devoted to female entrepreneurs. The main initiative carried out since 2002 in this area is the measure “Support of Female Entrepreneurship”. This measure aims to promote the level of participation of women in the labour market, to support the creation of networks to promote female entrepreneurship, to support the creation and consolidation of small and micro enterprises, to improve access to self-employment through training and to promote the participation of women in high-technology and financial areas. This initiative includes financial support for at least 166 hours of training in management, for consultancy/mentoring of 100 hours per woman to consolidate the business idea, for enterprise start-up and for enterprise information networks. Priority was given to projects that included at least the training and the consultancy/mentoring.

2.7 ROMANIA


The main reasons to start up a business are: the need to earn money for the family and financial independence. The material support owned Husband support The example of other women owning companies

The experience in the field was not a widespread motive to start up the business. We can conclude that the financial factors prevail in front of the sociological or professional ones. Businesswomen start the “adventure” of a business on a fresh ground, having as guiding beacon the wish to earn money, to be financially independent. This denotes an incipient stage of entrepreneurial culture, the motivation structure supporting this statement.

Having in mind the type of organization for companies lead by women , they are:

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around 80% - Limited liability company around 20% - Joint-stock company around 5% - cooperatives

According to the respondents to the study created for women entrepreneurship survey 2006 women have different advantages such as:

Conscientiousness – 78,9% Dynamism – 62,1% Personal Charm – 30,3% Pleasant and neat aspect – 27,6%Other advantages like : Intelligence, intuition, sense of responsibility and

tenacity were given very low percentages , under 1%.

2.7.2 Difficulties and Constrains

Research has shown that both men and women, starting or expanding businesses are faced with many difficulties and constrains such as:

9% General increase of tax obligations 25% Increase of the tax for micro enterprises from 1.5 % to 3 % 70% - Bureaucracy and unclear regulations 20%Changes in the social insurance system 28% Local tax increase


The Ministry for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Trade, Tourism and Liberal Professions from Romania has continued its national programme for developing entrepreneurial culture among women manager from the SMEs sector. In 2007 this programme had two important phases: workshops with seminars and entrepreneurial training courses.The awareness campaign for women entrepreneurship called “Women entrepreneur days” was continued in ten Romanian cities. The interest by women to attend these seminars was high. All seminars had tradition in organizing small exhibitions for local women entrepreneurs companies and they were able to promote there their products and services. A lot of

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business contacts were established between participants. Women were also taught about women rights and ways to fight against gender discrimination and home violence. It should be mentioned that these seminars were open also for men entrepreneurs. Representatives from the following stakeholders were also invited: regional agencies for employment, agencies of equal opportunities, agencies for regional development, business incubators and industrial parks, local authorities and ethnic and disadvantaged minorities and mass media.The participants showed a high interest and were convinced to come at the second programme’s phase: entrepreneurial training courses. According to our registers there were more than 250 women participants at these seminars. The second phase continued and we organized free entrepreneurial courses into other ten Romanian counties.Each course last for five days and covered business modules both theoretically and interactively such as:1. Legislation about Start-ups – steps to set up an enterprise2. European Union classification of economic activities - NACE3. 2007 Business ideas: analysis of: - Future enterprise (name, location and human resources), - clients , competition, collaborators, business partners, - products and services, - market niches and global market, prices, logos, - category (auto, insurance, financial, health, transport and environment services, children products, training and education, home cleaning, catering, tourism, agriculture, retail and many others)4. Business options:Business type (SMEs definition), business transfers, franchising, ecommerce, IT and hi tech, home business, part time and full time business, freelancing, business internationalization, business incubators, insurances, family business, communication and association networks, profitable investments, leasing, research and development5. Marketing:Enterprise vision and mission, outsourcing, marketing, communication and public relations strategies –the newest trends for 2007 Publicity, B-logs, on-line publicity, branding, selling techniques and strategies, marketing plan, distribution channels, price policies, on line marketing6. Management:Risk management, human resources management, business plan, business strategies, cash flow management, negotiation techniques, leadership, import export techniques, strategically pacification 7. Economical financial analysis and financing sources:Economical financial analysis, venture capital, equity capital, self financing, basic accountancy, financing sources, financing policies, public tenders, state aid and ‘de minimis’ rule, potential financial institutions for the enterprise, structural funds, european Single Market, business angel, angel investor

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8. Entrepreneurship and equal opportunities:Entrepreneurial education, women entrepreneurship –MOMPRENEUR – business for moms, self evaluation and entrepreneurial spirit, the balance between private personal life and professional one, fighting against discrimination and promoting equal opportunities9. Assistance and consultancy in business10. Property rights11. Business advocacyThere were 181 women graduates that received a certificate of attendance and a full participation pack with a course support printed and also on a CD. There was also realized a video resume of the courses.

2.8.NORTHEN IRELAND


2.8.2 Difficulties and Constrains


For them who are interested in starting a successful business and making it grow then the Start A Business Programme (SABP) can give them all the advice, training and support they need. The SABP is a short business course designed to help people start a business in Northern Ireland. It provides a comprehensive package of advice, training and support that will ensure you have a strong team to help you get your business up and running. The course provides training on core business principles such as marketing, finance and information technology. It can also help you to further develop your ideas for starting up and assist you in producing a detailed business plan that will act as 'blueprint' for the successful lauch of your business. The SABP is for people who are ready to start a business or those that are just thinking about starting and want to learn more. If you have an idea for a business the programme can put you in touch with business experts in your area who will give you all the advice and guidance you need.The SABP content 8 moduls:

- Module 1: Introduction to Starting a Business Contents: - Introduction and Content

- The Start a Business Programme- Steps to Starting a Business

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- Preparing a Business Plan- Sources of Support and Advice- Sources of Finance - Advantages and Disadvantages- Reasons for Success and Failure- Your Entrepreneurial Profile- Developing Your Business Idea

- Module 2: Market Research Contents: - Introduction and Content

- Overview of Market Research- Researching Competitors- Market Size and Market Trends- Primary Research- Secondary Research

- Module 3: Market planning and selling Contents: - Introduction and Content - Overview of Market Planning - The Promotional Mix - Advertising - Sales promotion - Public relations - Image and branding - Selling - Customer Care - E – Commerce - Place and distribution- Module 4: Legal Aspects and Business Operations Contents: - Introduction and Content

- Legal Aspects- Health and Safety- Premises- Equipment- Information, Communication and Technology (ICT)- Production and Quality- Supplies and Suppliers- Employing Staff- Securing Your Business

- Module 5: Costing, Pricing and Sales Forecasting Contents: - Introduction and Content

- Overview of Financial Planning- Business Cost - Pricing- Sales Forecasting

- Module 6: Financial Planning Contents: - Introduction and Content

- Cash Flow Forecasts

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Women age in partner countries

Chart 1

Cases w eighted by AGE

Age

Over 5546-5536- 4526-3518- 25

Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0


- Your Cash Flow Forecast- Identifying Funding Needs- Projected Profit and Los Accounts

- Module 7: Financial Management Contents:

- Applying for Funding- Loans, Overdrafts and Interest Rates- Customer Payment Options- Estimates and Quotes- Invoicing and billing Your Customers- Credit Control- Improving Your Cash Flow- Ratios

- Module 8: Bookkeping,Tax, National Insurance Contributions and VAT Contents: Bookkeping ,Tax, National Insurance Contributions (NIC), VAT, Paye, Sources and Support and Advice

Chapter 3: The survey

The questionnaire was applied in each and every country. Each partner had 20 dully filled in questionnaires and a SPSS analysis took place.

The age of persons involved:The most women respondents are in the field of 26-35 years followed by 36-55 years, generally speaking being a characteristic of women in

business stressed by the analysis by countries from chapter 3. As a division on the participating countries in the project the following charts are consistent with the situation by countries ( see annex 1)

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Taking into account the age from 26 to 55 years, the following situation is created:

Concerning the children:- 63,4% of the women with age between 26-35 have no

children; - 80,6 % of the women with age between 36-45 have

children;- 58,3% of the women with age between 46-55 have

children;Concerning the educational background :

- 46,5% of the women with age between 26-35 have university degree;

- 43,3 % of the women with age between 36-45 have university degree;

- 41,7 % of the women with age between 46-55 have university degree;

State of health - 92,8% of the women with age between 26-35 have good

health ;- 93,3,3 % of the women with age between 36-45 have

good health ;-- 79,2 % of the women with age between 46-55 have good

health;Residence

- 90,1 % of the women with age between 26-35 live in urban area;



Status- 53.3% of the women with age between 26-35 are

single/cohabiting; - 61,3% of the women with age between 36-45 are

married;- 62,5% of the women with age between 46-55 are

married;Question 2:

49,2 % from respondents set up their own business 50,8% from respondents never set up their own business

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Ever set up own business

Partners

Cases weighted by AGE

50,8%

49,2%

no

yes

The largest number of companies stated up by women is 91,2% and only 6,7% are inherited or bought 2,1%.This situation is connected to the desire of women to have their own financial stability.

Setting up the business - situations

Partners

bought business

family inherited

set myself

Co

un

t

200

100

0

Concerning the obstacles for setting up a business:- self confidence

54,8% consider it is not a problem 40,1% consider that it is a small problem 5,1% consider that it is a major problem

- start up finance 25,1% consider that it is not a problem 40,4% consider that it is a small problem 34,5% consider that it is a major problem

- lack of information/advice on how to start a business

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43,2% consider that is not a problem 40,9% consider that is a small problem 15,9% consider that is a major problem

- finding the right contact for business venture 32% consider that is not a problem 47,2% consider that is a small problem 20,8% consider that is a major problem

- awareness / acces to business support 33% consider that is not a problem 28,4% consider that is a small problem 38.6% consider that is a major problem

- management skills 40,1% consider that is not a problem 45,1% consider that is a small problem 14,8% consider that is a major problem

- entrepreneurial skills 37,7% consider that is not a problem 47,5% consider that is a small problem 14,8% consider that is a major problem

Lack of intercultural and language skills for foreign markets

54% consider that is not a problem 31,1% consider that is a small problem 14,9% consider that is a major problem

Combining family and work life 30,2% consider that is not a problem 53,7% consider that is a small problem 16% consider that is a major problem

Being a woman/Gender discrimination 70,6% consider that is not a problem 22,5% consider that is a small problem 6,9% consider that is a major problem

Question 5 is connected to the way women have overcome any obstacles when developing a business. The most relevant situation is connected to

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Overcome of obstacles

Partners

Overcome of obstacles

work a lot

with learning

training

the problems solved

support for guidance

sought advice

quit my own bussines

perseverence

not the case

networking

lot of work

lack of information

Implem

ent more activ

help from partener

good managers

difficult for family

comm

unicate with ent

begin with ambition

Pe

rce

nt

3,0

2,5

2,0

1,5

1,0

,5

0,0

*Perseverence 2,7%*Support of guidance 2,5%*Training 2,3%

In this respect it is obviously that women need training and guidance to overcome some obstacles when they take into consideration to develop a business. The most important thing is connected to the fact that 70,3 % from the interwieved women are really interested to start a new business.

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Taking into consideration to start a new business

Partners

29,7%

70,3%

no

yes

because of the following reasons :- personal development 57,1%- independence 67,2%

Reasons such as : family tradition, income increasing and the desire to exploit new areas seem not to be very important. That means women become more interested in their own capacity of development in the long term.

Why to overcome obstacles

Partners

Pe

rce

nt

3,5

3,0

2,5

2,0

1,5

1,0

,5

0,0

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As it can be seen in the following chart women consider the idea of starting a business because of the need of independence, the need for using skills and competencies they have and of course for making money.

0.010.020.030.040.050.060.070.080.0

Ab

le to

wor

k fr

om

ho

me

Ind

ep

en

de

nce

Pro

fit/M

aki

ng

mo

ne

y

So

cia

l sta

tus

(to

be

su

cce

ssfu

l)

Co

nfid

en

ce in

the

pro

du

cts/

serv

ice

so

ffere

d

Series1

Connected to the question 5 (women recognizing the need of support) there is a huge need of financial support for developing a business) 80%, followed by legal advice 50% and assistance for developing a business plan.

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The technological support and assistance with market research are ballanced and the last one is networking. These findings are very important for the training modules design as they are relevant for the level of women included in the field research. We need to make a connection to the situation of women with tertiary education when designing the level of knowledge.

Another important finding is connected to the level of potential 12 essential leadership behaveiour. The most important is problem solving followed by decission making and team building. The less important are supporting, rewarding and networking.

Potential ability in 12 essential leadership behavior

Partners

Influencing Upward

Problem-solving

Inspiring

Team-building

Consulting

Networking

Mentoring

Rewarding

Comm

unicating at int

Decision making

Delegating

Supporting

Me

an

9,0

8,5

8,0

7,5

7,0

6,5

6,0

Concerning the skills women consider important for developing a business they are:

- Financial planning 50,1%

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- Financial management 44,3%- Business planning 44%- Legal aspects and business operations 38,2%- Bookkeeping, Tax, NIC and VAT 38,1% - Market planning and selling 36,6%- Negotiation 34,8%- Costing, Pricing and sales Forecasting 33%- Market research 30.7%- ICT for business 21,9%

Importance to develope your skills

Partners

Business planning

excellent432poor

Pe

rce

nt

50

40

30

20

10

0

44

23

16

98


Partners

Bookkeeping, Tax, NIC and VAT

excellent432poor

Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0


Partners

Negotiation

excellent432poor

Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0


Partners

ICT for business

excellent432poor

Perc

ent

40

30

20

10

0

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Partners

Other

32poor

Pe

rce

nt

50

40

30

20

10

0


Partners

Administration

excellent432poor

Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0


Partners

Market research

excellent432poor

Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0


Partners

Communication skills

excellent432poor

Per

cent

40

30

20

10

0


Partners

Market planning and selling

excellent432poor

Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0


Partners

Legal aspects and business operations

excellent432poor

Per

cent

50

40

30

20

10

0

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Partners

Financial planning

excellent432poor

Pe

rce

nt

60

50

40

30

20

10

0


Partners

Costing, Pricing and sales Forecasting

excellent432poor

Per

cent

40

30

20

10

0


Partners

Financial management

excellent432poor

Pe

rce

nt

50

40

30

20

10

0

As the reason for the needs analysis it is connected to the interest of target group in our training courses it is important to find that 66,2% is interested in the training that is going to be provided by the partnership.

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Interest in course

Partners

33,8%

66,2%

no

yes

The situation on different partner countries is: Bulgaria: yes 95,7%, no 4.3%

Czech Republic: yes 39%, no 61% Ireland: yes 38,9%, no 61,1% Italy: yes 42,6%, no 57,4% Lithuania: yes 73,1%, no 26,9% Portugal: yes 83,8%, no 16,2% Romania: yes 82,3%, no 17,7% Spain: yes 60%, no 40%

Bulgaria

no

yes

Czech Republic

no

yes

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Italy

no

yes

Lithuania

no

yes

Portugalia

no

yes

Romania

no

yes

Spain

no

yes

Ireland

no

yes

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Annexes

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CONCLUSIONS

Business

Transcript of CONCLUSIONS