Britain’s first women’s business event, Women Outside The Box, takes place in Bristol in October before being taken around the UK’s major cities.
The free-to-attend day on October 8 will offer advice on starting up and growing a business specifically designed for women, as well as demystifying some of the issues facing female entrepreneurs.
More than 150 people have already registered to attend and the organisers are expecting 1,000 women to visit venues the Arnolfini and M Shed on the day – giving any business wishing to take part a unique opportunity to promote themselves to such a large female-only audience.
There will also be a market area where ‘mumpreneurs’ will be selling fashion, food and family-related items.
Women Outside The Box director Joni Farthing (pictured) said the idea for such a large-scale event was sparked by the overwhelming response to the Bristol 100 gathering of Bristol female entrepreneurs in March, which coincided with, and supported, International Women’s Day.
“Once those 100 women started networking there was no stopping them,” she said. “People were asking why there weren’t more large-scale business events like that for women” she said.
“I believe feeling part of something big gives us all the confidence to be ambitious. It’s important that women starting out have the chance to meet with others who are already successful. But when it comes time to grow their company, women can often get stuck. So there’ll be a lot of help through workshops and clinics on this subject at the festival.”
Research carried out last year by the Women Enterprise Network showed a significant proportion (39%) of women felt they were held back from achieving their full potential by the struggle to achieve a work-life balance.
While this was a continuing major challenge, particularly for females running micro businesses who have family/caring responsibilities, 59% managed to network regularly to overcome isolation.
Ms Farthing added: “For women in particular it is really important they get support and grow their network to succeed in business, whether that’s for help with their childcare arrangements or finding suppliers they have confidence in.
“Women also tend to make business relationships in a very different way from men as we enjoy finding common ground, empathising and working collaboratively.”
To find out more about exhibiting or attending Women Outside The Box go to www.womenoutsidethebox.co.uk
