BBC Woman's Hour Comes to The Women's Organisation for GEC 2012

The Women’s Organisation and event sponsors will host a dedicated BBC outside broadcast of Radio 4 'Woman’s Hour' as part of Global Entrepreneurship Congress which is coming to Liverpool in March.

The event is being co-developed with The Women’s Organisation and Woman’s Hour and will include a panel of experts and a specially invited guest list of 150 women entrepreneurs to discuss the needs and opportunities relating to female entrepreneurship.

The event will be held on Monday 12th March at the new £5.3mil home of The Women's Organisation - the Women's International Centre for Economic Development. Broadcast audience figures are estimated at 3 million for this event.

International Women's Day Celebration - Networking Event Stockport

The Women's Organisation have teamed up with Stockport Council to invite Stockport women in business to an 'International Women’s Day Celebration'.

This FREE networking event will feature a talk on‘Social Media Strategy for Business’ with Emma Callaghan of Bare Face Marketing

Emma, Greater Manchester based business woman and member of the chartered institute of marketing, will offer insights on the best tricks for using social media to market your business.

On:
Thursday 8th March 2012, 10am-1pm

Held at:
The Cotton Suite, Houldsworth Mill, Reddish, Stockport, SK5 6DA

Take advantage of opportunity to network with other women running local businesses by booking a place now!

This is a FREE event sponsored by Stockport Council for women running their own business in Stockport

BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL as lunch will be provided

For more information or to book a FREE place contact 0161 833 8800 or info@thewo.org.uk

Stockport Mum Launches Baby Friendly Business

Fed up of not being able to find a job that suited the needs of her young children, Stockport mum Anna Stocks decided to use her skills and experience to set up her own business.

Having studied for a degree in Fashion Marketing Anna was ready to face the world when her first surprise came along age 23. On discovering her pregnancy Anna said “I realised that I would have to put my career on hold. I didn’t want to leave my children to be raised by a nursery. I wanted to be there to pick them up from school, cuddle them when they had a bad day and make their tea when they got home.”

Over time Anna would see her husband come home after a fulfilling day of work, and have chance to spend time with their children and part of her envied him. She tried at first to take on part time employment to fulfil her desire to have a career too, but found between the crippling nursery fees and lack of part time roles that provided stimulation and a clear career path she needed to find another way.

Anna decided to utilise her skills to set up her own business, allowing her the flexibility to choose her own hours. In a random twist of fate Anna accidentally dialled The Women’s Organisation and was told about the support on offer to women going self-employed.

“To be honest, at first I was sceptical and wasn’t sure that The Women’s Organisation was for me” said Anna. “However, once I went to the first meeting I realised all the women were there for one thing – business! And we had a lot in common.”

Anna received training and one to one business advice from The Women’s Organisation at Broadstone Mill in Stockport to help her to turn her idea into a reality. She said “The staff were incredible and even now they still guide and support me. It is a huge learning curve and I know I didn’t get this far without their help, support and understanding especially from my business adviser who does an incredible job. The passion, proactivity and calming influence of the enterprise enabler really boosts your confidence and it is great to feel someone believes in you.”

It wasn’t smooth sailing for Anna in the process of getting things off the ground. “I’d get negative comments like ‘Go on, give me a job working in your office –oh do you have an office or is it the end of your bed?’. The jibes hurt, but they just gave me the drive to work harder, and once I had decided on the name of R.D.A. events it became real.”

R.D.A. events specialise in premier baby shows “Upon starting the business I decided that we would present baby shows in a way I’d not seen done before in my area. I wanted to name the event something mothers could relate to. So after some careful thought ‘Mother’s Instinct’ was born” said Anna. “I remember on the day of my first show I was a wreck. I was so tired and nervous that no customers would come. When the doors opened it was like a sea of pregnant mums and babies all looking at the products and services I had brought together. I spoke to both mums and exhibitors at the show who had all had a fantastic time, and I realised I had enjoyed it too. It was a real sense of achievement, but I knew there was still a way to go.”

R.D.A. Events have gone from strength to strength since setting up and are now bringing ‘Mother’s Instinct’ to Liverpool on 22nd April 2012. The event will be held at Liverpool Crowne Plaza Hotel from 11am-4pm with FREE ENTRY!

“It will be a chance for mums and mums to be to enjoy the day with live baby scanning with ‘Before the Stork’. I’m also hoping that the show will be an example to other women of what you can achieve by setting up your own company – especially in this economic climate when it is so difficult to find a job the suits the needs of your little ones.”

To find out more about ‘Mother’s Instinct’ shows visit www.babyshownorthwest.co.uk or follow @babyshowexpo on Twitter.

If like Anna you would like to find out how to start your own business to create a job that fits around your lifestyle, contact The Women’s Organisation for support on 0161 833 8800 or info@thewo.org.uk

The Women's Organisation Awarded Disability Symbol

We are pleased to confirm that The Women’s Organisation has been awarded the Disability Symbol Employer status for 2012.

The organisation have carried the symbol since 2010, but recently underwent a review to look at the organisations continued approach to the five commitments to good employment practice which the symbol represents.

Operations manager at The Women's Organisation Lynn Kelly, who was instrumental in gathering evidence for the assessment with JobCentrePlus representatives, said "We were delighted to be able to show our commitment to the ethos that this award represents. We are keen to continue to show our commitment to employ, keep and develop the abilities of disabled staff and will display our award symbol proudly."

You can see more information about the award and 5 commitments here - Disability Symbol.

New Catering Business Opportunity 54 St James Street, L1

The Women’s Organisation is seeking prospective catering operators, who are interested in an exciting opportunity to open a Café/Bistro at the
significant new building 54 St James Street.

An open evening will be held:

ON: Monday 20th February 2012 6pm
AT: 54 St James Street, Liverpool, L1 0AB

This event will illustrate the business opportunity, including both internal and external catering, in more detail.

Interested parties should contact Janet Lees on
07762021311 or janetlees@preciseprojects.co.uk
to obtain more information and to secure an invitation to this event.

The Women's Organisation Business Club Offers Help to 'Understand Your Customer'

The Women’s Organisation Business Club Invite You To‘Understand Your Customer’ at our networking event this month

Held on:
Thursday 23rd February 6pm-8.30pm

Held at:
The Women's Organisation,
54 St James Street
Liverpool
L1 0AB

As well as enjoying business networking and light refreshments, gather tips from our experts to help you understand your customer, and inevitably increase sales.

Karen Bellion from Parcours will highlight ways that understanding cultural working practices is the path to improving your business communication skills. Karen will look particularly at identifying practices to:
• better understand your customers
• improve your communication skills and performance
• identify skills to benefit your customer services

Business growth specialist Jo Copoc of Boomerang Business Solutions will look at the core principles of knowing who your customers are and making successful sales. Jo’s talk will be covering:
• Establishing your customers’ needs
• Winning conversations
• Dare to be different

This event is open FREE to members of The Women's Organisation business club. Membership is currently free and open to women running a trading business in the northwest of England. The business club offers access to regular networking and specilist training events, as well as a free listing on our business directory. To find out how to join or to book a place on the event contact our team on 0151 706 8111 or email info@thewo.org.uk

WICED Panel Member Brings Women's Entrepreneurship to the White House

The Women's Organisation will be represented at The White House this week by WICED panel member Professor Teresa Nelson. Professor Nelson will be speaking as a panelist at the White House Summit on Women's Entrepreneurship.

Developed by the White House Office for Women and Girls, under the leadership of Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the President, the panel will address "Getting Capital to Start Your Business." The summit brings together government, the for-profit, and the non-profit sector in a discussion of ways to increase women's participation in entrepreneurship.

Professor Nelson Teresa Nelson holds the Elizabeth J. McCandless Professor of Entrepreneurship Chair and is Director of the School of Management's Entrepreneurship Program. Her teaching, research, and consulting focuses on issues of entrepreneurship and global business, most particularly around start-up and growth company governance and top management team dynamics. She has also been engaged for more than a decade with global business issues, including especially China and the European Union. As an affiliate of the Center for Gender in Organizations, Nelson studies the patterns and strategies of action used by women entrepreneurs as they access venture capital. She is a great advocate for women's entreprepreneurship and The Women's Organisation are fully behind Teresa during this important discussion.