Background information

Going for Growth is a mentoring programme aimed at women entrepreneurs whose business has been trading for at least two years. It is open to female entrepreneurs across all sectors in the Republic of Ireland.

The Going for Growth initiative is funded by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG and the initiative began in 2008.

Going for Growth is funded by Enterprise Ireland.

Content of measure

The programme advises that the entrepreneur 'should already be the owner manager of a business of which she is a major shareholder and key influencer' and that suitable applicants 'need to demonstrate significant aspiration for growth and should be working full time in the business.'

Participants have access to 'round tables' meetings with lead women entrepreneurs who share their experience and recommendations. Each lead entrepreneur commits to do 'round table' meetings, on a voluntary basis, for three hours per month during the six-month programme cycle. The round table sessions 'explore a series of relevant questions related to growth and work through a series of agendas which explore relevant questions with a focus on achieving growth'.

The most important feature of this programme is that the mentors are experienced entrepreneurs who know how difficult and isolating it can be to establish a business. They are willing to share their journey and inspire participants.

Use of measure

As of June 2024, the programme has completed 16 cycles of mentoring, allowing more than 900 women entrepreneurs to benefit of the peer to peer exchange and mentoring from lead entrepreneurs. Participants reported an increase in their confidence, ambition and motivation. The 17th cycle will begin in January 2025.

The Going for Growth cycle in 2016 reported that 75% participants increased their turnover over the six months of the cycle by an average of 33%, bringing the turnover of the group to over €33.2 million. There was a 43% increase in the number of exporters among the group. An additional 70 jobs were created by participants (+17%), while 415 existing jobs were strengthened.

The programme received awards during the years and the value of the service it provides has been recognised by private and public stakeholders. A pilot initiative inspired by this programme was run in 2014 in Finland and Going for Growth won the Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills Category at the European Enterprise Promotion Awards 2015.

Each cycle of Going for Growth features insightful testimonials from participants. An example from the 15th cycle is from Kate Colleary , propietor of Pembroke Privacy, who said the programme was a "game changer for a growing business". Ms Colleary said the "mix of peer round tables, facilitated by an experienced entrepreneur, and topic-based workshops led by fantastic female leaders from KPMG, participants essentially go through a highly practical MBA that is focused on their business."

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Female workers	Applies to all businesses	Women

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	Employer National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

No involvement.

Views and reactions

There are no known views of the social partners on this initiative.

Sources

• 15 July 2024: Going for Growth (goingforgrowth.com)