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Female Entrepreneurs Join Ladies Who Lunch at the British Library
This is a guest post by Mardi Latch, a pre-startup entrepreneur of an online ecommerce site Coax London and member of TheNextWomen.
On Women’s Enterprise Day of Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 18th 2009, Ladies Who Lunch held a networking event for female entrepreneurs at the British Library. Stepping in last minute and a budding entrepreneur herself, Mardi Latch – founder of Coax London – attended hoping to compare this with other free and paid for business events aimed directly at women.
Entrepreneurs at the ‘Thinking’ Stage
Ladies Who Lunch is geared towards women at the ‘thinking’ stage of their start-up and aims to help them with the next steps. The 30 or so attendees on the day were diverse and included: a PR Consultant, Architect, Product Designer, Business/Lifestyle Coach, Online Retailer, 3D Graphic Designer and an IP Educator.
It was great to see keynote, Business Coach Suzanne Cleal from Striding Out, first qualify the audience by asking for company positions to date. Considering the event was aimed at pre-startups, it was interesting that 80% of the room were already in the start-up phase. The remaining 20% were either still in employment but looking for a way out; out of work due to redundancy and planning to try a business idea, or stay at home mothers with a good idea. As is so often the case, these women in the minority appeared reluctant to share their ideas.
Suzanne gave a great talk, tailored to the audience, and covering the topics of exploring potential markets and pulling in investment. Cleal candidly shared her own failings and how she has learnt from them, shaping her into a desirable business coach. The fact she works for Striding Out – a great not for profit organisation offering business support to social and commercial entrepreneurs – is testament to her abilities.
The British Library is an Invaluable Resource for Entrepreneurs
The British library (cc: Stevcadman, flickr)
The British Library as a venue is of course an invaluable location for businessmen and women, and is a great free space to work in. In the early days of my own start-up process, the IP Centre became the epicentre of my initial research and soon became an ‘office’ away from its original dining room table location. On a daily basis the space is filled with similar business people, making it the perfect location for such events. Not only does the event space facilitate information exchange and contact with expert knowledge, but the IP Centre also provides easy access to the endless resources contained within its library.
A common discussion on events is how much detail should be provided on attendees, and at what stage. Attending as an entrepreneur for the exact reason of furthering my venture, it was a shame no delegate list was provided prior to or during the event to allow me to seek out people of interest. Being careful to balance strict privacy rules and getting this information into the hands of attendees for maximum benefit, one would think such lists should be mandatory. It is one of the strong reasons to attend events organised by Business Link or TheNextWomen who provide such information
As the evening turned to food and drinks, I nonetheless met a number of entrepreneurs worthy of highlighting. One such woman was Catherine (Kitty) Parry who founded Templars PR www.templarspr.com and Templars Barn www.templarsbarn.co.uk, both of which are growing, and still (I would guess) in her twenties was recently shortlisted for PRCAs PR Consultant of the Year 2009. In contrast to the PR Consultancy, Templars Barn is an authentic working farm in Berkshire available for weddings and functions showing she has a business head for both on- and offline ventures.
I asked Kitty some quick-fire questions regarding her experience of the event:
Why did you become an entrepreneur?
I fell into it
Have you been to Ladies who Lunch before?
No. This is my first time.
Did it meet your expectations?
I think so, although you generally find this out later on.
What made you come to Ladies who Lunch over other networking events?
I never think you can learn enough from others, and this looked like it might be an interesting crowd.
What value will you leave with from the event?
Another person with an interest in using my company.
Was meeting other women helpful and if so why?
Yes, we might be able to work together or become clients of mine although I guess this is not specific to women.
Did you make any key contacts that will support your business, and if so how?
Yes as potential clients.
What type of person would you liked to have met but did not get an opportunity?
People with more developed businesses
What did you think about the Speaker of Striding Out?
Interesting, she made some good points.
What help are you seeking to make your business successful?
Inspirational, talented and enthusiastic PR people to allow me to get out of the office more.
Kitty raises a very good point about meeting people with more developed businesses:
It is part of the reason why I am a member of the TheNextWomen. The gap between learning in theory alongside other “students in business” and having a meaningful conversation with an established and successful business owner is a great divide.
So far as the Ladies Who Lunch networking event goes, like so many others it really depends on how apt you are at locating those entrepreneurial diamonds. For those seeking direction, looking to build their client base or to bounce ideas among like minded individuals, and for an introduction to the excellent services the Business IP Centre provide, Ladies Who Lunch is a good start.
For those wanting to glean knowledge from already successful entrepreneurs, more specialised networking clubs like The NextWomen provide a far better environment.
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