PRIME Initiative

PRIME has published a report called “Female Entrepreneurship among older women in Cheshire”. It looks into the attitudes and motivations of women aged over 45 living in rural areas to setting up their own businesses

The report is available for free download from the links below - there are separate files for the main report and two more detailed appendices.

The report is based on the experiences of the first 42 women to attend one of the “Developing a Business Idea” workshops PRIME has been running recently in Cheshire.

These women were at the thinking or pre pre-startup stage. This tends to last longer for women than men - women often have to wait for practical barriers to get out of the way before they can start a business, and they tend to spend more time planning.

Despite this, fewer than one in five of the sample had gone to a Business Link. And only half had received advice from any source that they considered helpful. Most sought advice from friends, relatives or acquaintances.

What emerges from the study is that some impartial help at an early stage and the opportunity to network with other business people would be most valuable. Many of the women needed some endorsement of their business ideas before feeling confident enough to approach mainstream sources of business support.