Continuing The Momentum

On successful completion of a cycle, participants can stay connected by joining the Going for Growth Community. Members can apply to take part in Continuing the Momentum round tables, take part in topic based workshops and attend a Meet the Leads event and are invited to attend the annual Community Forum.

Supported by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG, the activities of the Community are tailored to deliver focused developmental support to the individual member and her business, together with enhanced networking opportunities.

Continuing the Momentum was developed following a clear demand by many participants for continued participation on Lead facilitated round tables in order to continue their growth journey through a focus on goals and milestones and the benefit of an advisory panel of peers.

The round tables are centred on voluntary Lead Entrepreneurs who are very successful business women who have direct experience of significantly growing a business and all that that entails. They act as facilitators: providing guidance, acting as a sounding board, supporting the participants to build their own network and to learn from each other. It is clear from participants’ feedback that the Leads also perform a very important function as role models, demonstrating by their actions that sustained growth is possible..

Using the round table model, developed in Going for Growth, Continuing the Momentum:

• Harnesses the invaluable time of leading business women;
• Helps ambitious female entrepreneurs to continue to raise and realise their growth objectives;
• Is built on a foundation of trust and confidentiality;
• Provides an invaluable forum, that challenges and supports participants to critically analyse their businesses;
• Delivers practical change and real results;
• Has developed into a powerful community of successful business women.

Continuing the Momentum round tables, however, incorporate a slightly different model to that of Going for Growth.

• Round tables are facilitated by a Lead- typically an experienced entrepreneur
• There is a strong focus on each participant’s growth goals in the context of their three year plans, supporting them to overcome specific barriers to achieve these goals. With this objective in mind, at the first meeting each participant sets down her goals and milestones and these are reviewed and progress monitored at the start of each meeting.
• The Continuing the Momentum round tables are focused on peer to peer support. To make this approach effective, a “Deep Dive” is used whereby each participant company is put under the spotlight and the participants on the round table act as an “advisory board” for that company. There is one or two “Deep Dives” per session.

The outcomes from the Continuing the Momentum round tables are extremely positive and position the participants’ business well for further growth in the future.

Another very significant outcome is that it greatly strengthens the individuals that participate in it and increases both their confidence and capabilities. They also develop a strong sense of “paying it forward” and are themselves willing to help others as they have been helped. Oonagh O’Hagan, Meagher’s Pharmacy Group, a former participant on Continuing the Momentum is now a Lead Entrepreneur on Going for Growth, while the voluntary ACORNS Lead Entrepreneurs are all members of the Going for Growth Community and have also completed a cycle of Continuing the Momentum. They now volunteer their time to help early stage female entrepreneurs in rural Ireland (www.acorns.ie).