Anne Heraty CPL Resources PLC & Going for Growth Advisor
Going for Growth is an excellent initiative which gives real value to those who participate in it. It works best when the participants are open with each other and a circle of trust develops around the table. I have seen definite progress among the participants in my group in clarifying and taking steps to achieve their growth goals. I have been delighted to share my experiences with the other women entrepreneurs as I have also developed new insights from the focused discussions. I would like to complement Enterprise Ireland for their foresight in supporting Going for Growth, which is highly relevant to the needs of ambitious owner managers. I am delighted to have been associated with Going for Growth from its inception and intend to continue to support Paula Fitzsimons and her team as they further implement this excellent initiative.
Colette Twomey Clonakilty Black Pudding Company & Going for Growth Lead Entrepreneur
The round table sessions allow the participants to share their experiences. Everyone was interested in hearing each others stories and all felt they could share their issues in confidence. We bonded as a group and they supported each other. The programme proved to be a great motivation to the women growing their businesses.
Lulu OSullivan GiftsDirect.ie & Going for Growth Lead Entrepreneur
I am delighted to be associated with Going for Growth, which is an excellent initiative. I have seen the participants in my group make real progress over our meetings and they are determined to continue to meet with each other as a group even when the cycle has formally finished. I believe that this initiative is highly relevant to the needs of women entrepreneurs focused on growth and I intend to continue to lend my support to it.
Mary Ann O’Brien Lily O'Brien's Chocolates & Going for Growth Advisor
Going for Growth provides an excellent platform for female entrepreneurs focused on growing their businesses to meet and develop good relationships with other businesswomen. The programmes peer-led approach offers a unique learning environment, which is based on shared experiences. Challenges faced by participants are often the same and the roundtable sessions give them the opportunity to discuss how to deal with issues that arise in the day-to-day running of a business.
Mary McKenna Tour America & Going for Growth Lead Entrepreneur
The participants on Going for Growth develop excellent personal relationships and some will not make mistakes that could otherwise be made if they did not have the opportunity of Going for Growth. I would have loved to have had the opportunity of such support myself when I started out in business!
Miriam Byrne City Analysts Ltd
I would recommend the Going for Growth programme to any woman who feels alone in what she is trying to achieve in her business. The access to several other business heads in a relaxed environment was invaluable.
Monica Flood Formerly Olas IT & Going for Growth Lead Entrepreneur
From a Lead Entrepreneurs perspective, the initiative was extremely well organised and monitored by you and your team. I got every support I needed in making the meetings run smoothly and focusing the topics. I had a good mix of participants operating quite different businesses. However, they were all at more or less the same stage in business development, which allowed for good interaction. My team developed excellent personal relationships and I know that they are still in contact with each other. Some of them are actually doing business together! At each meeting my team were very vocal on the benefits they believed they were getting from the sessions. Quite a lot of trust developed during the seven month period of Going for Growth which allowed for very open and valuable discussion at the last few meetings. I believe that some of my team will not make mistakes that could otherwise be made if they did not have the opportunity of Going for Growth. I would have loved to have had the opportunity of such support myself when I started out in business! The Lead Entrepreneur meetings were important to discuss approach and style. Personally
even at this late stage
I gained enormously from my involvement in Going for Growth!!! Going for Growth was great fun and I would be very happy to be involved again in another Going for Growth initiative
Nikki Evans Perfect Card Ltd.
Running your own business you can sometimes feel a little isolated. Going for Growth provided me with a platform to test ideas and seek advice without worrying about negative impact of asking the tough questions. Fellow participants were truly inspiring in their accomplishments, and while the sectors and focus of the business varied greatly the challenges were always common. Each session allowed me to step outside of the day-to-day running of the business and focus more on the future and the next step. I was very fortunate to be in Elaines group, where thinking big was the order of the day what were dreams a year ago are now in motion to become reality.
Oonagh O’Hagan Meagher's Pharmacy Group
I would highly recommend the Going for Growth programme as it really allowed me the time to stand back and have an overall look at my business and where it was going. The programme was very well structured with six well thought out agendas which delved into every aspect of my business. Time was spent looking at my strategy, customer value proposition, resources and my team. Our Lead Fidelma McGuirk was excellent at giving us all time to discuss these topics within our own business and allow for the rest of the group to give their feedback and ideas on what we each should consider. I must say that I received some really innovative ideas from my fellow participants, some of which I have already applied to my business and which are working. There was a great feeling of trust and support within our group within a very short space of time and I look forward to meeting up with them all again and watching their continued success.
Rita Shah Shabra Plastics and Packaging & Going for Growth Lead Entrepreneur
I found Going for Growth very good for my group of participants. They benefited a lot from being a part of it, as there was true inspiration for them to grow their business. From my experience of the programme, I would recommend support for Going for Growth to any institute or government body that wishes to see young companies grow. If I had the opportunity to grow Shabra again with the same programme, I think the company would have grown much faster!
Susan Spence SoftCo & Going for Growth Lead Entrepreneur
I am happy to give my time to this worthwhile initiative on a voluntary basis and only wish that this type of support was available to me over the years as I was driving forward the growth of SoftCo. I have seen for myself that a collaborative peer-based approach, based on growth goals and the shared experience of what works in real life situations, gives the type of support that ambitious entrepreneurs need.