Inspire
At Women’s Enterprise Scotland we inspire, motivate and encourage women to start their own businesses. And we offer support to those already trading, to help them grow and get stronger.
WES cheers women in enterprise on, and raises collective confidence that starting a business is an exciting, viable and doable option for women everywhere, no matter the size or scale of their enterprise ambitions.
We point the way to the best sources of support, locally and nationally. We offer education, advice, and information, and direct women to where to find funding. We share networks, connections, good practice and know-how.
We showcase success stories from all corners of the country with our WES Ambassadors. The Ambassadors are real life role models, representing all that’s brilliant about women-led business, from multi-national to micro business. These are women who are already leading the way, providing inspiration and motivation for many more of us to follow in their entrepreneurial footsteps.
Advocate
Women’s Enterprise Scotland plays a pivotal role in enabling and educating organisations to help improve the gender gap in entrepreneurial activity. At WES we advocate for improved gender focus across all sectors to address the enterprise gap. We seek a multi-agency approach to greater engagement in enterprise from women, an under-represented group entrepreneurially, but one with the potential to make a significantly increased financial input to the country’s economy.
At a time when micro business, self-employment and SMEs are playing an ever-more important role in the economy, and discussion around gender quotas and female leadership in big business continues apace, WES encourages a greater degree of gender focus across the board.
Women’s Enterprise Scotland provides advisory, assessment and training services to enterprise agencies, the private and third sectors, education, and other external agencies to redress the gender balance in business.
Influence
WES actively seeks recognition from policy-makers and people of influence about the growing body of evidence for the economic benefits of gender-specific enterprise support. And we campaign to change existing perceptions about the economic importance of women’s enterprise.
With our groundbreaking Framework and Action Plan for Women’s Enterprise already in place, we work with our partners and stakeholders to influence policies, strategies and concrete commitment towards greater participation in women’s enterprise.
WES undertakes research, data collection, collation and dissemination, and we continue to lobby for the collation of gender specific enterprise data, locally and nationally.
We provide policy makers with up-to-date research, data and information about gender specific enterprise initiatives from Scotland, and around the world. We encourage dialogue, best practice and real commitment – from the grassroots all the way up to government, and back.
Champion
WES plays a vital role in the promotion of women’s enterprise, through the media, and across the wider community. We provide spokeswomen, role models and contributors for the broadcast media and the press, for events, conferences, seminars and presentations.
We champion women-led business from every sector across the entire country. We challenge existing perceptions to gain recognition of the economic importance of all women’s enterprise, whether micro business, SME or stock market listed multinational.
We encourage courage, confidence and self-belief that women-led business is a positive, rewarding and achievable option for women everywhere, no matter the scale of their enterprise ambition. And we cheer on those agencies already providing gender specific business development, and cite best practice wherever we find it.
We’re active digitally, and use social media and online platforms to promote women’s enterprise, to share information and learn from each other.