RELISH PROUD
SUPPORTER OF
WEC-TECH
June 2010
A Project to Assist Women Entrepreneurs in Manitoba Adopt Technology
A number of recent studies have pointed out that women have become more adept at starting businesses but the likelihood of them growing their businesses beyond the micro stage is less than that of the business population at large. There are many reasons for this lag, among them socio/psychological factors, the nature of the industry sectors in which women are more likely to start a business, and their managerial/technical experience.
These aspects of women-owned business inspire and challenge the team at the Women’s Enterprise Centre of Manitoba. While our focus has been on delivering training, advising and financing services to help women to start and sustain successful businesses, we also seek out opportunities where we can provide special supports that will address the challenges women encounter when pursuing business growth.
The connection between the desire to expand or grow one’s business and the use and adoption of new technologies has been proven in a number of studies. Similarly, the advent of technological adoption is tied to increases in revenues and in productivity overall.
The Women’s Enterprise Centre has designed a program that addresses the need for technological support for women-owned businesses. These supports primarily concern women’s adoption and use of technology to make their businesses more productive, efficient and profitable. The program will help participants:
- assess their technology needs (The WEC–Tech project will consider ‘technology’ to consist of hardware, and software such as financial, communications, goods management tools, and Internet usage.)
- align their technology development plan with their strategic growth objectives
- plan the incremental changes required;
- gain help in identifying, choosing and making purchasing decisions regarding software and hardware
- access ‘friendly’ funding to fulfill their technology needs;
- integrate the technology into their workplaces;
- receive follow-up training and support in using new systems and in analyzing and optimizing the results.
The project has the potential to increase the profitability and productivity of the businesses as well as increasing the self-confidence and technology acumen of the women business owner and her staff.
The WEC–Tech Project will include various components, some or all of which will be applicable to the participants:
Orientation sessions will provide information about the project and help to identify women entrepreneurs who would benefit from the assessment.
Seminars will be offered to provide information and encouragement to women entrepreneurs to increase their technological capabilities.
Technology assessments or audits for eligible women-owned businesses will be carried out by fully competent technology experts using proven techniques.
A special Technology Lending program will be available for women who participate in the individual assessments. These loans will cover the hardware and software requirements and will have flexible collateral requirements and repayment terms including longer terms of repayment than are normally available for hardware and software purchases.
A highly subsidized follow-up program will provide the participants with the assistance of a technical advisor to help with installation and integration of systems.
In-person and on-line training will be provided through WECM for a variety of software systems and analysis of results.
Business analysts (in conjunction with technical advisors where necessary) will conduct follow up ‘aftercare’ consultations to ensure that the new systems are used in a manner that is aligned with the entrepreneur’s strategic objectives.
Monitoring will provide women participants with the opportunity to provide on-going feedback that will enable program modifications to be implemented immediately.
