Bloom Gin is offering £25,000 to help kickstart businesses by female founders
The all-female team behind BLOOM Gin is giving budding female entrepreneurs the chance to win a share of £25,000 to fund their ‘Passion Project’, helping to turn their business dreams into a reality in an effort to further increase the number of female-run businesses in the UK.
The initiative follows research from the gin brand, polling 2,000 women across the UK, which found that 1 in 10 women have started a business or side hustle during the Covid-19 pandemic, more than double the number of women that were starting businesses prior to the pandemic. With many people across the UK currently facing job losses or a reduction in hours, nearly half of women (45%) stated they now more time to focus on themselves and their future ambitions.
BLOOM Gin is therefore championing this positive increase in the number of female entrepreneurs across the UK by giving budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to win a share of £25,000 in funding to help take their Passion Project to the next level. There’s a grand prize of £20,000 up or grabs, with £1,000 available for five runners up. To be in with a chance of winning, entrants must visit Bloom Gin and submit their business proposal by midnight on 11th December 2020. Entrants must be aged 25 or over. Terms & conditions apply.
The government has pledged to increase the number of female entrepreneurs in Britain by 50% by 2030, however, the research for BLOOM Gin indicates that there are still many barriers standing in women’s way. 60% of respondents said they had considered starting their own business but had failed to do so due to being unable to unlock the necessary funding (55%), a lack of confidence (51%) and the need to juggle existing work and children (49%).
When it comes to help and advice that women would like to receive around starting their own business, financial support came out on top in the research (45%), followed closely by help with a business plan (39%), advice on marketing (32%), access to ongoing business coaching (27%) and advice on networking (25%).
In response to this, BLOOM Gin has partnered with Future Females, a global movement with 50,000 members that exists to increase the number of female entrepreneurs across the world, to launch 'Bloom in Business' - a completely free skills workshop to help female entrepreneurs develop the key personal and technical skills needed to start and grow a thriving business. All resources will be free and you can sign up for them at Bloom Gin.
The BLOOM in Business skills workshops will include:
Business Planning and How to Get Started – launching 11th October
Budgeting for Your Business – launching 24th October
How to Grow Your Business – launching 28th November
Visit Bloom Gin and enter the competition for your chance to win £20,000 in funding and to sign up for the free BLOOM in Business skills workshop series.
