The ‘business midwives’ delivering startups

Some really determined work is going into engaging would-be entrepreneurs in Glasgow who are notoriously hard to reach – women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds. 

A concerted push is under way in key parts of the city to recruit the businesspeople of tomorrow from among two important demographics that have faced societal and cultural barriers to the world of enterprise and entrepreneurship. 

The efforts are setting the groundworks for a six-week business startup accelerator programme commencing at the end of January which is offering tailor-made coaching in all-things business to a cohort who may never have engaged in business and enterprise before, but who have an interest in starting their own company or doing something in the startup space. 

The Ignite programme is backed by two of the city’s universities in their roles leading on inclusive innovation: the University of Glasgow, the lead partner in Glasgow Riverside Innovation District; and the University of Strathclyde, which is driving the Glasgow City Innovation District. Funding is coming from Glasgow City Council and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 

Free child care

To overcome some of the barriers that have prevented take-up in the past and in other areas, organisers are hard-wiring individual flexibility and cultural sensitivity into the programme. 

Free child-care is being provided for parents who may be deterred because of limited family cover; catering for the event will be culturally appropriate for users, for example halal offerings and heated foods; and facilitators running the sessions are experienced people chosen for their ability to engage and connect with a target audience. 

In addition, those taking part get to dictate what they learn and when they learn it: experience and feedback has shown that the optimum times to engage women from under-represented backgrounds is at the weekends or in the evening when more family support is at hand to free up time and make commitment possible. 

Critically, the programme is co-designed with participants, and all personal preferences and views will help shape the way the programme of business support is delivered. 

Glasgow-based training provider Dechomai is leading on the programme on behalf of the innovation districts, and in recent weeks has been staging a series of outreach sessions in target areas such as Townhead, Sighthill, Govan and Partick, but the invite for applications extends across Glasgow. Those sessions have been breaking down the barriers and gaining the trust of people who, because of circumstances and background, have little experience in the business space or are not conversant in the language of business.  

• Link to programme page and applications at bottom

Glasgow’s flagship Innovation Districts, the joint commissioners of the programme, critically act as testbeds able to convene the right support to trial new targeted solutions that better serve the broader community. And in this case promote inclusive entrepreneurship as a catalyst for change. 

Dechomai’s managing director, Bayile Adeoti, says a great deal of work is going into identifying the people from the target groups. “We know that many women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds in Glasgow are contributing to the city’s economy, but we know that by proportion there is massive unfulfilled potential out there.”  

Bayile says: “We try to break down the barriers that face people, by talking to them and finding out what prevents them from engaging in a business programme. It could be the hours or the day in the week that doesn’t work, or the childcare arrangements are not friendly for some people and that acts as a real barrier. 

“We also find that food is really important, so we try and make sure that all the food is culturally appropriate for the people who take up our programmes. So, if we're working with, for example, Muslim women in, say, East Lothian or Glasgow, we make sure that the food is halal. And the feedback that we always get is it needs to be hot food, no sandwiches. So, we always put a little bit extra in the budget to cater for the hot food.” 

- Dechomai managing director Bayile Adeoti

These are details that matter and make the difference between a programme take-up rate, and indeed a retention rate, that allows for a meaningful output of informed potential entrepreneurs. 

For Bayile and her team, the process is about creating the conditions to reach into the lives of an under-represented demographic and to say, we are listening, we understand your priorities and we are here to do everything we can to make you feel at home and entitled to the investment in time and knowledge that we can bring you.  

And there is a wonderful term that Bayile has come up with, and which she has made her own, as she explains: “We like to look at ourselves as ‘business midwives’. It’s a phrase that we think describes what we do. I bought that intellectual property, and so my team are business midwives. We always say that we like to birth businesses in a safe and supported environment. It’s what we do.” 

We try to break down the barriers that face people, by talking to them and finding out what prevents them from engaging in a business programme. It could be the hours or the day in the week that doesn’t work, or the childcare arrangements are not friendly for some people and that acts as a real barrier

Bayile Adeoti

Participants on the Ignite business accelerator will learn how to find, validate, and refine their business ideas and create a robust business plan using the Business Model Canvas. 

Other sessions will cover topics including branding and marketing strategies; foundational legal knowledge and financial requirements for starting a business; developing a sales plan and customer acquisition strategy; and pitching to potential investors. 

At the conclusion of the six sessions, participants will leave with a detailed 30-day action plan to guide their next steps and will also graduate at an event in front of their peers and representatives of the city’s entrepreneurial and business ecosystem. 

As Bayile says: “For the graduation, we're inviting the ecosystem to say, ‘look what you've contributed to by being a part of this programme. And this is what we've all done together.’ Because this would not have happened had it not been for Glasgow City Council, the University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and all the other people who are contributing to this. So, Glasgow did it. That's what I want to say. Look what Glasgow did.”