Entrepreneurship for Women

Category: QQI

This course will enable you to develop the skills to become an entrepreneur and to identify and develop a new business idea. Whether you want to set up a new business or develop an existing business, this practical course will help you with planning your next, risk management, and outside-the-box thinking. It will also develop the personal and interpersonal skills, values, and attributes needed by you as an entrepreneur.

Who should do this course?

The programme is targeted at women who are unemployed and want to set up their own business. Or, you may want to progress from being an employee to running their own business.

It is also suitable for women in an existing business who want to scope out a new business idea and develop extra skills to expand their business.

Previous completion of QQI Level 4, Level 5, or Level 6 modules is an advantage.

At the end of this practical course, you will have written key elements of your business plan, acquired vital communication skills, and boosted your personal effectiveness in group situations.

Modules

The Entrepreneurship for Women certificate comprises two modules:

Assessments on these modules will be targeted at developing your innovative business idea. And, some assessments will be integrated across all three modules, enabling you to use work produced in one module in other modules, where appropriate.

The aim is to deliver a practical, workshop-based course, where participants share skills and experiences to benefit each other.

Fee and Duration

The course will run over 12 Tuesday nights and two Saturdays in the Autumn and Spring terms: total 24 nights, four Saturdays. Relevant speakers and women in existing businesses will also share information and experiences with the participants.

This course runs under the Back to Education (BTEI) Initiative and is free for all qualified applicants. For further information, email Fintan Kemple, Director of Adult Education at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

BTEI (Back to Education)

BTEI is aimed principally at those who have not completed Leaving Certificate (or equivalent) qualification.

You can also take part in BTEI if you are working and on a low income. It gives people an opportunity to combine a return to learning with family, work and other responsibilities. Anyone who has left full-time education can take part in a course but priority will be given to those with less than upper second-level education.

The participants eligible for free tuition are people who (or their dependants):

Have less than upper-second level education or

Are getting a jobseeker’s payment or means-tested social welfare payment (there is a list of eligible payments in the BTEI Operational Guidelines (pdf)

Are getting Working Family Payment (formerly known as Family Income Supplement), or

Have a medical card, or

Are eligible to participate on VTOS or Youthreach

Click here to download a brochure

Previous student

Female entrepreneur Pauline Reid of Wicklow Candles completed the programme in 2021. Pauline hand-pours and sells 100 per cent beeswax candles and wax melts and uses only natural fragrances and reusable/recyclable packaging. "One of the big breakthroughs was in problem solving in the Personal Effectiveness module – that helped me to analyse my sales patterns," she said. Read more of Pauline's story.

Tutor

This course is delivered by Deirdre O’Flynn, who has run her own content creation agency for over 20 years. A businesswomen’s network facilitator, Deirdre is a member of County Wexford Chamber, and an experienced tutor of QQI modules in Communications, Customer Service, Business English, and Work Experience. She also facilitates Wexford LEO Women in Business Network.

'Investing in Your Future': This project is co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Union under the European Social Fund.