Description
The Growing Club – business growth and peer support programme for women running micro-businesses.
Bridging the gap in business education for women
The Growing Club is an alternative model business growth club for women sole traders, female owners of micro-business and female founders of not-for-profit organisations. And it works!
Who is it for?
The Growing Club programme is for women who…
*Have been running their current organisation for a minimum of 1 year,
*Have a commitment to growth,
*Value the experience of working with their peers to support the growth of all members of the group.
The club involves…
• A 12 month commitment,
• Monthly meetings with facilitated input and guest speakers,
• Action learning groups,
• Peer buddying.
This initiative is designed for women committed to growing their business who would like an alternative to traditional coaching.
We meet monthly at the Women and Enterprise Hub in Lancaster, on a Tuesday morning 9.30am to 12.
The next course will be starting on October 9th
Women and Enterprise Hub, Lancaster.
Book in via this page or email Jane@janebinnion for an invoice
Coming Soon…..The Growing Club will also be run as a live online course .
We are now launching a funded group for socially disadvantaged women who would like to start a business. If you would like to sponsor a place on this, or if you know someone who would like to join please email admin@thegrowingclub.co.uk
The Growing Club is a Boost Business Lancashire partner and has support from the FSB
We have seen a massive rise in women setting up businesses in the UK, many choosing to use their skills to live a more flexible life post redundancy, or to fit around their domestic responsibilities.
But running a business is NOT the easy option and most start up businesses fail in the first 3 years. This group is intending to change those figures locally by systematically providing the support and training in the processes that need to be put in place to thrive.
The women who The Growing Club is designed for are often overlooked by business support services, or dismissed as a life style business as they run their business from home fitting around their family (exactly how Jane started). Those women added £7 billion to the UK economy last year!
There is clear evidence that businesses that use a business coach and have support structures in place have significantly higher growth success, but not everyone can afford a coach and not all coaches understand the various roles that women juggle. As a single mum and business owner I couldn’t find a coach that really got me and what I wanted to achieve. And that is why we set up The Growing Club.
The Growing Club is highly subsidised which means that for the price of a couple of months of coaching you can have a year of facilitated growth support, setting targets, being accountable to your peers, plus guest speakers.
The biggest issue for women in business is confidence and Jane, a successful business trainer, understands that often the greatest learning is when we learn from each other, when we see that we are not the only one to feel that way, or make those mistakes. Sometimes we don’t hear the whole story and compare ourselves to others and consider ourselves lacking. When we all share honestly and support each others’ growth amazing things happen.
What does it involve?
This is a 12 month commitment where we set monthly goals and tasks and we are held accountable by the group, because being held accountable by your peers is an extremely powerful motivator.
What do you get?
As well as a team around you cheering you on…
• Monthly facilitated meeting
• Guest speakers
• Action Learning with Tasks
• Accountability
• Peer Support
• 1-1 Coaching Session
• Systematic process of growth
• Emotional Support
• Confidential Space
• Social Media Shout-outs
• And a journal!
The group is facilitated by Jane Binnion, previously a youth and community worker working largely with women and girls and has been running her ethical business training business for 6 years. Jane is the author of The Heart of Sales
To join The Growing Club book in via the shopping cart.
Any questions? Just drop me an email at Jane@janebinnion.com
The next cohort will start on October 9th.
Testimonials from Growing Club members…
**Joining the Growing Club has made me focus on what is important in my business in order to create sustainable growth. Being a sole trader I found it hard to make unemotional decisions, but working alongside likeminded people, I feel I am in control of my destiny and business growth. Meeting the team of women in the Growing Club has been such a bonus to me and I don’t feel so alone at all now . I know help is always there for me. Thank you to co founders Jane and Rachel. Feel lucky to be part of this wonderful group. – Amanda Gallagher, Tinbox Angel
**Coming here has changed how I think about my business -L S
**I joined the Growing Club, as even though my business was / is doing very well, I felt very out of control and overwhelmed that was affecting my mental health. In the 4 short months that I have been a part of the club the topics that have been covered have really helped me sort out my head and clarify the direction that I want to take my business in. My working days are no longer approached with panic and anxiety – I have carefully crafted plans and timetables that I do my best to work to. I have outsourced work to free up time to do the things that I love, such as design work, and the things that only I can do (at the moment) like my accounts. I have even taken some time for myself and am now doing a weekly yoga class.
I have also found my Growing Club cohort somewhere where I can talk freely about my worries, knowing that I will be listened to with compassion and empathy, and what is said will go no further, and where my successes (however small or personal) will be celebrated. This is especially important as someone who spends much of their working week at home, alone.
I wholeheartedly recommend the Growing Club to any woman who runs a small business, I believe even the most successful of business women would leave the Growing Club even more enriched and empowered than they already are. – Tamsin Coxhill, FireSpiral
**The Growing Club (GC) is an investment of time and personal commitment both to myself personally and my business and also to the other members of our group.
We meet each month, with paired “Buddy” sessions between GC meetings which gives us a clear structure as well as support, reflection, new skills, understanding and a “safe space” to share and learn – to laugh or cry.
I love my vision board and rewriting and revising short, medium and long term goals is invaluable.
Thank you Jane and Rachel for your vision and action and all my fellow travellers with growing businesses and opening hearts. – Leah Dalby, Lune valley Physiotherapy
**The Growing club has come along at just the right time for me and my business! I first heard about it a few months after handing in my notice to start my own photography and animation workshop business. I was so reassured that there is affordable help out there! The group is a very welcoming space for newbies and more experienced business women to come together to grow our businesses. I quickly learnt the difference between a vision and our goals, and the importance of having action plans to enable our goals to become a reality. I love learning about all the aspects of running a business, and having this clear on my mind as I go forward. The buddy system is so valuable too. I appreciate the 1:1 time to discuss progress and share experiences. A fantastic group! – Ginny Koppenhol, animator at Zoom creations
