Female Entrepreneur SA

The Enterprising Women Programme, initiated in 2013, is a six-month programme, geared to provide business
support services to women who wish to establish a business or who are in the early stages of developing a
business, with participants consistently lauding it as ‘life-changing’.
Participants are taken through an in-depth program to explore ideas, develop a business model and putting the
wheels in motion to initiate the business. A multi-modal delivery model is adopted, incorporating online
self-paced learning within a defined time period, Zoom workshops and Q&A sessions, as well as face-to-face
participant presentations and networking opportunities, as the situation allows.
Programme participants become part of a peer network of
women embarking on an entrepreneurial journey, where they
can share experiences and learn from one another and other
successful female entrepreneurs by being exposed to structured
learning through workshops and group-centred learning.
Successful, verified participants are awarded a Short Learning
Programme (SLP) Certificate by the North-West University and
may be invited to join the bhive EDC’s incubation programme,
so as to embark on the next business building phase of
operationalising the business and developing it to full
commercial potential.
Applications are invited from aspirant and early-stage female
entrepreneurs in South Africa, with the following entry criteria
applying:
 Women who consider themselves ready for self-employment and who have a business idea to introduce or
recently introduced an innovative product or service, requiring support in testing the idea and launching the
business.
 Women who are computer literate (with Internet and WhatsApp access) and have a minimum of a Matric
qualification and a good written and spoken understanding of English.
 Women who are willing to commit to the full programme and who are prepared to participate in online
self-paced learning, Zoom sessions and some face-to-face business development sessions of at least
18 hours per month for a six-month period.