App to advance women in entrepreneurship
Her Venture hopes to take advantage of opportunities brought by the pandemic to enable businesswomen to thrive in the digital world.
Sandra Wekesa @wekesa_sandra
A study by Small Business Administrative (SBA) shows that one in three businesses survive 10 years or more.
And that most businesses collapse a year after starting up. Consequently, besides capital, entrepreneurs need adequate skills to enable them sustain their business and adapt to drastic business environmental changes.
It is against this background that Her Venture, a mobile app comes in to enlighten traders how to ensure their businesses are surviving.
Just as its name suggests, the app is an avenue to help women entrepreneurs in Kenya, on the continent and globally to digitise their businesses and position them to thrive in the new digital world during the pandemic.
Cherie Blair, founder of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and inventor of the app, saw an opportunity in the disruption caused by the pandemic, and came up with an invention that can be helpful to entrepreneurs.
“To survive, many businesses across the world find they too must move online.
In emerging economies, mobile technology is proving to be a lifeline for small businesses, but not everyone is ready to embrace the new digital reality.
GSMA’s Mobile Gender Gap Report 2020 shows women are still less likely to have access or skills to use it to adapt their business, but if they don’t access support now, they face losing their businesses altogether, which stands to have severe knock-on impacts on families, communities and economies,” she says.
Hellen McEachern, CEO of the foundation says the app provides essential business training and support, enabling women to access skills-building information on the go.
“It features seven learning ‘tracks’ on a range of needs, including launching a business, product innovation and expanding market access, and a new learning track on e-commerce.
Based on user input, the app suggests a personalised learning roadmap for each entrepreneur.
Content is provided in bite-sized, easily digestible formats such as swipe-able cards, quizzes and videos.
Static content can also be accessed offline. The app allows users to find and connect with each other, as well as learn about local business events,” she says.
How it works
Her Venture Kenya is available on Google Play Store and can be downloaded only by android users at the moment.
Once a user downloads the app, they will be required to swipe a card that appears on the screen to access the lessons.
Signing up is easy, with the option to create an account with personal information, or signing in with Google.
Thereafter, they will get recommendation to key in their personalised experience by answering a few questions.
“Based on the input, the app suggests a personalised roadmap for each entrepreneur.
You have an option of learning while offline hence reducing consumption of bandwidth,” says McEachern.
As soon as you join you will then begin to learn at your own pace. The app features seven learning tracks on a range of needs, including launching a business, product innovation and expanding market access, and a new track in focussing e-commerce.
“Each high-level content track is divided into several learning modules. And each learning module is comprised of various lessons that average just five minutes each.
At the end of every lesson, you’ll develop a personalised action plan to put your new business skills into practice,” she says.
Rebuild economies
Also, apart from learning new skills, you can also get to interact with people from other countries on the app making your marketing skills much easier.
Sub-Saharan African economies lose nearly $100 billion (Sh10 trillion) a year because of the gender gap in the labour market.
However, if businesses come together to support women entrepreneurs in response to this pandemic, it provides an opportunity to rebuild economies.
Kenya is African country after Nigeria to benefit from Her Venture following needs assessment conducted in 2019. The app aims to reach 10,000 women entrepreneurs in the country.
