Earlier this month I spent the week in Nukus, Karakalpakstan, working with the local Women’s Business Association to run a series of seminars and workshops under the banner “Women in Business Week” for local entrepreneurs and would be entrepreneurs. The idea for this event developed during my first visit to the region last September, where we discussed possible co-operation between the Embassy and the WBA on small business management.
Over the course of the week, over 100 women from all over Karakalpakstan participated in four different, interrelated events: a two day Small Business Management workshop run by a business start up expert from the UK, master classes in floristry and dressmaking from Tashkent business owners, and a Round Table in which female managers working for British companies in Uzbekistan discussed their career paths and the skills required for forging a successful career in business.
All of the events were designed for maximum participation – this was not intended to be a series of lectures, but a real chance for people to discuss and share their ideas and receive on the spot advice from experts. It was clear from the buzz coming from the conference venues that the format was the right one and in some cases, the workshops only came to an end when the trainer had to leave for the airport!
I was remarkably impressed by the talent and creativity that the participants demonstrated during the event, many of them bringing examples from their own handicraft businesses and using traditional techniques for carpet making, doll production or jewellery making.
Making that successful step from having having a good idea, to turning it into a successful business was the corner stone of the week’s events, and we recognised that this won’t always be easy. For inspiration we looked at examples of some now very well known British companies which literally started at the kitchen table. I hope that some of the fledgling ideas we saw in Nukus that week will also be the household names of the future.