Inspiring Small Businesses: The Growing Club

In our ‘Inspiring small businesses’ series, we share and celebrate great stories from small business owners who started and run their own business. By bringing you closer to these inspiring businesses we hope that you find motivation, tips, and ideas for building yours. For this week’s interview, we spoke to Jane Binnion, Founder and Managing Director of The Growing Club CIC, designing and delivering a range of peer-support based employment and enterprise skills-training, for women who are unwaged or want to start and grow a business.

What's the story behind your business? 

I initially started my own business in 2010 after an accident at work left me, a single parent, on £80 a week ESA. Fearing we would lose our house I took the plunge into self-employment, initially as a social media manager and trainer. Being dyspraxic I hadn't always been treated well by my managers and I found self-employment suited me much more. I was able to manage my energy so much better and also really grew into myself . I even wrote 2 books. My handwriting had always been criticised due to my dyspraxia, I had no idea I could write.

From there I found myself working with an increasing number of women sole traders who were running themselves ragged whilst their business went nowhere fast. At the same time I was looking for peer mentoring for myself as I hadn't found a mentor that understood what it was like to run a business whilst juggling domestic responsibilities. Unable to find what I needed, myself and Rachel Holme called a gathering of women business owners, presented our idea and asked for 8 women to work with us for a year to see what happened. 10 signed up and that was the start of our work.

What inspired you to start your own business?

Following that we went on to launch the social enterprise allowing us to also work with unemployed women, so that they could use their skills for Decent work (SDG 8.3 - a development programme set up by the United Nations). We are now in our 4th year, we have just been awarded 3 years funding from the lottery Reaching Communities fund and the work we now do does my heart good.

What is the most difficult aspect of running your own business?

Probably the fact that as an entrepreneur there is always a new idea bubbling up that wants to be heard.  It would be all too easy to work 12 hours a day 7 days a week. So maybe the hardest thing is switching off and doing something totally unrelated. That and understanding that not everyone eats, sleeps and breathes The Growing Club!

What is the best thing about running your own business?

Every day something good happens. It makes me so happy every single day to see woman after woman reach beyond their struggles to achieve something they didn't think they could, The supportive community that we are building, of women from varied backgrounds, is just beautiful.

To find our more about The Growing Club, visit their website or follow them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.