Problem addressed
#SheDIDIT’s mission has its origins in the constatation that a lot of talent and potential is going to waste, because some people don’t know how to start their business or where to go. After having two businesses of her own, founder Lien Warmenbol saw that this is mostly the case for women of colour, who are furthest away from the image of ‘the entrepreneur’. There is a mismatch between this group of people and the traditional entrepreneurial organisations.
Innovative solution
- SheMeansBusiness (www.shedidit.be/shemeansbusiness): individual business coaching in 5 tailor made sessions. 500+ women followed this personal business coaching by one of our 7 coaches, since the start of the program in 2021.
- Youthpreneurs (www.shedidit.be/youthpreneurs): group program for youngsters where girls (and boys) from 15-30 y/o work towards their business plan/pitch in 10 weeks. 250+ youngsters participated in Antwerp, Genk, Gent and Brussels since the start of the program in 2021.
- #SheHUB (www.shedidit.be/shehub): inclusive shared conceptstore in Antwerp-Berchem where +- 20 concepts at the time can experiment with the physical sale of their products. 60+ makers and entrepreneurs took part in the program since the opening in October 2022.
- Aftercare programs: different offers for growing entrepreneurs, such as #SheFUND (rent-free loan), Power Talks on confidence, master mind programs.
Events and community building (www.shedidit.be/events): monthly free workshops (online/offline), network events, co-working, open source database talentpool, online community and online academy.
Key results and benefits
Impact made from 2018 to 2024 (Q1):
- 366 youngsters went through our #Youthpreneurs program
- 720 women where coached in our #SheMeansBusiness program
- 101 women sold their products through our #SheHUB
- We reach over 1 million people through our social media channels
- We reached 7.000 girls and women during our workshops and events hosted in Flanders and Brussels
- We welcome + 350 in our open source datapool ('Talentpool')
Potential for mainstreaming
We are already active in Flanders and Brussels and we are also coaching people 1-1 in Wallonia. But we would like to solidify our position more in Wallonia and once this is done also broaden our perspective to other European countries. We are already getting a lot of questions from Dutch partner organizations to partner up with them.
