Support that inspires women to have faith
Women who have benefited from Muhammad Yunus's ideas include:
■ Kate Jackson, who does Creepy Crawly Roadshows, complete with hissing cockroaches and giant millipedes, with her business Mini Monsters.
"Quite simply, without Weetu, I do not think Mini Monsters would exist. The free training and support I received from Weetu helped me throughout the initial set up period and, almost three years on, I know I can still go to them for help and advice. The start-up loan I accessed through the Full Circle programme enabled me to cover some of the early costs of my business, particularly public liabilty insurance. One of the most important aspects of Weetu for me was that it seemed less intimidating than other organisations as it specifically meets the needs of women."
■ Hayley Winter, a physical therapist who has recently worked with Ipswich Town Football Club. Her business is called The Yoga Academy For Sport.
"What we gained in abundance from the Weetu team and the other women on the course was support and the skills we needed to start our businesses. We came out of the course with much more confidence in our abilities."
Log on to www.yogacademy forsport.co.uk for more details.
■ Debi Hanley, a life coach based in Swanton Abbott and serving clients across the UK, whose business is called Rise.
"The difference it made to me is it gave me the confidence to go out and have the belief that I could go out and set up my own business. Because all the training is free, and one of the key things when you are starting up a business is cash flow, it allowed me to access all the training and support I needed to move forward in my business."
■ Susan McMahon, who is running a successful mobile sandwich business, called the Lunch Bunch, based in Rackheath.
■ Julie Bishop, who runs an eco-friendly cleaning company, Living Clean, which has made enough money to now begin to establish franchises across the UK.
■ Rosie Smith, a mobile vet who runs Paws Indoors in Woodton.
"When I went on Weetu's business course I had no idea about how to run a business and I think I would have given up on the idea of running my own business if I hadn't done the course. The course gave me a source of information and enthusiastic support from other women in the same position as myself. With their belief that I could achieve my goals I had an extra incentive to carry on rather than take the easy way out and go back to employment. I'm very glad I stuck at it, as the business is continuing to grow almost three years later. I was able to take advantage of a loan from Weetu that enabled me to buy a computer and software for the practice."
■ Anna Mudeka, a Zimbabwean musician who set up her business, Tambai Promotions, with Weetu's help.
"When I first heard about Full Circle, I didn't believe that as a woman I could run my own business. Then I went on to the course and met women in a similar position.
All the scary thoughts went out of my head. The course was amazing. I am still using everything I learnt including how to deal with customers, dealing with my finances.
My income has doubled every year and what made it possible is the support I am getting from my circle. Not just on business terms. We have become such good friends. They are all women who are running their own businesses. We meet and discuss ideas.
I became a different person, in a few months of doing the course. It made me believe in myself."