UOB FinLab witnessed many outstanding womenpreneurs and promising women-led businesses at this year’s Digitalisation Innovation Programme: Womenpreneur in April 2024. We strongly believe that the number of Singaporean womenpreneurs will continue to grow. According to a study by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, the proportion of Singaporean female entrepreneurs rose from 17.9 per cent to 24.9 per cent between 2016 and 2022.
As the number of women-led businesses continue to rise, it is important to understand that womenpreneurs face unique roadblocks in today’s business environment. Studies have indicated that womenpreneurs often face greater challenges in building robust professional networks and finding mentors – limiting their access to valuable support, knowledge, and opportunities for business growth.
UOB FinLab aims to remove this roadblock through our womenpreneur programmes that enables female business leaders to tap on industry experts within UOB FinLab’s vast network. This allows women-led businesses to gain unparalleled access to knowledge, best practices and tangible strategies to take their businesses to the next level.
Our womenpreneur programme in April was a huge success. The womenpreneurs gained insights and best practices on topics related to financial literacy, business model canvas, e-commerce and digitalisation strategies. To complement our successful programme and further empower womenpreneurs, we launched our first two-day masterclass workshop titled Digitalisation Innovation Programme: Womenpreneur+ (D.I.P:W+).
The D.I.P:W+ is a series of masterclasses to empower aspiring womenpreneurs with knowledge from industry experts and tap into a community of like-minded entrepreneurs. D.I.P:W+ aims to complement the two-week Digitalisation Innovation Programme: Womenpreneur programme and covers new topics that are crucial to the success of any business. The topics include crafting a brand narrative, effective marketing channels and LinkedIn strategies for organic growth.
The programme was held over two days and consisted of three insightful masterclasses conducted by industry experts.
Joel Lah, Co-Founder and FinTech Lead, TriOn & Co conducted a deep dive into articulating a brand narrative and uncovering the unique elements to stand out from the crowd. Regardless of the type of business, be it B2B or B2C, a brand narrative will be the foundation and remain consistent throughout all forms of internal and external communication. The session showcased the ideal structure to build a brand narrative and explored how to give one’s brand a larger impact by linking it to larger macroeconomic activities. The participants engaged in a highly interactive session where they were tasked with crafting their unique brand narratives and tailoring it to their target audiences.
Januel Koh, Digital Marketing and Branding Lecturer, Singapore Polytechnic and Jonathan Lok, Digital Marketing and Analytics Lecturer, Singapore Polytechnic delved into the various marketing channels and strategies through an academic lens. The masterclass explored the use of effective marketing channel strategies for businesses to reach a wider range of customers. They shared insights and advice regarding the use of various marketing channels, which include digital platforms, traditional media, and direct marketing. Through a series of case studies, the session wrapped up with a game plan which broadened participants’ range of marketing strategies.
Charu Srivastava, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, TriOn & Co conducted the final masterclass which focused on leveraging LinkedIn to strengthen their brand narrative and enhance their profile’s impact. The masterclass explored strategies and the best practices for womenpreneurs to strengthen their relevance, reputation and relationships through LinkedIn organically. Participants were able to discuss their challenges, receive tailored feedback and bounce ideas off each other. This created an environment of open sharing and collaborative learning.
D.I.P:W+ reinforces UOB FinLab’s ongoing commitment to support womenpreneurs in Singapore and the region. We will continue to offer relevant and meaningful programmes that aim to catalyse business growth while building a strong, resilient community of like-minded individuals and industry leaders.
Keep updated with future womenpreneur workshops (and other digitalisation and sustainability programmes) by joining our newsletter here.
To demonstrate UOB’s continued commitment to supporting the ambitions of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Business Banking Singapore, UOB FinLab and Group Wholesale and Markets Marketing jointly rolled out capability-building and networking sessions for women entrepreneurs. Since its kickoff in March 2024, about 470 womenpreneurs have registered their interest.
Discover how UOB Finlab is empowering women entrepreneurs within the dynamic SME ecosystem with our Digitalisation Innovation Programme: Womenpreneur.
Dive into the recap of the 8-week digitalisation programme from UOB FinLab’s Digitalisation Innovation Programme: UKM SUKSES X APINDO.
Designed for business owners to enhance their digital capabilities through practical learning, this programme takes businesses to the next level.
Designed for business owners to enhance their digital capabilities through practical learning, this programme takes businesses to the next level.
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