Reflections on the past year...

Having been a successful business owner of a Health & Wellness company for over 25 years and about to embark on a second career in Investment, if you had asked me this time last year how I was feeling then two words would sum me up:

'Excited' and 'Apprehensive'

Fast forward a whole year and I have two new words to sum me up:

'Grateful' and 'Inspired'

I have met so many interesting, committed, knowledgeable, helpful people over the last year and I have learnt so much, that I now feel confident that when my father does eventually retire, his business will be in safe hands and I and the Involved Investors team will continue to make it grow. For that I am grateful.

We've also met a whole host of exciting entrepreneurs with brilliant business ideas, some of whom have approached us direct, others we have approached, and some we have met through our associations with the London Business School and the IoD and they have all been truly inspiring. What I have noticed though throughout this time is the serious lack of women founders and, for that fact, investors and of the 100 or so opportunities we have considered this year, only about 2% were founded by women.

I have been fortunate to have been nominated and to have reached the finals of the Venus Awards 'Inspirational Woman of the Year'. I won't bore you here with my back story but during the nomination and judging process I have met some very talented, committed and focussed women. It's difficult to sometimes know where to start on your funding process, or who to turn to for growth funds or where to seek exit opportunities but if I've learnt anything this year, 'if you don't ask, you don't get' and so my mission for the next 12 months is to try and help as many businesses as possible on their path to success and maybe this time next year their two words will be 'Successful' and 'Proud'!