ACORNS is sowing seeds of success for rural women

Starting a business can be challenging, especially for women in rural Ireland where access to networks, mentorship, and business support is often limited.

This is where ACORNS (Accelerating the Creation of Rural Nascent Start-ups) steps in – a programme designed to support early-stage female entrepreneurs in rural communities.

Over the last 10 years, 500 women have participated in the six-month programme, resulting in growth and practical change within their businesses.

Paula Fitzsimons is director and creator of the ACORNS programme. She says the idea was developed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to encourage more entrepreneurs in rural areas

“The initiative was designed for women in rural Ireland, for early-stage female entrepreneurs,” she says.

With a reputation for designing initiatives for female entrepreneurs, Paula was brought in to develop the programme. She had previously worked on the ‘Growing for Growth’ programme, which was about peer-to-peer support.

Based on a belief that entrepreneurs learn best from each other, ACORNS is centred around interactive round-table sessions that are facilitated by businesswomen, known as ‘lead entrepreneurs’, who have started and successfully grown businesses in rural Ireland.

“Starting a business in the middle of Dublin is quite different to starting a business in rural Ireland. You have the challenges of any early-stage start-up, but you are also further from suppliers and potential customers. I wanted lead entrepreneurs who shared the same experiences as those sitting around the table,” says Paula.

The biggest concern during the initial development was whether women would want to participate in a programme like this. Paula’s mind was quickly put at ease.

“From the beginning, there was tremendous interest in becoming involved in the programme. The snowball effect has seen a large number of applicants every year since, with the programme going from strength to strength,” says Paula.

Applications close every year in September, at the same time as the National Ploughing Championships with the first-round table session taking place in October.

Participants then meet with their ACORNS lead entrepreneur and their group of eight peers in separate round tables on four occasions between November and March.

Real growth

This has become a vital support for helping those in rural areas to thrive as businesswomen.

It gives them the foundation, support and guidance needed to create marketing strategies, business plans and successful business models. As a result, entrepreneurs who completed the programme have seen real growth and results.

A survey carried out in April 2024 at the end of ACORNS 9, the most recentcomplete cycle, showed that participants grew their total turnover throughout the six-month programme, by €1.2m overall, an increase of 43%.

Participants also reported doubling their total workforce over the cycle. Some 96% said their participation brought about change within their business.

“We have the facts and figures that show the benefits; of people gaining confidence, feeling nearer to their ambitions, finding funding networks and friendship groups through the programme – it also helped grow turnover, employment and the number that are exporting,” says Paula.

Carina Roseingrave:

Burren View Farm

Carina Roseingrave started her free-range eggs business on her family farm in Crusheen, Co Clare.

She and her brother Gerry have been running the 350ac farm – which also has 100 dairy cows, sucklers and pedigree herds – since 2016.

During the pandemic, Carina decided to get 50 backyard hens and a small chicken coop. She sold them through an honesty box at the farm gate.

“I took inspiration from my granny. The older generation’s commitment to quality, sustainability and the welfare of the hen was always so important. This was always Granny’s thinking, because she didn’t keep the eggs, she just loved the hens,” says Carina.

After attending the Ploughing Championships and speaking to people at the ACORNS tent, Carina got a push of encouragement from her sister Mary. She applied for the programme in 2023.

“When I joined, my thinking was if I was going to expand and go at this fully, I need to have a business plan. At the first meeting in Mullingar, I met a room full of really enthusiastic businesswomen who were so confident.

“At that moment, I thought ‘I am a farmer from the west of Ireland, what am I doing here?’” she says.

Carina nearly pulled out of the programme until she got to the break-out groups. Putting protocols in place, creating business plans, identifying KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and doing SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis helped her gain the knowledge and confidence to continue.

ACORNS takes you out of the farming zone and puts you into the business mind. You are a businesswoman and you’re here to make an income for yourself to support your family

“I could look after the product and the animals no problem, but it was breaking down the pricing strategies and identifying where the money was going to come from – that was the help I needed,” she says.

From there Carina was able to expand her operation. She built a fully functioning hen shed, registered it with the Department of Agriculture and increased her flock to 1,200 hens, which roam the lush green pastures of Burren View Farm producing wholesome free-range eggs.

Carina now supplies eggs to local shops, cafés and restaurants. She also has regular loyal customers and a passing trade through the honesty box.

“The diversification has added to the farm. Last spring, when the weather was so bad, the cost of feed and everything was just so high, and we had to buy in extras – but we had the extra income from the eggs, to supplement that which was really great.

“In farming you really do need to diversify and change with the times,” observes Carina.

“ACORNS takes you out of the farming zone and puts you into the business mind. You are a businesswoman and you’re here to make an income for yourself to support your family,” she says.

Geraldine Jones:

Skin Formulas

One of this year’s lead entrepreneurs is Geraldine Jones, owner of Skin Formulas. Since participating in the pilot programme, she became a successful businesswoman winning multiple awards. She is now exporting products globally from Nenagh in Co Tipperary and employing 10 people.

While living and working in Dublin, Geraldine noticed hundreds of people coming to the city to avail of advanced aesthetic skin treatments because they weren’t available in Tipperary. She always wanted to work for herself and saw an opportunity.

“I decided to hand in my notice, move back to Tipperary and I opened my clinic within four weeks. It was the first of its kind in Tipperary, I saved very hard and I opened with eight different technologies in terms of machines and 10 global skincare brands.

“I hit the ground running with the services I was offering to a customer base in the region,” says Geraldine.

When Geraldine started the pilot programme, she didn’t realise how important ACORNS would be – not only for herself but for the number of female entrepreneurs who would benefit from taking part.

“I am from a farming background; my parents are dairy farmers. I grew up in what was a very hard-working, entrepreneurial family, without ever looking at my mum and dad as business people.

I am now running a global skincare brand in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. We are selling internationally, we have a 2,500 sq ft warehouse where we hold all of our stock

“A lot of the stuff I now do every day like stocking loans and cash flow projections, my parents would have been doing all my life. It’s incredible to see how you can operate a business in rural Ireland like we are now,” she says.

Six years ago, when she found that the skincare products weren’t meeting the needs of her customers, she created and launched her own skincare brand – Skin Formulas. It has since become a well known Irish skincare brand, with a wide variety of products.

“I am now running a global skincare brand in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. We are selling internationally, we have a 2,500 sq ft warehouse where we hold all of our stock,” she says.

Geraldine’s initial skincare clinic has now been sold to two of her former employees.

Last year, she was honoured to return to ACORNS in a volunteering capacity as one of the lead entrepreneurs.

“You’re an expert at what you do but nobody is born an expert on how to run a business. The content of the coursework is the key thing that women need to help grow their businesses. They are given an incredible framework that they can work through and see a difference in their business after the six months,” says Geraldine.

See acorns.ie