Now is the best time for three decades to launch a business, former City ‘superwoman’ Nicola Horlick told the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs (FFE) yesterday.
Ms Horlick, pictured – given her title by the media for juggling a high-powered career in finance with bringing up six children – was among the panel of speakers in the opening session of FFE, which explored ways entrepreneurs can access finance. 
The day-long event staged at the Colston Hall in Bristol attracted hundreds of entrepreneurs – male and female – all eager to hear from a range of expert speakers on areas ranging from using social media to franchising and building online businesses.
The event, staged by Enterprise Nation, also featured workshops, exhibitions and networking opportunities.
In the opening session Ms Horlick, who now runs her own Money&Co investment business, said Government schemes such as the SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) and EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) were extremely helpful in attracting finance from wealthy individuals.
However, she said that many entrepreneurs were confused about whether they needed to sell equity in their businesses or have debt.
“Very young businesses should have equity rather than debt because it protects them in the difficult times,” she said.
Speaking to an enthusiastic audience, the four-strong panel also ran headlong into the debate over whether men or women make better entrepreneurs.
Mike Jackson, founder of technology start-up accelerator of Bristol WebStart, drew cheers when he said female entrepreneurs tended to be more successful than men because of their tenacity.
Ms Horlick said men and women had different mindsets and different skills – women on the whole were more loyal to their time and tenacious.
“[Former Labour deputy leader] Harriett Harman, she said if Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters then it wouldn’t have have collapsed. I agree. The City has lots of young guys with pent-up testosterone.”
FFE was sponsored by Start Up Loans, Verisign, 123-reg and Great Western Railway. The event also features activity from Bristol-based networks Women Mean Biz and YENA. Bath Business News' sister title Bristol Business News was official media partner.
