With Visa's She's Next Grant Programme returning for another year, we've caught up with one of last year's winners, Suraya Rahman, owner of Little Eden Terrariums.

Visa's She's Next Grant Programme offers women-owned micro to small businesses in Ireland the opportunity to take their business to the next level, and applications for this year's competition are now open.

As part of the 2024 programme, applicants have a chance to win business funding totalling €90,000. A €10,000 grant will be awarded to four women entrepreneurs and one overall winner will receive €50,000 to help their business thrive. All five winners will receive mentoring and bespoke business coaching from industry experts. All five winners will also have the opportunity to participate in individual and group pitch sessions.

As the programme launches, we caught up with one of last year's winners, Suraya Rahman, the owner of Little Eden Terrariums, to see how winning Visa's She's Next Grant Programme has transformed her business. Little Eden Terrariums has an online shop which boasts a wide range of botanical art, and Suraya also operates workshops, to share her craft with others.

Tell us a little bit about your business. What inspired you to start it?

Since I was little, I was always interested in terrariums. Around the time that kids were playing video games, I was playing with moss. I began experimenting over the years, did the whole corporate job thing, and then in late 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, I found that making beautiful ecosystems was my place of relaxation away from all the craziness. As you can imagine, that grew into lots of terrariums all over my house and it became a bit of a problem. So I started selling them on my online shop and then shortly after, a few people were getting in touch to ask more about it. I decided to run a pop up workshop where I teach people how to make their own, and it just kind of went from there. Pop up workshops became regular and before I knew it, there were corporate inquiries.

Who are your customers? Do you feel a sense of community with them?

My customers could be literally anyone, from children, all the way up to older people. It’s something that everyone can relate to. It’s a similar thing for workshops, I see all types of people, I couldn’t pinpoint a particular demographic. It’s so open and so welcoming. It’s something everyone can get peace from. A lot of the tech companies all around Dublin are some of my key clients and then more recently I’m offering subsidized workshops to not-for-profit and education and charity sectors as well. 

How did Visa's She's Next Grant Programme help take your business to the next level?

I can’t tell you how helpful it’s been! With the cost of material or getting started with marketing, it's been great. It’s also helped with photography and growing a little team as well. It's helped me bridge the gap from startup to functioning business, as opposed to just a passion project. Now I’m supporting other people into employment which is really important. 

The networking side of things has helped build my confidence which was something I struggled with. With this programme, there’s just so much material there you can pick and choose depending on what you want to work on or what you want to improve on.

What are your plans for the future of your business?

My future plan is to explore different types of botanic art through workshops, especially in areas where I have repeat customers. So, corporates who have had a good few terrarium workshops and are now eager to try something different. I’m really looking forward to broadening the range of workshops we offer and other opportunities for people to engage with nature and wellbeing days and all types of different activities that help us connect to nature. 

What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve ever received?

At the Visa's She’s Next award ceremony, there were lots of guests and speakers, and I had an interesting conversation with somebody who went through the process of starting their own business years ago, and they were sharing their pitfalls – the biggest one being investing in a big retail space. That resulted in massive overheads, which then became really difficult to keep up with, the pressure increased and it would inevitably be the downfall of their business. Something that I'm taking from that advice is just making sure that what we do at the moment runs smoothly without the need for a retail space. Especially with the cost of living and the cost of everything going up, being able to go to our clients to run these workshops really helps rather than them coming to us. It’s easier for them, but for me it takes away the pressure of huge overhead costs.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

A lot of people have this perception of “Gosh, wouldn’t it be great to give up the corporate grind and start my own thing?” Honestly, that’s a bit of a misconception, because yeah, you can set your own hours, but the reality is that you end up working more, but the difference is that you’re working for yourself. So for any budding entrepreneurs, I would say to make sure that it’s something you’re truly passionate about because there will be lots of ups and downs but the thing that will keep you going is a genuine passion for your craft or your business or your service. Passion is so important, especially in the darker days when you’re navigating what it is to run a business, it’s so important to be able to answer the question, “Why am I doing this?”

Programmes like She's Next are invaluable and the coaching and funding can really help with achieving your goals.

You can find more information as well as the application details for Visa's She's Next Grant Programme here. The closing date for entries is 30th October 2024.

1 x €50,000 and 4 X €10,000 grants available. Open to women-owned businesses in ROI. T&C apply*.