Gender export gap in Scotland: research

Appendix 4: Interview protocols

Interview protocol for women-led SME exporters

Initial information required:

Name

Sector

Products/services

Year business was started

No. of years in business

No. of years exporting

No. of employees

1. How did you start your business? The following prompts/questions will help:

• Why did you start your business? Saw a market opportunity? Need for income generation? Other?
• Where was the business started – at home? Office space? Incubator?
• What were your biggest obstacles in starting a business? And also what factors were important in getting started?
• How did you determine the sector in which your business would operate? Were there any sectors that you were discouraged from entering?
• Are there any sectors or industries you want to move your business into but are prevented from entering because of lack of knowledge, legal limitations, or for some other reason?

2. Are there a lot of women business owners in your community, or are you a minority? The following prompts/questions will help:

• Are you the only entrepreneur in your household?
• Do you personally know and interact with other women business owners in your community?
• To what do you attribute the current level of entrepreneurship in your community?
• Do you think there has been gender stereotyping from business support services/community/business contacts/family and friends?
• Are women led SMEs more likely to use other women led SMEs in their supply chain, if not why?

3. Were you able to grow your business over the years? If you want to grow your business further, but haven´t been able to, why do you think that is? The following prompts/questions will help:

• Are there business associations or chambers of commerce in your community?
• Do you belong to any business associations, chambers of commerce, or boards of directors?
• If so, which one(s)?
• If so, why did you join?
• Are there support organisations you have been involved with and worked with for support, mentoring, coaching etc.?
• Was there access to finance?
• Were there other constraints to growing your business such as time, financial, family responsibilities?

4. How did you know you wanted to export and how did you do it? The following prompts/questions will help:

• Was your business slowly/rapidly growing?

5. What challenges regarding setting up your own business did you face? And for exporting?

6. What advice and support did you seek out for starting and exporting?

7. What advice and support were you offered? The following prompts/questions will help:

• Where (if anywhere) did you get such support/advice?
• Where (if anywhere) did you get such support/advice?
• If you received advice and support, how good was it?
• What was missing from the advice and support you received?

8. What would you like to see happen in women’s enterprise support and delivery with respect to supporting more women to export? Why? The following prompts/questions will help:

• What action could help support deeper professional networks?
• How could export support and promotion be adapted to improve access?
• Are there any actions that can be taken to support access to finance?
• What would help you to navigate export requirements?

9. What advice and support do you need to be provided locally and what could be provided on a Scotland-wide basis for women looking to export?

Interview protocol for women-led SME non-exporters

Initial information required:

Name

Sector

Products/services

No. of years in business

No. of employees

1. How did you start your business? The following prompts/questions will help:

• Why did you start your business? Saw a market opportunity? Need for income generation? Other?
• What were your biggest obstacles in starting a business?
• How did you determine the sector in which your business would operate? Were there any sectors that you were discouraged from entering?
• Are there any sectors or industries you want to move your business into but are prevented from entering because of lack of knowledge, legal limitations, or for some other reason?

2. Are there a lot of women business owners in your community, or are you a minority? The following prompts/questions will help:

• Are you the only entrepreneur in your household?
• Do you personally know and interact with other women business owners in your community?
• To what do you attribute the current level of entrepreneurship in your community?

3. Were you able to grow your business internationally over the years? If you want to grow your business further, but haven´t been able to, why do you think that is? The following prompts/questions will help:

• Are there business associations or chambers of commerce in your community?
• Do you belong to any business associations, chambers of commerce, or boards of directors?
• If so, which one(s)?
• If so, why did you join?
• Could you provide examples of organisations from which you've received support, mentoring, coaching, or similar services to facilitate the export of your products or services?
• What constraints have you experience (and may continue to experience) – finance, time, family etc.?

4. Have you ever thought about exporting your goods/services? What are or would be the biggest challenges to doing so?

5. What challenges regarding setting up your own business did you face? And for exporting?

• International experience, financial support, institutional support, knowledge, language barriers, export capacity, differentiation, competitive advantages?

6. What advice and support did you seek out for exporting your products/services abroad?

7. What advice and support were you offered? The following prompts/questions will help:

• Where (if anywhere) did you get such support/advice?
• Where (if anywhere) did you get such support/advice?
• If you received advice and support, how good was it?
• What was missing from the advice and support you received?

8. What would you like to see happen in women’s enterprise support and delivery with respect to supporting more women to export? Why?

9. What advice and support do you need to be provided locally and what could be provided on a Scotland-wide basis for women looking to export?

Interview protocol for key stakeholders

Initial information required:

Organisation name

Purpose/goal/mission

Beneficiary groups

1. Does your support agency/organisation have any programmes or policies designed to support women’s enterprise participation?

2. Do you track women’s participation in the services you offer and how beneficial they perceive your organisations’ support?

3. Does your support agency/organisation specific learning opportunities for women related to exporting/internationalisation?

4. Do any of the courses/support offered focus on accessing new, distant markets (i.e., exporting)?

5. What is the single most important action that could be taken to support women in increasing their access to markets?

6. What barriers do you think women face in accessing your support?