Women in agriculture business skills training - focus groups: final report

Annex E: Women in Agriculture: Knowing your Business focus group schedule

First 10 minutes

Start focus group

• Welcome and introductions

About the research

• The Scottish Government is carrying out this research to help plan two new business skills courses for women in agriculture
• We are running focus groups to ask for your feedback on the course design and to ask about your experiences and training needs

Practical points – timing and housekeeping.

• The focus group will last between 1.5-2 hours, with a 5 minute break
• We are interested in hearing all of your views
• The discussion will be audio recorded and we will also take notes
• Your views and contributions will be anonymised in the report
• Participation in this research is voluntary. You have the option to not answer a question and you can leave at any point.

Any questions before we start?

15 minutes

Ice-breaker questions

Please tell us a bit about your role on the farm or in an agricultural business and why you were interested in participating in today's focus group.

• How many of you are self-taught in doing finances?
• Did you get a handover?
• What would have made the transition for you taking on this job easier?
• Are you doing it electronically or on paper?
• How would you like to develop your finance or business skills?

10 minutes

About the courses

Background – The Scottish Government are committing funding to bring about practical solutions to support women in agriculture. These business skills courses have been developed following recommendations from the Women in Agriculture Taskforce report.

We have designed two courses to cater for varying skill levels in the industry and to provide an opportunity for women of all skill levels to access and benefit from the business skills training.

We sent you two short course outlines to read before today's session, and hopefully you've had a chance to read both.

Brief outline of course aims and structure:

1. The Knowing Your Finances course will provide an introduction to business management skills, including: accounting, technology, terminology and general business knowledge.

2. The Knowing Your Business course will provide high level training, specifically focusing on business performance skills, diversification and environmental impact knowledge/climate change.

Each course can be attended in its own right but the first course will also create a pathway for women to progress onto the second course.

10 minutes

General feedback on overall course plan

We'd now like to ask your feedback on the overall course plan.

• What do you think about us offering two separate courses, to accommodate for different skill levels?
• Do you think there is a need for this type of training?
• Do you think these courses would benefit women in agriculture?
• What kind of positive impact do you think they could have?
• Would you sign up for either or both of these courses?
• Is it clear which course is suitable for you?

Now we'd like to ask your views on the first course outline.

20 minutes

1. Knowing Your Finances

As a reminder, this course aims to provide an introduction to business skills for women who are new to or have no experience in the financial management of agricultural businesses.

It will also be suitable for women who have been doing the finances without any formal training – by helping them to build their knowledge and have more confidence in their abilities.

It would cover things including:

• Performing all accounting tasks to manage the business
• Tools and technology, from accounting systems to computer skills
• Completing an annual forecast and financial budget
• Understanding your personal financial position and legal responsibilities as part of the business
• Building confidence in business planning and decision making
• Creating a support network of women in agriculture

Questions:

• Would you apply for this course? If so / not, why?
• Does the training cover the right activities?
• Is there anything else it should cover?
• Thinking about your own experience - what do you wish you had known when you started doing the finances?
• What would have made life easier?
• Would a course like this help you to feel more confident?
• What would you hope to gain from the course?
• Do you have any further suggestions on how we could improve this course?

5 minute break

20 minutes

2. Knowing Your Business

We'd now like to ask your views on the second course outline.

As a reminder, this course aims to provide high level training for women who are already confident at doing the finances to drill further into the business.

It will look at: Key Performance Indicators, profitability and sustainability, opportunities for diversification, forward business planning and succession.

The course would aim to equip women with the knowledge and skills to:

• Assess the profitability and sustainability of their business
• Understand the environmental impacts of their business
• Create a business plan to future-proof their farm, croft or small holding
• Apply for grants, funding or loans to develop the business
• Negotiate issues around finance, business planning and succession
• Develop and implement ideas for diversification or expansion
• Develop working relationships with other businesses and consumers
• Connect with other women in agriculture

Questions:

• Would you apply for this course? If so / not, why?
• Does the training cover the right activities?
• Is there anything else it should cover?
• Which of these activities do / would you find most challenging?

For those of you who felt the first course would be suitable for you, do you think you would you feel more confident about applying for this course once you had completed the introductory course?

• What would you hope to gain from the second course?
• Do you have any further suggestions on how we could improve this course?

10 minutes

Course delivery

We are now onto the final questions and would like to ask your feedback on the suggested course delivery.

This course is expected to be delivered to five groups of around 15 women through one 2 hour session a week and self-study over around 8 weeks.

The course may involve a mix of delivery methods, including for example, live webinars; virtual workshops with individual and group activities; discussion groups; online self-study modules and preparation for sessions.

• What do you think of the suggested course delivery?
• How useful would you find different types of sessions?
• What type of learning resources would you find useful?
• Would you find it helpful to be part of a network of other women in agriculture to share business skills and knowledge?
• Is there a need for continued learning options – after these courses have been completed?
• Would you have any concerns about signing up?
• Any other potential barriers or problems in attending the course/s?

10 minutes

Final feedback – end of focus group

• Is there anything else you'd like us to take into consideration?
• Thank you for your time - please get in touch if you have any questions about the research, or have any additional feedback