About Us

Lila Co. Il was developed by Barbara Shaw and Tamar Weiner, who met at a course at Wizo( Women's International Zionist Organization) on "Political and Social Leadership". The website is entirely self funded and independent, it is not affiliated to any organization. Tamar recently had a baby and has moved up north

Barbara Shaw M.Comm- Originally from Australia where she held executive positions for the retailor Woolworths Ltd. in Marketing and Corporate Affairs. She came on aliya in 1986 In Israel she has ran her own successful business for 10 years in gifts for the Kitchen and Home. After selling the business Barbara held senior positions for a number of years in the Hi Tech industry in the medical, energy and Telcom fields. She has been a business mentor for the department of Trade and Industry, Mati and Keren Shemesh assisting a wide variety of business to grow their businesses.

Barbara's passion is working with women business owners to help their business thrive and grow in sales and profits. She helps women focus and get organized in terms of management, marketing and finance.

Thinking Behind the Building the Website www.lila.co.il

On reading the Knesset Committee for the Status of Women of  2004 report which referred to international trends in entrepreneurship and found that 65% of Israelis – both women and men, regarded having their own business as a positive career option. But when asked if they feel they have the required skills to start their own business we were surprised to learn that 57% of men felt they had the required skills but only 37% of women felt the same way.

When we asked women for the reasons for the reasons for the difference we found that while many women dream of their own business often it appeared that the obstacles seemed insurmountable. Dealing with the authorities, issues of tax, profitability, finances juggling family and work issues etc.

In addition many women who were actually conducting businesses didn't define themselves as such. They operated intuitively and while they may have wanted more clients or greater profitability often were bogged down with the day to day demands of the business and home life.

Other women who had perhaps more business training and awareness wanted more information and professional development to successfully extend and grow their business, through carefully planned marketing, export and a web presence. Often business owners expressed certain loneliness in running an enterprise, and suggested they would like a place to get confirmation on various questions, ask like minded people for their views and experience and provide suggestions.

This was the thinking behind Lila.co.il, an attractive website for business women that concentrates information, connections and possibilities in one place accessible and friendly. The website was launched on August 2005.

Looking forward to your comments and reactions

Barbara Shaw