PROJECT: LOmasLEGAL, Spain
Low-cost legal services available from high-street stores, over the phone, and via internet.

www.lomaslegal.com

Bettina Götzenberger: "The law at the service of citizens"

In Spain, as in many other countries, obtaining sound legal advice can be a complicated and costly process. Bettina Götzenberger aims to change all that with her idea of legal consultation shops that makes legal advice from qualified professionals more accessible, and available at predefined, fixed prices.

Bettina spent most of her childhood in Germany before moving back to her native Spain. Following a spell as a German translator, she eventually retrained as a lawyer, completing a post-graduate degree in international commercial law in 1990. After building experience in several firms, she founded Ideandum, a business specializing in legal and investment services, in 2003.

In 2005, Bettina came up with a new idea for a "low cost" law firm. "I saw that a lot of services, even massage, were being offered at lower, fixed prices and I thought If they can do that for massage, why can't I do it for law?! Then I checked whether similar services were offered abroad, and ordered complementary market research in Spain. This confirmed high demand for low cost legal advice. I got to work on LOmasLEGAL right away."

Providing a concrete service at a fixed price

"I've always found that the Spanish legal system was quite inaccessible," says Bettina. "People often wait until the very last minute before seeking advice because they do not know who to turn to or how much it will cost. LOmasLEGAL is based on a simple concept: a team of qualified professionals providing their services to clients on a walk-in basis in legal "shops", as well as over the phone or via internet. Predefined tariffs ensure that there are no unwelcome surprises."

However, Bettina's goal is not to become just another legal service provider. She also hopes to change the way that people see the law and their rights. "If legal advice is more readily available, people will get into the habit of consulting a lawyer preemptively, before they have a problem."

By offering flexible working hours, LOmasLEGAL also allows its employees to maintain a career whilst continuing to devote quality time to their personal or family lives. Bettina hopes that this will be particularly attractive to young female lawyers who face particular career vs. family dilemmas.

An international vision

Since its creation LOmasLEGAL has made excellent progress. A series of new shops and franchised stores have been opened, with many more planned. "We're paying particular attention to areas that attract a lot of foreign investment," says Bettina. "People coming from abroad, hoping to live, work or invest in Spain will be able to obtain legal advice to prepare for a move or a business venture. Winning the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards would provide us with an invaluable endorsement from a world-renowned brand."

Having first heard about the Cartier Women's Initiative Award through another entrepreneurial competition in Spain, Bettina is "thrilled" to have made it through to the finals. "I've got great confidence in my business, and I'm just delighted that I'll have the chance to work with coaches from Cartier and McKinsey as we move to the next, exciting phase of our expansion."

PROJECT: Erborian Skin Therapy, France
An anti-fatigue cosmetics range based on traditional Korean herbal science.

Katalin Berenyi: "There is no comparative brand on the market!"

With a wealth of experience in the fashion and cosmetics industries behind her, Katalin Berenyi knows what it takes to make a new idea succeed in even the most competitive of markets. She's confident that Erborian, her new skincare range inspired by Korean herbal medicine, will make the grade.

Moving to France from her native Hungary when she was 20, Katalin quickly immersed herself in the fashion world. After completing a Masters in Fashion Business at the prestigious Institut Francais de la Mode, she moved to the United States in 1996 where she had her first taste of running her own company, designing and selling women's clothes.

Upon completing an MBA at Rice University in Houston she returned to Paris in 2001 to join a major cosmetics company as a Marketing Manager, later being promoted to International Marketing Manager for Lancome. "Crucially for my entrepreneurial development, I was able to see first-hand the varied reactions to product ranges in different markets around the world," says Katalin.

A new product based on traditional ideas

It was whilst travelling the world in her marketing role that Katalin first had the idea for her own skincare range based on the traditional Korean use of herbal ingredients. "The Korean skincare routine is very sophisticated," continues Katalin. "Women pass on skincare secrets from generation to generation, and are very demanding about the quality of products they use. I thought there was a possibility to adapt these traditional methods to the European market, which is always open to alternative products."

Her mind was made up when she met experienced cosmetics researcher Hojung Lee through the European Professional Women's Network. Hojung, a native South Korean, had a long-standing desire to found her own cosmetics company. "As a researcher and a marketer we have an effective and complementary partnership," says Katalin, "and because we were both trained to work in a similar way in the cosmetics industry, we know exactly what to expect from each other."

"Erborian is an innovative anti-fatigue skincare range based on the herbal elements of traditional Korean medicine," explains Katalin. "It combines product development done at our laboratory in Korea, with French marketing and design, so we will have the best of both worlds. We plan to start distribution in France with the rest of Europe following shortly after. There is no comparable brand on the market and I'm convinced our range has great potential."

From idea to business plan

Katalin's first stop upon leaving L'Oreal in March 2007 to concentrate on her new venture was the Paris Entreprendre business development agency. "They helped me structure my ideas into a coherent business plan, and it was there that I first heard about the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards. I am always trying to organize networking events within the cosmetics industry, and I thought entering the competition would be a great opportunity to gain some further exposure and make new contacts."

"It's a real honour to have been selected as a finalist in the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards," concludes Katalin. "It's recognition for the hard work that Hojung and I have done so far, and I'm looking forward to receiving some expert feedback from our coaches so that we can further develop our existing competitive advantage." Katalin's first stop upon leaving L'Oreal in March 2007 to concentrate on her new venture was the Paris Entreprendre business development agency. They helped me structure my ideas into a coherent business plan, and it was there that I first heard about the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards. I am always trying to organize networking events within the cosmetics industry, and I thought entering the competition would be a great opportunity to gain some further exposure and make new contacts."

"It's a real honour to have been selected as a finalist in the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards," concludes Katalin. "It's recognition for the hard work that Hojung and I have done so far, and I'm looking forward to receiving some expert feedback from our coaches so that we can further develop our existing competitive advantage."

PROJECT: Menus Bébé, France
A new generation of baby food jars and frozen baby food created by a mother for her baby. Natural and healthy, with the flavour of home cooking

Jenny Carenco: "Off-the-shelf, baby food that tastes like it's home-made? No problem!"

Jenny Carenco knows a thing or two about the pressures of motherhood. The 34-year-old former management consultant used to come home after a long day's work to turn her kitchen into a small baby food factory. Preparing tasty, nutritious meals for her young daughter after the rest of the family was fast asleep was a choice that eventually led to a business.

"As a new mother, I was faced with the choice of giving Maya jarred baby food or cooking for her myself," says Jenny. "But when I read the list of ingredients on industrial baby food, I was shocked by how much starch and other additives there were and how little actual food they contained."

When Jenny's friends started regularly dropping by to pick up her frozen homemade dishes for their own children, she realized that there was a real market for her products. "Many health-conscious mothers want the very best for their children, but lack the skills or the time to create nutritious, varied menus for their babies," explains Jenny. That's when the idea for Les Menus Bébé was born.

Healthy meals, healthy kids

With a wide range of recipes, Les Menus Bébé offers infants a satisfying, home-style meal while giving parents peace of mind about nutrition. The natural ingredients not only mean that Les Menus Bébé puts the "food" back in baby food, they're also the first step in encouraging healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.

Perseverance in a delicate market

Swedish-born Jenny is no stranger to hard work. She is a graduate of the University of Lund in Sweden and also of the prestigious MBA program at HEC, France's premier business school. She has previously worked as a strategy consultant for Bain & Company, and as an Internet business consultant at Swedish start-up Icon Medialab.

However, when she left her most recent consultancy post to found Les Menus Bébé, she didn't count on the obstacles she would soon face. " had no idea how highly regulated and complex the baby food market was in France," Jenny says. "It's taken 18 months of planning, research, and development to get my project from the drawing board to a concrete reality."

Credibility: a key to expansion

Jenny entered the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards having first heard about it through her work for Bain & Company on the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society in 2005. "I was helping set-up a think-tank that was to facilitate the progression of women in the workplace," says Jenny. "When the idea for Les Menus Bébé was born, I realized how I could benefit from the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards."

"Effectively, the future of my business rests on two key elements: securing sales to major French supermarkets and extending our product range to serve older babies. In such a sensitive market, endorsement from a name such as Cartier could really help provide credibility in the eyes of retailers, consumers and potential investors. This is crucial since we'll need to raise capital to finance our growth," she notes. "Now I've got to this stage of the competition, I really hope I can go all the way!"