Antwi said she spoke to people who wanted to be business owners but did not have the confidence to take the first step.
“I spoke to so many people, black women, who wanted to do business, but they didn’t,” she said.
“Because it is so uncertain that they stick to employed work.
“They didn’t have people to talk to, they were here alone and didn’t have family to fall back on.”
Antwi said she realised she could help business founders by providing education.
“Some people didn’t know how to set up businesses here in the UK,” she said. “Or what structure the business needed to follow, or what legalities were required to set up the business properly.”
“And before we talk about loans and marketing, we needed to get that structure.”
Antwi said she started providing lessons on trademarking and company registration, before moving on to help founders form businesses that solve “real life issues”.
In under a year, and without any external funding, Antwi said BFS has taken on 50 founders through an incubator programme, providing practical training and support, and a community network of entrepreneurs.
And of the 50 founders, 30 are now at the launch stage with their business.
“With entrepreneurship it is so easy to give up,” Antwi said. “And having that network, having that community that actually pushing you through, it makes a hell of a difference.”