I can't for the life of me remember what it is called, but there is a web site where people can pledge a small sum towards a business or project start up. I know its been used quite a bit for film projects and the like.
If you were starting small whether as ladies evenings or even a roving ladies event consultant you might be able to raise enough for the initial start up.
Apart from Kickstarter, I know of this one http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/