At Transform SY, we put the entrepreneur first, second and third

Becoming an excellent entrepreneur - what do we mean by that?

At Transform SY, our main message to entrepreneurs is ‘Become an excellent entrepreneur’, as this is what we want founders who join our programme to want to achieve.

However, what do we mean by ‘becoming an excellent entrepreneur’? Is an entrepreneur whose business is thriving but work/life balance and hobbies deteriorating excellent? Or are they excellent if the numbers look healthy but their employees are stressed and work in a toxic environment?

For us, becoming an excellent entrepreneur means improving as a person, as an entrepreneur and as a leader simultaneously, being able to manage your time, emotions and actions to a degree where entrepreneurship brings you financial stability, professional fulfilment and leads to a better outcome for everyone around you. And here’s how we help you:

  • Transform SY Events - every two weeks we deliver seminars or workshops on relevant topics filled with practical knowledge that the entrepreneur can immediately apply to their business. As part of the Events, we also ask our entrepreneurs to share good news as we want to share the wins and successes but also use it as a fuel for everyone to keep growing.

  • Transform SY Community - your network is your net worth. Expand yours by connecting with 18 entrepreneurs from Cohort 1 and 40 more between Cohort 2 and Cohort 3 and utilise their expertise and connections, or simply reach out for a chat to someone who’s walking the same walk.

  • Transform SY Enablement - enablement is a process we’ve mastered at Entrepreneurial Spark. We define it as ‘where business support meets life coaching, without the boring bits and with a lot of questions asked’. It’s manifested in bi-weekly 1to1 meetings with an ‘Enabler’ from our team who helps you to determine what are your current business goals, what are the obstacles staying between you and your goals and what needs to be done to overcome them. Then the enabler keeps you focused on these goals and holds you accountable. It is a proven method with thousands of entrepreneurs having been enabled in the last decade and went on to achieve fantastic successes.

So, do you want to become an excellent entrepreneur? Read through underneath to get a better grasp of the programme.

Bootcamp

Transform SY will start with a 2-day Bootcamp - an intensive onboarding experience designed to give you everything you need to start accelerating. Both days will be jam-packed with interesting talks but they will also give you the chance to meet your cohort, the mentors and partners of the accelerator. Please pencil this in your diary when you apply in case you get accepted onto the programme. During Boot Camp we will:

  1. Immerse you in what it means to be part of an Entrepreneurial Spark accelerator and how to make the most of it.

  2. Help you set clear goals for the programme and plan to hit them.

  3. Introduce our partners, stakeholders and mentors that you will be able to engage with throughout your time with us.

  4. Enable you to meet the rest of the cohort to start building your network and collaborating.

  5. Share the key mindset, leadership and business growth tools that we will use to support you.

 
 

1:1 Enablement

In Entrepreneurial Spark programmes, we have two different types of 1:1 support: Enablers and mentors. The Enablers are Entrepreneurial Spark team members who will meet with you every two weeks. This is the team that will push, challenge and hold you accountable as well as supporting you to unlock ever greater levels of performance for you and your business. They are people experts and unrivalled question-askers! These 60-minute fortnightly meetings are a compulsory part of the programme.

Our volunteer mentor panel is a group of experienced entrepreneurs and professionals. Engaging with them is optional – we normally bring them in to help you crack a particular growth challenge where their guidance can add a lot of value. Because they are volunteers their time is precious so we only bring them in when we are certain you are ready to make the most of their help.

Here are a few quotes from entrepreneurs who went through our programmes about enablement:

‘The most helpful aspect of the programme was definitely the enablement sessions. I always left the sessions with a set of goals for the coming weeks, which seemed obvious upon reflection, but were difficult to identify beforehand.’

‘I liked the refreshing honesty and vulnerability shown during these sessions’.

‘The Geo programme (one of our Space accelerator programmes) provided me with numerous opportunities to develop my pitching skills, the enablement sessions further developed my strategic planning skills and also leadership skills.’

Fortnightly Events

Our main focus is on your development as an entrepreneur - not a marketer, developer or anything else. However, we also acknowledge that founders have to wear many different hats and want to make sure you have all the knowledge you need to make decisions for your business. That is why our Events are designed to provide that knowledge in the most efficient, action-based way. And for seminars where we are not specialists - we invite external deliverers.

Once per fortnight we will run a compulsory 2-hour online event. We know your time is precious and no-one needs another boring webinar, so we cram a LOT into this time. The events include:

  • Learning (to drive you and your business forward)

  • Pitching practice - whether you’re pitching to a customer or an investor, this is a vital skill for every entrepreneur and we are very confident that our practice brings results

  • Peer collaboration and power-hours - we are looking to build a long-lasting community, and that can only happen if we all collaborate and work together

  • Sharing good news, motivation and inspiration

We will finalise the themes for these sessions once the cohort is confirmed and we have assessed your collective needs. Below is a list of some areas that we may cover by way of example:   

  • Pitching Your Business Like a World-Class Entrepreneur

  • Building Disruptive Business Models

  • Taking Excellent Risks

  • Entrepreneurial Leadership

  • Personal Brand

  • Pricing Strategy

  • Negotiation Skills