Kickstart your business with Work Avenue’s Accelerator

Work Avenue has launched the Jewish community’s first Business Accelerator.

This intensive bootcamp training programme is designed to help members of the community navigate the early stages of starting a business, a time that is often fraught with challenges and difficulties.

The scheme will be open to a small number of hand-selected entrepreneurs who are either in the early stages of developing their business or have a well-developed business idea they wish to set up.

It will consist of six modules covering all aspects of building and running your own company – from setting it up to marketing and sales to developing a full plan for growth.

Experts leading the training modules will include Work Avenue’s business team and guest speakers from the worlds of accountancy, innovation, strategy, customer insight, marketing, digital media and brand building.

Best of all, it’s completely free.

The Work Avenue Business Accelerator is the result of a long period of planning by Joanna Sadie, Work Avenue’s head of business.

Joanna said: “We know only too well that starting  a business can be a very daunting and isolating prospect and founders are unlikely to have all the skills necessary on their own. Many fledgling entrepreneurs can also feel lacking in confidence and overwhelmed by the sheer effort in getting going.”

Joanna has identified three key reasons for entrepreneurs and start-ups to join the Work Avenue Business Accelerator:

1) It will provide an ecosystem of support, giving entrepreneurs access to highly qualified experts and mentors in finance, marketing, social media and other key areas. There is also the chance to learn from and collaborate with the other start-ups on the programme as ideas are pooled and successes shared.

2) It will help to develop key business skills. In six weeks, the successful entrepreneurs will have developed a business plan, a financial forecast and
a marketing strategy. Usually this would take months, if not years.

3) It is open to all business ideas and concepts. Many of the other accelerator programmes out there set strict criteria as to whether your idea is the right one for their scheme. Often it needs to be tech-based or address a particular market. But the Work Avenue Business Accelerator is truly OPEN to anyone who has a fledgling business or business idea of any kind.

Work Avenue chief executive David Arden said: “The Work Avenue Business Accelerator the first in our community.

“Successful participants will leave it with the confidence and motivation to take their business to the next step.”

Applications for the Work Avenue Business Accelerator will close on Friday 18 February. For more details, and to apply, please visit www.theworkavenue.org.uk/accelerator