We’re excited to announce that our programme, ‘Building a Viable Business’, is open for its first intake, which will start in the first week of April 2018. This programme is the second stage in the Startup Series and designed for founders who have validated their idea and are committed to building a high growth, high impact company.

Many of the participants on the programme will have completed our first stage programme, ‘Ideas You Can Execute’, where they learnt how to form, communicate and validate an idea into a valuable concept worth pursuing.

Completing stage 1 of the Startup Series is not a requirement for doing stage 2, however, it is advised especially for people who have not completed any market validation and only have an idea at this stage.

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Why we created this programme

Mum’s Garage exists to teach people how to start and grow businesses. Most people’s knowledge of how to turn an idea into a profitable company is limited because it’s not often taught or experienced. This makes it hard for people to move forward with their ideas and make good decisions about how to grow their business and themselves personally.

We developed our ‘Ideas You Can Execute’ programme to teach and support people to understand more about themselves and how to find and start a valuable idea, in a way that increases their chances of success. We deem success to be a sustainable, profitable business, that provides happy, fulfilling work.

Following on from this, we have created ‘Building a Viable Business’ as an acceleration programme for people who have the idea they want to commit to on a full-time basis and are ready to work hard to turn it into a business that creates value and makes money.

Our aim for this programme is to take participants from a validated idea through to having the foundations of a proven business model. This means developing a minimum viable product, a cost-effective customer acquisition funnel, and developing a business model that indicates the business will be profitable in the long run. It also means working out business fundamentals, including a legal structure, suitable financial model, essential systems and processes, and building company consciousness.

We’ve created this programme that supports founders to make their own good decisions by teaching the necessary considerations and providing enough structure to make moving forward easier, and enough autonomy so founders are empowered to develop the value of their company and themselves.

Who’s it for?

Founders and teams who know, with a degree of certainty, the problem they’re solving, who they’re solving it for, why their company exists and are committed to spending the next 5yrs working on their company. If you don’t feel you know this yet, then we recommend starting with our ‘Ideas You Can Execute’ programme.

If you’re not sure if you’re a good fit, book in a time to chat and we’ll help you to work it out. If you’re not yet ready, then we’ll advise you on some good next steps based on where you’re at now.

What benefit will you get out of this programme?

In addition to community, accountability and support to move forward, here are the specific outcomes of the programme (as long as you put in the work):

Support to develop the first version of a valuable product and embed a disciplined approach to product development.
Build foundations for your marketing and sales funnel, and embed a structured approach to optimising customer acquisition.
Create your customer experience processes to make your early adopters evangelists and capture valuable data for optimising your product.
Create your foundational financials and develop a value-focused approach to optimising your business model.
Develop a company DNA that aligns with the founders/team, provides a compelling purpose and gives direction.
Brand and culture DNA that aligns with company DNA, to attract the right people.
The ability to effectively communicate the company value and convince the right people to be a part of the journey.
Develop a conscious and focused approach to building a company and developing yourself.
Connect with the people you need to move you forward in the right direction.

How the value is delivered:

Learn the why, what and how of key startup establishment and growth concepts at the weekly group workshops, each covering a specific area of business development (3hrs).
Get support to make decisions and move forward by booking one-on-one mentor sessions (office hours).
Learn specific skills and meet specialists who can help in areas including legal, raising money, accounting and finance, product development, social media marketing, growth hacking, SEO.
Access a library of information and meet others on the same journey with access to the Mum’s Garage community benefits, including partners discounts, video library and events.

What does it cost?

The pilot programme costs $2,500 for the full 3 months. This is payable in instalments.

It is likely that you will be eligible for a 50% subsidy from NZTE which you will need to apply for now. This brings the cost of the programme down to $1,250 for 3 months. Find out if you are eligible for the subsidiary here.

What are the next steps?

Apply for the programme here. If you are not sure whether it’s for you, please get in touch asap by emailing us at [email protected].
See if your company fits the requirements to apply for NZTE capability vouchers and apply here.

Still not sure?

You think it costs too much?

We know that money is a scarce resource when you’re in the early stages of building a business, but so is time. By spending money to acquire knowledge, you can save a significant amount of time. Ideally, it means that you can get to the point where you are making money faster. So the question is, do you think investing $2,500 (or $1,250 if you apply for the subsidy) to get the learning opportunities and support to build your business over three months will mean that shave $2,500 off in time?

A practical way to make decisions about your time and money.

What’s your hourly rate? Divide $2,500 by your hourly rate to work out how the time the programme is worth to you. Will the programme save you more than this in time? If yes, then it’s probably a worthy investment.

You’re not certain enough on the value of your idea to commit this amount of money to it?

You might not have validated your idea enough. Certainty comes from knowing something is true. If you don’t know that your idea solves a real problem that people will pay for, then market validation might be your next step. We do cover market validation in this programme, however, if you have not completed any, we advise completing our ‘Ideas You Can Execute’ programme.

Don’t know enough about Mum’s Garage? If you’re serious about the programme, we’re happy to have a one-on-one conversation so you can understand our experience and approach to building companies. Book a time to speak here.