Startup Croydon’s new course will help unemployed people set up their own business

Startup Croydon is Croydon’s only enterprise agency – our mission is to back ambitious start-ups and support their initiatives.

At this time of crisis, our services are more necessary than ever. That’s why we’re launching a new 4-month course starting Tuesday 2 March.

Building Business Horizons course

The Building Business Horizons (BBH) programme is an incubator style intensive programme providing a deep dive support programme to Croydon residence who may need further help to drive their ambitions forward. It takes the form of weekly workshops and masterclasses dedicated to a separate topic each week.

The 4-month schedule requires a time commitment of approximately one half-day per week, plus time for reflection and building a robust business plan, and includes mandatory workshops and supplementary masterclasses covering the following topics:

Workshops

• Demystifying the business plan
• Identifying customers
• Business model canvass
• Finance and budgets
• Social media

Masterclasses

• Legal Q&A
• Market research
• Minimum viable product
• Selling
• Digital Content
• Pitching

Delivered by experts in their field, BBH participants are given the opportunity to develop key skills to effectively start and run a business and finally pitch their business idea to a panel of professionals for a chance to win up to £500 of seed funding.

Following successful completion, participants have the opportunity to pitch or present their business or social enterprise model for additional business support including seed funding of £500.

Participants are selected through an application process and an informal 1-1 interview to assess need and eligibility; however, as spaces are limited to a maximum of 12 people on the main programme, priority is given to those who are unemployed or economically disadvantaged in the Croydon area and who can commit to and achieve at least 80% attendance.

There’s still plenty of time to join if you’re interested! You can read more and apply here.

You can also check out our other events, which include BBH masterclasses and networking.