For incubators, accelerators, investors and regional bodies
The Entrepreneurs Leverage Program
A 12-month program for your founders and business owners, with results you can measure. I run it in person, in your region, and I analyse the financials of every business in the program.
The Program, In the Room
This Is for You If
- You run an incubator, an accelerator, a portfolio or a regional business program, and your founders need business skills to go with their product skills
- You have a funder, a board or a community expecting results from the program, and you need to show them
- You've seen a seminar series fill the room and change little
- Your founders are in a region, and you want someone who turns up there
- You want one program and one way of measuring it
“We found Mandy through a fantastic recommendation from people who've worked with Mandy as a business coach who's really helped them to scale companies. Mandy's based here, she grew up in the region, she has an engineering background.”
What You've Probably Tried
Each of these has its place. None of them changes what happens in a founder's business the week after.
- A seminar series
- Cheap, easy to fill, and a good speaker makes a good night. Nobody's business is different on Monday.
- An online course or a video-call program
- Reach without travel. It's easy to drop out of, and nobody is accountable to anyone they'll see again.
- A pool of coaches, one per founder
- Individual attention, which founders like. No common language, no peers holding each other to a plan, and results that can't be compared across the cohort.
- A corporate trainer
- Polished delivery. Founders can tell within an hour whether the person at the front has run anything.
“… what Mandy's program does is really kind of blow that apart and actually give people a way to tackle some of the really hard stuff in their business.”
How the Program Works
The Entrepreneurs Leverage Program, over 12 months
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9½ days face to face
3½ days to start, then 2 days each quarter. Games, hot seats and group work, with no slides from the front of the room.
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A 90-day plan from every business
Each business writes its plan within a week of each meeting, in the program's online portal, and I review it.
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Peer accountability every week
Founders in pairs, reporting what they did and solving problems together. I facilitate and review it.
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One-on-one with me each month
In person or online, on whatever that business needs next.
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I analyse the financials of every business
Each quarter, so founders see which lever to pull, and you see what the program changed.
Sometimes the thing holding a business back is its business model. In the programs I have run, I have changed a founder's business model more than once, and the strategy that follows works because it starts from how their business actually runs.
12 to 40 businesses in a cohort. You market it and provide the venue. I run it. I also run single-day sessions, strategy days for your team, and an expert-in-residence bank of hours your founders can draw on.
“The difference for this program is that we actually measure the results that you receive. This is not just about education, this is also about teaching you so that you learn how to implement what you've learned.”
Where It Has Run
- University of New England SMART Region Incubator
- Expert in Residence for 5 years, engaged again each year to 2025. More than 200 founders advised, across agtech, health, environment and creative businesses. 12-month programs in Tamworth, Armidale, Moree and Narrabri. Coaching for the incubator's challenge rounds, single-day sessions and strategy workshops.
- Business New England
- Business New England ran my program for Armidale businesses in 2021.
- University of New England
- Business content for the Graduate Certificate in AI and Innovation.
- Ten programs delivered
- Each one 12 months long, with results measured against the year before.
“I'm actually learning how to run a business. I know my financials. I'm starting to get ownership across every area of my business.”
What the Usual Program Costs
A seminar series sends founders home with notes and little else. When the funder asks what changed in the businesses, the only answer is attendance.
A program that measures each business's results can show the funder what changed, so the program is easier to fund again.
Talk to Me About a Program
Tell me about your founders, your region and what the program has to produce. I'll tell you what I'd run and how we'd measure it.
Start a Conversation