Join this 8-week Course to solve Social and Environmental Problems in East Africa

Deadline: 18-Apr-21

Do you have a business idea to solve social and environmental problems? If yes, then Join this “A Brighter and Greener Future for East African Youth” – A 8-week course to create a Social Business plan and bring your idea to life.

Each week the entrepreneur will work on a module of their business plan and at the end they will have a compiled and structured document that serves them as a Social Business plan. The course is accompanied by a volunteer mentor who will support the entrepreneur during the 8-week process.

StartNow is a product of Yunus Environment Hub (YEH). Yunus Environment Hub is the Global Social Business Network Creating Solutions for the Environmental Crisis.

StartNow is a self-learning platform for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs. Each week the entrepreneur will work on a module of their business plan and at the end they will have a compiled and structured document that serves them as a Social Business plan.

Modules

Understanding the Problem: In this module we will challenge the assumptions you have about the problem and its root causes. They will encourage you to talk with the people directly affected by the problem to understand their needs and their desires.
Value Proposition: Your value proposition is key to explain why people would be interested in your product. It is a promise of value that communicates the improvements of your product or service in the life of your beneficiaries. In this step you will understand your buyer, beneficiary and customer and build the value proposition for each of them.
Stakeholders Map: Building a company by yourself is almost impossible. Pulling in the right people early can help you start off in a good way. In this module you will learn how to identify and choose your stakeholders and how to differentiate yourself from the current solutions.
Social Business Model: In this module you will define how your social business creates, delivers, and captures your value proposition. We will go step by step to understand and choose the business model that suits you best as well as build your activities and key resources to deliver value.
Marketing and Sales: In this module we will define how to engage your beneficiaries and customers with your product or service. They will go step by step to calculate your market size, know your distribution channels, and plan your marketing and sales.
Social Business Viability: Social Businesses need to transform and challenge social and environmental issues, but they also need to be financially self-sustainable. In this module they will set the price of your product or service and we will go step by step to understand the market players, calculate your costs and your customer lifetime value.
Financial Plan: You have identified the product or service you want to provide and know what the resulting social impact is going to be. Now you need to write your financial plan to see if your idea is going to work financially. They will go step by step to calculate your total costs and define your sales plan.
Taking Off: You have got a great concept – you know your product or service, your social impact, your sales plan, and your finances. Now you will need to create a plan on how to take off. In this module they will go step by step to understand your team, define your goals and mitigate your risks.

How does the process looks like?

You will sign up as a social business entrepreneur.
Once you have sent your application, your cohort lead will review it and accept it if matching the criteria.
When accepted, you will be able to access the platform to explore the mentor’s profiles and start the mentor-mentee matching process.
Once your mentor has been assigned, you will meet him/her to set a weekly meeting to discuss your progress.
You will have access to a new module each week that you need to complete during the same week
After your mentor has validated your work at the end of the course, you will be able to download your social business plan.
At the end of the course you will obtain a certification of participation of the StartNow program.

Eligibility Criteria