Business growth and innovation programs that transform
Business education, coaching & mentoring programs
For Startups
Specifically designed to help navigate the opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurship, our programs aim to increase the number and sustainability of Startups:
Startup Pitch Training Program (PTP)
Startup Marketing Program (SMP)
Startup Pre-accelerator
Startup Accelerator
Brand Accelerator
Investor Ready Program (IVP)
For SMEs
Helping SMEs survive and thrive in evolving markets, our programs aim to equip businesses with future of work knowledge and skills that build the capability in their business to adapt and grow:
Micro MBA (MMBA)
Small Business Accelerator (SBA)
Small and Medium Business Acclereator (SAMBA)
Trade Event Ready (TER)
Trade Accelerator
Succeeding in Defence
Defence Business Accelerator
Digital Marketing
Digital Transformation
Digital Skills/Support/Economy
Innovation Program
Custom
Helping those that want to achieve a specific commercial goal build the capabilities to do this internally or working in partnership to build a custom program to deliver to your business community:
Specific industry verticals
Targeted to an identified community problem
Developing specific strategies, such as a go-to-market strategy or marketing strategy
Focused on digital tool adoption
Entering into a specific market
What we do.
Business Growth & Innovation Programs
We align our programs to economic development outcomes. We marry the latest teaching and learning thinking with the latest business and technology thinking. Our focus is long-term adoption and building confidence and capability in innovative practices for business owners, entrepreneurs and their teams for sustainable impact and benefits.
Our ultimate aim is to increase the business and digital maturity of those we work with in a way that is simple, actionable and sustainable through delivering holistic education and support that merges future skills and thinking, innovative business practices and human-centred aspects to implement tangible business transformation..
We are a team of qualified experienced education and learning design specialists working with subject matter experts, designing future-ready multi-media content. We create hybrid education programs with hands-on supportive and engaging experiences, targeted to the business or business community challenges and using real relatable case-studies.
We deliver our own programs or can create custom programs for specific challenges:
Targeted education programs (specialist topics, industry groups)
Learning & Resource Portal
Business transformation programs (sustainable long-term impact)
Event, masterclass and webinar series (short form)
We take care of the end-to-end management and delivery of programs:
End-to-end management and coordination
Local needs research and insights
Learning and experience design
Content development including case studies
Event management
Technical delivery and digital infrastructure
Design and marketing
Student communication and engagement
Facilitation and hosting
Expert mentorship
Insights and reporting
Targeted to reach specific outcomes
We work with our partners to truly understand their needs and their audience before tailoring an education solution that will give them and their communities the greatest outcome. Our programs have been designed across all stages of business maturity, catered to all digital literacies and always achieve high engagement and completion ratings whilst building communities from the cohorts.
Australian Defence Export Office Trade Event Ready Program
Originally developed specifically for businesses that export defence and dual goods and services overseas and need to refine their pitch before presenting at international trade shows, the Trade Event Ready Program has evolved to now help Australian defence businesses develop and refine their pitch, create a compelling Quad Chart and prepare a strategy for optimising their attendance at an international trade event. The program is highly-personalised to deliver educational content and support for areas that can be improved upon. Participants don’t have to learn what they already know, rather they ‘level-up’ what they do know. The micro-learning is supported with defence specific examples and content from stakeholders in the defence industry. Participants self-pace through the content in an online portal and then book 1:1 mentoring with a defence experienced mentor to refine their approach for their specific situation. Over 800 participants have engaged in the program to date. Originally intended to support only one round of participants, due to the demand and success of the program (including participation from senior MPs), the program is still open for eligible businesses. Find out more here
Digital Support Program for Business
A six month program that was designed to build capability in strategy, growth and participation in the digital economy. Working with Colac Otway Shire, we supported 30 participants to achieve key digital initiatives for their business. Achieving an average 109% increase in knowledge and skills with the highest recorded increase at 662%. In recent post program check-ins increases in job creation, revenue and confidence to grow their business further were most reported as the impact from participating in the program. Learn more about the program here.
The Startup Marketing Program
Supported by LaunchVic in the Education Round funding in 2018, we design and delivered a marketing program for Startups. With 100 Startups participating from metro and regional Victoria, this 12-week hybrid program created a community that is still strong to this day. An education ‘roadshow’ launched the event in four regional centres. The program was oversubscribed by over 500 applicants and participants were selected based on their commitment to implement and engage with the learning. The program received an NPS score of 65, an 85% completion rate. This program has been further delivered to a number of startups post the program.
Learning & Resource Portal
Education 24/7
We can create a co-branded learning and resource portal for your organisation and provide seamless onboarding for your business community. 25eight manages the hosting and technological management as well as provides extensive education that helps businesses build effective strategies for their business, their growth, their digital transformation, or for the introduction of innovation.
Business transformation programs.
We believe that truly transforming the way a business operates for impact or growth requires a targeted sustained journey over transactional courses. Business leaders and their people usually engage in education to learn and understand, but mastering the concepts through action, implementation and adoption is often a barrier due to lack of confidence, competence, capacity or support.
Our long-term Business Transformation Programs have been specifically designed to merge the latest teaching and learning thinking with the latest business and technology thinking. Our engaging blended learning experience and implementation support bring together digestible learning content, masterclasses, action planning, access to expert mentors and an online community of learners.
We translate concepts and terms for everyday understanding to make sure we uplift comprehension regardless of business or digital maturity. Our focus on digital adoption is not simply teaching software implementation or a digital model but synchronising the human factor with the technology factor to realise the benefits and is seen as a change and learning mechanism where people in the business can master digital tools to carry out their purpose.
Overview
We are able to create a program for your budget and business community needs. We develop impactful programs for businesses with an average commitment from them of 2 - 3 hours a week combining a hybrid delivery of scaffolded learning and implementation support.
We always start with a detailed needs assessment as a fundamental part of the process as it helps to understand the current situation within the businesses and defines the targeted approach to the education and support based on:
Business goals and objectives
Business current state
Current knowledge and skills
Digital literacy
Digital maturity
The initial needs and maturity assessment also informs the learning streams and masterclass levels and forecasts likely implementation support areas.
All programs have an ongoing and moderated online community to facilitate questions and deliver extra learning content and recordings.
The short introductory micro-learning to build a foundational understanding of concepts and topics, followed with targeted deeper learning content throughout.
Education is supported with activities for businesses to work through their current situation, gain clarity on knowing their business deeply and begin problem-solving their needs and designing their future state.
The learning portal support all activity and also gives access to an online community for peer support and a shared learning experience, drop-in help, expert mentor check-ins and a dedicated account manager with a plan and implementation support
Scope of learning
The needs assessment will inform the detailed topic and level of content used in the education components. The aim is to build a baseline of knowledge and understanding prior to any interaction with a facilitator or mentor covering areas such as:
New business model or new product innovation
Product acceleration
Re-designing or enhancing the customer experience encompassing the digital world and utilising digital tools
Streamlined and efficient operating environment with thriving capable people by reviewing business processes
Building or extending the brand
Identifying new channels or new market segments
Continuously improvement practices & mindset
Event, masterclass and webinar series.
What set’s us apart is our ability to deeply understand the needs, desires and challenges facing businesses. We listen to people and look at the data and expertly curate events, masterclass and webinar series, with targeted messages and learning content. We always combine optimistic and inspiring speakers from our extensive network with relevant local relatable case studies with a focus on supporting learners to apply learnings and connect to a wider ecosystem. We take care of everything and make sure we create interactive and engaging experiences, while using the opportunity to gather valuable insights.
Modern Small Business Online Series (Glenelg Shire Council)
This four-part online series was developed to support economic development actions in Glenelg Shire’s Council Plan and to address challenges of regional digital uptake. It was aligned with Council’s own business transformation journey (Digital Glenelg) adapting the way they do business and serve the community.
The online series structure, delivery and content were specifically developed in response to engagement with the community to understand the challenges and barriers to digital adoption in local small businesses and grass-roots organisations.
It was seen as a seed initiative with the objective of creating a small network of engaged people to continue to gather, share and learn about implementing digital practices in the business ongoing. This was supported with an online community space and physical launch and meet-ups. Further case studies were captured and exposed along with extra resources and links to learning content, encouraging and setting a benchmark for other business operators to self-educate and implement digital practices.
Session 1 - Customers, customers, customers.
Session 2 - Linking traditional and digital marketing (with ‘United Way’)
Session 3 - Digital platforms and tools (with ‘Bay of Whales)
Session 4 - Putting it all into action!
‘Reigniting the visitor economy: Resilience and readiness’ webinar series.
(Glenelg Shire Council)
A webinar series designed specifically to support visitor economy businesses to continue to take action through the disruption of Covid-19.
The challenge was to investigate key areas and create a three-part series for the regional centre’s affected small business community with actionable steps and support. The ‘visitor economy’ is much broader than simply tourism, it is defined as any direct, indirect, and induced economic activity resulting from any type of visitor to our destination and their interactions. Shifting the lens on this allowed for a new way of seeing opportunities and needs.
The series brought together an informative aspect sharing recent impacts and trends of the pandemic, while showcasing other regional businesses who are taking interesting or collaborative actions around customer experience for resilience, and finally providing practical steps for support and pathways forward.
Business Support Services Program: Launch and masterclass series (City of Melbourne)
City of Melbourne recognised the tough year for their business community, but as restrictions eased they we’re finding a new rhythm as a city and looking for innovative ways to support businesses to operate while welcoming back excited Melbournians. CoM and industry experts shared how they were moving beyond the pandemic and supporting businesses now and in the future, and delivered practical tips and advice on how businesses can move forward into 2021. Part of this was a holistic Business Support Program which 25eight designed and delivered the main Launch event and a Digital Marketing Masterclass Series.
The launch event focused on actions and covered:
Understanding the local impact of COVID-19 and the road ahead
How consumer behaviour has changed and the opportunities this provides
Showcasing practical local business stories
Inspiration for business leaders with a look at Melbourne’s vibrant journey of activation and collaboration.
Practical steps to get support, grow your network and link with the community
Tips on how to operate in a COVID-safe environment
City of Melbourne Business Support Program, the initiatives in action and support available
The Digital Marketing Masterclass Series was designed to inform business people of the foundational concepts of strategic marketing, content and digital and highlight the potential positive impacts to their business. Local businesses came together and worked alongside our experts to create their own digital marketing strategy and action plan ready to implement. To allow the audience to self-serve deeper understandings of these concepts we followed on with an eight week email series with extended learning.
Past events
All of our past events and programs (pre 2020), were designed and delivered under the Marketing Entourage brand
Talk to us about your needs.
We’d love to work with you to come up with the best solution for your situation so please click on the button below to book a time to speak with our Co-Founder Phil Ore, he’d be happy to chat to you about how we can help you.