If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s the importance of building resilient and adaptable businesses that create new opportunities for growth, even in the toughest of conditions.
- While this is easy to say it can be hard to do; but businesses in Geelong now have even more support thanks to a new RunwayHQ program sponsored by The City of Greater Geelong.
- Up to 15 businesses will participate in RunwayHQ’s Ready Set Grow (RSG) business resilience and growth program, running between May and September this year.
- Applications are now open to all businesses operating in Geelong, with a priority focus on people in Creative, Tourism and Clean Tech industries.
Based in the North Geelong Pivot City Innovation Precinct, RunwayHQ is a not-for-profit with national and international reach. It specialises in helping people learn and apply the skills and techniques used by successful startup and scaleup businesses all over the world.
Clever and creative communities are crucial for a vibrant and resilient economic future in Geelong, and together the City of Greater Geelong and Runway are backing them with support to help them reach their full potential.
‘Businesses will learn to find new opportunities, overcome barriers to growth, test their emerging plans and get setup to take their best ideas to market,’ says David Spear, Head of Partnerships and Ecosystems at RunwayHQ.
‘The Ready Set Grow program is implemented in three key stages that build on each other to the reduce the risk of innovation and steadily move people towards their goals’ he continued.
The three stages of the program are:
- Get Ready: Evaluating the gap between the business and external environment, and identifying new opportunities – completed in 20 hours over 2 weeks
- Get Set: Developing the customer value proposition for a new growth opportunity, and an action plan to test it in the real world – completed in 15 hours over 2 weeks
- Grow: Executing validated growth plans with support from industry experts delivering specialist knowledge, including access to Runway’s wider global networks – completed over two to three months progressively working on the business.
‘This is a highly practical and applied program where you will work on your business in real time, delivered via online content presented in Open Learning and small facilitated group sessions in Zoom,’ said David Spear.
For more information about the program including testimonials, and specific session dates and times:
- Download and review the Program Outline HERE
- Attend an online information session https://runwayhq.co/events/
- Apply online HERE
- Email davids@runwayhq.co for assistance
The City’s Clever and Creative Vision aims for Greater Geelong to be internationally recognised as a clever and creative city-region that is forward looking, enterprising, adaptive and cares for its people and environment.
‘As we transition to a 21st Century economy underpinned by clever and creative industries, the City of Greater Geelong and Runway are playing a crucial role helping businesses build the capability they need to adapt to changing market conditions and capitalise on new growth opportunities,’ David continued.
‘Together, the City of Greater Geelong and Runway can really make an impact; supporting our local businesses to develop the same skills used by successful startups and scaleups all over the world to adapt, find new business opportunities and activate growth’ said David.
- The City of Greater Geelong is now calling for applications from businesses wanting to participate. Up to 15 heavily subsidised places are available.
