Program Overview
The 8-week curriculum moves entrepreneurs from foundational questions about goals and marketing through strategy, operations, and ultimately to a live pitch in front of community stakeholders.
Week 1: covers the science of setting effective goals. Participants work through SOAR analysis and FAST goal-setting, approaching goals as strategic commitments and learning how to use time as a tool to reach them. Entrepreneurs leave this week with their three scaling/growth goals.
Week 2: is about understanding why customers choose you. We draw on research showing that emotional connection drives loyalty and lifetime value in ways that product quality and price alone do not. Entrepreneurs learn how to uncover and speak to what their customers actually care about, driving emotional connections that research shows also directly tie to revenue outcomes.
Week 3: moves from that insight into targeting. Entrepreneurs build detailed customer avatars and, where applicable, organizational personas for B2B contexts. This week’s goal is understanding that targeting a clearly defined customer well is more sustainable than trying to serve everyone, and they work through specific action items to narrow their marketing and branding work to reach their avatars.
Week 4: addresses financial fundamentals and pricing. The entrepreneurs work through specific business case and build financial statements for a month of activity from scratch. We also look at pricing through the combined lens of cost, value, psychology, and competitive positioning, grounded in research showing that pricing strategy has a greater effect on revenue outcomes than acquisition or retention efforts alone.
Week 5: is strategy week. Using Porter's competitive positioning framework adapted for Main Street businesses, entrepreneurs develop a clear strategic position: what they do, who they do it for, and what makes that combination worth choosing. They also use this week to develop their elevator pitch.
Week 6: deepens the competitive analysis and brings it together in a value proposition. Entrepreneurs map their competitive landscape and articulate a clear statement of their market position.
Week 7: is about turning strategy into systems. Drawing on lean strategy principles and the Balanced Scorecard framework, entrepreneurs work on building repeatable processes so that the business can function and scale without depending entirely on the owner's direct involvement in every decision. We also use this week to talk about the five financial levers in every business and how you can use each to fund expansion and growth.
Week 8: prepares entrepreneurs for Pitch Night. We cover the neuroscience behind public speaking anxiety, practical techniques for working with nerves, and the fundamentals of executive presence. The program culminates in a live pitch to an audience of community members, stakeholders, and supporters.
