‘We bring entrepreneurs together’- Interview with Thomas Strasser-Neuhoffer from Hatch Enterprise.
Hatch Enterprise is a charity whose mission is to support the development of South London entrepreneurship. They’re dedicated to enabling entrepreneurs to grow successful and sustainable businesses. ‘’We bring together entrepreneurs, and unveil and strengthen their skills and talents. One of our crucial values in the programme is the community aspect, which I think makes us very unique to many other London incubators. — says Thomas Strasser-Neuhofer from Hatch Entreprise. — Because of our focus on South London community specifically, we have been developing close relationships. I’d say, it is a village-like community, or a family, even. I think it makes us different to many other incubators in London.’’
Hatch Enterprise offers three different programmes to people starting businesses. TheLaunchpad, for people who just launched and started, the Incubator, for start-ups that are growing their ideas, and lastly, there is the Accelerator, which is mostly about learning how to sustain the business in the long run. ‘’We kicked off with our Incubator programme three years ago, and overtime, we realised that different people come to us with different needs. That’s why we added two more profiled programmes that suit more specifically start-ups in their different stages.’’ — explains Thomas.
The Launchpad programme is built around the lean methodology, with the first half of the programme focusing on business modelling and the second half focusing on business development. Here you’ll get the clarity on your business idea and test it within 6 weeks. The programme is all about turning your project into a business. You’ll define your goals and milestones, you’ll be matched with an amazing business mentor and you’ll be guided through legal structures and financials. The next Launchpad comes to Lambeth this summer (13th, 14th, 15th July (10am — 4pm) + 16th Aug)
The Incubator, also focuses on business modelling and the business growth, and is addressed to start-ups that have already launched. Within 12 weeks, you will gain the critical business skills that you need to be a successful entrepreneur. You will grow and scale your existing business by attending workshops, one-to-one support and mentoring. The next Incubator starts on the 1st and 2nd July and runs every Friday for the next twelve weeks.
The Accelerator programme is an innovative business and leadership programme to scale your business. This is a perfect programme for start-ups that are already operating as businesses. The main focus is put on scalability and accountability. You will work towards your big goals; you will develop knowledge and leadership skills during workshops and during mentoring. The first Hatch Accelerator kicks off on the 21st September and continues one day a month until 15th March 2017.
‘’When a start-up founder comes to us, we sit down with them and assess on which programme they fit in to.’’ — says Thomas. — ‘’The most common challenges that start-up founders face is the so-called ‘passion trap’. It is when one is so passionate about their business idea that they forget to do the bits and pieces in their regular work, in order to sustain the business. Our role at Hatch is to give them the right business advice and the skills in order to enable them to make their idea real, and to be able to clearly describe in a business language what they are so passionate about ’’ — describes Thomas.
‘’What is really important for our entrepreneurs, is the mentoring we provide, where everybody gets their one to one, for the whole time they are with us. Very high senior advisers and experts and facilitators like for instance Jonathan Banister and Sophie Paton (http://www.makehappy.co.uk/). All of our facilitators have a background in entrepreneurship, and they all identify with our values.
The other benefits of being part of Hatch are i.e. the co-working space, where entrepreneurs can meet and work on their business ideas. ‘’All the basic facilities are here, they have a desk with Internet connection, the printer, the flipcharts and a cup of coffee.’’ — says Thomas.
Hatch has raised some successful start-ups: Includeon, which is an accessible e-work platform that won a 24-hour Hackaton, La Nuit Du Numérique 2013 and is a finalist of the InnoPitch European Young Innovator of the Year 2014 (read about Magda Janovitz and Includeon here), the LeeFest (that won ‘Best Grassroots Festival’ at the UK Festival Awards and ‘Best Festival’ at the Association of Independent Music Awards), Wildfire (the Best New Festival by AIF Awards 2015). Other successful start-ups that derived from Hatch are: Brixton Soup Kitchen, the food service for homeless in Brixton area, Snact — making healthy snacks from surplus fruit to reduce food waste, and Old Spike Roastery — a social enterprise that provides baristas trainings to homeless people and provide them with the long time employment.
People joining Hatch not only get the best possible mentoring support but also come together to network and exchange. ‘’For the first time the entrepreneurs from our programmes decided to organise a Camp for the whole Hatch community — the founders, the facilitators and mentors. We will have a weekend of workshops, programmes, networking and a lot of fun on in September in Oxfordshire at the hemp farm, as one of our entrepreneurs produces organic hemp and is offering the space for the event.’’ — says Thomas.
‘’The most exciting thing is that people are really engaging — says Thomas. — It is truly rewarding to see people graduating from our programs, their start-ups succeeding and their businesses bringing the positive change into the community.’’
Magda Janovitz, one of the Startup Founders, who took part in our London Startups Stories series, was growing her business idea through Hatch Launchpad programme. We’ve asked her to share her experience with us:
“My Hatch Launchpad journey started with an email newsletter I received from the Brixton Impact Hub — my local hotbed of social innovation. Hatch was advertising their growth programmes for social startups and I decided to apply for the Launchpad programme — a 6-week evening course for people who want to turn their social business idea into reality or to turn a project into a business. It turned out that my application was approved and I was invited to join a vibrant international startup ecosystem located at Pop Brixton — home to a community of independent retailers, restaurants, street food startups and social enterprises. The programme got me hooked straight away, and I was convinced that I’m in the right place and with the right people, growing my business idea. Hatch staff in particular were very friendly, resourceful and supportive. They are highly skilled in adding the human dimension to the programme sessions which creates an atmosphere of trust, confidence and openness — some of the most important things when it comes to discussing and developing an early stage business concept in a group context. The group was amazing, people had some really inspiring ideas and we had a wonderful opportunity to work on our business plans, market research, finance and pitching skills. Our last session involved pitching in front of the group and high-profile judges. Everyone’s emotions were at the maximum level, and people delivered some really good social business style pitches. Everyone was super engaged and our Hatch team strived for maximum learning for our cohort. The feedback we received was of the highest quality and we made some very useful connections. Speaking for myself I do actually feel that it is the mentorship aspect of the Launchpad programme that has helped me the most. Surely, the Hatch team know how to find the best match for their social entrepreneurs, and I believe it is because of their great insight into psychology of the people passionate about their business ideas. After completing the programme, I feel that I have improved my business plan and sharpened my focus, and I’m still seeing my mentor who’s encouraging me to learn as much as I can, to take leaps out of my comfort zone — to basically be true to my values, and access opportunities crucial to my future success.”
