Bridging the Gap (1/2) — Bridging To The Future
Bridging the Gap is a programme that originates from The Bridge Model. It is about creating jobs; a practical and proven framework to support new business people, new entrepreneurs, social innovators, and public sector organisations spinning out into the private sector. The Bridge Model has been successfully piloted in five European Union countries over the past 2 years, which has guided and coached over 25 entrepreneurs and businesses. The pilots and project have been supported by the European Union’s Leonardo Transfer of Innovation programme.
This model is one of the practical methods created by Birmingham based social innovators, Bridging to the Future, and it delivers directly to economic independence through entrepreneurship, education, and enablement. Bridging the Gap targets all three of these aspects by fostering new business creation, individual coaching, and flexible planning; so far we have seen the creation of an educational app designer in the Netherlands, a fashion boutique in Spain, and a microbrewer in Greece, to name a few.
The Bridge Model offers a framework to start and develop a business, and consists of four stages, each termed a ‘bridge’. Each step over the bridge offers support to a business person or entrepreneur and is supported by insightful advice from active Coaches, who are all contemporary business professionals.
Bridge 1
Bridge 1 takes aspiring business people from having an idea to having a business. It covers the initial questions that need to be asked such as: why is your idea a good business idea, what are the legal aspects of forming a business, what is your business plan, what do I need to run my business?
This step is crucial to the idea of developing economic independence. 31% of women in the UK believe that they have the skills, knowledge, and experience to start a business. This first bridge therefore enables this large pool of human talent. A trained Coach helps entrepreneurs to personally and professionally develop and also discuss and assess the validity of their business idea. They can do this using an ‘Idea Audit’, aimed to empower these budding entrepreneurs, never shutting down an idea as being silly, incomplete, or unoriginal.
Bridge 2
Now that the entrepreneur has a business, bridge 2 involves the crucial steps to then obtaining a successfully operating business. Coaches use anecdotes of their personal experiences to support the entrepreneur through this important period. We ask questions such as: how do you identify your strengths and weaknesses as a business person, what do you need to think about in relation to cash flow, management accounts and bookkeeping?
In other words, how can we ensure your business is strategically secure and economically independent?
Read on here.
DT
