Knife Capital’s manager has launched a new programme which is planned to help CEO’s of high-growth entrepreneurial businesses, take their companies to the next level.
It has introduced the Knife Capital’s nine-month accelerator programme, Grindstone which aims to guide business owners and managers through an thorough review of their strategies and provide them with the necessary support to scale their businesses and attract growth investment.
Grindstone is labeled as part-business accelerator, part-advisor, and part-investor and is believed to be the first programme of its kind in South Africa.
Created to draw the CEO’s attention to business areas outside of their central area of proficiency, the programme will also focus on strengthening the management skills as well as support structures of CEOs who have exciting products and viable businesses that can scale.
“Often, the reason that businesses do not grow and excel is not because they’re bad at what they do. Usually they are very good in their core business but neglect areas outside their comfort zone such as human resources management, finances, compliance or sales and marketing, which can inhibit growth and, in some cases, cause a company to fail,” explains Andrea Böhmert, director of Knife Capital and the person in charge of Grindstone.
Grindstone will help managers identify the strengths and weaknesses of their businesses and show them how to implement their growth strategy.
A recent study conducted by Stanford University,US found that an increasing number of top CEOs are seeking outside mentorship and coaching to deal with the fact that “it’s lonely at the top”.
“We see the same situation here,” says Böhmert. “But we believe leaders of smaller companies with potential to grow also feel isolated and deserve external help as well as an appropriate peer network. Grindstone fills that gap.”
To be considered for Grindstone, applicants need to apply before 23 August 2013. A preliminary 50 companies will be acknowledged, and 10 will be nominated for the nine-month Grindstone acceleration programme.