Mill House Social Enterprise Accelerator - GRIST 2021

GRIST is our flagship program and is designed to accelerate a venture’s social impact. We are offering a 5-day intensive workshop program (delivered 2 days + 3 days over 2 weeks) to anchor your acceleration journey AND a formal mentoring program to guide your market testing. In the workshops you will learn skills, develop your venture and engage with your cohort to bring your Minimum Viable Product to market quickly. During the formal mentoring you will be supported to gather the data you need to iterate and accelerate your venture.

Each GRIST venture is carefully selected by our panel of Industry Professionals and Social Impact Investors. They are looking for projects with a clear, compelling and measurable theory of change. They are also looking for market ready B2B or B2C ventures that can be tested, validated and iterated during the Program. 

GRIST consists of two parts: a required 5-day intensive skill-building program focussed on the preparation of a business model report, followed by a 3-month mentorship program where you will execute a mutually agreed workplan focused on market and social change validation through the launch of a minimum viable product (MVP).   

Audience   

Dedicated and committed Social Innovators with an existing enterprise, and Social Entrepreneurs with an assessed Venture who have a desire to accelerate their IMPACT. 

Mill House recommends GRIST ventures have an existing team; however, we will also work with sole traders who have an identified community partner, advisory group or existing mentor/business advisor.  

Why would you want to attend? What’s in it for you?   

Social innovators, change makers and emerging social entrepreneurs look for experienced guidance to manage the tension of trade and impact. GRIST offers facilitated support, including mentorship, delivered by very experienced social entrepreneurs with lived experience of starting, operating and suspending a social enterprise. This practitioner-led program, coupled with proven learning tools, assists GRISTers to accelerate their impact and identify business development and investment opportunities to scale their venture.  

Pre-requisites: 

Places in the GRIST Social Enterprise Accelerator Program are by invitation only.  Our participants will have mostly: 

• Had one or more Social Venture Consultations with our team 
• Completed a Catalysing For Purpose Business session 
• Identified a community partner to explore and test their theory of change (a theory of change explains how they will intervene on a wicked problem and create impact);   
• A willingness to engage with real customers; 
• Have drafted a hypothesis to iterate and develop to MVP and market testing a social impact program or trading model 

We are looking for social entrepreneurs committed to creating an organisation that:

• Will trade products or services for at least a portion of their revenue;  
• Includes relationships with their community and People with Lived Experience of the wicked problem the mission of the venture is attempting; 
• Measures their social impact, and tells their impact story to the community and Mill House partners.

You will be invited to complete an application form and attend a short-listed interview to assess your eligibility to join our program.  

How much does it cost?  

We have a suggested co-contribution of $1,500 plus GST per venture (this includes up to 3 people).  

We call this a co-contribution rather than a fee to acknowledge that our services are made possible only for the generous subsidy of our Members and Partners.  Based on comparable programs in Australia and globally, we believe the market value of our is approximately $10,000 per participant.  

Co-contribution payments can be made in instalments and no fees or interest apply.  We also offer scholarships for community projects with exceptional potential impact in Canberra or its region when the founder is unable to make any contribution. Please reach out and ask us how you can access support by booking a consultation via our website. Any member of our team can help you.   

Financial Hardship: Need financial support? We have the discretion to support our changemakers who are experiencing financial hardship. We also offer flexible payment terms. 

Your commitment: Also, consider the value of your time. In addition to the learning time and workshops, you will also have tasks to complete between sessions. We recommend that the Principal Founder will need at least 1-2 days a week during the program (outside of workshops days over the 3 months) to be available to put the time in to develop your business and financial model. We encourage the participation of teams who can share the load so that not all team members have to attend every workshop