Enablis is a new organisation established by the Canada Fund for Africa, Accenture, Hewlett Packard and Telesystem. It is a global organisation that chose South Africa as its launch base. Their support programmes included:
- Enablis Advantage, a series of business workshops with experts in sales, strategy, financial management and HR to provide practical guidance to members,
- E-talent, an internship programme which provides free business graduate students for 3 to 12 months to Enablis members to undertake special projects,
- Genie, the Global Enablis Network and Information for Entrepreneurs, an internet portal which gives members access to business experts, training events and a knowledge library,
- E-Circles, special personal development forums for members,
- E-coaching, intensive assistance from business coaches to help members address critical business issues.
In 2005, though, none of these were established.
Our solution
Enablis contracted Whythawk to help establish their business mentorship programs and help lead implementation of their launch ICT business startup challenge. We developed a series of mentorship guides and lectures on the following topics:
- Assessing the business environment
- Producing financial projections
- Evaluating a market opportunity
- Developing a marketing and sales plan
- Estimating an operating plan
These were presented at a series of workshops in major cities around South Africa. We also conducted one-to-one mentorship sessions with both applicants and winners.
Outcomes
Enablis used the success of their South African launch to extend into Senegal and Ghana, with more than 2,400 members who have received training and assistance through their network.
