Your questions about Acumen™, answered.

Q:  Who is Acumen™ for?

A:  Acumen™ is for female founders who have an established microbusiness that has been operating for a few years, and who are ambitious for growth on their terms.

Q:  I am about to make my side-hustle my business.  Is this for me?

A:  Honestly?  Probably not.  We are a community of businesswomen, with experience of running companies for at least a couple of years and probably over five.  Our members aren’t running big businesses (we keep the staff numbers low because more than 5 staff makes you eligible for the Government’s Help to Grow programme) but they are past the start-up stage.  Start-ups have very specific needs which Acumen isn’t structured to accommodate.

Q:  How does it work?

A:  There are 12 monthly themes, curated in collaboration with our Founder Members.  Early each month there is an hour-long online masterclass, focusing on that month’s theme with a workshop to explore Acumen members’ issues and challenges.  Each member has an action list from the masterclass, so there’s accountability at the Supper Club which is later in the month.  We meet at a local restaurant and enjoy a delicious two course meal.  During the course of the meal, our conversation round the table focuses on the theme, the masterclass actions, and then we offer one member the chance to take centre stage and set out an issue for the group to help them resolve.

Q:  Do I have to sign up for the year?

A:  Yes.  The point of the programme is not only to build your skills over time, but to help you build a strong new network of supportive business connections.  That is not easy to do in a short timeframe.

Q:  When does it start?

A:   Acumen runs on an “evergreen” basis.  This means it’s on a rolling 12-month programme, and it doesn’t matter when you join on that cycle.  So you can join us and start your year’s programme on the next convenient month’s Masterclass call.

Q:   Are there payment options?

A:   We prefer monthly instalments, rather than a single annual payment.  You would be billed for the annual sum, which you would then pay off monthly by Standing Order over the course of the year.  This keeps it manageable and cuts down invoicing costs for you and us.