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Destination North Coast - Business Accelerator & Mentoring Program

Applications closed on Friday 13 May.

The Application Process

What are the eligible Local Government Area based businesses?

This Program is available only to tourism businesses within the following LGAs:

• Tweed Shire Council

• Byron Shire Council

• Ballina Shire Council

• Lismore City Council

• Richmond Valley Council

• Kyogle Council 

• Clarence Valley Council

• Coffs Harbour City Council

• Bellingen Shire Council

• Nambucca Shire Council

• MidCoast Council

• Kempsey Shire Council

• Port Macquarie - Hastings Council

• Lord Howe Island

What are the eligible tourism businesses? 

This Program is for the tourism sectors of Accommodation, Tourist Attractions, Tour Operators, Transport Operators, Event Owners/Organisers, and Food and Beverage Businesses.

If you don’t align with one of these categories, please specify what your business is and your application will be assessed for further eligibility. We want to encourage businesses within the visitor economy to apply and join the Program, however they will be assessed per application and relevance.

My business is in the Program now, can I apply to participate in Round Three and do more mentoring?

This is Round Three of this Program and previous or current participants are not eligible to apply.

What if I am not the business owner? 

We strongly recommend that the business owner is the mentee for the Program. Previous programs have shown that mentoring the business owner has the greatest impact, as they have the ability to make decisions and action items. However, there is flexibility for other staff members to join the Program if they have a level of authority and autonomy to also make decisions. Please detail their role within the business in your application.

How long will the application take to complete? 

The application form is completed online and shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to complete.

What are the next steps if I am successful? 

You will be emailed confirming your acceptance into the Program. From here, you will need to acknowledge an engagement letter joining you into the Program. Following that, the next step will be completing an online Business Health Check.

What is the Business Health Check and what does it involve? 

The Business Health Check is a high-level review of your business and its performance to date including operations, products and experiences, marketing, distribution, customer relations, staffing and profitability. The Business Health Check will be completed online and is a self assessment tool for business owners. 

The purpose of the Business Health Check is to identify business strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and potential barriers to growth and advancement. From here, your mentoring goals will be identified and a bespoke Mentoring Program developed in conjunction with your mentor. It will also serve as a before and after tool so operators can monitor and assess their development and growth.

This Program will require you sharing business operational and performance information with your mentor in order for them to provide practical guidance. The Business Health Check will involve you sharing information around business planning and operational performance. The Program will be a confidential arrangement between you and your mentor in that your business sensitive information will not be shared with Destination North Coast or any other third party.

Do I need to be an established business?

The Program aims to support Tourism Businesses that are new (operational less than 2 years) or in the start-up phase, as well as established businesses. 

I have more than one business, is this okay to still apply? 

Yes, we recommend if you are wanting to apply for each business, that you submit separate applications.

The Program

How will the Program be delivered? 

The Business Accelerator & Mentoring Program commenced in 2021 and is now into Round Three. All participants receive the same Program and support regardless of when they join the Program.

The Program include:

• Pathway learning with the flexibility of working on key areas or challenges in your business

• Up to seven hours of one-on-one mentoring support

• Flexible hours for mentoring sessions to work around running your business

• Online Group Webinar Series

• Program resources and guidance to put into action

• Peer support through a dedicated Facebook Group 

• Ongoing support from your mentor between sessions

Each business will be allocated a matched mentor and subject-matter expert in line with your business type, goals and outcomes. 

What are the expected outcomes from the Program? 

The outcomes will be on an individual-mentee basis upon your own goal setting. Following the Business Health Check, you and your mentor will craft a bespoke plan and program to suit you and your business needs. As a guide, as part of the Program, you and your mentor will: 

• Complete a Business Health Check review.

• Identify short and long term goals for the business.

• Develop a project action plan for the course of the mentoring sessions.

• Develop a pathway for action over the following 6 - 12 months once the Program concludes.

• Work to become bookable online.

What are the different topics of subjects that the Program will cover for businesses participating in the Program? 

No business will be put in a box or have the same mentoring journey, and whilst we have the above Pathways as a guide, there is flexibility to cover topics not mentioned. The mentoring journey for each business will be different with their own tailored program for you and your business needs. 

As a guide, some topics we have covered with previous mentees are wide ranging from, navigating the tourism ecosystem, financial coaching and advice, teaching the tool around the Business Model Canvas and applying it to your business for planning, research and exploring booking systems and how to apply it to your business and marketing and distribution approaches.

We have a trusted pool of industry networks and specialist advisors who we will connect you in with depending on your needs. For example, for insurance, liability or accountant related queries, we will connect you in with our trusted brokers and advisors.

What is a typical mentee journey from the Program and what would be the touchpoints with my mentor? 

Each business will receive up to 7 hours of one-on-one mentoring, the journey will be different for each business. This first includes the Business Health Check deep dive into your business to understand your challenges and goals. Then you and your mentor will plan out your tailored program and plan what each session will cover off. 

From here, each business will have up to seven mentoring sessions. The timings for these are based around the flexibility of the mentee and working in between. Some mentees have them weekly or others have them every three to four weeks to ensure sufficient time to work on action items and homework. Your mentee will work with you to determine what timings work best. 

Your mentor can always be reached in between mentoring sessions for any questions via email or phone, or to review your homework. As well as in between sessions, a webinar program will be delivered for all participants. A Facebook group is available for mentees to keep up to date on all news, network with other mentors and network with other local mentees and Australia wide businesses that have participated in mentoring.

What level of commitment is required from the Program? 

When you are accepted into the Program, you will receive an Engagement Letter that outlines the expectations for the Program for both the mentee and mentor, which you will need to return with acknowledgement. This includes agreeing to provide requested information, actioning homework, attending meetings on time and most importantly being prepared to step outside of your comfort zone.

In regards to the time commitment, this Program will involve you committing time away from your business (approx 2 hours per week on average) to work on agreed mentoring actions, Program homework and mentoring sessions.

How long will it take to complete the Mentoring Program? 

The Program will be completed by September 2022, there is flexibility around how long you take to complete all mentoring sessions. Some businesses complete the Program at a rapid pace, and others take longer. We recommend four to six months.  

When and where will the Program be run? 

The Program has been designed to be delivered virtually with the Sparrowly Group mentors based across NSW and Australia. Mentoring sessions will be delivered via Zoom or phone calls. 

What will the Program cost?

This Program is free of charge, fully funded by Destination North Coast and The Australian Government under the Recovery for Regional Tourism Fund. There is no charge for businesses on the Program. 

What if I am accepted for the Program but are unable to commit? 

This Program will oftentimes have you stepping out of your comfort zone to support you in growing your business. We understand that this may be challenging for you and will work with you to support you. 

We also understand that circumstances arise that mean that you aren’t able to complete your mentoring or that the timing isn’t quite right. We will work with you to find a suitable solution and keep in touch to identify the best way forward. 

For other questions you have on the program, please contact Sarah Elphinstone at Destination North Coast sarah.elphinstone@dncnsw.com or call 0410 448 570.