About This Course
Starting and scaling a new venture is one of the most rewarding — and most challenging — endeavours a professional can undertake. In today's fast-moving, digitally connected economy, entrepreneurs must be equipped not only with passion and an idea, but with structured thinking, financial literacy, market intelligence, and the resilience to navigate uncertainty. Without these foundations, even the most innovative concepts fail to gain traction.
TrainingComplex's Entrepreneurship & New Venture Development course is designed to bridge the gap between idea and execution. Over five intensive days, participants are guided through a proven entrepreneurial journey: from identifying and validating market opportunities, to designing a compelling business model, building a fundable financial plan, and developing a go-to-market strategy that drives early revenue. Each module is grounded in real-world case studies drawn from African and global markets, ensuring relevance and immediate applicability.
Whether you are a first-time entrepreneur, a corporate professional exploring a business idea on the side, a recent graduate with an innovation concept, or a development practitioner supporting enterprise growth programmes, this course gives you the structured clarity and practical tools to move decisively. Participants leave with a complete New Venture Blueprint — a working document that serves as the foundation for pitching to investors, applying for grants, or self-funding their first phase of growth.
TrainingComplex has designed this programme to be highly interactive, combining expert facilitation with peer learning, one-on-one coaching moments, and hands-on workshops. By the end of the programme, participants do not just understand entrepreneurship — they are ready to practise it.
Who Should Attend
- - Aspiring entrepreneurs who have a business idea and want a structured path to launch
- - Early-stage business owners in their first one to three years of operation seeking to strengthen their foundations
- - Corporate professionals and intrapreneurs exploring new ventures or innovation projects within their organisations
- - Recent graduates and young professionals interested in self-employment and enterprise creation
- - NGO and development sector practitioners who design, manage, or fund enterprise development programmes
- - Consultants and business advisors who support SME clients and want to sharpen their advisory toolkit
Learning Objectives
- - Identify, evaluate, and validate a viable business opportunity using structured market research and customer discovery techniques
- - Design a robust business model using the Business Model Canvas and Lean Startup frameworks
- - Develop a compelling value proposition that clearly differentiates the venture in a competitive market
- - Build realistic financial projections including startup cost estimates, break-even analysis, and cash flow forecasts
- - Identify appropriate funding options — including equity, debt, grants, and bootstrapping — and prepare a fundable pitch
- - Develop a go-to-market strategy that defines target customer segments, channels, and early revenue-generation tactics
- - Apply legal and regulatory knowledge to structure a new business entity appropriately
- - Build personal entrepreneurial resilience and leadership capability to navigate the highs and lows of venture building
- - Construct a complete New Venture Blueprint ready for presentation to investors, partners, or internal stakeholders
Course Modules
Module 1: The Entrepreneurial Mindset & Opportunity Recognition
- Characteristics and habits of successful entrepreneurs in African and global markets
- Shifting from employee mindset to entrepreneurial thinking
- Identifying problems worth solving: pain points, gaps, and emerging trends
- Opportunity evaluation frameworks: feasibility, desirability, and viability
- Managing risk tolerance and building resilience through failure and iteration
- Using trend-scanning tools and contextual observation to surface opportunities before they become obvious
Module 2: Customer Discovery & Market Validation
- Defining your target customer and building detailed customer personas
- Conducting effective customer discovery interviews and surveys
- Analysing market size using TAM, SAM, and SOM methodologies
- Validating assumptions with minimum viable products and rapid prototyping
- Distinguishing between validated learning and vanity metrics during early testing
- Knowing when evidence is sufficient to pivot, persevere, or abandon an idea
Module 3: Business Model Design
- Introduction to the Business Model Canvas and its nine building blocks
- Designing and testing value propositions using the Value Proposition Canvas
- Revenue model options: subscription, freemium, transactional, and beyond
- Iterating the business model based on market feedback
- Mapping key partnerships and resource dependencies that determine operational viability
- Analysing cost structure trade-offs to identify where the model is most financially fragile
Module 4: Competitive Analysis & Positioning
- Mapping the competitive landscape using Porter's Five Forces
- Identifying direct, indirect, and substitute competitors
- Developing a differentiated positioning statement
- Building sustainable competitive advantages in price-sensitive markets
- Using perceptual mapping to visualise where your venture sits relative to competitors on key buying criteria
- Anticipating competitor response strategies and planning pre-emptive moves to protect market position
Module 5: Financial Planning for New Ventures
- Estimating startup costs and defining capital requirements
- Building a 12-month cash flow forecast and break-even analysis
- Pricing strategies that protect margins while driving customer adoption
- Key financial metrics every entrepreneur must monitor from Day 1
- Constructing realistic revenue scenarios — base, optimistic, and downside — to stress-test the business model
- Managing working capital and understanding the cash conversion cycle in product and service businesses
Module 6: Funding Strategy & Investor Readiness
- Overview of funding options: bootstrapping, angel investors, venture capital, bank loans, and grants
- What investors look for: traction, team, market size, and scalability
- Crafting a compelling one-page executive summary and pitch deck
- Negotiating term sheets and understanding equity dilution
- Building an investor pipeline: identifying the right funders for your stage, sector, and geography
- Preparing a data room and financial due diligence pack that instils investor confidence
Module 7: Go-to-Market Strategy & Sales Planning
- Defining your launch strategy and sequencing early customer acquisition
- Building a digital and offline marketing mix on a lean budget
- Setting up a simple sales pipeline and customer relationship process
- Measuring marketing ROI and optimising channels for growth
- Crafting a channel strategy that matches how your target customer actually discovers and evaluates solutions
- Designing referral and retention mechanisms that reduce customer acquisition cost over time
Module 8: Legal, Regulatory & Business Registration
- Choosing the right legal structure: sole trader, partnership, limited company, or cooperative
- Business registration processes and compliance requirements across East and West Africa
- Intellectual property protection: trademarks, patents, and copyrights
- Essential contracts every new venture needs before launch
- Understanding tax obligations, VAT registration thresholds, and PAYE responsibilities for early-stage businesses
- Navigating sector-specific licences and regulatory approvals that can delay or block market entry
Module 9: Building & Leading Your Founding Team
- Identifying skills gaps and structuring a complementary founding team
- Setting roles, responsibilities, and co-founder agreements
- Recruiting and motivating early employees with limited resources
- Leadership styles that work in high-uncertainty startup environments
- Designing an equity and incentive structure that aligns the founding team around long-term value creation
- Recognising and managing co-founder conflict before it threatens the venture's survival
Module 10: Pitching, Presenting & The New Venture Blueprint
- Structuring a compelling investor and stakeholder pitch
- Storytelling techniques that make your venture memorable
- Handling tough questions from investors and partners with confidence
- Finalising and presenting your New Venture Blueprint to a live panel
- Tailoring pitch content and tone for different audiences: angel investors, corporate partners, and grant committees
- Incorporating peer and mentor feedback to iterate and sharpen your venture narrative before high-stakes presentations
Requirements & Prerequisites
- No formal business ownership experience is required
- Participants should have a business idea, innovation concept, or venture they are actively exploring — even at an early stage
- Basic computer literacy and access to a laptop or tablet during the training is recommended
- A willingness to engage openly in peer feedback sessions and group exercises is essential
Training Methodology
- This course is delivered through a highly participatory, workshop-based methodology that keeps theory to a minimum and practical application at the centre of every session. Facilitators use a combination of expert input sessions, structured exercises, and real-world case study analysis to introduce each concept before immediately applying it to participants' own ventures. Daily peer-review circles allow participants to give and receive constructive feedback on their business ideas, sharpening their thinking and building collaborative networks. Guest practitioner sessions bring in founders and investors who share authentic lessons from the field. Digital tools including business model canvases, financial modelling templates, and pitch deck frameworks are provided and worked through during the sessions. By Day 5, each participant presents their New Venture Blueprint to a panel of facilitators and peers in a simulated investor pitch environment, receiving structured feedback they can act on immediately after the programme.
Organisational Benefits
- - Organisations gain internal champions who can identify and develop new revenue streams and innovation opportunities
- - SMEs and startups supported by trained entrepreneurs demonstrate higher survival rates and faster growth trajectories
- - Development organisations and incubators benefit from staff who can design and deliver more effective enterprise support programmes
- - Corporate teams develop intrapreneurial thinking that accelerates product innovation and market expansion
- - Participants return with investor-ready business plans that can unlock funding and strategic partnerships
- - A culture of entrepreneurship within organisations drives employee engagement, retention, and creative problem-solving
Where Is Entrepreneurship & New Venture Development Training Offered?
This course runs in-person across: Kampala, Naivasha, Accra, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Arusha, Addis Ababa, Kisumu, Pretoria, Abuja, Nakuru, Dubai, Nairobi, Zanzibar, Kigali, Lagos, Mombasa, Riyadh, Cape Town, plus Live Virtual (online) cohorts. Browse live dates for your city below.
Upcoming Schedules
| Location | Format | Dates | Price |
|---|
| Kampala, Uganda |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
USD 1,900 |
| Naivasha, Kenya |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
KES 120,000 |
| Accra, Ghana |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
USD 3,800 |
| Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,300 |
| Johannesburg, South Africa |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
USD 3,500 |
| Live Virtual |
Online |
12 Oct 2026 – 16 Oct 2026 |
KES 80,000 |
| Arusha, Tanzania |
In-Person |
12 Oct 2026 – 16 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,100 |
| Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
In-Person |
12 Oct 2026 – 16 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,400 |
| Kisumu, Kenya |
In-Person |
12 Oct 2026 – 16 Oct 2026 |
KES 120,000 |
| Pretoria, South Africa |
In-Person |
12 Oct 2026 – 16 Oct 2026 |
USD 3,300 |
| Live Virtual |
Online |
17 Oct 2026 – 8 Nov 2026 |
KES 80,000 |
| Abuja, Nigeria |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,800 |
| Nakuru, Kenya |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
KES 120,000 |
| Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 4,100 |
| Nairobi, Kenya |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
KES 115,000 |
+237 more dates — view live schedule →
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to already have a registered business to attend this course?
No, you do not need a registered business. This course is designed for aspiring entrepreneurs with an idea at any stage, as well as early-stage business owners. You will leave with the tools to structure and launch your venture.
Will I receive a certificate upon completion?
Yes, all participants who successfully complete the five days and present their New Venture Blueprint receive a TrainingComplex Certificate of Completion in Entrepreneurship & New Venture Development. The certificate is available in both digital and printed formats.
What materials or tools will be provided during the training?
Participants receive a comprehensive course workbook, digital templates for the Business Model Canvas, financial projections, and a pitch deck framework. All materials are provided at no additional cost and are yours to keep after the programme.
Is this course suitable for someone who wants to grow an existing small business rather than start from scratch?
Absolutely. While the course follows a new venture development journey, the frameworks — including market validation, financial planning, and go-to-market strategy — are equally applicable to existing small business owners looking to reposition or scale their operations.
Can organisations sponsor multiple employees to attend this course together?
Yes, TrainingComplex welcomes group bookings and offers discounted rates for organisations sponsoring three or more participants. Group cohorts can also be arranged as dedicated in-house programmes tailored to your organisation's sector and context.
