An accelerator entrepreneurial training for the creative professionals in Thessaloniki
The “Pop-Machina Circular Maker Accelerator” program supported makers to transform their ideas into sustainable, competitive businesses.
SKG Makers is an initiative by the Municipality of Thessaloniki aimed at uniting, empowering, and supporting the city’s creators through access to infrastructure and education in entrepreneurship. SKG Makers program promotes a circular economy for the creative sectors for a green, and sustainable Thessaloniki.
Since 2018, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, in collaboration with Q-PLAN International, the National Center for Research and Technological Development, and the University of Macedonia, has designed the SKG Makers.
As external partners in the project, we supported the design and implementation of the entrepreneurial accelerator and facilitated a comprehensive training program that bolstered the community of creators in Thessaloniki.
Our goal was to support the community in creating sustainable business models and competitive services and products.
The creative accelerator training covered 8 essential topics for supporting an idea in developing a sustainable business:
- Business Model Canvas & Value Chain Positioning
- Who is my customer? An introduction to Design Thinking
- Marketing analysis
- The steps for service design
- Prototyping & testing
- Financial support assessment
- Digital marketing for businesses
- Pitching
7 teams
4 months
8 themes
The accelerator program provided a unique opportunity for the city’s makers to embrace entrepreneurship and dare to take the next step: turning their hobby into a sustainable business.
Most of the training sessions were exclusively available to accelerator participants, but few of them were also open to the public. Special emphasis was placed on the program’s design to ensure that the information and knowledge remained free and accessible to all, thereby enhancing its social impact even after the program’s completion.
