The Benefits of an Accelerator Program
Over the last 12 months Dragon Argent have partnered with several accelerators to help support founders within their programs. We offer pro bono accounting, advisory and legal advice to entrepreneurs who are trying to get their businesses off the ground with a tight budget. The accelerators we work with include Antler, Entrepreneur First and The Hatchery at UCL - and as well as office hours, we’ll sit in on webinars and author whitepapers. We do this because we believe in supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs.
It got us thinking this week about the benefits of being part of an accelerator program, so we thought we would identify our top 5 benefits of joining an accelerator in this week’s newsletter:
1. Structured Support
Founding a company can at times be a lonely experience. Joining an accelerator program provides instant structure and support which can help flatten out the highs and lows of getting a startup off the ground. Most accelerators will provide mentorship, a network of useful contacts as well as a cohort of like-minded founders experiencing the same challenges as you. It could really be the difference between success and failure in the early months, but at an absolute minimum, will give you confidence you are not alone and a structure on which to move forward.
2. An Educational Program
As well as contacts, an accelerator will also provide you with a program of educational support, from feedback sessions to workshops and webinars, demo days, pitch days and networking events. The clue is really in the name – these programs are designed to accelerate your progress by providing as many unfair advantages as possible over a short, intensive period. It’s providing you with the hard-won lessons of seasoned entrepreneurs, so you don’t have to make the same mistakes and can take a more strategic approach to developing your startup. It will also aim to fill any competency gaps you may have across sales, marketing, communications, or the back office.
3. Funding
Some accelerators will even provide your business with an initial injection of funding if you are accepted and graduate from the program successfully. This is by no means all accelerator programs, so careful research is recommended, but early funding for bootstrapping founders could help them prove product-market fit and get to revenue generation that much quicker. Which will definitely make all the difference with the next major benefit...
4. Investor Network
Accelerator programs also provide founders with access to a network of investors interested in early-stage businesses. Through some of the initiatives already mentioned, (demo and pitch days as well as feedback sessions for business plans, financial models, and pitch decks), one of the main aims of accelerator programs is to get you match fit for investors and then to get you in front of them. If you are planning to build a business that is likely to need investment to scale, this is enough of a reason on its own to consider applying to an accelerator.
5. Risk Management
In the same way that accelerators can provide shortcuts to success based on the cumulative experience of mentors, founders, alumni, and program managers, they can also help spot risks. Whilst no founder starts a business thinking it will fail, we all know how tough it is to build a long-term, sustainable business. An accelerator can help to identify the risks in your proposition and business and help you to minimize them.
There are of course other benefits of joining an accelerator program. They can help you identify a longer-term vision for your business outside of the initial 6-12 months build period, they will continue to provide a network and support long after your business has graduated and will provide motivation and morale on each step of the journey. But the five selected above are Dragon Argent’s top reasons to join an accelerator – and we believe in them having seen so many clients of start life off by successfully graduating from one of our partners.
If you would like to discuss any areas where your business needs support, schedule a call below with the relevant advisory, legal or accountancy team as we’d love to help.
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