Develop real-world, adaptable, problem solving skills that are vital for changing economies
Building the capabilities small and medium businesses need to thrive in the age of AI
Small businesses operate in an increasingly complex environment.
Leaders are expected to make decisions about strategy, marketing, finance, digital systems and increasingly artificial intelligence, often without formal training in these areas.
At the same time, the pace of technological change continues to accelerate.
AI and digital technologies are creating extraordinary opportunities for businesses to increase productivity, innovate and compete globally. However, technology alone does not create value.
Human capability does.
Without the skills, confidence and strategic thinking required to integrate new technologies effectively, many businesses struggle to translate opportunity into meaningful growth.
This is where 25eight’s methodology comes in.
Our Capability Building Approach
25eight’s methodology is designed to rapidly build the human, business and digital capabilities required for businesses to grow in a modern economy.
Rather than relying on one-off workshops or generic training, our programs combine diagnostics, education, coaching and mentoring to ensure business leaders develop real skills and implement change during the program.
This structured approach enables participants to move from awareness to capability to implementation.
At 25eight, all of our Programs combine these elements;
One of 25eight’s proprietary business diagnostics
MBA-accredited education
1:1 sessions with a business coach
1:1 sessions with industry expert mentor
Online business community
Every program begins with a comprehensive diagnostic.
This diagnostic assesses a range of business capabilities including:
• strategy and business model
• financial capability
• sales and marketing
• operations and systems
• digital capability
• leadership and decision-making confidence
The goal is to identify the specific capability gaps that may be preventing a business from achieving its growth potential.
These insights allow each participant to receive a personalised learning journey rather than a one-size-fits-all experience.
We pinpoint areas to focus on, get you to think about what you want from your business, consider your most important goals, and do the learning and some thinking before your coaching and mentoring sessions.
This allows you to maximise your time in any live session to question and apply what you have learnt to your business. Not only is this more cost effective, you’ll also accelerate your progress, achieving more, in less time, and retain more knowledge over the long term.
Build capability through applied learning
Once key capability gaps are identified, participants access structured learning designed to build the knowledge and skills required to address those gaps.
Learning is delivered through 25eight Academy, our learning experience platform, which allows participants to engage with content through video, audio, text and interactive resources. These are available offline and in several languages, increasing accessibility.
This flexible approach enables business leaders to learn in ways that suit their schedule and learning style. It also suits deep reflective work, ensuring appropriate time for reflection.
Teaching you the concepts, not just the content
Our approach to teaching and learning focuses on the big ideas and principles rather than isolated facts and procedures. The idea is that by understanding the broader concepts and how you can apply these across various contexts in your business be that in the actions you take or the digital platforms you use, it will equip you with the tools to adapt your approach when conditions change - which in the business world, happens at an accelerated pace.
Not only this, but by teaching you the concepts and not just the content, then supporting you to apply this to your situation immediately, it fosters deeper learning and long term retention.
Our education is impactful and if you complete certain 25eight programs, you’ll earn study credits towards global Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs.
It is also tailored to you. We start by understanding what you already know so that we can recommend education that helps you to level up. We do this through short videos and activities designed to fit around busy schedules that incrementally help you to work towards an outcome.
The benefits of concepts rather than content:
You’ll see connections between ideas and understand the relationships among different concepts, helping you to transfer your knowledge to new situations
You’ll increase your critical thinking skills as you’re prompted to analyse how different pieces of information fit together, rather than simply memorising facts
When you grasp the underlying principles of a subject, you are more likely to remember it and be able to apply it in new situations.
It helps you to build schemas or mental frameworks that help to organise and interpret information.
You get immediate impact as you can apply everything you learn in our programs to your business
The research also suggests that by understanding and applying concepts, you will develop a mindset that helps you to learn to adapt and acquire new knowledge efficiently.
You learn to ask questions and seek out answers, driving your own learning process and developing your independence from the need to be told what to do and confidence to trust in your own decisions.
We aim to help you develop an intrinsic motivation to learn as you find time to fit it into your working week and start seeing the results from your actions.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for life”
Old saying
Teach a person the concept of fishing and they are able to feed themselves even if the environmental conditions change
25eight saying
Applying your capability
Learning alone does not create change.
Capability develops when knowledge is applied to real business challenges.
Participants therefore work on their business during the program, supported by experienced coaches and industry mentors.
Through structured workshops, coaching sessions and mentoring conversations, participants:
test ideas
refine strategies
implement systems
adopt digital and AI tools
build confidence as leaders
This ensures that participants leave the program with implemented outcomes, not just new ideas.
First principle and design thinking
Sam, our CEO, Chief Educator and Head Coach, thanks her engineering father for the continuous focus on first principle thinking (and for making her learn to code) when she was a young girl.
First principle thinking is a problem solving approach that involves breaking down complex issues into the most fundamental components. You question assumptions and understand the core principles governing a problem. The benefits of using this approach is innovative, creative, efficient and adaptable solutions.
Combine this with design thinking, a human centred approach to problem solving, and psychological principles focused on personal development, and you have a pretty powerful toolbox to help come up with the best solutions.
Our coaches are trained to get to the heart of your business challenges and to help you overcome them in the best possible way. And being a small to medium sized business means you have to get creative with the resources you have (no endless budgets here). Whilst the coach might know a really innovative answer, they’ll do more asking than telling to help you develop the skills and confidence to get there by yourself.
Become a better leader
By doing this, your brain makes links so that you can apply the principles again next time you have a challenge; by asking yourself a similar series of questions to get to an innovative solution. If you had been told what to do, you (more often than not) would need to be told again to know what to do in this new situation.
It feels harder to do it this way. Being told what to do is so much easier, right?! But the long term benefits for you (and your brain) far outweigh the short term gains you might get from following what someone else says.
Our coaches also motivate you, teach you tools to help you cultivate the leadership skills necessary to drive success for you and your business. This not only transforms the way you do business, it often has a transformational effect on your life.
“Thinking begins when you ask really difficult questions”
Slavoj Žižek
Embed and Scale Capability
The goal of the program is not simply to get you to complete the course, but to strengthen the long-term capability of you and your business.
You’ll leave with:
a clear strategy
practical systems and tools
improved leadership capability
greater digital and AI fluency with these embedded into your business processes
the confidence to continue adapting as your business grows
Over time this contributes to stronger businesses, more resilient local economies and thriving communities.
Technology-Enabled, Human-Centred
While technology plays an important role in our methodology, our approach remains fundamentally human-centred.
Technology (including AI) enables us to personalise learning, scale support and increase accessibility.
However, it is human insight, coaching and mentorship that helps business leaders make sense of complexity and take meaningful action.
This combination of technology and human expertise allows us to deliver high-impact capability-building programs that are both scalable and deeply personalised.
Mentors matched to give you valuable insights
25eight’s Industry Mentors have walked the talk. They have been in your shoes and know exactly what it is like. The majority of our mentors have completed a 25eight program in the past, or have been a part of 25eight programs for a number of years. They ‘get’ small business and they are also passionate about helping you succeed.
Being able to connect with someone to hear their lived experience or insight into their market is priceless and often takes years to learn.
At the very minimum you’ll get access to one session with a 25eight Industry Mentor as part of your program. We also regularly consult with Industry to bring you the latest developments and insights. Our speakers and subject matter experts are chosen to provide that insider knowledge that may have been impossible to get unless you were on the inside.
Our Industry Mentors value your investment in yourself and your business by you participating in the type of programs 25eight offers. You’ll meet them in a group setting and/or a 1:1 session to answer those specific questions you have and give you that incredibly valuable feedback that helps your business to stand out and succeed in your market.
In some cases, you’ll get to present your business to a panel of prospective customers to hear their feedback on how you can adapt your approach to win engagements with them.
The Outcome
Through this methodology, 25eight programs consistently deliver measurable outcomes including increased business capability, improved confidence in decision making, revenue growth and job creation.
By strengthening the capabilities of individual business leaders, we contribute to healthier and happier people, stronger businesses, thriving communities and a more resilient economy.
The future economy will not be limited by technology, but by human capability.
We exist to ensure small businesses are not left behind and are equipped to thrive in that future.
