Build your business in one month.
Eleven workshops, real mentors, and a community to lift you up. Idea to launch in 30 days.
- Eleven workshops
- Live & online
- Replays included
- Idea to launch in one month
Find out more and join
Select your state to find out more about the program and join us.
You already know you're good enough.
Are you ready to do something about it?
Choose.
- building someone else's dream?
- staying on the sidelines?
- saying “one day?”
Enough.
Your idea. Your time. Your future. Your life.
Join nowEverything you need to start, in the order you need it
Startup September is a month-long program for people who want to start a business and aren't sure where to begin.
Eleven workshops take you through the questions every new business owner has to answer - in sequence, so you're never guessing what comes next. Each one is delivered live by an expert who owns, or has owned, a business themselves. You join online from anywhere in the country. You bring the idea. We'll walk you through the rest.
Come with an idea, leave with a plan. By the end of the month you'll have a written business action plan you can act on straight away - built as you work through the program, not handed to you as a blank template.
Is this right for me?
What running a business actually involves, what it costs you, and whether it fits the life you want.
Will it work?
Market size, customer segments, competitors, and how to test real demand before you spend money.
Can I afford it?
Start-up costs, pricing, cashflow and break-even - the numbers that tell you go or don't go.
How do I set it up?
Structure, ABN, GST, licences, insurance and the admin that keeps you out of trouble.
How do I find customers?
Your value proposition, pricing, channels, social media, website and search - and how to tell what's working.
How do I run it?
Cashflow, budgets, digital tools, AI, automation, your first employee, and the plan that ties it together.
Who it's for
You've got an idea
And no idea what the first step is. That's exactly who this is built for.
You're nearly ready
Get the order right instead of guessing, and find out what you've missed.
You've done this before
A structured refresher to sharpen what you know and fill the gaps.
You're already trading
Close the gaps in cashflow, marketing or systems.
Ready to start something? You're in. That's the whole eligibility test.
Eleven workshops, four themes
Every session builds on the last - here's the shape of the month.
01Will my business work? (Is there a market?)
- What entrepreneurship actually involves, and whether it suits how you want to live
- How to state the problem you solve, and who you solve it for, in one sentence
- How to size your market using real data instead of guesswork
- How to segment customers and work out what they actually want
- How to size up competitors and find the gaps they leave open
- How to test whether people will pay, before you spend money finding out
Supported by: How to Market Research With AI (Wed 2 Sep) · Idea Validation - Will People Buy What I'm Selling? (Thu 3 Sep)
02Will my business work? (Can I afford to start?)
- What it will cost to launch, and which of those costs you can skip
- Fixed costs, variable costs, and what changes as you grow
- How to set a price that leaves you a living
- Month-by-month income projections and a cashflow you can read
- Break-even: how much you need to sell before you earn anything
- Sole trader, partnership or company - and the risk that comes with each
- ABN, GST, licences, permits and insurance
Supported by: Business Plan on a Page - Lean Canvas (Thu 10 Sep) · How Much Money Will I Make? (Fri 11 Sep)
03Marketing - Find and Reach Your Customers
- Your value proposition - why someone picks you over the alternative
- Product, place, price and promotion, tuned to each customer segment
- Choosing channels: social, search, radio, print and TV, and what each is good for
- Content pillars and a posting schedule you can actually keep up
- Website essentials, SEO and your Google Business Profile
- How to tell what's working and what's wasting money
Supported by: Website in One Hour (Wed 16 Sep) · AI for Marketing - Build a Marketing Agent (Thu 17 Sep)
04Grow - Cash, Systems, Innovation and Planning
- Managing cashflow, and the early signs that it's going wrong
- Budgeting for growth without over-committing
- Tracking leads and clients so nothing falls through
- Automation, AI, and planning for your first employee
- Turning all of it into an action plan with dates against it
Supported by: Your AI Employee - AI Agents for Startups (Wed 23 Sep)
Real operators, not lecturers
Every session is led by someone who has actually built a business - here are just a few of the people you'll meet.
Michelle Taylor
C4 ConsultancyRegistered psychologist, executive coach and former ICU nurse, Michelle knows how people hold up under pressure - and how they crack. She trains leaders in emotional intelligence, resilience and wellbeing, turning high-stress moments into clarity and composure. Starting a business will test your nerve as much as your idea; Michelle shows you what to expect, and how to keep your head when it counts.
Ali Dhirani
SAMAF ConsultantsAli built a strategic accounting practice from a single Darwin office into one covering Brisbane, Perth & Sydney, servicing clients in fifteen languages. A passionate expert who cares deeply about small business, he's the person you want in your corner when it comes to numbers, tax and compliance. He'll make the money side make sense.
Lizzie Hodgetts
Forward Focus PartnersA fourth-generation business owner, Lizzie bought her family business at 25 and sold it on her own terms at 31. She's lived every stage a founder can face - starting, scaling, systemising and exiting - and won a Michael Gerber award along the way. She's not a theorist. She's done the thing you're about to do, and she'll show you how.
Greg Roworth
The Systems CoachA certified SYSTEMologist and Microsoft 365 specialist, Greg helps owners get the business out of their head and into systems that run without them. He hosts the Startup to Exit podcast and has spent years turning “it's all up here” into documented, repeatable process. If chaos is your bottleneck, Greg is your fix.
Niall Richardson
Business Enterprise Centre NTBD at BECNT and a legal-tech founder, Niall has spent twenty years in business development, marketing and advisory across Australia, the UK and Europe. Part of the founding teams behind software and leisure businesses, he's helped hundreds of NT founders bridge the gap between a good idea and a real, trading business.
More real operators join across the month - founders, specialists and mentors who've built businesses of their own.
Startup September is run by Business Enterprise Centre NT, a not-for-profit that has helped thousands of businesses start, grow and thrive over the past 25 years.
