Startup September 2026 · Free for the Northern Territory
Idea to business launch in 30 days.
Eleven live workshops, two events, and a community to lift you up. Idea to launch in 30 days - at no cost to Territory residents.
Free for Northern Territory residents
Register free- Eleven live workshops
- 100% online
- Replays included
- Idea to business launch in one month
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.
Register freeEverything 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.
This is a free program for Territory residents. Four evening workshops tackle the big questions every founder faces - is there a market, can you afford it, how do you reach customers, how do you grow. Each is paired with hands-on daytime how-to sessions that show you exactly how to do it, live and online, led by people who've built the businesses they teach.
And you won't leave with a folder of notes. As you work through the online course, the platform builds your business action plan alongside you - so the month ends with a real plan in your hand, ready to act on Monday morning.
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, and the plan that ties it together.
How it works
- Eleven live workshops, streamed to youNot pre-recorded - live, so you can ask questions in real time.
- Can't make one? It's recordedEvery workshop is posted in the community within 48 hours. Watch on your schedule.
- A private founder communityRegister for sessions, ask questions, grab resources, and meet the other people building alongside you.
- An online course that mirrors every sessionSelf-paced, and it builds your business action plan as you go.
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.
What you'll have by 1 October
- A clear answer on whether business ownership is right for you
- Proof of whether your idea will work - tested, not guessed
- The numbers that tell you if you can afford it: costs, pricing, break-even
- Your business set up properly - structure, ABN, licences, compliance
- A plan for finding customers, and a website that's live
- How to use AI to supercharge your startup - marketing, admin and more
- A business action plan the course builds for you as you go
- And the confidence to actually get started
What's included
Eleven workshops
Every question answered, in the order you need it - all live online.
Startup Community
You won't do this alone - six months in a private crew of founders from every state.
Online course
Miss nothing, move at your pace - six months of the whole program, on demand.
Your action plan
Finish the month holding a real plan - the course builds it as you go.
Templates
No blank pages - proven canvas, forecasting and planning templates ready to fill in.
Recordings
Life happens - every workshop is recorded and waiting in the Community.
Real operators
Learn from people who've done it - every one has built a business of their own.
A kick up the arse
Stop procrastinating. You can do it - and you'll do it alongside people who already have.
Having the guidelines that Startup September provided gave me a step-by-step process to just tick off one thing after another.Chris · Tip Top Tutors
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.
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.
It works.
through the program
Here's what our entrepreneurs have said.
“Startup September and the whole team - they've really given us that guidance that we've needed. Thank God we did it. It was an absolute godsend.”
Sinead · Territory Aesthetics“I am extremely grateful for all the support… and I recommend it to any budding entrepreneurs whenever I meet them.”
David · Eco Tech Electrical“The experience was a very positive one. I felt supported and well guided. The help I received made a genuine difference to my business - advice specific to my situation, practical, clear, and easy to act on.”
Nicoletta · Chemical ConsultantsStartup 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.
We couldn't do it alone. Proudly supported by Paspalis and the Darwin Innovation Hub - helping us back founders right across Australia.
Register free
One form, one minute. You're an NT resident with a business idea? Grab your place - it costs nothing.
One registration per person. Please register with your own details. Signing up others? Complete a separate registration for each person, using their own name, email and mobile - one person can't be registered more than once under the same contact details.
September, mapped out
Eleven live workshops across four weeks. Evening workshops run in person at the Darwin Innovation Hub and are streamed online; breakfast and lunch sessions are online only. Every workshop is recorded. All times ACST (Northern Territory).
What you'll learn
01Will my business work? (Is there a market?)
Too many people have an idea, jump in, and find themselves two years down the line - $100k in the hole, house remortgaged - only just realising no one wanted what they were selling. This session helps you see whether there's a market for your business before you bet on it. We don't offer guarantees either way - those choices are yours - but we help you establish the numbers. Avoid costly guesses. Make decisions based on data.
Supported by
How big is your market? Is it growing or shrinking? How many people or businesses in your reach are actually willing to pay? How strong is the competition? How much should you charge? How the hell do you answer all that? Use AI to pull verified sources so you can move ahead with confidence. (We can't guarantee a win - but we can help you weigh the risk in what you're planning.)
I reckon I've got a market. I reckon I can stand out. But how can I be more sure? Learn how to test your proposition quickly and cheaply - before you spend real money finding out.
02Will my business work? (Can I afford to start?)
- What it'll cost to launch - which costs not to forget, and which you can defer
- Fixed costs, variable costs, and what changes as you grow
- How to set a price that makes you a living
- Break-even: how much you need to sell before you earn a cent
- Turnover is for show - profit means business
- How to raise what you need
- Sole trader, partnership or company - and the risk that comes with each
- ABN, GST, licences, permits and insurance
- Make it official - how to actually get set up
Supported by
Your whole business on a single page - a fast, sharp picture that lets you make real decisions now, not after months of planning.
The finance session people expect to hate - and leave loving. Everything's calculated for you: plug in your costs and your prices, and your first-year projection builds itself in front of you. No jargon, no dread, the maths done for you. Just a clear answer to the only question that matters: will this pay?
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
- How to build customer personas to aim your marketing at
- 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 from what's wasting money
Supported by
No technical skills? Does building a website feel like an impossible dark art? Or can you knock something together, but it looks rubbish? This one's for you. Build and host a site that looks how you want and does what you want - in an hour.
Three posts a week on Facebook, three on Instagram, two on LinkedIn, a newsletter and a blog? Who's got time for that? Take what you've already learned and use AI to build your marketing content - so you don't have to.
04Grow - Cash, Systems, Innovation and Planning
- Managing cashflow, and making sure it fuels your business
- Budgeting for growth without over-committing
- Systemise for growth - don't be a headless chicken
- What AI can do for your business
- Stand still and you lose - innovate for growth
- Plan for growth, plan for ACTION
Supported by
New business owners wear every hat - marketer, salesperson, admin, bookkeeper. This session shows you how to hand the recurring grind to AI, so you can get back to building.
You won't be doing this on your own
Join and you're in the private Startup September Community - alongside founders from every state, plus the mentors and presenters. Six months of access, so it keeps working long after the program ends.
- Register for the live sessions you want to attend
- Work through the online course - it mirrors every live session
- Finish the course and your business action plan is done. No blank document, no template you never fill in.
- Ask questions and get answers from mentors and presenters
- Download templates and resources
- Watch recordings of anything you missed
- Keep networking with founders across the country
Questions, answered
Is this live or pre-recorded?
Live. All eleven workshops are streamed in real time, so you can ask questions as you go. Every one is also recorded and posted in the community within 48 hours, so nothing is lost if you miss one.
Do I need a business idea already?
It helps, but no. Plenty of people arrive knowing only that they want to work for themselves, and use the first fortnight to work out what that looks like.
Who is this for?
Anyone in Australia starting or growing a business. No application and no assessment - if you're ready to start, you're in.
I've got no business background. Will I keep up?
Yes. The program assumes you're starting from scratch. Nothing is delivered in jargon, and every session comes with templates and a recording you can go back over.
How much time does it take?
Four evening workshops at 90 minutes each, one a week, plus seven 45-minute short sessions. Around six hours across the month if you focus on the evening workshops.
What if I miss a workshop?
Every workshop is recorded and posted in the community within 48 hours. Watch it whenever suits you.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. Startup September is free for Northern Territory residents - no application, no assessment, no cost. It covers all eleven live workshops, every recording, six months of the online course that builds your business plan, and six months in the private founder community.
How do I register for sessions?
Register once on this page for Community access. Session registrations happen in there, so you can pick what suits you.
What happens after I register?
Once your payment is complete you'll get an email with your community invitation, course access and login instructions - usually within a few minutes.
Don't let another “one day” pass
Startup September is free for Northern Territory residents. Eleven live workshops, six months of community and course access, and a business plan you'll finish the month holding.
This is the year you stop waiting and back yourself.
Register free