Carmarthenshire Growth Accelerator

Join a fully funded four session growth programme for Carmarthenshire businesses. Ten places only. Delivered by Blackline Academy. Join the Carmarthenshire Growth Accelerator! Ready to take your business to the next level? The Carmarthenshire Growth Accelerator is an exciting series of events designed to supercharge your growth. Connect with like-minded entrepreneurs, gain fresh insights, and discover strategies that actually work. TEN FULLY FUNDED PLACES FOR CARMARTHENSHIRE BUSINESSES The Carmarthenshire Growth Accelerator is a four session programme for Carmarthenshire businesses that are past the start up stage and now carrying the weight of everything: the delivery, the marketing, the hiring and the numbers. It is funded in full by Carmarthenshire County Council and delivered by Blackline Academy. There is no cost to your business. Growth rarely stalls because the product is wrong. It stalls because the owner has run out of capacity to think. This programme is built to interrupt that. WHAT YOU GET Four in person two-hour workshops, running fortnightly from 3rd November to 15th December 2026. Three private one hour one-to-one virtual sessions, one between each workshop, with the programme facilitator and lead consultant. That is eleven hours of structured support per business across six weeks. The cohort is capped at ten businesses, so you get real airtime rather than a seat at the back. Carmarthenshire County Council will be in attendance across the programme, giving you direct access to the people behind local business support. THE SESSIONS SESSION ONE: IDEAS INTO ACTION Tuesday 3rd November 2026, 2 hours Most business owners are not short of ideas. They are short of a reliable way of deciding which idea deserves the next six months of their time, and a method for turning that decision into movement. This opening session puts your ideas under real pressure. We work through what you are actually trying to build, who it serves and what evidence exists that anyone wants it. We separate the ideas that grow the business from the ones that simply keep you busy, then break the surviving idea down into a sequence of steps with owners, dates and a first commercial action. You will leave with: • A single prioritised growth idea, pressure tested in the room • A clear view of the evidence you have and the evidence you still need • A ninety day action plan with named owners and honest deadlines • Your commercial baseline recorded, so progress is measurable SESSION TWO: BUILDING A MARKETING STRATEGY Tuesday 17th November 2026, 2 hours Most small businesses do not have a marketing problem. They have a marketing strategy problem. Posting, boosting and rebuilding the website are tactics, and tactics without a strategy behind them are simply expensive activity. This session builds the strategy first and the tactics second. We define who you are for and who you are not for, sharpen the message so that it says something a competitor could not copy and paste, and select the small number of channels that actually reach your buyer. We then set a content and outreach rhythm a business your size can sustain, and agree the handful of numbers worth watching. You will leave with: • A defined target customer and a positioning statement in your own words • A core message and proof points you can use across every channel • A channel plan and content rhythm sized to the time you genuinely have • Three marketing measures that tell you whether any of it is working SESSION THREE: RECRUIT RIGHT Tuesday 1st December 2026, 2 hours Hiring is the largest financial and cultural decision most small businesses make, and it is routinely made in a hurry, under pressure, with a job description borrowed from the internet. A wrong hire costs far more than the salary. This session treats recruitment as a commercial process rather than an emergency. We look at whether you actually need a hire or a redesign of the work, then build the role around the outcomes the business needs. We cover writing a role that attracts the right people, running a structured interview that tests for capability rather than confidence, and the first ninety days that decide whether a good hire stays. We also look at the talent routes available locally, including apprenticeships, placements and partnerships. You will leave with: • A decision on whether to hire, restructure or outsource, made on evidence • A role built around outcomes, with a scorecard you can interview against • A structured interview format that reduces the risk of a costly wrong hire • A ninety day onboarding outline that protects the investment SESSION FOUR: UNDERSTANDING YOUR FINANCES Tuesday 15th December 2026, 2 hours Many capable business owners are quietly uncomfortable with their own numbers. The accounts arrive months after the period they describe, the bank balance becomes the only measure that gets checked, and pricing is set by instinct. This closing session makes the numbers usable. We read a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet in plain language, build a simple rolling cash flow forecast, and work through margin, pricing and break even so you know which work is worth winning. We cover what good financial housekeeping looks like month to month, what funders and lenders look for, and the questions your accountant should be answering for you. You will leave with: • Confidence reading your profit and loss, balance sheet and cash position • A simple rolling cash flow forecast built for your business • Clarity on margin, pricing and your true break even point • A view of your funding readiness and the next conversation worth having WHAT THE PROGRAMME IS BUILT TO DELIVER New markets reached - Businesses leave with a defined target market beyond their current customer base and a practical route into it. New collaborations formed - Ten Carmarthenshire businesses in one room for six weeks creates partnerships, supply relationships and referrals that outlast the programme. Import and export readiness - For businesses with the ambition, we assess readiness to trade beyond the local market and identify the first practical step. Jobs created and protected - Recruit Right and Understanding Your Finances exist so that growth converts into sustainable local employment rather than owner burnout. WHO SHOULD APPLY • Businesses based in Carmarthenshire, in any sector • Past the idea stage, trading, and with the ambition to grow • Owners or senior decision makers who can act on what they decide • Able to commit to all four sessions and the three one to ones • Willing to work openly alongside nine other local businesses • Ready to be challenged rather than reassured Ten places only. Places are allocated on fit and commitment rather than on a first come basis, and the cohort is built to make the room work. HOW IT WORKS ONCE YOU REGISTER 1. Register your interest here. 2. A short conversation with the Blackline Academy team to confirm fit, understand your growth ambition and record your preference for a morning or an afternoon slot. 3. Confirmation of your place, with venue, session times and joining details issued ahead of Session 1 on Tuesday 3rd November 2026. DELIVERED BY BLACKLINE ACADEMY Blackline Academy is a Welsh executive consultancy and business support organisation working with founders at the growth and scaling stage. We bring structure, challenge, accountability and practical support, so that running the business stops crowding out building it. Blackline Academy provides commercial and strategic support. It does not provide legal, regulated financial, tax or accounting services, and does not provide regulated employment law advice.