Application for the 2023 Savvy Global Fellowship Program for Aspiring and Early-Stage Entrepreneurs is now open!
Are you passionate about solving some of the world’s most pressing problems through innovation? Have you ever wanted to build a successful impact-driven business, but didn’t know how to? Do you own an early-stage business that you want to grow and scale into new markets and verticals? Are you interested in being part of the new generation of impact-driven entrepreneurs?
Then apply now! Savvy is looking for you.
Savvy is a global virtual Fellowship program, available in 111 languages, for passionate and brilliant young individuals seeking to be part of the new generation of impact entrepreneurs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many have lost their jobs and are now living in an uncertain world. Also, due to the recent macroeconomic downturn, increased market competition, and revenue loss, many big and small companies continue to lay off their employees to become leaner and more efficient.
Savvy Fellowship is equipping these individuals with the necessary knowledge and skill they need to start their own impact-driven businesses and succeed as entrepreneurs. As a Savvy Fellow, you will be provided with the knowledge, skills, tools, resources, support network, and community to build a sustainable, innovative, and profitable impact-driven business.
The Savvy Global Fellowship for Aspiring and Early-Stage Entrepreneurs, which began in 2020, has so far, received over 100,913 applications from around the world, and has selected and trained 8,350 Fellows from 159 countries. For 12 weeks, no matter what stage your venture is, the Fellowship program helps selected Fellows answer all the relevant questions that they need to kickstart their amazing impact venture, gain early traction, achieve product-market fit, and scale into new markets.
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About the Fellowship:
Some of the things you’ll learn as a Savvy Fellow include fundraising for your business, building the right team to execute your business strategies, building buzz around your product or service, achieving product-market fit, scaling into new markets and verticals, and building customer loyalty and retention.
E-Learning: Savvy Fellowship kicks off with a rigorous 12-weeks e-learning experience. As a Savvy Fellow, you will learn everything from ideation to scaling. Some of the things you’ll learn during the program are ‘understanding your customer’, ‘building a product or service that effectively solves their key challenges’, and ‘effectively positioning your solution in the market.’
Week 1: Understanding Your Customer
Week 2: Building the Right Product or Service
Week 3: Beating Your Competitors
Week 4: Understanding Your Target Market
Week 5: Drafting the Right Revenue Model
Week 6: Your Customer Acquisition, Activation & Retention Strategy
Week 7: Your Operations
Week 8: Setting the Right Business Structure
Week 9: Your Go-To-Market Strategy
Week 10: Building the Right Team
Week 11: Your Fundraising Strategy
Week 12: Securing the Right Partners
After completing the compulsory 12-week training, you can also take optional free courses in business communications (10 weeks) and product design (10 weeks).
Assessment: During the 12 weeks of learning, unlearning, and relearning, you can test your understanding by taking our weekly quizzes. The quizzes are a combination of multiple choices, Yes or No, and True or False. Assessments are the best way to identify your strengths and areas of weakness. Knowing your weaknesses helps you work effectively on them.
Peer Mentorship: We have introduced peer-to-peer mentorship, which we have found very effective. Our motto at Savvy is: “Be Your Fellow’s Keeper.” So, since all Savvy Fellows don’t have the same level of experience, more experienced and knowledgeable Fellows will help guide the others.
Expert Mentorship: Savvy Fellows get weekly expert mentorship from 1,060 renowned experts across various industries. The Fellows are expected to effectively transform all their learnings from the expert mentorship sessions, into meaningful and measurable societal impact.
Post-Fellowship: After 12 weeks, you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to proudly share with your professional network. That’s not all. You’ll still find the Savvy platform useful as we constantly share weekly articles on impact entrepreneurship, personal branding, capacity building, and professional opportunities. So, your Savvy Fellowship account will be useful even after you complete the intensive 12-week virtual Fellowship program.
Savvy Prize: At the end of every year, Savvy Fellows compete for the $3,000 Savvy Prize, which seeks to recognize and support the efforts of Savvy Fellows working to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems through innovative and sustainable ways. The Savvy Prize comes in cash prizes, product development support, and marketing endeavors.
One of the missions of Savvy is to bring passionate and competent individuals together to build sustainable businesses, or to foster strategic partnerships and collaborations between these individuals. With that said, we encourage selected Fellows to use the Savvy platform to find and interact with other Savvy Fellows, which could lead them to start a business together or forge a helpful partnership.
Benefits
Becoming a Savvy Fellow is an exceptional opportunity for you to:
1. Identify your ideal target customer, and build a product or service that exceeds their expectations.
2. Make your product or service stand out from competing or substitute solutions in the market.
3. Draft a solid go-to-market strategy, revenue model, and customer acquisition strategy for your business.
4. Optimize your business operations, delegate properly, and build a winning team to execute your business strategies.
5. Identify the right legal structure for your business, raise capital for your business, and forge strong strategic partnerships that will help you scale your business.
6. Meet and interact with renowned business experts across various industries.
7. Share your experiences with other Fellows, and learn from them.
8. Explore industries beyond your daily work and expand your expertise.
9. Strengthen your work through new connections, skills, and ideas.
10. Join a global alumni network of over 8,000 entrepreneurs, to help you seek innovative solutions to common business challenges.
Eligibility Criteria
Application is open to aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs around the world. There is no geographical, ethnic, or academic restriction. We accept new Fellows between the ages of 18 – 40, who can demonstrate in their application their passion to learn and create lasting change in their community (and the world.) However, we consider applicants above the age of 40, with at least 5 years of work or entrepreneurial experience.
Application Deadline – There’s mo application deadline. Savvy is a fully-funded Fellowship program, so selected Fellows are not required to pay any fee.
