A special institution has been operating for 4 years in Greece, helping young entrepreneurs to develop their skills, their company and the people around them. An initiative of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), the “EO Accelerator” program is essentially the “catalyst” that allows first-stage entrepreneurs to take their company to the next level, with the aim of increasing its turnover to over 1 million dollars.
It is worth noting that only 4% of businesses worldwide exceed the 1 million dollars and most are trapped in a perpetual cycle of survival. The main reason is the inability of their founders to mature themselves as managers, but also to prepare their businesses to respond to the proper management of the increasing turnover and staff.
The “EO Accelerator” is a program made by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, which aims to enrich the skills of its members, giving them the tools to develop both personally and at a leadership level. On June 23, an Open Day will take place, in which participants will have the opportunity to get to know the “EO Accelerator”, to discuss with entrepreneurs participating in the program about their experience and if they wish to express their interest for 2022-2023.
George Loudos stated about his experience in the program: “Personally, the value I got is immeasurable and I deal completely differently with the way I coordinate the whole BIOEMTECH team, while at the same time I feel that I now have much more time for other things. I also met many people, who have vision, think positively, have their course, their families and all this gives a lot of positive energy.”
This year, the Athens chapter had 15 active members from all over Greece, while more than 20 have already graduated, completing the three-year cycle. The uniqueness of the program lies in the application of the practices and procedures of the book “Scaling Up” by Verne Harnish, which lays the foundations for the theoretical part of the programme.The basic values of “EO” are respect and trust, thirst for new knowledge, pursuit of high goals, bold decisions and teamwork, principles that it wants to share with those who choose to participate in the “EO Accelerator” program.
The unique structure of the program
The structure of the “EO Accelerator” is special. It consists of a combination of four Learning Days a year workshops with a rapporteur who undertakes to guide the participants on Strategy, Cash, Operations and People issues, which are the 4 main pillars of the program. At the same time, a central element of the “EO Accelerator” is the Accountability Group, a small support and interaction team that ensures and controls, under the guidance of an EO member entrepreneur (coach), the progress of its members both on a personal and corporate level.
Accountability Groups hold regular meetings once a month and in a state of complete confidentiality the participants set goals concerning the 4 main pillars of the program, share their progress on the way to achieving these goals and the difficulties they may face. Through this interaction they make commitments to the rest of the group and are inspired with new ideas from the other members who have faced similar situations and share their experiences.
In Αccountability Groups, meaningful relationships are built and the participants enjoy the support of peers in order to achieve the goals they have set for the company
but also for themselves.
“In the very first contact with the “EO Accelerator”, it became known to me that the tools, the structure and the 4 main pillars of the program would change for good the way we operate as a company. Along the way, however, I experienced a program that is based on the personal development of the man-entrepreneur, who trusts, shares, empathizes, understands, moves forward, dares and develops as a whole together with his team. The “EO Accelerator” is a magical journey of exploration and redefinition.” said Ilias Bogordos, CEO of Keeano.
The program is addressed to Founders and Co-Founders of companies that are in the development phase, with a turnover / funding of 250,000 to 1 million dollars and a group of at least 2 people. The completion of the “EO Accelerator” program ranges from 2 to 3 years, but the participants are equipped to serve them for a lifetime.
“When you share the things that are difficult for you with people who can understand you, the effort becomes a little easier each time”, is the basic slogan of “EO Accelerator.”