SEED STARTER Holds Advanced Workshop for Ecopreneurs

In February 2023, Instellar held a Design Phase workshop, in Yogyakarta, as part of the SEED Starter program series. SEED Starter is a program created to implement eco-inclusive business ideas into attractive and beneficial products or services for the environment.

SEED itself is a global partnership launched by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN at the World Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development. Over 20 years, SEED has supported more than 2,000 companies and trained more than 500 business development providers in 41 countries, and engaged with 950 organizations in Latin America & Pacific, Africa and Asia. Instellar runs SEED Hub Indonesia, part of SEED Hub Global which implements SEED programs in Indonesia.

The SEED Starter program consists of six phases, starting from the Discover Phase, the Design Phase, the Testing Phase, the Refine Phase and finally the Demonstration. The workshop which was attended by 35 participants and divided into 14 groups used the SEED Starter Toolkit as a guideline.

During the Test Phase, ecopreneurs carry out market validation by going directly to the field and interviewing the target market. This was done for about two months. The results of the Test Phase will later become material for discussion at the Refine Phase workshop and also become guidelines for improving the ecopreneur’s business.

The Refine Phase Workshop was held on 6-7 May 2023 in Yogyakarta with an interesting agenda. Some of them focus on finance and business strategy. In the Refine Phase, ecopreneurs were taught how to generate income and manage expenses, and also assess whether this method is able to maintain a positive flow of funds and provide benefits to the company. In addition, workshop participants were required to know the value of the initial investment in building a brand.

Not only that, the SEED Starter program also invites participants to identify the right business strategy. For example, they were taught how to understand the strengths that their business has so they can determine market structure and business strategy. Ecopreneurs also learned how to assess market power, know the position of their own company and even the position of their competitors.

SEED Starter’s vision and mission is to turn eco-inclusive business ideas into reality is in line with Instellar’s commitment to developing impactful social enterprises. Therefore, in the future we will continue to hold activities that can support social enterprises to develop their business and impact.