WHAT IS THE AMP PROGRAMME?
AMP or the Advanced Management Programme, is one of the Talent Development Programmes in the Group. AMP is designed in collaboration with the ESA Business School in Lebanon.
The main aim of the programme is to facilitate the transformation of our aspiring and existing managers into internal consultants to their business areas.
Each cohort is tasked to work on an action project. This year, the team has been tasked with building a digital platform which will serve as a reverse bridge to showcase the work of local designers, internationally.
What sparked the collaboration with The Greenhouse?
AMP Participants always aim to ensure that their action projects can be implemented in the real-world environment. The Group Learning team collaborated with the Greenhouse to leverage the network of entrepreneurs and digital experts.
We saw this collaboration as a way for our AMP Participants to interact with local entrepreneurs and gain an insight into their experiences and potential pain points as a start-up.
HOW WE COLLABORATED
Growth Hacking and Digital Marketing
Our sessions kicked off with a Growth Hacking and Digital Marketing session facilitated be Nelio Leone. Nelio, founder of https://www.urbanmonks.io/ is a Growth Hacker and Digital Marketer who has worked with the likes of Coty, Chanel, Washmen, and Careem.
He introduced the participants to a practical toolkit which would allow them to both “hack” into the space as well as make their decisions based on existing data and current market trends.
Further to this, Nelio facilitated a one-on-one mentoring session with the teams where he provided personalized advice, helping teams identify the trends in the market, the key influencers as well as which social media marketing channels would work best for their platforms.
An Audience with Local Entrepreneurs
The Greenhouse organized a panel discussion with 3 local entrepreneurs:
· Louise Doumet, Co-Founder of Lebelik.com: an online portal which allows Lebanese designers to showcase their work and products to the world
· Maha Morley-Kirk, Founder of Pinky Goat Lashes: pinkygoat.com
· Arwa Banawi, Founder of Arwa Al Banawi Fashion label www.arwaalbanawi.com
The panel discussion helped the participants dive deeper into setting up a digital platform as well as establishing a startup from the point of view of a local designer.
The Q&A session was a practical look into the beginnings and the evolution of a start-up. It was enlightening to see the pain points and initial struggles of the entrepreneurs and thus, a deeper look into the valuable lessons gained throughout their journey.
LESSONS WE LEARNED
· It’s important to take the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase: All the entrepreneurs started their businesses with an initial spark and idea, without the certainty of success. Learning came as a part of the journey and continues to be an essential part of the process even today
· The Power of Passion: It takes a strong foundation to get through the ups and downs of owning a start-up. Conviction, ambition, and above all, a passion in your brand and your vision will drive you towards finding a way
· Crunch the Numbers: No one can underestimate the value of data today. In retail and digital spaces, data is plentiful. Use it as a means to understand your customer preferences, and as a driver to effective decision making. An important caveat we learned was that, when data comes so easily and abundantly, we need to be mindful of which data is the most important and which data will just lead to more noise.
A huge thank you to the Greenhouse team for their collaboration on this project. The result of this union has given our participants a practical foundation into designing and pitching their own digital platforms as part of their action projects.
