The City of Sydney is helping retail and hospitality grow and thrive thanks to a business bootcamp for struggling entrepreneurs that helps stores in the digital marketplace.

The City’s Retail Innovation Program, a business accelerator program which has already supported 15 retailers this year, has opened applications for its next round.

Amongst those it has helped is Kate Fellowes, owner of Kate’s Cakes and Saint John Espresso, who says that the program inspired her cake delivery business.

“I was pretty happy with where my business was, but my growth was flattening out. I was eager to achieve more, but I didn’t know where to take the business,” Ms Fellowes said.

“We were doing a business bootcamp when I realised that people don’t have to leave the house to order a cake or even pick one up – that was the lightbulb moment for me.

“One of the things I identified through the program was about maximising existing revenue streams. It was at that moment that the office cake delivery idea took hold.

“The program has given me so much depth in terms of what I need to know and what works financially. It challenged us all to think differently about our businesses.”

The free 12 weeks program is delivered in partnership with Investible and backed by leading retail businesses and entrepreneurs, and is customised to support small-to-medium businesses across retail operations such as fashion, furniture, homewares, music, food and hospitality.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the program is committed to supporting local entrepreneurs in their business challenges.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to help passionate local business owners learn from global leaders and I encourage all local business owners to apply,” she said.

The Retail Innovation Program is based on methodology first designed by Investible’s co-founder Creel Price for Richard Branson’s Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa and will feature a combination of in-person mentoring and virtual delivery coaching modules.

Applications for the Retail Innovation Program close on 24 November 2019.

For more information, visit retail.investible.com