Business Launchpad·Programmes·Pathways Programme
12-week incubatorHave an idea. Build the mindset to make it real.
Pathways is an enterprise programme for young Londoners aged 18 to 30 with an early-stage business idea. Over two phases, you'll pressure-test your idea, develop a business mindset, and leave with a clear, honest plan for your next 12 months.
Everything starts with a business mindset.
Most people think entrepreneurship is about having a great idea. It isn't. It's about how you think — the difference between someone who sees a problem and someone who builds a solution.
Opportunity over obstacle
You spot what's possible where others see problems. Every challenge becomes a question worth answering.
Self-Awareness
You take responsibility for your outcomes, with support behind you and the understanding that your future is yours to build.
Action over paralysis
You stop waiting for perfect. You test, learn, adjust, and keep moving with what you know right now.
Resilience over retreat
You handle setbacks without being defined by them. In business and in life, this changes everything.
Two phases. One clear direction.
Phase 1 is the intensive: two sessions a week, fortnightly coaching, the real work. Phase 2 steps back — you've laid the groundwork and you're putting it into practice.
12 weeks · intensive
Two group sessions per week + fortnightly 1:1 coaching
This is where the real work happens. You'll break down the problem — who your customer is, what they need, and whether your idea works in the real world. Two expert-led sessions a week keep things moving. Fortnightly coaching helps you tackle your specific challenges with someone who gets your idea and your goals.
Topics covered
- Business mindset
- Problem definition
- Customer discovery
- Market research
- Assumption testing
- Marketing fundamentals
- Finance basics
- Sales and pitching
- Resilience and discipline
- Building your digital presence
Lighter touch
5 sessions + 3 months monthly coaching sessions
Group sessions step back, and the focus shifts to gaining experience, showcasing your work, and making the most important decision of the programme: what direction you take next.
The four steps
- Insight days — step inside real businesses. No panels, no theory — just direct access to founders in the middle of building.
- Pathways Showcase — present your business or journey to a live audience and compete for a donation prize.
- Demo Day — the top 5 pitch to a panel of 3 judges and the BLP community for £5,000 in seed funding.
- Choose your track — with your coach, make an honest call about what comes next.
Two tracks. All valid.
One right for you right now.
There's no single destination at the end of Pathways. The programme is designed to help you find the answer that's true for you — not the one that sounds the most impressive. You and your coach navigate it together.
A job is your first investor.
Your idea needs more time, and a stable income is the smartest way to give it that. Use employment as your first business decision: build your income, develop your skills, and grow your venture on your own terms.
Clarity is an achievement too.
Sometimes you need to take a step back. That could mean reshaping your idea — or realising your strengths are better applied within an existing organisation. Wherever you land, we'll support you with the right connections and guidance to move forward.
Made for young people ready to back themselves.
You don't need experience, a business plan, or to have it figured out. You need an early idea and the drive to find out what it's worth.
- 18k worth of enterprise support
- A dedicated 1:1 coach for the full programme — Fortnightly in Phase 1, 3 sessions in Phase 2
- Expert-led workshops in Tooting covering marketing, finance, sales, pitching and more
- Insight Days - behind-the-scenes access to real founders and businesses
- Support building your pitch deck, website and presenting your idea with confidence
- Showcase - present your business or idea to a live audience and compete for a donation prize
- Demo Day - if you make the top 5, pitch for £5,000 in seed funding
- A cohort of young people building something alongside you
- Alumni community, events and co-working space at Tooting Works
Not in education,
employment or
training? Pathways
was built for you.
Most of the young people on this programme are in exactly that position — and it's often where the most powerful ideas start. We actively encourage you to apply.
"BLP helped me transform my idea into a successful business. The coaching and workshops were crucial for launching my site and attracting clients."
Troy Johnson · Founder of Sweet Dee's Jerk
Ready to back
yourself?
Apply →
Applications are open now. It's free, it takes less than 10 minutes, and the next cohort starts in May. Don't sit on it.