FRED
Unemployed youth in a FRED programme
For Unemployed Youth

Build Your Mindset. Unlock Your Future.

A pathway from mindset to a real, validated business idea - facilitated by accredited FRED Coaches in community hubs.

Programme overview

A mindset, and an idea you believe in.

Participants develop an entrepreneurial mindset and leave with a business idea they believe in and want to pursue. Positioned pre-incubation and pre-pitch-competition.

FRED runs on a single software application for all participant groups, with content, case studies, AI tutoring and coaching, and assignments tailored to each audience, while the baseline programme structure and participant experience stay consistent throughout.

Cadence

Completed in roughly four months, at about three hours per week in a blended format - 27 lessons, 5 Huddles, challenges and presentations, facilitated by an accredited FRED Coach, culminating in a Final Business Pitch.

How it works

Structure & implementation.

The digital layer

Every participant works through the FRED software application - interactive lessons, real-world challenges, structured assignments, and personalised AI tutoring and coaching that adapts to pace, level and style. Between sessions, participants complete Huddle lessons one-on-one in the app for goal-setting, personal reflection and coaching.

The in-person layer

Each week participants come together for facilitated, in-person sessions built around doing rather than listening - discussion, collaboration, live coaching and practical application. Sessions are hosted at partner venues, such as schools and digital community hubs.

Coaching & facilitation methodology

FRED works with channel partners to identify coaches and facilitators from within their own communities, then trains, accredits and supports them to deliver FRED locally.

Curriculum breakdown

Six modules.

M1
Orientation & Onboarding
Getting started: an introduction to FRED and the FRED platform.
M2
Mindset & Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Mindset, self-awareness, and what it means to think like an entrepreneur, plus an introduction to entrepreneurship itself.
M3
Interests, Passion & Purpose
Connecting personal strengths and lived experience to real opportunity.
M4
Idea to Execution
Identifying problems worth solving, generating solutions, and shaping them into a business idea - then taking that idea from spark to execution.
M5
Core Functions of a Business (and the impact of AI)
How sales, marketing, operations, people, and finance work together.
M6
SWOT & Business Model Canvas
Strategic thinking and presenting a business idea with confidence.
Reinforced by

The curriculum is reinforced by short videos and podcasts, case studies, Huddle lessons (completed one-on-one in the FRED app for goal-setting, personal reflection and coaching), mini-challenges, and presentations - with AI tools woven throughout to support business thinking. The programme culminates in a Final Business Pitch.

Outcomes

What participants achieve - and how we measure it.

Develop an entrepreneurial mindset
FRED Entrepreneurial Mindset Index (FEMI), scored per participant at the start and end of the programme; individual pre-to-post change and aggregate cohort mindset shift reported
Build interest and confidence in entrepreneurship as a pathway to financial security
The interest-and-confidence dimension of FEMI, plus self-reported intent to pursue entrepreneurship, captured pre and post
Leave with a business idea they believe in, captured in a completed Business Model Canvas
Completion and quality of each participant's Business Model Canvas, assessed by the FRED Coach against a standard rubric
Pitch experience and presentation confidence
A pitch delivered live at the Final Business Pitch, scored by a panel, alongside self-rated confidence before and after
A FRED Certificate of Completion
Attendance and module-completion records tracked in the FRED app against a set completion threshold
Readiness to apply to FRED Idea2Startup
The share of graduates who apply to Idea2Startup and meet the entry criteria
Next step

FRED Idea2Startup

Ready to take your idea further? Graduates with the conviction to pursue their business idea can apply to FRED Idea2Startup, our second-stage validation and venture-building programme.

Explore Idea2Startup