FOR FOUNDER-INFLUENCED 7-FIGURE BUSINESSES
Build the trusted operator your business needs for its next stage.
When too many decisions, customer issues and pieces of know-how still come back to the founder, growth creates more pressure—not more freedom.
The Business Apprenticeship develops an emerging leader through live business work, practical systems thinking and sponsor-backed learning—so they can take on meaningful responsibility and help the business become less dependent on you.
Review the roadmap, programme options and investment below.
Places are assessed for sponsor, apprentice and business fit.
Not sure whether your business is ready? Take the Sponsor Readiness Diagnostic.
Build capability that does not keep coming back to the founder.
The Business Apprenticeship is not classroom-only training and it is not a generic leadership course. It is a two-year, applied development pathway for an emerging leader or trusted team member inside a live, founder-influenced business.
Your apprentice learns through real work: understanding how value moves through the enterprise, using commercial information, improving day-to-day operations and contributing to the business challenges that matter now.
The aim is practical. Build someone who can see more of the system, make stronger decisions and take on meaningful responsibility—so useful improvements do not depend on the founder, an external adviser or another heroic workaround.
See the business as a system
Your apprentice learns how the enterprise creates, delivers and captures value—not just how to complete their individual role. They build practical commercial awareness, customer understanding and systems thinking.
Apply learning to real business work
Learning is connected to live challenges, real decisions and the business’s operating reality. The sponsor validates progress through meaningful contribution, not passive course completion.
Grow into a
trusted operator
Your apprentice develops the confidence to improve work, coordinate people, use information well and take on more responsibility over time—within the boundaries and support of your business.
The goal is not to create a miniature founder. It is to develop a capable operator who can help the business see, decide and improve without every issue returning to you.
A two-year applied pathway—from business awareness to trusted contribution
The Apprenticeship develops capability in stages. It starts by helping the apprentice see how the business works, then builds their ability to use commercial information, improve operations and contribute to strategic execution. Each stage is designed to create useful value for the business while preparing the apprentice for greater responsibility.
THE 12-MODULE ROADMAP
A practical capability journey—built inside your business.
Business Foundations (Modules 1–3)
Understand the business, not just a job.
Outcome:
Your apprentice learns how your business creates value, what the numbers are saying and how the key building blocks connect.
Key Skills:
Business fundamentals, financial literacy, planning, business optics and commercial thinking.
Trust Built:
Trusted with information.
Demand,Judgement & Voice (Modules 4–6)
Contribute with customers and stakeholders.
Outcome:
Your apprentice develops practical marketing, communication and commercial judgement—while knowing when a legal, financial or specialist question needs escalation.
Key Skills:
Marketing and sales, legal and ESG awareness, customer communication and stakeholder confidence.
Trust Built:
Trusted with customers and stakeholders.
Operational Excellence (Modules 7–9)
Deliver work with growing independence.
Outcome:
Your apprentice learns to lead smaller projects, improve recurring processes and use digital tools responsibly—so useful work moves without constant founder supervision.
Key Skills:
Leadership and management, improvement and innovation, digital skills and practical problem-solving.
Trust Built:
Trusted with independent delivery.
Strategic Integration (Modules 10–12)
Contribute to practical strategic execution.
Outcome:
Your apprentice brings together resilience, systems thinking and execution capability to help connect priorities, people and day-to-day work.
Key Skills:
Resilience and adaptability, systems thinking, strategic alignment and change execution.
Trust Built:
Trusted with meaningful business responsibility.
Build the capability your business needs to grow without carrying everything through the founder.
Many founders learn how to run a business through pressure, mistakes, long hours and constant problem-solving. Few are taught how value, money, customers, operations, people and strategy must work together before they are expected to lead.
The Business Apprenticeship helps an emerging team member build that business literacy through real work inside your organisation. With context, mentoring, opportunity and feedback, they grow into a more capable, trusted operator.
You are not simply buying a course. You are building the next layer of practical capability your business needs to grow with less unnecessary founder dependency.
Tell us about your business, proposed apprentice and the live challenge they could learn through.
Not sure whether the right conditions are in place? Start with a short readiness assessment.
Built by someone who learned the apprenticeship way.
Hi, I’m Ash.
I did not begin in a boardroom or business school. I began as an Army apprentice, learning to diagnose technical systems where a visible fault was rarely the whole problem.
That lesson stayed with me: the issue in front of you is often a symptom, not the whole problem. The real answer may sit in the handover, the information, the decision, the operating condition or the way the wider system is working together.
Over more than 30 years, that foundation has carried through Defence, major programmes, consulting, strategic execution and MBA education. I have seen the same pattern in organisations of every size: people are often asked to carry responsibility before anyone has taught them how the business actually works.
The Business Apprenticeship gives your emerging leaders the business literacy, systems thinking and practical mentoring that most founders had to acquire the hard way—so they can apply it to real work, take on more meaningful responsibility and help the business become less dependent on you.
Ash Holliday, Founder of Pragmatic People
- 30+ years — Systems thinking across technical, operational, strategic, people and culture systems
- 20+ years — Root-cause analysis and practical problem-solving in complex operating environments
- MBA teaching — Facilitating Systems Thinking, Strategic Alignment, Leadership and Influencing in the University of Adelaide’s online MBA environment
- 15+ industries — Defence, engineering, transport, aviation, healthcare, government, education and more
What changes when capability stays inside the business
The Business Apprenticeship is designed to create useful contribution while people learn—not simply a completed course at the end of it.
“Working with apprentices has delivered real ROI—not just in productivity, but in mindset.”
They think commercially, challenge decisions and bring new ideas that sharpen performance across the business.
That shift has freed me to focus more on strategic growth rather than daily management. We are building stronger teams, smarter operations and measurable bottom-line results.
Ricardo Catahno
Owner & Manager Catanho Group
“They have challenged how we operate—and elevated how we lead.”
The Apprenticeship has changed how we view and run the business. Our apprentices bring a fresh, commercially minded perspective, asking questions that challenge the way we operate and support smarter decisions across the team.
The ripple effect has been powerful: stronger culture, improved data and operational practices, and a renewed sense of innovation throughout the business.
Anastasia Mamaeva-Catanho
Owner & Manager Catanho Group
What helps capability grow?
The right conditions turn learning into useful contribution.
Is your business ready to build a trusted operator?
The Business Apprenticeship is for founder-influenced businesses with a real capability need—not simply a training budget.
You are likely ready to explore the options below if:
- You are still carrying too many routine decisions, customer issues, exceptions or pieces of business-critical knowledge.
- You have an emerging team member with the potential and motivation to take on more responsibility over time.
- There is one real responsibility, recurring process or bounded project through which they can learn and contribute.
- A founder or senior sponsor can provide business context, mentoring, feedback and time for learning to become useful work.
If that broadly describes your business, review the programme options and investment below.
Not sure whether those conditions are strong enough yet? Take the free Sponsor Readiness Diagnostic for an initial view of what is in place, what needs strengthening and the most useful next step.
Choose the pathway that fits the challenge in front of you
Start with the Business Apprenticeship if the priority is developing internal capability. Add an Accelerator pathway where the business also needs structured support to resolve a clear operating constraint or strengthen the wider enterprise for its next stage.
Business Apprenticeship
Pilot 2
€4,980
Per year, excluding taxes
Two-year commitment, paid annually
Total programme investment: €9,960, excluding taxes
Develop an emerging team member who understands how the business works, takes on meaningful responsibility and helps reduce founder dependency over time.
What’s included:
- A two-year, 12-module applied learning programme.
- Sponsor and apprentice onboarding and alignment.
- Learning applied to real business work, decisions and challenges.
- Sponsor support and an Apprentice Portal to track progress and application.
Pilot 2 founding rate: €4,980 per year.
Standard rate for future intakes: €9,960 per year.
Prices exclude taxes.
Payment is followed by a sponsor, apprentice and business suitability assessment. If we do not accept your application, your Year 1 payment is refunded in full.
Knowledge Transfer Guarantee included.
See the programme page for assessment criteria and guarantee conditions.
FOR ONE OR TWO PRIORITY ISSUES
Business Apprenticeship + Pragmatic SME Focus Accelerator
€7,430
Initial bundle payment, excluding taxes
Includes Apprenticeship Year 1 and the six-month Focus Accelerator.
Two-year Apprenticeship commitment.
Year 2 invoiced separately; no automatic payment.
Develop internal capability while resolving one or two recurring complexity issues that keep pulling founders and senior leaders back into the detail.
Best when a bottleneck, handover problem, delivery issue or margin leak keeps returning—and the business also needs an emerging team member to take on meaningful responsibility.
What’s included:
- A two-year, 12-module Business Apprenticeship, with Year 1 included in this payment.
- Sponsor and apprentice onboarding, support and progress tracking.
- Six months of focused Accelerator coaching and advisory.
- Monthly Accelerator working sessions, agreed between-session support and practical improvement resources.
Initial payment comprises:
Apprenticeship Year 1 — €4,980
Six-month Focus Accelerator — €2,450
All prices exclude taxes.
Apprenticeship suitability is assessed after payment. If your application is not accepted, the €4,980 Apprenticeship component is refunded, with no Year 2 Apprenticeship payment due.
Knowledge Transfer protection applies to the Apprenticeship. The First-Session Confidence Guarantee applies to the Accelerator component.
[See suitability and investment protection ↓]
FOR BUSINESSES ENTERING THEIR NEXT STAGE
Business Apprenticeship + Pragmatic SME Scale Blueprint
€11,930
Initial bundle payment, excluding taxes
Includes Apprenticeship Year 1 and the twelve-month Scale Blueprint.
Two-year Apprenticeship commitment.
Year 2 invoiced separately; no automatic payment.
Develop internal capability while strengthening the enterprise design needed for the next stage.
Best for founders, owners, CEOs and COOs whose business has outgrown the way it currently works—and who need strategic and operational support alongside internal capability-building.
What’s included:
- A two-year, 12-module Business Apprenticeship, with Year 1 included in this payment.
- Sponsor and apprentice onboarding, support and progress tracking.
- Twelve months of Scale Blueprint coaching and advisory across four connected 90-day SCALE cycles.
- Two structured working sessions each month, with agreed between-session support and practical resources.
Initial payment comprises:
Apprenticeship Year 1 — €4,980
Twelve-month Scale Blueprint — €6,950
All prices exclude taxes.
Apprenticeship suitability is assessed after payment. If your application is not accepted, the €4,980 Apprenticeship component is refunded, with no Year 2 Apprenticeship payment due.
Knowledge Transfer protection applies to the Apprenticeship. The First-Session Confidence Guarantee applies to the Scale Blueprint component.
[See suitability and investment protection ↓]
Start with the pathway that matches the work ahead
You do not need to buy the largest option to make meaningful progress. The right choice depends on the capability you need to build, the clarity of the business challenge and the level of support required to make improvement hold.
Not sure which next step fits your business?
Is an Apprenticeship right for us, and can we sponsor it well?
What is making the business harder to run, and what might matter most?
A practical investment, with sensible protection
Business Apprenticeship suitability is assessed after payment and before acceptance into the programme. If we do not accept your application following the initial assessment, your Year 1 Apprenticeship payment is refunded in full.
The protections below cover apprentice replacement and, where included, the Accelerator component of your chosen pathway.
Your learning investment stays with the business:
Knowledge Transfer Guarantee
If your Business Apprentice leaves before completing the first year, you may nominate another suitable team member to continue the programme at no additional programme fee.
Where practical, the replacement can catch up on the learning completed to date and join the current cohort. If joining the current cohort is no longer practical, they may start again with a future cohort at no additional programme fee.
This helps protect your business’s learning investment and supports continued capability-building if the original apprentice leaves.
Replacement participation is subject to assessment, reasonable timing, available cohort places and confirmation that the proposed participant is suitable for the programme and that the business can provide appropriate sponsor support. Any catch-up plan will be agreed based on the stage of the programme and the learner’s starting point.
First-Session Confidence Guarantee:
If you add a Pragmatic SME Focus Accelerator or Pragmatic SME Scale Blueprint, attend the first working session and decide the Accelerator is not the right fit for the challenge, contact us within seven days and we will refund 100% of the Accelerator fee.
We ask only that you arrive ready to engage, so you have a fair opportunity to experience the work and decide whether it is right for the challenge in front of you.
Selection comes before enrolment
Business Apprenticeship applications are assessed for sponsor, apprentice and business fit before enrolment.
This guarantee applies to the Accelerator component of the Focus + Apprenticeship and Scale + Apprenticeship pathways. The Business Apprenticeship remains subject to its separate selection, suitability and Knowledge Transfer terms.
FAQ
1. The Time Commitment
Question: How much time will this take from me and my apprentice?
Answer:
Apprentice time: Approximately 1.5–3 hours per teaching week for classes, plus 4–5 hours weekly for reading/homework, and 1–2 days of workplace application
As a Sponsor / mentor: Weekly activity check-ins and monthly deeper feedback, with planned reviews and approvals
The aim is not to create more activity. It is to turn existing business work into structured capability development and useful contribution.
2. Continuity if the apprentice leaves
Question: What happens if our apprentice leaves before completing the programme?
Answer:
People do move on. That is why the programme is designed to build capability that stays with the business, not only with one individual.
Under the Knowledge Transfer Guarantee, if your Business Apprentice leaves before completing the first year, you may nominate another suitable team member to continue at no additional programme fee. Where practical, they can catch up and join the current cohort. If that is not practical, they may start again with a future cohort at no additional programme fee.
Replacement participation is subject to appropriate timing, available places and confirmation that the new participant is suitable and has sponsor support.
3. Business value and ROI
Question: When should we expect to see useful value in the business?
Answer:
The programme is designed to create useful contribution as learning develops, not only at the end of two years. Early work typically helps the apprentice understand how the business creates value, how customers are served and where information, handovers or commercial signals need more attention.
The exact timing and scale of value depend on the business challenge, the apprentice’s starting point, the sponsor’s support and the opportunity to apply learning in real work. You should expect better questions, clearer visibility and more useful contribution early; more independent responsibility develops over time.
The goal is not an artificial ROI promise. It is a stronger internal capability base that helps the business make better decisions, improve work and reduce founder dependency.
4. The Selection and fit
Question: How do I know whether we have the right person and conditions for the Apprenticeship?
Answer:
Business Apprenticeship Pilot 2 is by application because success depends on more than choosing a capable individual. We consider the proposed apprentice, the founder or senior sponsor, the live business challenge they can learn through and the operating conditions needed to support practical application.
If you are unsure whether those conditions are in place, start with the Sponsor Readiness Diagnostic. It provides an initial view of founder dependency, capability gaps, sponsor commitment and whether there is a credible Apprenticeship pathway to explore.
If we determine the Apprenticeship is not the right pathway for your business during the suitability process, the Business Apprenticeship portion of your payment is fully refundable.
5. Sponsor involvement
Question: Do I need to attend the sessions, or can I simply send my apprentice?
Answer:
You do not need to attend every session. However, the Apprenticeship works best when a founder or senior sponsor stays connected to the work.
Your formal commitment includes a monthly alignment check, plus appropriate access, feedback and support when the apprentice is working on a live business challenge. Sponsors are also welcome to attend relevant sessions and practical discussions where this will improve alignment and help embed the learning.
The programme is not designed to turn the apprentice into a miniature founder. It is designed to build a more capable contributor who can understand the business, make stronger decisions and take on meaningful responsibility over time.
6. Which assessment should I start with?
Question: Should I take the Sponsor Readiness Diagnostic or the Business Complexity & Scale Readiness Scorecard?
Answer:
Choose the Sponsor Readiness Diagnostic if your main question is whether the business is ready to develop an internal trusted operator through the Business Apprenticeship. It focuses on founder dependency, capability gaps, the potential apprentice, sponsor commitment and the availability of a live business challenge.
Choose the Business Complexity & Scale Readiness Scorecard if the business is becoming harder to run but you are not yet sure whether the priority issue is capability, decision-making, execution, value flow or the wider operating model.
Both provide an initial view, not a full diagnosis or an automatic programme recommendation.
Ready to build a trusted operator inside your business?
If you have an emerging leader, a live business challenge and the commitment to develop capability inside the business, apply for Business Apprenticeship Pilot 2.
We will assess sponsor, apprentice and business fit—so you can decide whether this is the right pathway for the work ahead.
Not sure whether your business is ready?
Take the Sponsor Readiness Diagnostic.
If the business challenge is still unclear?