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As you are engaged in your entrepreneurial commitments, how about the ability to tap into a group of 10-12 fellow business owners who can offer you direction based on their experiences? The Trust Group concept of ASCENT is one such format where you can draw from the expertise of non-competing diverse entrepreneurs at similar stage and scale, with perimeter access to an ecosystem of knowledge gurus, inspirational role models and enablers.

The ASCENT eligibility criteria is an annual turnover of Rs. 50 lakh and above for the services sector and Rs. 2.5 crore and above for manufacturing sector enterprises. Other parameters include a visible ambition for progress, a profitable business with scope for scaling-up and a willingness to learn and share, since the model is based on sharing and peer-to-peer learning and exchange of ideas. Shortlisted applicants are invited for group interactions where they make presentations about their view on their business growth potential to a selection panel. Based on cumulative assessment, detailed analysis and intuitive understanding of the applicant’s aspirations, select entrepreneurs are welcomed into Trust Groups. Each group consists of 10-12 members who are strategically placed with right number and mix of business owners to avoid sharing the room with competitors.

Initial skepticism evaporates as each member is encouraged to share their experiences drawing on the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of their business and the ONE learning that serves as a cornerstone while they are on their way to scaling-up. Soon the members start interacting on various aspects of entrepreneurial undertakings in the light of trending and pressing business concerns and a ‘connect’ over common grounds is firmly established. ASCENT also organizes special workshops, seminars and ‘expert-talk’ sessions to further address unique needs of the vast pool of members.

Held monthly, the Trust Group meetings allow members to dig deep, personally and professionally, in a confidential and non-judgmental environment. At the meeting, members learn through first-hand experiences on specific issues, shared by fellow members.This either serves as a solution or a brand new perspective gained as part of the take away from each successive meeting. Above all, what is priceless in a Trust Group meeting is that a member can be oneself- an Entrepreneur. Group members understand each other’s aspirations, frustrations, sense of opportunity, and the many other feelings that typically surge through an entrepreneur’s mind. Members are reminded to constantly measure, speculate and regulate, while at the same time inspired to dream bigger and grow to new heights, in a way only a true entrepreneur can!