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Small business, big heart.

Small businesses are the heart of every single country on the planet and do more than just provide employment, they shape the fabric of our society. But they're the hardest hit with any market change and the least supported.

Why 25eight exists.

Small businesses are the heart of every community. They create jobs, solve local problems and help shape the places we live. Yet they're often the least supported when the world changes.

Markets change, technology rapidly changes and customer expectations change. And increasingly, business owners are expected to navigate that change alone.

We believe they deserve better.

25eight exists to help capable business owners develop the capability, confidence and systems to intentionally build businesses that support the future they want.

A 25eight program cohort in Whittlesea
The Latrobe City Council Next-Level Growth Program cohort

Our story.

25eight began with one simple observation.

Our founder, Sam Hurley, noticed that talented people were starting businesses because they loved what they did, but many lacked the confidence or business capability to build those businesses intentionally.

Some were spending money on advice they didn't need. Others were chasing strategies that worked for someone else's business, but not their own.

The real problem wasn't a lack of effort, it was a lack of clarity. That insight became the foundation of 25eight.

Since then, we have worked with thousands of businesses, designing, delivering and measuring capability development programs across strategy, leadership, digital, AI and business growth.

Rather than relying on assumptions, 25eight invested heavily in research, diagnostics, AI and learning design to understand what actually helps business owners create lasting change. Today, that research underpins every program, every framework and every recommendation we make.

See how we know this works →

What drives us.

When Sam started supporting people all those years ago, she was motivated by the fact that many were paying for someone to tell them what to do, when all they needed was someone to help them think more clearly.

Someone to help them understand the systems that drive their business and build the confidence to make better decisions themselves.

Because the most successful businesses we've worked with weren't built by following someone else's blueprint. They were intentionally designed by owners who understood what success meant to them.

What started as an opportunity to use her skills to help others grew as a desire to help more capable and passionate people realise their own potential. When Sam made the connection between her own passions, experience and studies and her use of technology to create systems of scale, she knew she could make a real difference to the survival and success of small businesses across the world.

This means that small business becomes a feasible and sustainable option to help people live a life on their own terms, if they have the capabilities to design it in a way that works for them.

And that's what 25eight is here to do. Help people gain the capabilities and confidence to create successful businesses that help them live the lives they want to live. The bonus is that in most cases, this has an incredibly positive impact on the people and community they serve too.

Sam Hurley presenting to business owners
Sam Hurley delivering her Systems of Scale masterclass

Our founder.

25eight was founded in 2015 and is owned and led by Samantha Hurley. Before 25eight, Sam spent more than twenty years leading commercial and digital transformations across the UK, US and Australia, taking businesses through the kind of technology change that reshapes an industry.

She holds a Masters of Teaching and is a Member of the Association of Coaching, which shapes how 25eight works: we care as much about how people change what they can do as about what we teach them. She also has a BSc in Geography and Global Politics and a diverse range of certificates in topics that span technical to biological.

25eight is a remote-first business with a small team of accredited coaches and industry mentors located across Australia, in metro, regional and rural areas. We have an office in Melbourne and Brisbane.

We are an Association of Coaching accredited provider and deliver a Certificate of Human-Centred Business Coaching for aspiring coaches as well as 25eight Capability Coach training for coaches who'd like to deliver 25eight programs. Enquire below to find out more.

Samantha Hurley, founder and CEO of 25eight
Samantha Hurley presenting at Federation Square, Melbourne

Our beliefs.

The future isn't limited by technology, but by human capability.

It is no longer about what you know, but what you can do.

This is the biggest opportunity small businesses have had to level the playing field.

The opportunity has never been greater, but neither has the challenge as business becomes more complex than before.

You don't need a business guru. You are your best business guru.

Success is personal.

No one can define what that means for you. They can help you define it for yourself, but you still have to define it.

Capability is the ability to consistently turn intention into outcomes.

Learning only matters when it changes what someone is capable of doing.

When you build your capability, your confidence grows. When your confidence grows, you make better decisions.

Business is made up of interconnected systems.

You don't have to understand them, you just have to direct them. Systems create freedom.

Technology should amplify human capability, not replace it. AI multiplies your awesome.

You can create your own AI tools. Build your own apps.

Local AI and Sovereign AI are completely feasible for small business and put the control back in their hands.

Everyone deserves access to the capability they need to create the future they choose. Full stop.

Businesses don't become intentional by chance.

But through the decisions their owners make, the systems they build and the capability they develop.

25eight exists to help people create successful, intentional businesses.

Become a capability coach.

We deliver a Certificate of Human-Centred Business Coaching for aspiring coaches, and 25eight Capability Coach training for coaches who'd like to deliver 25eight programs. As an Association of Coaching accredited provider, our training carries recognised standing.

Leave your details and we'll be in touch with the pathway that fits where you're starting from.

Get in touch.

A question about a program, a partnership or anything else: send a note and we will come back to you.

Prefer email? Write to hello@25eight.co. Or call 1300 171 363.

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For capable owners building intentional businesses.

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