Description
The Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship presents a another virtual series of workshops designed to teach participants about building the foundation of a new enterprise. This Virtual Entrepreneurship Toolkit Series guides participants through hands-on activities to build an understanding of proven startup tools and apply them to their own businesses. Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, or an established business owner wanting to brush up on your skills, the Virtual Toolkit Series is for you.
Schedule:
Week 1 (April 7th) – Customer Segments, Customer Problems, and The Executive Team
• Learn how to ensure your proposed solution maps to a customer problem/need. This is known as the Problem-Solution Fit. The bigger the problem, the bigger the market opportunity.
• Explore how the leading strategic innovation methods, such as Lean/ Business Model Canvas, can help uncover your key customer segments and problems that need solving.
• Examine your leadership team and the strengths and weaknesses that they bring to your business.
Week 2 (April 14th) – Unique Value Proposition, Solution, and Your Unfair Advantage
• Document your offering, its key features that solve the customers’ problems/needs, and determine what unique competitive advantage you might have.
• Learn Design thinking concepts such as brainstorming and practice creating prototypes of a new product/service.
• Deploy the Lean Startup framework and define your minimum viable product (MVP).
Week 3 (April 21st) – Competitive Analysis, Existing Alternatives, and Go-to-Market Strategies
• Understand how to get your offering to the market through the correct channels.
• Determine how to get, keep and grow customer relationships.
• Identify your early adopters
• Learn to test and validate your Product-Market Fit.
Week 4 (April 28th) – Revenue, Costs, Key Metrics, and Financial Projections
• Review how you capture revenue, and what your cost drivers are.
• Determine your key metrics and prove that your offering solves problems or fills needs.
• Document realistic near-term financial projections so that investors can see your potential.
Week 5 (May 5th) – Pitching, Accomplishments, Traction, and Funding Needs
• Create your pitch deck, practice pitching to mentor, and get direct feedback on your story.
• List accomplishments to date, including any sales or market traction.
• Show Business Model Fit: Understand how you create, deliver, and capture value.
Listen to the Investor Panel discuss startup funding methods, and have the opportunity to ask them questions regarding funding, and what investors are looking for.