New Venture Creation: from Idea to Investment

Creating a new venture - from an initial idea, coming up with a viable business model, finding investment, to building the business - is a multi-step multi-faceted process. This workshop takes the aspiring entrepreneur on a journey of starting a new business - from an initial inspiration for an business idea (the "aha" moment), an objective multi-dimensional assessment of the feasibility of the idea, creating a viable business model, developing and writing a model business plan, financial planning, to raising funding from investors. Participants will immerse, interact and engage in the vicarious experience of the entrepreneur through classroom lecture, case examples, and experiential exercises. This journey takes the aspiring entrepreneur from the very beginning starting with ideation and getting the new idea off the ground, assessing and selecting market opportunity and strategy, developing compelling products and services, defining value proposition and creating competitive advantage, recruiting the team, engaging in financial planning and company valuation, preparing and delivering on investor presentation, and negotiating on the terms of funding, etc. A critical part of any new venture involves the business plan: the participant will learn to organise and create a coherent model business plan that will serve as the roadmap for the entrepreneur, and as a selling tool for investors.

Course Outline

• Idea to business model
• Sources of new business ideas
• Assessing feasibility of a new venture
• Creating value: key to success
• Writing a model business plan
• Market segmentation, selection and differentiation
• Creating competitive advantage
• Financial planning
• The elevator pitch
• Fund-raising and valuation
• Presenting to investors
• Mastering entrepreneurial skills

Instructional Methodology

The workshop is hands-on and interactive, as participants work through each stage of the process of creating a new venture. It combines practical expertise, real-life experiences, real world examples, state-of-the-art theory, experiential exercises that provide an overall workshop experience that is both compelling and high-learning.

Expected Outcome

The participant will learn the foundation skills and the process required for starting up a new business. This includes sourcing for of new business ideas, evaluating and assessing feasibility of new venture including technical feasibility and marketability, assessing and selecting market opportunity and strategy, defining value proposition and creating competitive advantage, recruiting the team, engaging in financial planning and company valuation, preparing and delivering on investor presentation, negotiating on the terms of funding, and organizing and creating a coherent business plan that will serve as the roadmap for the entrepreneur, and as a selling tool for investors.