Programe Content

DAY 1, Monday, 24th October 2005

Value proposition

The value proposition should be the starting point for any entrepreneur. It is the core of a business plan. One way to look at the business plan is as a detailed elaboration of the value proposition. Yet many entrepreneurs may not have identified and may not be able to clearly elaborate their value proposition. In this session, participants will identify their value proposition and develop the ability to clearly and concisely communicate it to customers, investors, team members, etc.

The value proposition we will develop in this session will address several key questions:

• What is innovative about the product or service?
• What problem are we solving for customers?
• What features of our product or service are important to our customers?

Market identification and analysis

It is widely understood that marketing is one of the key success factors in starting a successful business. Yet many entrepreneurs have quite a vague understanding of exactly what marketing is and how to approach it. For example, many entrepreneurs believe that marketing equals the four Ps – Promotion, Price, Positioning and Place. However, the four Ps are only a small part of the whole marketing process. In this session, participants will learn to:

• Answer the question: Who is our customer?
• Selecting target markets and customers
• Analyze the market, including customers and competitors
• Develop and implement a marketing strategy
• Develop a product that suits customer's needs
• Position and differentiate one's products and services from the competition

DAY 2, Tuesday, 25th October 2005

How to compete?

Entrepreneurs face a dilemma: if there is not a sufficient market for their idea, their business will fail. If there is a sufficient market for their idea, competitors will enter. These competitors can be existing companies with substantial resources, or new startups attempting to capitalize on the opportunity identified by the entrepreneur. In this session, participants will learn to: Create sustainable competitive advantage for their business

• Develop a competitive strategy
• Compete against both established companies and new startups
• Respond to competitive threats

How to make money?

Money is the life-blood of any company and is especially important for startup companies. Startup companies face many financial challenges: they often require substantial funds in the early stages of the business to develop the product, build market share, attract and retain a high-quality team, etc. At the same time, they often have limited cash flow in these same early stages. Many startups which might have otherwise been successful fail as a result of inadequate financial management and understanding. In this session, participants will learn to:

• Raise investment funds to support the growth of their business
• Manage their finances and cash flow to avoid running out of cash
• Forecast the financial performance of their business and calculate the valuation of their company
  

DAY 3: Friday, 28th October 2005

Business plan workshop

It is difficult to over-emphasize the importance of good presentation skills in entrepreneurship (and in business in general). Excellent presentation skills can take you very far; whereas poor presentation skills can doom your project from the beginning.

Entrepreneurs are continually presenting: to potential customers, partners, suppliers, and investors. Presentations to investors are especially critical for start-up companies as these are where company futures are decided.

This workshop will enable participants to create and deliver effective presentations to investors, both written and verbal, to investors, customers, partners and others.

In this session, participants will learn:

• What do investors look for in a business plan?
• What do investors look for in a presentation?
• How to avoid the most common mistakes?
• How to get an investor to read your business plan?
• Achieving legibility, readability, clarity
• Connecting with the audience
• Using anecdotes and illustrative examples
• How to interest your audience?
• Practicing and testing
• Handling Q&A

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