NORCAT Entrepreneurship 101 - Finding and Validating Your Ideas

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Entrepreneurship 101 - Introduction

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Agendao Introduction

o What is a Regional Innovation Centre?o Who are we and what do we doo What have we done to date?o Future goals/objectiveso Community Resources

o Course Outline and Organizationo Topics coveredo Logisticso Up-Start! Competition

o Lecture 1 – Entrepreneurshipo What is entrepreneurship?o Who are entrepreneurs?o The role of community

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Introduction: Who are we?

NORCAT Entrepreneurship 101

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NORCAT: Who we are & what we do

…is a leading private, non-profit organization that empowers our clients, our staff, and our community partners to drive a culture of productivity, innovation, and life-long learning. To deliver on our mandate, NORCAT is focused on three core priorities:• As part of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs, NORCAT

serves as Sudbury’s Regional Innovation Centre partnering with community stakeholders to help start and accelerate the growth of innovative companies

• Develop and provide world-class programs, services, and resources to reduce injuries, save lives, and enhance productivity in the workplace and beyond

• Operate a vibrant innovation hub to engage our clients, community, and key stakeholders by providing an environment that celebrates a culture of productivity, innovation, and life-long learning

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Work to date

• Currently we work with over 40 entrepreneurs and small business owners in the Greater Sudbury region

• We have a long-term residency program, current residents include:

• Dura21• BESTECH• Jannatec• TesMan• Camiro

• Start-up Incubator (Coming soon to a RIC near you!)• Monthly Hot Topic and P2P Events

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Services We Offer

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• Provide seminars on Wednesday mornings covering topics relevant to small businesses and those looking to start a business

• Help with business plans and registering your business• Check out www.regionalbusiness.ca for more information

Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation• Focus exclusively on the mining sector

Funders: NOHFC, FedNor, IRAP

Other Community Resources

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Logistics & Course Outline

NORCAT Entrepreneurship 101

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Logistics

Every Wednesday, from 6pm – 7pm, NORCAT will stream lectures from MaRS here at our centre

OR

Watch online through the NORCAT or MaRS website

We will be working with MaRS to get you registered and provide you with the necessary log-in information

Attendance is key! - it gets you your certificate and makes you eligible for the Up-Start! Competition

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Course Communication

• All course information can be found at www.norcat.org under the Entrepreneur Education tab

• If you have questions about the course you can email RICcoordinator@norcat.org - All we ask is that you put ENT 101 in the subject line

• The ENT101 page will be updated by the Tuesday before each lecture

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Up-Start! Competition & Eligibility

This is a business pitch competition open to ENT 101 participants• Must be registered and attend 20 lectures including all in-

person lectures• Must fall into one of four categories:

– ICT– Cleantech, advanced manufacturing and mining– Social Ventures– Life Sciences and Healthcare

There is a $5,000 cash prize for the winning pitch and the possibility of competing provincially!

so start thinking NOW!

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Course Goals

1. Help accelerate the process of turning your idea into reality

2. Provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to get you started

3. Create a community where you’re able to express ideas and network with like minded individuals

4. Meet and exceed your expectations and make NORCAT ambassadors out of you!

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Course Outline

• 23 Lectures on key topics related to starting and growing a business

• 3 Lived it Lectures – given by local entrepreneurs

• 4 Meet the entrepreneurs – sector specific• The ‘Up-Start! Competition’ – business pitch

competition to recognize and reward promising participants

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Lived it & Meet the Entrepreneurs Lectures

These will be in-person lectures given by local entrepreneurs

You must attend all the Lived it lectures to receive the certificate at the end of the coursePlease note the following dates::• October 2nd

• December 11th • January 8th • February 19th

• February 26th • April 16th

Our first Lived it lecture will be next Wednesday, Oct 2nd and will feature one of NORCAT’s Mentors and the Founder/CEO of ONTRAK Control Systems, Tom Fortin

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Course Organization: Topics

• Beginning your Journey

• Business Modeling – how you’ll make money

• Marketing – targeting your market

• Management – building your dream team

• Money – funding your business

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Beginning the Journey

• Finding/validating your idea

• Types of entrepreneurship

• Entrepreneurial ecosystem and legal fundamentals

• Intro to entrepreneurial management

• Value propositions

• Product development

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Business Modeling

• IP Management – types and their differences

• Business Models – non-profit vs for-profit

• Business plans and other communication tools

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Marketing

• Market analysis

• Marketing communications

• Go-to-market strategy

• Sales

• Negotiations

• Distribution

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Management

• Board/Governance

• Financial Planning

• Recruiting

• Building and managing a team

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Money – Funding your business

• Bootstrapping

• Terms of investment

• Raising money from VC’s and Angels

• The pitch

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What is Entrepreneurship?

NORCAT Entrepreneurship 101

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Definitions

Entrepreneurship: individuals identify opportunities, allocate resources, and create value through the identification of unmet needs or opportunities

Social Entrepreneurship: identifying a social problem and using entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change

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“The purpose of business is to find and serve customers profitably”

- Peter Drucker (management theorist)

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Who are Entrepreneurs? What makes them tick?

1. Recognize opportunities

2. Have an eye for Design

3. Are good at managing Risk (as opposed to risk adverse)

4. They are resilient

5. Effectuating mind

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Can you learn Entrepreneurship?

You can teach skills

You can teach theory

You can teach accounting

What you can’t teach is DRIVE!

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What’s your motivation?

Do you just want to make money?Do you want to have an impact?Or, is it the experience you’re after?

Turns out that the majority (~67%) of entrepreneurs are motivated by the impact they can make

~25% are motivated by the experience

The remaining ~8% are motivated by money

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The Role of Community

What comes to mind when I say ecosystem?

Something like

this perhaps?

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The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Ecosystem in this sense is used as a metaphor to describe the environment a business finds itself in and/or has decided to move into

Components of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem:• Funders

• VC’s• Government Programs• Angel Investors• Banks

• Mentors• Regional Business Centres• Regional Innovation Centres• Academic Institutions

And YOU!

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Welcome to the Ecosystem!Welcome to Entrepreneurship 101

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Questions?

be sure to check out the ENT 101 page on our website at www.norcat.org

On Facebook?Check-in at NORCAT, and let us know what you think of our ENT 101 Program.

On Twitter?Follow us @NORCAT and join the conversation.#ent101norcat