Learn how to validate your business idea in a free Business Idea Workshop.

It will cover:

-          What to do when you have an idea

-          How you can manage the risks of starting a business by getting customer feedback and testing your business model

-          Why should your idea leverage your own skills,experience and passion

-          Useful tools and resources to turn an idea into reality

We will also have experts from ATEED advising what investments will be available to early stage businesses as well as other ATEED services.

See below for upcoming workshops in your area:

- Business Idea Workshop  we 16^th May 12-1.30pm, Level One, Central One, 4 Henderson Valley Road, Henderson

- Business Idea Workshop Tues 19 June  5-6:30 p.m NZTE building, Level 6 139 Quay Street, Auckland CBD.

We have limited spaces so please RSVP to Sabrina@ecentre.org.nz

“When we started the company in October 2010, we embraced Richard Branson’s theory that when you keep things light and fun it enables you to unleash both your own and other’s creativity,” says Peter Johnson, CEO. “When people feel good about themselves, their colleagues and their working environment, performance is high and the spirit is infectious. Very few visitors will walk into our workplace and not get that the people there are having fun and feeling good.

“I don’t believe you can expect peak performance from people who are dragging themselves into work feeling down and overwhelmed. As Branson says, creativity is a right-brain activity and laughter triggers your right brain. Our guys are at the top of their fields – we don’t make them have fun or work hard – they just want to!”

From the beginning, WaterOutlook provided a working environment that is attractive, works well and provides a unified look that fits in well with the carefully crafted brand.

“Office furniture doesn’t have to be second hand, mismatched or cheap. With the exception of our specialised computer equipment, our office fit out cost us less than $5,000. Our brand is very important to us – that’s why our look and feel is consistent with our values; and our information, website and communications are carefully controlled to reflect our brand.”

And all that fun, laughter and creativity has paid off in spades. WaterOutlook has released three world-first products in its first 18 months of business and has a fourth waiting in the wings. Not only have these products been released – they are being taken up by clients throughout New Zealand and there is definite interest offshore as well.

“We have 10% of the New Zealand market signed up with a further 10% in various stages of the pipeline,” Peter says. “Our aim for the end of this year is 30% of the market and this is looking more than achievable.”

These are not “one-off” sales. Each client signs for an initial three year contract and there is an almost 100% chance of them re-signing at the end of that period because WaterOutlook becomes an integral imbedded process in their systems.

“Our clients are finding that WaterOutlook products are more than meeting their needs, they are helping them be more efficient and they are providing a one-stop-shop for their compliance and other information. No other products on the market can do this for them,” Peter says

“Our WaterOutlook team is producing results – and if this is due partly to the huge amount of fun we are having along the way, then I say bring it on!”

• 6:30pm – Registration starts
• 7:00pm – Dinner & Networking
• 7:20pm – Welcome & Speakers
• 7:30pm – Pitches Start
• 9:00pm – Attendees vote for the top ideas
• 9:15pm – Teams start forming and discussing ideas
• 10:00pm – Start to formalize teams and take an inventory of skills.

Saturday 16th June

• 9:00am – Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
• 9:30am – Teams formed and setting up workspace for the weekend
• 12:00pm – Lunch
• 1:00pm – Call for needs & skills
• 2:00pm – Mentors help teams one-on-one.
• 6:30pm – Dinner
• 7:30pm – Mid weekend check-in, status reports, call for help
• 10:00pm – Finished for the day. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow.

Sunday 17th June

• 9:00am – Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
• 10:00am – Call for help
• 12:00pm – Lunch
• 12:30pm – Mentors arrive
• 3:00pm – Start prepping for presentations
• 4:00pm – Dinner
• 5:00pm – FINAL PRESENTATIONS
• 7:30pm – Judging & awards
• 8:30pm – Wrapup
• 9:00pm – Go home!

Got a new business that is not taking off? Need help validating your market or your business model?

Learn how to evolve your business model using a validated learning approach in a free Business Model Workshop.

It will cover:

- How a validated learning approach can help you get closer to customers and grow your business

- How you can manage the risks of growing your business by getting customer feedback and testing your business model

- Does your business leverage your own skills and passion?

- Useful tools and resources including the Business Model Canvas

We will also have experts from ATEED advising what investments will be available to early stage businesses as well as other ATEED services.

See below for upcoming workshops in your area:

-      Business Model Workshop   We 30^th May 5-6.30pm ecentre (North Shore)

We have limited spaces so please RSVP to Sabrina@ecentre.org.nz

]]> http://www.ecentre.org.nz/blog/2012/05/07/need-help-with-your-business-model-come-along-to-our-free-business-model-workshops/feed/ 0 http://www.ecentre.org.nz/blog/2012/05/03/free-lecture-to-the-public-the-engine-of-the-new-new-zealand-series-innovation-lecture-with-colin-gilchrist/ http://www.ecentre.org.nz/blog/2012/05/03/free-lecture-to-the-public-the-engine-of-the-new-new-zealand-series-innovation-lecture-with-colin-gilchrist/#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 03:34:26 +0000 Jess http://www.ecentre.org.nz/blog/?p=1236 DATE: WEDNESDAY 16 MAY
TIME: 6:00 – 7:30 PM
VENUE: SIR NEIL WATERS LECTURE THEATRES,
ALBANY CAMPUS
FREE LECTURE TO THE PUBLIC
THE ENGINE OF THE NEW
NEW ZEALAND SERIES
INNOVATION LECTURE
New Zealand needs to be more innovative in bringing new and
exciting products to market. To do this, we must firstly be innovative in
how we develop the product, from the idea or concept phase through
to market application.
Engineering entrepreneur and smart thinker Colin Gilchrist will share
his knowledge of a proven, highly successful process – Learning First
Product Development – that achieves this goal. His method and
message? Acquire the knowledge necessary to bring a product to
market in a way that is cost efficient, and ensure the knowledge is
captured so that the innovation process can be continued for future
iterations.
Colin Gilchrist is the Founder and Managing Director of Set Based
Solutions Ltd… Colin was employed by Fisher & Paykel Appliances
Ltd for 38 years in various capacities, finishing as General Manager
Quality. During his time there, he introduced an efficiency-focused
management philosophy derived from the Toyota Production System
(TPS) to various operations across the group. He was also instrumental
in introducing ‘Learning First Product Development’ (LFPD) to the
company’s Engineering Group. Working with Michael Kennedy and
the team from Targeted Convergence Corporation, the successful
implementation of LFPD was pivotal to the company’s major gains in
product development, product quality and cost efficiencies.
RSVP BY TUESDAY 15TH MAY 2012 TO:
PUBLIC-LECTURES@MASSEY.AC.NZ
PHONE: 09 414 0800 EXT 9555
KNOWLEDGE
PATH FOR
INNOVATION

Click here to see the flyer.

About Precept Health:
For more information about Precept Health and their innovative medical device, please contact tonyb@precepthealth.com and visit the Precept Health website.
About NZTE:
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is New Zealand’s economic development and trade promotion agency. Their role is to help New Zealand businesses grow bigger, better, faster in international markets.
NZTE offers strategic advice, access to networks and influencers, research and market intelligence, and targeted financial support to help businesses on their international journey, and work to promote and support the growth of New Zealand business overseas. Visit NZTE here.
About ecentre:
ecentre Massey, the business innovation centre at Massey University Albany, specialises in helping people take their ideas from Garage to Global. Whether you have a great idea, need help to develop your business further or want to invest in start-up businesses, the ecentre can help. Their expert team and network of associates are positioned to provide the support and guidance your company needs to succeed.
Jessica Gillon, Communications Coordinator
jessica.gillon@ecentre.org.nz

Picture caption: The ICSB organising committee – Professor Claire Matthews, Professor David Deakins, and Dr Marco van Gelderen.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear, and interact with, the best brains on entrepreneurship and SMEs in the world,” says Professor Claire Massey, head of Massey University’s School of Management, and a member of the conference organising committee.

“It’s a huge event – we are anticipating some 400 attendees listening to around 250 presentations – with an extremely broad programme. There are 18 tracks, or topic streams, and each includes papers by world experts in their fields. There will never be this much expertise in New Zealand again.”

The conference tracks include indigenous entrepreneurship, education and training, social and economic development, small business management, new venture creation, female entrepreneurship, and this year’s theme, ‘Leading from the Edge’.

“The theme was a very deliberate choice, because that’s the position New Zealand is in. We are a small country, isolated from global markets, and while that presents many challenges, it encourages us to think creatively,” Professor Massey says.

The Leading from the Edge track will focus on pioneering entrepreneurial behaviour during challenging times. Both man-made ‘events’ and natural disasters can create new environments for entrepreneurial activity – an issue that is particularly relevant to New Zealand after the Canterbury earthquakes last year.

The other session with a uniquely New Zealand flavour is the indigenous entrepreneurship track, which is in the conference programme for the first time. Researchers will have an opportunity to showcase their work on an international stage because the best conference papers will also be published in a special issue of the Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues.

The conference’s keynote speakers include Professor Saras Sarasvathy from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, media commentator Rod Oram, and Robert Sun-Quae Lai, chairman of the APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group.

There will also be a Doctoral Consortium, where PhD candidates can present their thesis proposals and gain feedback from experienced academics, and an optional Public Agencies Forum that will explore ways for government to better engage with the small business sector.

2012 will be the first time the conference has been held in New Zealand, and business educators, researchers, policy makers and practitioners from around the world are expected to attend.

Massey University’s Centre for Small and Medium Enterprise Research successfully bid to host the conference, along with the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand, Wellington City Council, and Grow Wellington. The event will take place from June 10-13, with early bird registration closing on May 1.

For more information about the conference visit the ICSB website, or contact Sidah Russell:
S.Russell@massey.ac.nz

ATEED with support from ecentre, will be holding an Idea to Market workshop series this year.
This is a series of engagement forums exploring different aspects of the innovation process. Hear from knowledgeable practitioners and industry case studies then fire your questions at a panel of experts. Discover what help is available to help you turn a good idea into a new business opportunity. Network with others interested in taking ideas to market. Attend the workshop that matches your stage in the innovation process. Meet experts in practical aspects of innovation.

Workshop 1: Good ideas are the seeds of innovation but what makes a good idea?
Date: 1 May Venue: Massey University, Student Central Time: 7:45am registration
Date: 27 June Venue: ATEED West Office (repeat of above workshop)
This workshop will explore ideas; where they come from, how to select from many ideas, how to validate a business opportunity, how to know if an idea is novel and how to protect it. It will also cover how to apply a customer development process and use agile development to increase successful innovation. An idea may be the basis of a new product or service, the core of a new business unit or a new venture.

Workshop 2: Product development is well defined but what should you do before you start?
Date: 11 Sept Venue: Massey University tbc
This workshop will explore the front end of product development including design, rapid prototyping, pilot production, customer requirements and pre-manufacture. Successful innovation involves getting the product development process right before you start.
Product development may be the basis of a new product or service, a new business unit or a new venture.

Workshop 3: Planning the launch and planning for growth
Date: 4 Dec Venue: Massey University tbc
This workshop focuses on the late stage of product development and how to prepare for launch including demand creation, the soft launch, common mistakes when launching and being prepared for rapid growth. Many products and new businesses fail due to poor management of the launch.
The launch may be the introduction of a new product or service, a new business unit, or a new venture.

The Story Mint has been developed and tested by Suraya Dewing in association with Massey University’s ecentre and Sparks Interactive.
“My dream was to create a pathway to publication for writers struggling to get their work acknowledged,” says Suraya. “The Story Mint fulfills that dream by giving writers a way to develop their storytelling craft with the ultimate goal of our epublishing their work.”

At thestorymint.com writers and readers can sign up to participate in an online community where draft material is assessed, critiqued and created. An automated assessment tool allows writers to get initial feedback to their work by comparing it to existing authors’ work and providing a comprehensive report on how their style is working. It also provides a writer’s checklist. In addition writers can try their hand at writing serial chapters of a long story – one that is edited and another that is not and request personalised assessments of prepared manuscripts.
The Story Mint website launched today is the result of an intensive six month beta trial of a concept developed by Suraya within Massey University’s ecentre business incubator. The concept incorporated multiple feedback loops so that writers could hear what readers thought as well as gain an understanding of important writing concepts.
The response to the concept was so enthusiastic that Suraya continued to maintain the beta trial site while the ‘real’ site was being built. More than 200 foundation members participated from 15 countries including the United States, Georgia, Germany, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Mexico, Israel, India and China.
“The writers have engaged with each other and the comments from readers have been invaluable,” says Suraya. “Six serial manuscripts have been created and are available to read online.”
The first novel identified by The Story Mint for publication, Tokyo Curry by Simon Angelo, will be epublished in May/June.
Suraya has a Master in Creative Writing from the University of Auckland and a background in communications and electronic media.

“The Essential Guide to Raising Capital” helps you to answer such questions as:

• If I had $500K or $5M invested in my business, what would I do?
• How do I get an investor to invest in my business?
• How do investors calculate what my business is worth?
• What help is out there to help me become investment ready?

Please see below for Mark’s profile and links to his website:

www.growthmanagement.co.nz

Mark’s blog:  www.succinct.co.nz

Mark Robotham has built a reputation as an inspirational public speaker – facilitator sharing his pragmatic approach to leading businesses to success.  After a successful career with high growth technology companies, he has spent the past 5 years inspiring and guiding NZ’s emerging businesses. His Power Pitch workshops and coaching have given clients more customers and helped close investment deals. His services include:  advisory boards, pitch coaching, facilitating strategy days, public speaking and business training. Originally trained as an electronics design engineer, he spent the later part of his corporate career in international marketing working both in NZ and in Silicon Valley.

The venue is ecentre, Gate 5, Oaklands Road, Massey University. Each workshop commences at 9.00 am and runs for around 3 hours. Each workshop is $400. You may be eligible for a NZTE voucher which can cut this cost in half.
Feel free to contact Jessica Gillon (jessica@ecentre.org.nz) if you have any further questions.