Budding entrepreneurs are at it again in Salmon Arm, well along the way in the 2013 Shuswap Launch-a-Preneur competition.
Much like television’s Dragon’s Den program where people pitch business ideas to a few wealthy Canadian businesspeople – but a kinder, gentler version, Launch-a-Preneur assists entrepreneurs in planning for a successful launch of their business. The support and training then culminates in a final competition night, April 26, when teams compete for thousands of dollars in prizes and in-kind donations designed to assist with business start-up in the Shuswap.
Seventeen teams began the process in January with 12 teams remaining.
They are being supported by business mentors, Okanagan Enactus – formerly Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), Okanagan College professors, Community Futures/Accelerate Shuswap, and the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society. Workshops the competitors participate in include topics such as finance and selling.
The process and all of the tools involved help an entrepreneur to clarify what their product is, who their customers are, and if the plan they’ve created is viable.
“The neat thing about this one is a real spirt of co-operation,” says Carol McGillivray, business support coordinator for Salmon Arm Economic Development. “There are all these folks with different ideas for businesses…They’re saying to each other ‘hey, have your thought of this…’ It’s really kind of neat to see the support for each other.”
Come Friday, April 26, when all of the learning and preparation culminates in the competition night, teams present an “elevator pitch” to a panel of judges.
A selection of teams is then invited to move on to the final round where they provide a more detailed presentation and answer questions from the judges and audience.
The finalists are competing for a number of awards including Green Initiative, Public Choice, and first, second and third awards. Along with the awards are thousands of dollars in prizes including marketing packages, website development packages, seed capital, business consulting time, and accounting and legal fees.
Information on the competition is available at launch-a-preneur.ca.
