The journey begins: Entrepreneurship 101

The journey begins: Entrepreneurship 101

Did you hear that the escalator at MaRS Discovery District broke down last Wednesday as there were too many people heading down to the Auditorium?

More than 500 people attended the launch of the eighth season of Entrepreneurship 101, and more than 300 people attended via live webcasting. The energy of entrepreneurship filled every corner both inside and outside of the MaRS Auditorium where the event took place.

The audience at Ent101 by Vijender Trivedi

During this kickoff lecture, Keri Damen, the director of entrepreneurship education at MaRS, spoke about how to find and validate your business idea, and how Entrepreneurship 101 can help you with your startup.

Forgot to take notes? Here is a sketch note shared by attendee Sacha Chua.

Entrepreneurship 101 by Sacha Chua

Just as in previous years, Entrepreneurship 101 is a free non-credit introductory course that takes you through the steps of building a successful business. The difference this year is that Entrepreneurship 101 has adopted a module agenda.

The journey begins

This module introduces the basic knowledge of how to start a business, including building the legal framework of your business and determining the value proposition of your product/service offering.

Model

Now that you have put together a business, how will you make money from it? This module will help you understand business foundation building, including developing a business model, business planning and more.

Market

No matter what business you are in, you’ll have to market your business and make sales to gain profit. This module will help you in understanding the market and building marketing, communication and sales strategies.

Management

As an entrepreneur, you’re the boss now. You’ll learn to manage both your money and your team in this module.

Money

What? You need money to run a business?! The final module focuses on how to get your business financed, either by bootstrapping or raising money from investors.

The course will wrap up with a business plan pitch competition called the Up-Start! Competition, in which selected participants will compete for a $10,000 prize.

Missed the live event? Check out the video below:

Knot your belt and sit tight—the wonderful journey begins!

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