Entrepreneurship Training Course City news

Embassy of Sweden, Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, TeliaSonera and CONNECT Latvia invites you to join the Entrepreneurship Training Course in Daugavpils in spring of 2015

In brief

The objective of the course is to inspire and equip the participants with the necessary skills and information needed to set up a company and run a business. The long-term goal is to strengthen entrepreneurship culture in Daugavpils City and Latgale Region, to engage participants in entrepreneurial networks, and eventually to facilitate establishment of an Entrepreneurship centre in the City as well as to assist in creation/development of a business incubator.

Program outline

The course should be more practical, than theoretical, even though theory is also important. The focus of this course is to provide the participants with necessary impetus, inspiration, tacit knowledge and network for starting-up their own businesses. First venture of a first time entrepreneur would hardly become successful, even though a few succeed with their very first idea, but the core thing to become an entrepreneur is to try and start doing it.

Various entrepreneurship topics will be covered by experts in each of the fields. Entrepreneurs will be invited occasionally to share their experience.

Target group

Starting-up and would be entrepreneurs, university or college students with different specializations, young people, but not limited to, who are interested and eager to start-up their own companies and would like to learn more about it and get inspired for doing so. Other participants should not be excluded, i.e. recently started companies, people in their best ages, who would like to pursue their own businesses, a.o.

Many successful start-ups in recent years have been started by young people having great ideas. Nowadays in a dynamically changing business environment with IT resources making the world flat one should not be frightened to start a business even having no experience or being old enough. It is fair to start if you just have the courage, initiative and will to do something new and better.

Schedule: The course consists of 10 topics of entrepreneurship. It will run from 18th March to 16th April for 5 consecutive weeks, with sessions 2 days a week from 16.00 to 19.00.

Number of Participants: Around 40

Language: Latvian, some sessions may be hold in English

Venue: University of Daugavpils, Parādes iela 1, Life Science and Technology building

Registration: Apply online here until 12th of March. Participation is free of charge.

Organizers: Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Embassy of Sweden, TeliaSonera Institute at SSE Riga, CONNECT Latvia

Supporters: University of Daugavpils

Program (each marked day from 16.00 – 19.00)

Instructors

(week 1 and 5) TĀLIS LAIZĀNS

(week 2) EGONS LIEPIŅŠ

(week 3) ALAN BARRELL, entrepreneur in residence, University of Cambridge (U.K.)

(week 4) MATĪSS NEIMANIS

Featured guests

(week 1) FIONN DOBBIN – inspiration and social entrepreneurship

(week 2) ILGA ROBEŽNIECE – document managment

(week 3) Jan Storgårds, IT entrepreneur (Cambridge, U.K. & Finland)
(week 4) ALEXANDER EFREMOV, local entrepreneur, SIA Redius (Rēzekne) – management

(week 5) ANDERS PAALZOW, SSE Riga

Brief description of topics

WEEK 1 (18-19 March) – with TĀLIS LAIZĀNS, FIONN DOBBIN

① Want to be an entrepreneur?

Relatively few people decide and act to become an entrepreneur. Why? What does it involve to become an entrepreneur? How about decision, dedication, discipline, responsibilities, benefits, satisfaction and other character related issues? What are the main reasons to start a company? Each and every person has his/her unique strengths and capacities for todays' world. We will explore how to identify and make a better use of your unique qualities for entrepreneurship.

② When and how do I start, market research, resources needed

Once I have come into agreement with myself to be ready for entrepreneurship, then what are the first steps to start with and what are needed preparation works. When, with what idea, how, with whom and where do I start?

WEEK 2 (24-25 March) – with EGONS LIEPIŅŠ, ILGA ROBEŽNIECE

③ Setting up a company, legal framework and documentation, intellectual property – EGONS LIEPIŅŠ

Often start-ups face challenges of legal character. How to deal with it? Main forms of entrepreneurship, company’ statutes, shares and shareholders, investors, tax issues, dealing with employees, customers, suppliers, partners and government. Key agreements. Getting and running legal things in a good order and manner will save your time for your core business activity and prevent from potential disasters.

④ Funding your business and financial management

It is obvious question – where do I get money to start a business? How to sustain the business in the first year or before my sales are exceeding all expenses? If there are acting entrepreneurs nearby as well as all around the world, it means that they have managed to solve this question in one or the other way. We will look upon those typical possible funding mechanisms for your start-up. Also, which is by far not much less important, is how do you administer your financial resources once you have got them.

WEEK 3 (30-31 March) – with ALAN BARRELL, Jan Storgårds

⑤ Turning ideas into business opportunity, working on a business model

You may have wonderful ideas for a better world, but how to identify a real business opportunity for your idea and bring it to reality? Some entrepreneurs say: “The idea is not everything, its' realization is everyhing”.

⑥ Team formation, working in a team and networking – ALAN BARRELL

Entrepreneurship is a body contact sport. When you start your company, you will soon realize how important are your relationships skills, contact networks and healthy environment within your team. What knowledge, social and technical expertise will be needed for your team? How to develop your relationship and networking skills?

WEEK 4 (7-8 April) – with MATĪSS NEIMANIS, ALEXANDER EFREMOV

⑦ Product, technology, innovation

When you enter market, you would surely like to deliver a product of high quality and, if possible, with some sort of innovation. Where does innovation happen, can it be part of your business model?

⑧ Sales, marketing, branding

There is a saying: most of the technology start-ups fail not because their technology does not work, but because they are not selling it. When to start and how to do your sales?

WEEK 5 (15-16 April) – with TĀLIS LAIZĀNS

⑨ Presentation skills and materials, pitching

Can you tell me about your business in 30 seconds? If you are start-up manager, you will have to learn this and also some other useful types of presentation of your company. There are number of factors that you have to bear in mind when making your pitch, but the best training is practice.

⑩ Social entrepreneurship, networking and further opportunities

[GRADUATION] – ANDERS PAALZOW

How does your business is inter-linked with social entrepreneurship? “Networking is what makes us a community”, was said by Bill Otterson, the first CEO of CONNECT San Diego. You might also have heard of this saying: “You do not have to know everything, you just have know people who know what you need to know.”