FastTrac® NewVenture™
Owning your own business is the American dream. Building it to withstand the test of time requires a unique set of tools. That's where FastTrac NewVenture makes a difference by providing the opportunity to:
- Explore entrepreneurship;
- Identify and meet market needs;
- Objectively evaluate your concept and plans for moving forward;
- Develop a working knowledge of business fundamentals such as marketing, product/service development, management, and financials;
- Begin building an infrastructure for your business operations and processes;
- Explore the risk and success factors in the marketplace;
- Understand how to access the human, financial, and business resources;
- Network with entrepreneurs and professionals;
- Respond to changes that can impact your business; and
- Build an actionable business plan.
FastTrac® GrowthVenture™
Sustainable growth cannot be left to chance. With FastTrac GrowthVenture it isn’t. Discover how to plan for purposeful, profitable growth, and improved business performance. Hindsight is 20/20, so take what you’ve learned in your business and look to the future. Create a framework to improve the performance of your business with FastTrac GrowthVenture.
Targeted specifically to entrepreneurs who have experience running their businesses, FastTrac GrowthVenture focuses on the issues you need to:
- Make critical decisions about your business vision and strategy;
- Investigate next-stage growth and opportunity;
- Plan for strategic growth;
- Build and maintain a competitive advantage;
- Lead with clarity; and
- Maximize cash flow for future profitability.
Listening to Your Business™
What do I want from my business? How do I get it?
The day-to-day responsibilities of running your own business leave little time to focus on long-term vision, goals, and strategies. Find time in your schedule to spend it with Listening to Your Business, a half-day workshop from FastTrac.
Created for entrepreneurs just like you, Listening to Your Business makes the most of the knowledge you have about your business—and the limited time you have to make it better.
Become Your Own Business Consultant
No one knows your business better than you. Listening to Your Business gives you the tools you need to take a closer look at where your business is today, what you want it to look like in three years, and the steps to get there.
Listening to Your Business provides you with the opportunity to:
- Examine your business today, including its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities;
- Visualize your business three years from now;
- Formulate an internal planning process to establish interim goals and strategies;
- Identify resources to assist you in reaching your business goals; and
- Examine and respond to challenges and transitions.
Hands-On Learning
In Listening to Your Business, you learn by doing. Workshop leaders are experienced entrepreneurs and talented facilitators. They guide you through a process of reflection, vision, and planning. They also help you put your plan in motion right away.
Leave Listening to Your Business motivated and confident about the future of your business. Know your three-year vision and take steps to achieve your personal and professional goals.
Invest in Yourself
Whether you’ve been in business for twenty years or one year, Listening to Your Business can align your vision for your business with the steps to get you there. Your business is worth the investment.
First Step FastTrac®
Dreams Are the Cornerstones of Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs are do-ers! Their excitement and relentless pursuit of their dreams plunges them into action. This determination, teamed with knowledge, can help you make your dreams come true.
Can your idea be turned into a profitable business? Will power and hard work are not enough to guarantee success. You must first determine the feasibility of your idea. The process of determining feasibility will help you:
- Examine your willingness, desire, and courage to be a successful entrepreneur;
- Define your personal vision and goals;
- Gather information;
- Solve problems;
- Test assumptions and solutions on paper;
- Check that the business is in line with your personal vision and goals; and
- Finalize your plan.
GO! or NO GO!
The feasibility plan is based on a proven planning process developed by the Kauffman Foundation for the award-winning FastTrac programs. The desired outcome of First Step FastTrac is a written feasibility plan that helps you decide whether your business idea is a "GO!" or "NO GO!"
Before you quit your job or invest your life savings, wouldn't it be nice to know whether your business idea has merit? In First Step FastTrac, you'll examine your business idea from every angle. Not only will it help you make a decision about starting your business, you will discover whether the life of an entrepreneur is right for you.
Laying the Foundation
In First Step FastTrac, you'll work closely with other entrepreneurs, sharing ideas and experiences, and laying the foundation for future business relationships. In coaching sessions, you'll explore issues such as: What additional opportunities exist for entrepreneurs? How can I market my new business? How do I price my products and services? How do I begin developing a budget?
During this program, you will:
- Explore strengths and opportunities for personal and professional development; and
- Develop a feasibility plan so you can evaluate your business concept.
Ready, Set, GO!
By the time you finish the program, you'll know whether your idea has "legs" and if starting a business is the right decision for you.
FastTrac® TechVenture™
Focus on the Business
In today's marketplace, it's not enough to know just the technology or science. To be successful, you need to understand the business behind it. How do you generate interest? How much is it worth? How do you profit from it? How do you sustain ongoing growth? How do you get the needed financing?
That's where FastTrac TechVenture makes a difference.
Just as you thrive on the frontier of technology and life sciences, this program operates on the cutting edge of business and entrepreneurship. During FastTrac TechVenture, this knowledge is shared with you. Learn how to determine the best way to apply it to your situation to produce a product, build your company, and fulfill your vision.
Learn by Doing
Beyond theories and conjecture, FastTrac TechVenture takes an analytical look at your business. Discover what you need to consider in starting, operating, funding, or growing a technology or life sciences-based business, in a forum that allows you to:
- Determine market opportunities and business strategies and pursue them successfully;
- Define your target customers;
- Develop a solid marketing plan;
- Learn to assess and build a top management team;
- Calculate the funding needed at each stage of your business and discover the best ways to access it;
- Learn the importance of protecting your intellectual property through licenses, patents, trademarks, and copyrights; and
- Hone your elevator pitch and investor presentation.
Make Contacts that Build your Network for Success
What many entrepreneurs like best about FastTrac TechVenture are the contacts they make. Our program facilitators are knowledgeable entrepreneurs with an in-depth understanding of growing a business. They introduce you to the tools you need to evaluate your venture and find financing to build a sustainable business.
What's more, you participate in our own brand of business-coaching sessions, establishing productive relationships with other entrepreneurs – just like you. You also gain one-on-one assistance in areas that are critical to the near-term and long-term success of your business.
Make the Most of Your Opportunity
The right time, the right technology, and the right business foundation. Discover what you need to bring your technology or life sciences venture to life with FastTrac TechVenture.