Testing, testing...
Finding a market for your brilliant idea
Friday, June 03 2011 || News || BY Lesley Springall
Entrepreneurs will spend months or even years developing a product without proving whether they are solving an actual problem for which there are paying customers, says ecentre CEO Steve Corbett, CEO of Massey University's Auckland-based incubator the Ecentre.
But don't worry, the Ecentre has developed a cure. It's a 12-week programme to help entrepreneurs validate their ideas, developed partly from experience with too many would-be-entrepreneurs spending months developing something only to approach the Ecentre and quickly find there isn’t a market for their product.
“People just aren’t coming in early enough. It’s probably the Kiwi attitude ... people just do it by themselves in their garage, they’re not really out there asking for help,” says Sabrina Nagel, the Ecentre’s business strategist.
The Ecentre Sprint programme requires people to spend 12 weeks on site, or at least part of the time on site, developing their idea with the ecentre’s business mentors and Massey University advisers. Budding entrepreneurs are given help to develop their ideas, identify target markets and approach potential customers to get feedback.
The inaugural programme was launched in February with six entrepreneurs. Of those, one gave up within two weeks, three are developing customer bases, one is nearly at that stage and one has gone back to the drawing board. Nagel says it’s a success even for those who realise they don’t have anything. “It’s better to find that out in two weeks than six months.”
Each course costs $1500 a month and those wanting to get on the course are vetted, says Nagel, but more emphasis is placed on the person rather than the idea. The next Ecentre Sprint programme starts on 1 August.
sounds an excellent idea. I'm sure you would have all necessary confidentiality around these budding projects?
Posted by Anonymous at 11:34 on June 4, 2011
ReplyFlag abuse