My thoughts after attending Venture 4th by Heather Cowan

September 12, 2013 / by admin / 1 Comment / Filed under Venture 4th

I thoroughly enjoyed the Venture 4th entrepreneurial programme. From day one I was impressed by the friendly and positive outlook of all the facilitators. Everything was very well organised from the evening meals to the guest speakers as well as the theory and practical sessions held each evening.

I looked forward to hearing each guest speaker and was surprised how much knowledge and inspiration they could pack together in just 10 minutes! Each guest speaker had something new to offer since they all ran different businesses and had a new story to tell. I learnt that to have a business you must have a vision and be intentional. Your business must provide a need or want and working with the right people with the right skills is important as well as smart money management! Lastly don’t be a subsistent thinker i.e. just getting by, challenge yourself to be a visionary thinker – seeing, preparing and embracing the future.

We were also fortunate to have an entrepreneur with multiple successful businesses leading the programme and teaching the importance of developing and refining your business plan on a continuous basis. Other subjects covered were:

– Entrepreneurship, the common mistakes entrepreneurs make and how to avoid these
– The opportunity – how to identify opportunities and evaluate your ideas
– The marketing plan – what product, price, place and promotions
– The HR plan – employees pay and benefits, skills development and risk management
– The Financial plan – most important
– The Startup plan – everything to know before you start the business

The programme was so memorable because of the people who you could see were doing this to help empower others, honouring God with their skills and time. Oh and of course coffee with biscuits was great!

Venture 4th exceeded my expectations and although doing this programme does not mean you can become a successful entrepreneur overnight, what it does do is inform and motivate you to know that it is possible to ‘think beyond a job and create your own’.

By Heather Cowan