Entrepreneurship can often seem daunting or intimidating to those first starting out but as a wise man once said, the best place to start is the beginning. The Startup Basics Program is a part of the Discovery Parks Technology Education Program, and this fall it will be hosted in collaboration with Westbank First Nation.

The Positioning Pro Tips session is all about the power of communicating to potential investors and customers by considering the purpose of your business on a deeper level.

If you need to pitch your business idea to important stakeholders, but find yourself struggling to communicate in a way that does your business justice this session is right for you.

In this session, Executive-in-Residence and entrepreneur, Lance Schafer, will walk through the seven steps to building a successful positioning statement. These steps are designed to ensure you can communicate the true potential of your business and also give you a chance to examine the power of a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) and how to avoid “feature creep”.

What is a “positioning statement” or MVP and how can this help grow my business? We’re so glad you asked.

A positioning statement is an expression of how a given product, service or brand fills a particular consumer need in a way that its competitors don’t.

Harley Davidson was able to define their business model and tagline, and ultimately blow away the competition by following the Positioning Statement model:  “The only motorcycle manufacturer that makes big, loud motorcycles for macho guys, mostly in the United States, in an era of decreasing personal freedom.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a development technique in which a new product or website is developed with sufficient features to satisfy early adopters. The final, complete set of features is only designed and developed after considering feedback from the product’s initial users.

Lance is passionate about the entrepreneurial experience and has focused much of his career on understanding the underlying formula that defines the success of most companies… like a strong positioning statement and MVP.

This session is open to both tech and non-tech entrepreneurs and is a great way to get some real-world intel on starting a successful startup. Visit our events page to learn more or sign up for this September 26 session.