Ice House Entrepreneurship Week 2: Problems are Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

Ice House Entrepreneurship Program

If you are considering a business startup and have doubts about your product or service being viable, lack the funds to get started, or feel that a disability or your background are holding you back from fulfilling your dreams, this eight-week program will help you overcome inertia and make wise choices. Explore and be inspired by the entrepreneurial mindset behind the behaviors that led the business owners in our study to be highly successful.

NOTE: This course is the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative’s Ice House Entrepreneurship Program. A separate registration is required for each seminar. While each seminar can be taken independently, only those who complete at least seven of the eight seminars will gain the full benefit from the course and earn the Ice House certificate and pin.

Week 2: Problems are Opportunities for Entrepreneurs
Problems often have very simple solutions which can offer an opportunity for your business’s financial success. Identifying the best problem to be solved and finding the best solution is not always obvious at first inspection. Entrepreneurs who exercise due diligence and recognize that many minds are better than one often find the best solution. Learn how to use an effective discovery canvas tool that has fast-tracked many small business owners into startups.
Register by: 4:00 PM September 29

Week 3: Putting Your Small Business Ideas Into Action
A lack of money and/or a lack of time are often not the biggest obstacles derailing a potential small business owner. While saving towards a business startup can empower potential entrepreneurs to make careful decisions, in this seminar we will look at the motivation that drives entrepreneurs to succeed and make a difference. Learn about the biggest obstacle, and find tips on how to overcome that obstacle.
Register by: 4:00 PM October 6

Week 4: Pursuing Knowledge as an Entrepreneur through Life-Long Learning
Making informed decisions with a ready-aim-fire approach to prove initial assumptions with calculated risks may cause small business owners to adapt their operations to the needs of the local community. Entrepreneurs must be open to investing time if their endgame is to grow a thriving business. Learn how those who have made the pursuit of knowledge a key element of their success found amazing results.
Register by: 4:00 PM October 13

Week 5: Creating Wealth for the Small Business Owner
Investing and spending are two different approaches. The latter often results in consuming mindlessly and offering an outward appearance of success while the small business owner may actually be carrying overwhelming debt that ends up driving future decisions that are not always in the best interests of the business or the entrepreneur’s personal life.
Register by: 4:00 PM October 20

Week 6: Building Your Small Business Brand
Seeking to understand the problem that you are solving from the customer’s point of view aids in sending the right message about the products or services one provides, lest the entrepreneur overlooks opportunities and sabotages his or her own success. Understand why actions speak louder than words in this seminar.
Register by: 4:00 PM October 27

Week 7: Creating Community in Your Entrepreneurial Network
The value of a successful network to include peers, partnering organizations, professionals, mentors, and employees is crucial for a business that seeks to be relevant to the needs of the customer, evolve, and grow. What kind of influence and value should you seek, and how can your network help you to transform your small business as you develop a mindset and the skills required for each phase of a transformation in both your personal and professional life?
Register by: 4:00 PM November 10

Week 8: The Power of Persistence in Your Small Business
Are you willing to go the distance to reach something greater in your small business than you have imagined while being focused on what you have at the moment, but refusing to accept stagnation? Can you adapt and see adversity as a catalyst to take positive action while recognizing that forging ahead may not be easy? It is possible for most entrepreneurs who are determined to overcome pre-conceived beliefs, poverty, and even learning disabilities.
Register by: 4:00 PM November 17