Every Monday, the Plan Einstein location slowly fills up with a varied mix of people that enter the Entrepreneurship Course. Between 5 and 7.30 pm, Leendert de Bell and Erik van Vulpen teach refugees and Overvecht residents all about entrepreneurship and how to start up their own business. The alternation between Dutch and English language makes it possible for all people to join the 8-week course. Utrecht Center for Entrepreneurship is one of the cooperating organizations that teamed up within Plan Einstein to bring refugees, Overvecht residents and entrepreneurship together.
Entrepreneurship course
The evening started with a brief discussion of last week, where the group learned about design thinking and prototyping. This course day focuses on the actual product. During the evening, the group completes the subject of how to validate their solution to their potential customers and makes a start with verifying sufficient customer demand in a quantitative way.
All participants got time to think about their solution to encountered problems and their Unique Value Proposition (UVP). UVP is a clear statement that describes the benefit of an offer, how it solves their customer’s needs and what distinguishes them from the competition. For new businesses, it’s important to have a strong UVP to show on the website or social media channels. The findings were immediately put into practice: all participants got the assignment to make a landing page – a simple web page that appears in response to clicking on an online advertisement. The group made a landing page for smoke testing, a method for determining if there is sufficient customer demand for a product or service. Some had difficulty using the internet, but all attendees tried to help each other and gave advice to those who needed it. It created a nice atmosphere where everyone listened to others and had the patience to explain things a second time.
When finished with the 8-week course, participants pitch their business idea to the public to receive advice and help. Those who are interested are able to apply for the Monday evening and Tuesday morning. If participants of the Entrepreneurship course are enthusiastic about their business idea, they get the chance to sign up for the follow-up course ‘Start your own business’. It is an incubation programme with personal coaching, marketing and financial training. Read here more about the course offers and Plan Einstein itself!
If you wish to apply for or get more information about the Entrepreneurship Course @Plan Einstein, please register here.