Entrepreneur. Small Business Developer. StartUP enthusiast. Engineer. Youth Policy Wonk. Adjunct Math Lecturer. Entrepreneurship Instructor
I have been an entrepreneurship instructor for 4 years, have wealth of experience starting several businesses, and have helped develop, advise and start several other businesses.
THIS IS AWESOME! I love what you guys do! I actually co-founded an organization (www.relifeinc.org) that empowers inner city disconnected youth in Harlem NYC through entrepreneurship and education. I have about 10 years of research on youth development and engagement, especially on ho to curb disconnection and strongly feel that entrepreneurship with sound education is that vehicle that could help turn things around. In fact, all our programs are themed around entrepreneurship, so I am very excited and interested in what PEP represents. Based on our new pilot program The URBN Youth StartUP, which just ended last month, there are several tips I could give. We spent 12 hours a week with the students (4 days per week, covering concepts and fundamentals of entrepreneurship, basic life and soft skills, financial literacy and micro-finance and innovation/tech day) in addition to having 2 mentors per student (one entrepreneur and one professional). These alongside implementing our HEROES Model for effective youth development (heroesmodel.com) helped us have a successful pilot. Let me know if you are interested, Id love to talk more. Cheers
Building and monetizing a loyal client base takes a lot of diligence and skill. Besides the referral agencies and other third party reliant methods, three things you must do are 1. You have to skillfully build a trusted brand 2. Build and grow a niche audience for your brand on- and off-line 3. Effectively engage your niche audience 4. Monetize Steps 1-3 Lets converse and I can work you through these steps in detail if interested.
Based on your question '....best method for presenting MVP to potential customers?', I'm assuming that you are yet to attract or in the process of attracting your audience. If so, I think you may be jumping the gun here. I'd say 1. Build your audience first. 2.Engage them as you build. Ask them as you build what they want. Because your 'product' is tailored to the client and almost dependent on their engagement, you have to make it more customer-centric. Some Questions for you to think about if you haven't already: a. How are you attracting your clients? b. What are they looking for? c. What will keep them engaged on your website? d. Would they feel comfortable referring your services to their network(s)? e. How do you ensure that they are engaged on your website? f. What will engage them? g. Besides a profile, will your customer help generate content that could help expand the reach of your website, i.e. Are they consumers of content or co-providers? h. What use is another professional profile in addition to others like Linkedin? Why yours? etc
After answering these and more questions, knowing who your clients are and finding out what they 'want', your Minimum Viable Product could then become the most attractive & tangible thing/service you can offer your clients FREE of charge. Use that to grow your audience, then gradually implement revenue generating perks or additional services worth paying for. Feel free to give me a call to further discuss this. Cheers, Chike
As president of 4T's Productions - Teaching Teens To Think, I volunteer as a mentor for Re:Life's URBN Youth StartUp program. I consider Chike Ukaegbu to be one of the most knowledgeable and dediciated entrepreneurs I've met.
Chike is a dedicated professional and entreprenuer and has donated countless hours of his time to his many business ventures. He does not only work with members of the community, he also helps to implement plans and programs that will enrich the lives the youth in his program and of those around him.
Chike's leadership skills are invaluable to his business ventures which have been started from the ground up. For example, the youth enrolled in Re:Life's URBN Youth's StartUp program benefit from a multitude of mentors who teach them how to start their own businesses.
In my opinion, Chike's unwavering devotion to youth's education and professional development exemplifies his strong moral fiber and character. It is an honor to be a volunteer mentor for his organization.
