Event #1 – A Journey to Entrepreneurship:

 

Our first event of the year served as an introduction to entrepreneurship for student who had an interest in entrepreneurship, and had a desire to explore it as a career option. There were two parts to this event: a presentation followed by a networking session.

 

Professor Kerr delivered a presentation on an introduction to business start-ups. He first discussed the basics of entrepreneurship – what is entrepreneurship? Interestingly, Professor Kerr also addressed the challenges of being an entrepreneur and presented the truth in a matter-of-fact way. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone and often times, there are many struggles involved. Yet it can be a fulfilling career for individuals who possess creativity, a vision, and can persevere.

 

Moreover, he engaged the students by asking them the reasons as to why people decide to start their own business. Students were also able to learn about the two approaches to go about starting their own business, which are the classical and effectual approach. One relies on a more theoretical, structured plan while the other is more flexible and dependent on one’s own experiences. It is up to one’s personal preference as to which approach to take.

 

The networking portion of the event was a great opportunity for the students to ask established entrepreneurs any questions that they may have in regards to being a business owner. Ten companies and organizations were in attendance, including LaunchYU, LPi Group, Vaughan Enterprise, EY, and Nvest. Our attendees highly enjoyed interacting with the entrepreneurs and gained some valuable insight into pursuing new opportunities as an aspiring entrepreneur.

 

Facts:

• 90 people in attendance

• 10 organizations/entrepreneurs in attendance

• 3-hour workshop