ecentre's new Sprint programme could help your 'multi-million dollar' idea take off!

ecentreSprint is a 12 week practical programme which helps entrepreneurs develop and validate their business idea and create a successful business model. They are given advice and assistance to help determine whether there is an attractive market opportunity for their idea and how to create a unique business model that is scalable and repeatable.

“The concept of solving a real market problem is simple, but is often overlooked,” says ecentre CEO Steve Corbett. “Entrepreneurs will often, mistakenly, spend months or even years developing a product without having proven whether they are solving an actual problem for which there are paying customers.”

Steve Guy from realedge.co.nz is one person whose idea has taken flight. Through the ecentreSprint programme, Steve has identified and validated an attractive niche within the real estate industry and is now working with a select group of agents. His RealEDGE software allows each agent to quickly identify opportunities for their customers, reduce time-consuming administrative tasks and makes communication easier and more effective, all allowing agents to focus their time on delivering personal service to parties in all parts of the property-buying process.

“Through ecentreSprint my ideas were challenged from many qualified and knowledgeable third party perspectives, which helped me grow and refine my proposed offering. I would highly recommend anyone to come to ecentre at the early stages of idea development and not work alone for 18 months as I did – you’ll get there quicker!”

A good example of a company having gone through this process is Perceptive, NZ’s largest independent market research company. “When Perceptive began there was no ecentreSprint programme so I launched with a product that hadn’t been validated. I learned the hard way that having a great idea isn’t necessarily a guarantee that customers will want it. By testing new concepts and continuing to listen to my customers I was able to create a service they really valued, the business then began to grow quite fast,” says CEO Chris Pescott. In 2009, Perceptive was named 24th Fastest Growing Business in New Zealand in the Deloitte Fast 50.

“Through the programme, entrepreneurs gain early market feedback and build and evolve their prototype business model based on that feedback,” ecentre business strategist Sabrina Nagel adds.

“ecentreSprint entrepreneurs benefit from the interaction with a wide range of experts including Massey University experts, experienced entrepreneurs and mentors from the business world. This helps to equip them with the skills they need to take their product or service from garage to global.”

1 August is the starting date for the next intake of ecentreSprint and the ecentre will be running information sessions for interested entrepreneurs within the next few weeks. People wanting to find out more about the programme or those thinking they have the next multi-million dollar idea should contact Dorian Scott on 09 281 4547.