The Big Start was born out of recognition, by the OPSR, of the marked absence of a culture if entrepreneurship and rampant uncertainty in the minds of potential entrepreneurs. Both contribute to the public perception that the only form of employment is with prominent establishments and agencies. Read more »
STEPS FOR CONDUCTING MARKET RESEARCH STEP 1 Establish the goals of the project 1. What you want to learn/what are the objectives of the research 2. Information on demand for your product or service 3. As much data on your target audience
In Saint Lucia, all businesses must comply with certain statutory and regulatory requirements in order to establish and operate. In order to accomplish this milestone one of the main or first considerations is determining and selecting your business entity type.
This stage/milestone during your product realization processes is very crucial to the success of your overall business start-up project. It falls somewhere mid-way between the achievements of all your milestones.
Examine the business and determine the operations and type of organization which is necessary to support the various tasks and processes required to obtain a finished product.
Sell product to customers Sign up exact number of persons identified in your projections (In Previous Market Strategy Milestone) those who fit in your target demographic that will allow you to make a profit
In this milestone which is the final milestone before you seek financing for your business, you are pulling all the elements of the previous milestones together. This is where you see the value of the last nine weeks. You are to compile your Business Plan based on all the previous milestones. Once this is done, your primary task is to prepare your Budget/Projected Financial Statements
In your last milestone, you prepared your business plan and financial statements such as your income and cash flow projections, break even analysis and balance sheet.
In this milestone, you are to raise the capital you need to finance your business. This generally takes 2 forms, equity and debt financing.
The ten finalists reunite with their mentors, judges and sponsors as friends and family come to celebrate the achievement of all the teams who made it on the Big Start and crown the first ever winner of $50,000.00. In this grand finale hosted at the Rex with a live audience and Jodi Boodhoo serving as Master of Ceremonies, COTA and Climbers are given the final verdict and the Milestone winners are given recognition and prizes.
