Starting Out Shouldn’t Be The Hardest Part

The Whanganui entrepreneurial and start-up community is enthusiastic and full of potential. Economic development agency Whanganui & Partners has developed a programme to help this community get support and give their new businesses the best possible start.

The agency’s Start-up information sessions are a key component of its new business start-up and growth programme. The first of these sessions is scheduled for April 28.

The sessions will provide a practical beginning point for people ready to turn an idea into a successful business, and for others who are ready to grow their start-up or new venture.

Hosted by Whanganui & Partners’ business team, the 60-minute sessions are designed to provide information, resources and useful tools to help people develop business ideas.

Strategic Lead – Business Tim Easton says the sessions will give potential entrepreneurs and business people an opportunity to identify their strengths and their business style.

“We’ll help people identify their start-up profile, look at they different ways people can start a businesses and connect them with the organisations and people who can support them. Everyone who starts a business does it slightly differently, depending on their past experience, personal approach and business goals and expectations,” he said.

Easton said the sessions would also include a chance to hear from a leader in the business community, as well as covering key considerations for start-up businesses and ways to plan next learning steps.

“It may be that the entrepreneur is well on their way and can engage with us through a different support stream, or we may be identifying a need to connect them with mentors or other important sources of resources,” he said.

“We want people to take advantage of this opportunity regardless of where they are in their planning process, this will be a great chance to make connections, talk about their ideas and join a community invested in supporting their success.

Easton said the sessions over the year would have a variety of guests who would give invaluable insight into the business environment in Whanganui, and would have relatable experiences that the entrepreneurs could learn from.

“We know some degree of failure and difficulty is inevitable in order to succeed, and that fear of failure is often what holds people back. Hearing from those who have done the hard work, pushed through failure to thrive is a really important confidence-building experience.”

In support of Whanganui’s thriving entrepreneurial community, Whanganui & Partners is also running a series of Entrepreneur meet-ups. These regular meet-ups will be held every six weeks following information sessions, beginning on May 5.

The meet-ups will provide updates on local projects, introduce newcomers to the entrepreneurial space, and allow input to a start-up calendar and programmes.

Both the meet-ups and the start-up information sessions will be held at the The Backhouse. To find out more and register for the start-up information sessions or entrepreneur meet-ups go to discoverwhanganui/startup

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