Boot camp at the Whitman School of Management will train aspiring entrepreneurs

Wednesday, August 13, 2003, By News Staff

Boot camp at the Whitman School of Management will train aspiring entrepreneursAugust 13, 2003Cynthia J. Moritzcjmoritz@syr.edu

“START-UP: The Syracuse Entrepreneurs Bootcamp” is the name of a new six-weekend program for aspiring entrepreneurs presented this fall by the Michael J. Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship in Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

“We call it a boot camp because it will be focused, intense and packed with useful material,” says Nola Miyasaki, director of the Falcone Center. “We have taken the key elements of our nationally recognized curriculum in entrepreneurship and created a course that is tailored to aspiring entrepreneurs in New York State.”

No business background is required to participate. The program is open to those with an idea for a new business, those in the early stages of a new venture and people who are curious about entrepreneurship.

Topics to be covered include:

  • Determining whether a business idea is a good one
  • Deciding the need a business plan and writing a good one
  • Researching the market
  • Securing financing
  • Making sense of numbers
  • Defining a business model
  • Guerrilla and low-cost marketing
  • What it really takes to succeed in business
  • Where to get information to organize a new business
  • Models for making money

Five Whitman School faculty members will lead the program with the help of several entrepreneurs. The faculty members include: Michael Morris, Witting Chair in Entrepreneurship and chair of the Program in Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises; Randall Elder, chair of the accounting department; Clint Tankersley, associate dean of the school and associate professor of marketing; Benyamin Lichtenstein, assistant professor of entrepreneurship; and William J. Walsh, accounting instructor.

The program will be held on Saturday mornings from Oct.4-Nov. 8 from 8:30 a.m.-noon. It will be held in SU’s School of Management Building at 900 South Crouse Ave. The cost is $500, but a limited number of $150 Falcone Scholarships are available.

The Falcone Center anticipates that 40-45 people will sign up by the Sept. 4 registration deadline. For more information and registration details visit www.som.syr.edu/eee/bootcamp.