![Corporate to Freedom: Assisting fashion retail entrepreneurs. [Image: Wendell Levi Teodoro @Zeduce. org.]](http://yaffa-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/ragtrader/images/dmImage/StandardImage/wendell new - mid1.jpg)
Aspiring designer entrepreneurs are being offered the opportunity to learn how to turn their creative talents into solid cashflow through a new start-up incubator program.
The Corporate to Freedom business bootcamp will run this weekend, Saturday, July 27, at the Sceintia Building UNSW Kensington Campus and aims to empower and inform budding business owners.
According to entrepreneur and founder of Corporate to Freedom Johan du Plessis, local designers looking to build their business in particular are in a position to benefit from the program.
“One of the most exciting trends in the start-up world is how online technologies are enabling creative entrepreneurs to offer fresh solutions to age-old problems. For example, StyleRocks offers design-it-yourself jewelery on their site. They get experienced designers to design different elements which people can combine in new ways through their online portal,” he said.
“Similarly, Shoes of Prey is a start-up run by an Australian husband-and-wife team that allows customers to design their own shoes online. They recently raised $3 million from heavyweight investors in Australia and the US to expand their business.
“The challenge for designers has always been figuring out ways to turn their creative talents into solid cashflow. While the opportunities offered by online technologies are exciting, the failure-rate of new online start-ups are also alarmingly high. Tons of people put up a website, sell a few things online, and end up giving up when they realise there’s more to it than just putting up a few ads. That’s why we believe it makes sense to get guidance from people who have been there, who have build large online businesses before.”
Du Plessis added that the Corporate to Freedom business bootcamp willl offers a number of opportunities in particular for budding entrepreneurs, including:
-
Learning essential start-up skills from start-up experts. For example how to come up with new business ideas and then how to test these ideas out inexpensively;
-
Fundamental networking skills and the opportunity to network with over 500 other aspiring entrepreneurs;
-
Ways to ensure they get the business basics right - learning how to estimate the real cost of a new business and finding ways to get the funds needed to start.
“As a new entrepreneur you can spend tens of thousands of dollars making all the mistakes made by every new entrepreneur since the invention of the pleated skirt, or you can come and learn the shortest, fastest routes to success from people who have already done the hard yards,” Du Plessis said.
For more information go to: www.corporatetofreedom.com.