WBEC-East EncorePreneur Lab - Phase 1

In partnership with The Bamboo Project, we present our first WBEC-East EncorePreneur Lab to those making the transition from employees to entrepreneurship. Have you had a career within an organization or field and are now looking to start or have started your own business? Our priority with this program is to support the growth of your entrepreneurial mindset and smooth the transition from working for someone else to working for yourself!

The WBEC-East EncorePreneur Lab will:

• Create an online community for peer support and learning that includes ongoing access to information and resources as well as the opportunity to participate in online, interactive events.
• Facilitate relationships between entrepreneurs to provide feedback, support, and mentoring, particularly for the start-up stage of business.
• Run hands-on labs that allow you to learn-by-doing and to receive feedback and support from your peers in the process.

Key principles of this online space include:

• Learning By Doing. Participants will be introduced to the idea of "lab space" and encouraged to experiment with new actions and behaviors to move your business forward. This helps address one of the biggest challenges for new entrepreneurs, "analysis paralysis," where you can get stuck in endless planning and never launch your brilliant idea!

• Do It Together. Isolation is another major issue for most new entrepreneurs. Connecting to others who are also starting a new business is important not only for information sharing but also for ongoing support and networking. Our "Do It Together" ethos speaks to opportunities to leverage resources so that you may find ways to share costs, exchange skillsets, or barter among one another for services. Throughout Encorepreneur Lab, participants will be encouraged to work together to achieve your business goals and to continually look for win-win partnerships within the community.

• The Beta Mindset. Products and services do not need to be perfect prior to launch. In today's marketplace, many successful businesses have launched with good enough and then used the initial period after launch to connect with customers and continually improve the product or service. This mindset encourages action, testing, and responsive to customer needs.

In Phase One of the WBEC-East EncorePreneur Lab, WBEC-East and The Bamboo Project will be facilitating an online community within the Mighty Networks platform to bring together and engage participants.

You can look forward to engaging with us through themed daily posts (Inspiration Monday, Try It Tuesday, Wisdom Wednesday, How They Do It Thursday, and Friendship Friday), weekly polls, and online live events including virtual meet & greets, Lunch & Learn sessions, workshops, and roundtables.

This phase will help inform the hands-on virtual labs for Phase Two later in the year. All participants in the online Phase One will be invited to sign up for one of these Phase Two lab series!