The Training
What do you mean learning can be FUN??
IGNITE Consulting provides interactive, challenging and effective training sessions specifically tailored to meet the objectives of your group or organization, custom-fit to the levels of experience of the participants. The fun and entertaining nature of the exercises also helps build the interpersonal relationships that become the foundation of valuable business networks.
Our approach to training is based on our strong belief that entrepreneurship cannot readily be "learned", but instead must be "experienced". The practical lessons learned from interactive and participatory experiences which simulate real-life entrepreneurship will help self-employed people make better business decisions when it counts – when their own livelihood is at stake. Further, we believe there is enormous additional value for participants when the facilitators guiding them through these exercises are themselves experienced entrepreneurs who speak from their own business experiences, rather than from theories in a textbook.
While we will tailor any session to your specific needs, below is a brief summary of some of the more popular training programs we have developed, along with some testimonials from past participants.
The Small Business Apprentice
While the Donald may be grooming his contestants for life as a corporate CEO, we groom our participants for successful small business ownership.
Complete with the distracting hairstyle, boardroom sessions and “firings”, our Apprentice program takes participants through a fun but practical series of interactive, hands-on tasks.
Working in teams and competing against others, participants may be asked to develop and present marketing campaigns, design new products, build networks, manage and execute small manufacturing projects, or pitch new product ideas to outside experts.
Each session is customized to leverage the location in which the training takes place, utilizing actual personnel from the businesses being worked on in the activities, and during the boardroom sessions each team receives expert feedback about their ideas.
Though the grand prize may be less glamorous than a six-figure job, the lessons learned will be driven home so they remain top of mind with participants long after the session is over.
(session duration: three hours to two full days)
"It was an amazing experience and I learned so much from it. It was an extremely valuable experience for me; I learned that if you stick with something, give it your all and believe in yourself you can do it, even if you aren’t successful at every task it takes to get to the end."
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The Birdhouse Business
In one short hour, participants will get to experience all aspects of managing a small business, from budgeting, contingencies, planning, manufacturing/assembly, delegating tasks, marketing & promotions and sales.
Working through a complete project from start to finish, and having to deal with forces beyond their control, participants in this session will see immediately the implications of their business decisions and become aware of the broad range of considerations they must always keep in mind in running a small business.
As the natural competitive juices get flowing between teams, this program is not only a valuable learning medium, but incredibly entertaining as well!
(session duration: 60-75 minutes)
"The birdhouse project was an inspired idea. My students really got into this project. They really enjoyed the creative way you demonstrated the typical challenges and decision-making process that a young entrepreneur goes through. Talking to them afterwards, I was amazed at how much they had actually absorbed using this little exercise. Your 'outside the box approach' definitely proved that learning can be fun."
"I was greatly impressed with Lindsey and Matt's presentation to my Entrepreneurship class. Not only was it informative and highly relevant to the course curriculum, but it was also extremely entertaining. As a result, the students were fully engaged in the learning process, and everyone gained valuable knowledge. I found Lindsey and Matt to be professional, skilled, and personable. I would recommend their services to anyone seeking consultation or creative input for their enterprise."
"A valuable practical lesson that leaves a lasting impression that I hope you don't have to earn the hard way. Highly recommended."
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The Target Market Game
One of the most critical aspects of their business that any entrepreneur will need to succeed at is properly identifying their primary and secondary target markets.
The greatest products and services in the world are no good if you don’t know who to sell them to! But how do you tell who they are, and what if who you thought was a likely customer turns out not to be? This quick but valuable exercise will help people understand who they can most easily sell to, as well as learning about how to tap into some "hidden" targets that might not be obvious to new entrepreneurs.
(session duration: 30-45 minutes)
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The Competitor Game
Similar to the Target Market Game above, but instead of trying to figure out who your customers are, you need to identify who you are competing against! Participants are assigned a hypothetical business to represent, and must identify and “tag” all other businesses in the room that they think are competitors to theirs.
Sometimes your competitors aren’t obvious, and this fun exercise helps you think through the “bigger picture” ideas about who you are competing with in your own business.
(session duration 30-45 minutes)
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The Elevator Pitch
The greatest idea in the world will fail if an entrepreneur can’t quickly and succinctly tell others about it and catch their attention to want to learn more.
Every business owner needs to have their 30-60 second "Elevator Pitch" down pat.
Participants will get to develop and try out their own pitches as they find themselves in a chance encounter in the elevator with a potential investor!
(session duration: 30-45 minutes)
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Small Business Circle Check
Using tools and resources from our book Trucker Management – Driving your small business to success, participants will be given practical and immediately usable ideas and solutions to allow them to simultaneously monitor and address all of the aspects of their businesses which are all to easy to shove aside and neglect amidst the hectic daily life of an entrepreneur.
From the smallest details that can strengthen the reputation of your business, to the biggest-picture strategic considerations you face as a small business owner, our Circle Checks will help you deal with it all.
These tools are customized for various types of businesses, so you are sure to come away with resources quite specific to your individual business!
(session duration: 90 minutes to one half day)
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A Day in the Life – Contingency Planning for your Small Business
In this interactive seminar, participants roleplay a full day of operations in a small business, brainstorming actions and reactions as everything that can go wrong does.
By the end of the seminar, participants will be well equipped to transfer the lessons learned back to their own businesses, ensuring they have all of the necessary contingency plans in place to avoid costly disruptions.
Useful tools that participants can immediately implement in their businesses will be provided as take-away resources.
(session duration 60-90 minutes)
"Thank you again for your workshop. It truly made me think more strategically and be more aware of the reasons for doing what I was doing each day."
"Very interactive and fun! Made you remember the points made."
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Small Business Dashboard
Once again utilizing resources from Trucker Management, this program teaches small business owners how to develop their own "dashboard" to quickly and consistently monitor the progress and condition of their business.
Borrowing from the long-established instruments and gauges found on the dashboard of a transport truck, our Small Business Dashboard will let you watch every aspect of your business, from staff to finances, market trends to internal culture, marketing to growth.
Participants will walk away with ideas and practical tools to provide them with much more ongoing information about their business, enabling them to make better business decisions.
(session duration: 90 minutes to one full day)
"I found the training session extremely interesting and motivational. It gave me things to look at that I hadn’t considered. I would highly recommend anyone that has a small business or is thinking of starting a small business to take this training. It could very well help in the success and growth of that business."
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Assembling Success
Do you have what it takes to lead your team to victory? Successful organizations depend on quick-thinking leaders, an ability to recognize strengths and weaknesses of team members, and plans that allocate resources for maximum efficiency. This fun and fast-paced session has teams competing to design and execute an assembly line, and get quality products to market more quickly than the others while facing unique challenges associated with the abilities of each team member. The lessons illustrated by this exercise can easily be transferred to any type of business or organization. Team leaders will have their decision-making and communication abilities tested in a hectic environment – how will you measure up?
(session duration: 30 minutes to one hour)
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