Ever had a continual thought going through your mind, not sure what to do about it, but when you shared it with relative strangers the thought becomes something more real and you become more inclined to act on it?
I was fortunate last Tuesday night to host Start-Up Capricorn’s Pitch Night. I mentioned it in last week’s column but at the time of writing I didn’t realise how special it would turn out to be. Like the more publicised state election candidates pitch held on the same night it gave the audience an opportunity to get to know the pitchers better, their offers and more importantly the person.
About 20 people turned up to the Start-Up Capricorn event and 2 indicated early their willingness to pitch their idea. By the end of the session though 7 people had presented their pitches. One even received an on the spot offer to invest in the idea, despite it been an impromptu presentation. They spoke from their hearts, some giving personal insight into their lives and what underlies their motivation to realise their idea. It was a scary experience for most, but their genuine passion for their project and to help others was evident by the way they connected with the audience, making it a special experience to be a part of.
The objective of the night was to provide an environment where one could practice their business or social entrepreneurial pitch to better prepare them for a possible shark tank experience with local investors early next year. However the night achieved more than this; by sharing their dreams with an audience made their dreams more real. For some this was the first time they had verbalised them; got constructive feedback and intrinsically became more confident about the idea, their pitch and of themselves. Better preparing them for the next opportunity. It reminded me of when conversing with high school students at the Communication to Careers sessions, the change that can happen within an hour as the students meet and converse one on one with about 20 business people.
The pitch is just one step on their entrepreneurial journey; creating the right environment to develop the idea, collaborate and learn from others will help the chances of them succeeding. This is where the value of Rockhampton’s Smart Hub will become more evident in the months to come (as will the planned one for Livingstone Shire).
Regional Queensland has to be pro-active in stimulating more people to think and act entrepreneurially. This is how we are going to generate more long term jobs, provide more opportunities for our youth and keep our communities alive.
If you have a business or social entrepreneurial idea or like to help someone achieve theirs look out for the Pitch Nights to be held in 2018 and like the Start-Up Capricorn Facebook page to see videos from last Tuesday night that will be posted in the following days.