UCF Business Incubators launching Business Modeling Boot Camp

Eight-week course moves entrepreneurs’ ideas into viable business opportunities.

From UCF

At some point, every great entrepreneur had a great idea that turned into a great company – sometimes even a great industry. But how did they know it had the potential to be a great company?

The UCF Business Incubation Program wants to help local entrepreneurs figure that out and move from an idea to a business with its new Business Modeling Boot Camp program.

Through a series of virtual class sessions, aspiring entrepreneurs will be conducting customer interviews and competitive analyses, performing elevator pitches, designing their own Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Canvas, and a Minimum Viable Product that will help them communicate their idea to future customers, partners and investors.

“We often get asked if an idea has real business potential; and while it is not our place to say, our new program will help aspiring entrepreneurs determine the viability of their business concept,” says Carol Ann Dykes Logue, Director of Programs and Operations for the UCF Business Incubation Program. “While the incubator has traditionally been focused on growing companies, rather than ideas, we are excited to now be able to do both and foster a business concept throughout its genesis.”

In order to participate, entrepreneurs must have some type of innovation that can be scalable into a major company over time. Participants must also reside in Osceola, Orange, Seminole or Volusia counties.

While it costs $400 to participate, it is open only after screening and discussions with Incubator staff. The first cohort for the Business Modeling Boot Camp will be limited in space, expecting to host no more than 10 entrepreneurial teams.

The first cohort begins Oct. 1. Interested individuals can register here.

“Our hope is that some of these entrepreneurs will start companies that are potential clients for the UCF Business Incubation Program. For those that are, we will continue to support them through the critical and high-risk early development into second stage firms,” Dykes Logue says. “The types of businesses our program is serving is diverse, but they are creating jobs and economic opportunity that were not in this region before. This is another way for us to grow the impact of our Program in the local economy.”

Questions about the UCF Business Incubation Program can be directed to Carol Ann Dykes Logue, Director, Programs & Operations for the University of Central Florida, 407-635-9882, carolann.dykeslogue@ucf.edu or Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, 407-415-8470, Alan@ByrdConnections.com.

The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.

With seven facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. For the 2017/2018 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 6,725 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and over $1.3 billion on regional sales. During the same period, the program has returned more than $12.00 in state and local taxes for every $1.00 invested in the program. In addition, for every $1.00 of public investment the firms also produced $118 of additional regional GDP and $226 of regional sales. For more information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu.