CO.STARTERS is thrilled to partner with Global Entrepreneurship Week in hosting a global edition of the Refocus Workshop, a free two-hour interactive session designed to help entrepreneurs adapt their business models to address new challenges.
Refocus encourages customer-focused thinking through the use of the CO.STARTERS Canvas, an illustrative tool that CO.STARTERS uses across their programs. The Canvas is an accessible map that simplifies a starter’s business model. It cuts the jargon and complexity out of running a business; this frees the entrepreneur to focus on what really matters and leads to revolutionary ideas within a two-hour period.
The Refocus Workshop is a pivotal element of the Road to Recovery—a critical intervention that brings entrepreneurs together and back to the basics to systematically think through their options. More than 800 small business owners and operators went through virtual CO.STARTERS Refocus Workshops offered nationally and through local community partners in the first half of 2020.
How specifically does the Refocus Workshop accomplish the goal of small business recovery? In addition to providing valuable connection by bringing people together to solve problems, it prompts participants to shift their thinking from business-centered to customer-centered. Many owners panicked in March when everything changed for small businesses. The entrepreneurs who have successfully navigated this crisis have recognized that their customers’ lives have also changed. Addressing the changing needs of customers leads to business success when the future is uncertain.
Beyond GEW, the Refocus Workshop is available as a toolkit for CO.STARTERS partners to deliver directly to their communities. CO.STARTERS partners also have access to more in-depth, cohort-based curriculum, including the CO.STARTERS Rebuild 10-week business recovery program, and CO.STARTERS Core for new or aspiring business starters.
With the state of the world and future in flux, entrepreneurship and local businesses are increasingly at the forefront of our hopes for economic recovery and a better future. Attending the Refocus Workshop provides critical breakthroughs needed for any entrepreneur to adapt to crisis and find their next steps. For entrepreneur-supporting organizations, Refocus provides an powerful way to immediately support starters and create a pathway for them to be well-equipped for the future.
The CO.STARTERS approach is a reliable process with proven results. Since 2008, the CO.STARTERS network has supported more than 200 communities and more than 12,000 starters, creating local environments that enable entrepreneurs to succeed. Their signature offering, CO.STARTERS Core, is a 10-week program that walks aspiring starters through the basic elements of starting a business in a peer learning environment with a first-rate, accessible format.
CO.STARTERS’ mission has always been to help entrepreneurs get unstuck. As COVID affected hundreds of thousands of businesses with revenue halts, legal hindrances, and drops in employment, CO.STARTERS expanded their focus from aspiring entrepreneurs to businesses in crisis with the launch of their Road to Recovery initiative.
Join the GEW edition of the Refocus Workshop November 19 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Register to attend here.