Is Entrepreneurship For You?
A 2.5 hr workshop designed to help individuals decide if entrepreneurship is a viable option for them to pursue. Here are some of the key points covered in the workshop:
Entrepreneurship
What are the traits of entrepreneurs, what makes their DNA different?
How do I know if I have the “right stuff”?
Forbes Entrepreneurship Self-Assessment
Can Entrepreneurial skills be learned?
Even if you don’t share all of the traits of entrepreneurs, you can learn many of the skills… Show more and methods they use to be successful
Is your business model just a cool idea or a real business opportunity that will sell?
How do I know if there is a market for my product/service?
How can I validate my business idea through market research?
Provide market research tools and free resources
What you learn in this workshop will be valuable even if you choose not to become a business owner
An employee who understands business concepts and develops the leadership skills of an entrepreneur can become a successful team leader, project manager or department head
Comprehensive Business Resource Guide (Introduce and Distribute to class)
An extensive directory of business resources for start ups
The fee for this workshop is $10. The short URL for this event = http://intro-entrepreneurship.eventbrite.com .
NOTE: We will be launching a comprehensive ten week Entrepreneurs Lab in January of 2015. All attendees of this workshop will receive a $50 discount to this ten session experience that will tackle all aspects of a small enterprise start-up!
Jim Stoynoff
As Synthesis Solutions founder and president, Jim Stoynoff has ultimate responsibility for managing the firm’s interactions with clients and ensuring that they are best positioned to maximize their organization’s full potential.
A seasoned entrepreneur, Jim has a passion for helping other entrepreneurs and businesses succeed. A founder of two successful enterprises, he knows how to leverage his creativity, vision and dedication to external and internal client satisfaction, to facilitate the creation of organizations that are best in class.
From 1981 to 2002, Jim served as president of Damian Services Corporation. As a former owner of a staffing firm, he recognized that independently owned staffing firms often lack the financial resources, back office infrastructure and technology needed to effectively compete with larger, publicly traded firms. He co-founded Damian to fill this need. Damian was the first company of its kind to integrate financing with business process outsourcing. The early success of this innovative business model gave rise to a totally new outsourcing industry.
During the 21 years that Jim served as its president, Damian contributed to the success of hundreds of staffing firms throughout the United States and Canada by financing and servicing over $175 million per year in labor billings. Under his leadership, Damian received three consecutive Arthur Andersen’s Best Practices Awards in the categories of Exceeding Customer Expectations, Strategic Leadership and Unleashing The Power Of Technology. Jim was also a finalist for the Ernst&Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1999.
Jim began his business career in 1974 as a partner in ACA International, a technical staffing firm servicing the aerospace, nuclear and petrochemical industries. While at ACA he managed the company’s transition from corporate ownership to a network of manager-owned licensed offices. Under his direction, revenues grew from $1 million to more than $5 million in less than four years. In 1978, ACA was sold to the Nesco Group and Jim remained on staff as a consultant for three years.
Throughout his career, Jim has served in an advisory capacity for other entrepreneurs and not-for-profits. He currently chairs Alliance Development for the Chicago chapter of SCORE, the business counseling partner of the SBA (U.S. Small Business Administration) and is also the founder and editor of the chapter’s business e-newsletter, which is published in partnership with the Edward Lowe Foundation. Additionally, he manages SCORE client projects with student MBA teams at the University of Chicago, De Paul-Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, and the NBI Neighborhood Business Initiative group at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is also a member of the University of Illinois Extension Community&Economic Development advisory board.
He serves in an advisory capacity to Orchard Village, which provides support services to individuals with developmental disabilities; IC Stars, which provides training and vocational services to inner city students, and Haven Youth Outreach.
From 1996 to 2000, Jim was a member of Inc. Magazine’s Eagles CEO program – a national peer group comprised of best in class CEOs leading fast growing companies. He has also been a member of the Council of Growing Companies, an international organization of CEOs who are aggressively growing their companies by leveraging the knowledge of their peers. From 1998 to 2000, Jim served on the Council’s executive committee and chaired the Council’s Chicago chapter. In addition, he is a member of the LJS Fund, founded by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a nationally acclaimed market research firm. The LJS Fund is comprised of business leaders from diverse industries who provide their entrepreneurial expertise primarily to the retail sector.
Jim is also a co-founder and director of The Post-Conflict Foundation, which assists regions such as Bosnia, which are emerging from conflict, by helping them in the revitalization of their cultural, economic, educational and healthcare systems. He is also actively involved in grass-roots endeavors to improve the historically fragile relationship between Greece and Turkey.
Jim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
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