Greg Schwarz, a serial entrepreneur who moved to Syracuse from Colorado, will be offering a special five-part lunch and learn workshop series this spring at the Blackstone LaunchPad. Greg is an experienced mentor who can assist startups with business strategy, consulting, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and business development channels.
Grab a sandwich at Page’s café in Bird Library (or bring you own brown bag lunch), and come to the LaunchPad for a “lunch and learn” workshop especially for startups who are launching a service business or working on product development. Greg teaches these workshops in a very interactive way that encourages conversation and great dialogue. He is a seasoned coach and also serves as chapter president of SCORE, a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration that provides free mentoring for business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The series is free, and open to students, staff, faculty and alumni. Feel free to drop in on one workshop that is of interest, or come to the entire series. No reservations are needed. The schedule is:
Basics of a Consulting Business (two parts)
Friday, February 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Product & Services 1 – Setting-up and managing a consulting business
Consulting is a business based on the relationship of two transactional partners that both give feed-back and approval. As with other businesses this relationship must be continually worked to be successful within the bounds of the contractual agreement. Performance becomes a legal issue and must be continually monitored. With this in mind, we will dive into what is needed to establish these relationships, bidding out the project, and what it takes to perform.
- Working with Clients on Ideas & Definitions
- The Project Proposal & Contract
- Milestones & Follow-thru
Friday, February 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Product & Services 2 – Nuts & Bolts
In continuing our last topic, we will discuss some of the other realistic issues of project management from the unexpected to getting paid.
- Go the extra mile
- Changes & Contingencies
- Invoicing & Payment
- Curve Balls
The Product Development Cycle (three parts)
Friday, March 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
New Product Development 1 – Design, Prototyping, & Testing
You don’t design product for yourself, you design for a targeted market. We will work through various tried and true methods for new, consumer based, product design that will deliver the greatest chance for success. From Business Model Canvas to Quality Function Deployment you can synthesize a process that works for your industry, your product, and you.
- Know Thy Customer, delivering value
- Remembering your Vision & Mission
- Design within the parameters of the manufacturing process
- Be thorough with your Product specs & QA, BOM, BOL
- Understand your vendors
- Costing: Pro-forma Cost of Goods Sold
Friday, March 23 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
New Product Development 2 – Manufacturing
Manufacturing is where the rubber meets the road. Issues with scrap, seconds, too much move time, insuring the right security in your app, are all issues DESIGNED into the product AND can be the difference between success & failure. The end product of manufacturing will be the proof of your design efforts and your face to the consumer.
- Finding & vetting multiple, quality, manufacturers
- Beware of one-offs – spec samples
- Final Costing: COGS, Transportation, Import/Export costs, overheads, & GPM
Friday, April 6 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
New Product Development 3 – Go To Market
This final stage in the cycle is how you present your product/design to the world and how you handle the feed-back.
- Translating your design & specs to features & benefits
- Prep for Customer Service