‘Exploring Being My Own Boss’ Workshop

Introduction
In Australia, the nature of work is changing. As the economy continues to undergo a structural
adjustment as a result of technological advances and automation, self-employment represents
an alternative pathway to employment for many Australians. To support people to learn more
about and explore entrepreneurship and self-employment opportunities, a number of tools and
supports are available. This includes the ‘Exploring Being My Own Boss’ Workshops which are
available to job seekers, to give them a ‘taste’ of what running their own business means.

Only a small percentage of people take action on the idea of creating their own opportunities
and many of those do so without knowing valuable basic information that will help mitigate the
risk of failure.

This Workshop framework and associated content have been created to help people learn about
what it means to be an entrepreneur or small business owner. There is no one positive outcome
from these Workshops, some may feel empowered to create their own employment
opportunities, some may realise self-employment is not for them and some may go on to
collaborate with another attendee in their entrepreneurship experience.

The content and key topics in this framework have been selected to reflect the needs of a new
business getting started in today’s business environment. The Workshops are designed to focus
on the soft and technical skills an individual will need regardless of the type of small business.
Ideally, participants will learn about themselves as well as entrepreneurship and will benefit
from adding these skills to their repertoire whilst navigating the world of work.

Explore Being My Own Boss is a 2 week program (50 hours) and is a Centrelink approved
activity.

Workshop Content
1. Getting Started
2. Idea Validation
3. Brand & Design
4. Going Digital
5. Connecting To the Ecosystem
6. Start-up Essentials
7. Dollars and Sense
8. Sell, Sell, Sell
9. Pitching and Communication

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Topic: Getting Started - Learning to think like an Entrepreneur
Learning objectives: Participants will gain an understanding of the mindset required to navigate
an entrepreneurial path.

Key Topic Areas

1. Case studies of young Australian entrepreneurs overcoming challenges in their journey
2. Entrepreneurship vs Culture - recognising that not everyone will support you
3. Healthy mental habits for navigating an entrepreneurial path (i.e. perseverance, flexibility, a
high internal focus of control, learning and iteration, curiosity & optimism)

Topic: Idea Validation - Mitigating risks in your business

Learning objectives: Participants will be able to collect evidence on whether they are solving the
right problem or not.

Key Topic Areas

1. Think about a business idea (real or made up) and consider how challenging the problem is
that this idea/solution solves?
2. What is the biggest and most riskiest assumption of the business idea?
3. Use a business model canvas to identify theories and how to conduct experiments for
validation.
Topic: Brand & Design - Making your business look good
Learning outcome: Participants have an awareness of the elements they need to consider, and
the tools available for them to use when creating a minimum viable brand for their business.

Key Topic Areas 1. Creating your brand with the customer in mind - good examples of brands
(and logos) 2. Why and how you should quickly deploy Version 1 of your brand 3. What
marketing collateral do you need to communicate with your customers?

Topic: Going Digital - Getting your business online

Learning outcome: Participants understand the need for all businesses to have an online
presence.

Key Topic Areas

1. How to register a domain name for your business
2. How to use landing pages to quickly test your ideas
3. Common mistakes when building your own website

Topic: Connecting To the Ecosystem

Learning outcome: Participants learn about local opportunities in their community; co-working
spaces, angel investors, incubators/accelerator programs; courses; meetups, etc.

Key Topic Areas

1. Who are the key stakeholders and resources available in an entrepreneurial ecosystem?
2. What can you learn from your entrepreneurial peers/mentors/coaches?
3. How to build a support network in your local entrepreneurial ecosystem

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Topic: Start-up Essentials - Your legal and tax requirements
Learning outcome: Participants are aware of the key legal and tax requirements in setting up a
new business.

Key Topic Areas

1. Legal entity options for registering a business and how to do it
2. Understanding your tax obligations
3. Understanding Intellectual Property Law

Topic: Dollars and Sense - Managing the numbers in your business

Learning outcome: Participants are able to make decisions that will strengthen the financial
runway of their business.

Key Topic Areas

1. How to determine the financial viability requirements for your business to succeed
2. Financial tools to measure the financial health of your business
3. Knowing what to prioritise when you don’t have enough capital

Topic: Sell, Sell, Sell - How to acquire customers forever

Learning outcome: Participants can identify potential marketing channels to discover the most
profitable marketing activity for their business.

Key Topic Areas

1. What are the best marketing channels for reaching your target customer?
2. How much can you afford to pay to acquire a customer?
3. How to craft a marketing campaign that will persuade your customer to buy

Topic: Pitching and Communication - Crafting your elevator pitch

Learning outcome: Participants are able to clearly and persuasively communicate an idea to a
target audience such as customers, investors or partners.

Key Topic Areas

1. Who is the audience to whom you’re speaking?
2. What is the right sequenced message for the context?
3. What are the physical components of a persuasive pitch?

Topic: The New World of Business - The changing face of work

Learning outcome: Young people see self-employment and small business as a valid and exciting
future pathway.

Key Topic Areas

1. How the job market is being changed by technology
2. Trends for the next 5 to 20 years of your career
3. Small Business now and in the future

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