Skills for Entrepreneurs: When Is the Right Time to Start a Business?

Starting a business takes more than a good idea. Entrepreneurs need to identify real problems, evaluate market opportunities, manage risk, and know when an idea is worth pursuing.

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In this workshop, Carine Marette, Co-founder of Kritik, and Bassma Ghali, entrepreneur and healthcare innovator, share practical insights on entrepreneurship, business idea validation, product innovation, market research, and early-stage decision-making.

Drawing from their experience building products and new ventures, they explore how aspiring entrepreneurs can move from idea generation to action with greater confidence and clarity.

Entrepreneurship: In This Session, We Explored

• The skills and mindset entrepreneurs need to succeed
• How to identify a meaningful problem and shape it into a viable business idea
• How market research can help validate demand, understand customers, and assess competition
• How to evaluate market opportunity, timing, and early-stage risk
• When to keep refining an idea and when to move forward

Who Should Watch to Start a Business Idea

This workshop is designed for students, aspiring entrepreneurs, early-stage founders, and anyone interested in starting a small business, side hustle, or new business.
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Learn how to validate a business idea, understand your target market, identify market trends, reach potential customers, build a marketing plan, and evaluate opportunities so you can make more informed decisions before investing significant time or money and turn an idea into a profitable business or successful business, while still building a business plan with clear goals, strategies, and operational structure, including how to estimate funding needs before raising money and why it helps secure funding or business loans. You’ll also see how a business online, such as an online store on an ecommerce platform, can offer low upfront costs and manageable startup costs, and that you can start a dropshipping business with limited funds. Some entrepreneurs also choose a proven business model such as a franchise, and many franchises can be launched for less than $10,000. Growth depends on achieving product-market fit and expanding the customer base, whether you operate in person or from a physical location.
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You’ll also cover the startup stage of officially establishing and launching the venture, how your business structure affects taxes and liability, why to consult a lawyer or accountant before deciding, and the basics of how to register your business with local authorities and obtain required permits and licenses under local laws, whether you choose a sole proprietorship, LLC, or Corporation, since requirements vary by business type and business location. You’ll learn how to choose a business structure, confirm a business name with a name search, obtain a business number when registering, and understand that permits or operating licenses may come from local authorities or the federal government, while incorporated ventures may also need tax registration with the Canada Revenue Agency.
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The session also touches on opening a business account, keeping personal and business finances separate, gaining more control over business expenses and daily tasks, and using financial literacy and communication to manage cash flow and support a positive experience when customer payments are organized. Many businesses also need a social media presence supported by content creation across online platforms to attract customers and generate word of mouth.

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Watch the entrepreneurship workshop on demand.