Once you have raised the necessary venture capital to launch your innovative new technological concept or service into the market, you’re set for success, right….?? WRONG! A study that has recently been concluded at a world class university showed that start-up businesses with no venture capital had a 70% greater survival rate than the ones who kicked off WITH Venture Capital! This is just one of the astounding facts that came to light during the launch of Business Beat, which took place at The Innovation Hub on the 3rd of November 2008.

“Business Beat, a new Maxum initiative, will serve as a platform from which ICT entrepreneurs with viable innovative technology concepts or services will be successfully elevated into the market place,” explains Dr Jill Sawers, Manager of Entrepreneurship at The Innovation Hub. “This will be done through matching these entrepreneurs with MBA Students as well as a consortium of knowledgeable and relevant institutions and entities that could aid them to shape their innovative ideas into solid, profitable businesses.”

Understanding what providers of Venture Capital want, and how to prove to them that you can deliver, is just one of the most critical concerns of start-up companies, that was highlighted during the Business Beat Forum. "Many great ideas have never come to fruition because inventors have failed to take the two most important factors into consideration: how is this idea going to make money and how is this idea going to make money as soon as possible," stated Eve Dmochowska, Idea Implementer of Idea Bank. “To succeed in the long run, you have to concentrate on your Revenue Model from Day 1.”

These facts were further compounded through the input of Greg Voigt, CEO of Blue Catalyst and Joan Rangwaga of Triumph Venture Capital (Pty) Ltd. “The expectations of investors will not change,” said Greg.

“They are looking for businesses with extraordinarily high growth potential and extraordinarily high profit potential. In other words, before committing to an investment, we need to know that the business WILL create the expected return.”

“It is exactly in this area that partnering with Maxum and Business Beat, will add tremendous value for prospective entrepreneurs,” says Patricia Dlamini, Manager of Maxum Business Incubator. “Any business idea needs to be commercially viable. To determine and prove this, Business Beat will match innovators with high-tech ideas, with people who have proven skills to conduct effective market research and compile sound business strategies.”


Participants of the Ideacamp initiative

To kick-start the process, Business Beat has launched a fantastic opportunity through which prospective technology entrepreneurs can win a Maxum Pre-Incubation Start-Up Package to the value of R8400 that includes the following:

• Free plug & play shared office space for 6 months (a R500 deposit, telephone costs and consumables for own account)
  
• Attendance of Izazi entrepreneur forums which provides the opportunity to network with like-minded businesses
  
• Exposure to experienced mentors and the Maxum Management Team who will provide guidance on the full process of decision making in business, from determining what is necessary to convert an idea into a solid, profitable business
  
• An opportunity to first sample the benefits before becoming part of a full Maxum Business Incubator Programme
  
• Introduction to venture capitalists once it has been established that your business idea is commercially viable.

With an 80% success track record of companies who have been part of Maxum and who are still in operation as successful businesses… there is no doubt that Maxum Business Incubator is the place to be.

For more information on how to enter for the Business Beat competition, contact Patricia Dlamini at 012-844 0084 or
e-mail pdlamini@theinnovationhub.com or visit www.maxum.co.za