ConnexionWorks is happy to officially be offering Entrepreneurship & Business Programming in Saint John. These programs will be broken down into Educational Programs, Incubators, and Accelerators.  

Venture Validation Program

The Venture Validation Program (VVP) will begin March 31st. This is an applied learning course, built to move emerging entrepreneurs from idea to launch.

What you can expect from the program is:

• Market discovery and planning

• Client focused research

• Detailed business planning

Eligibility:

• 18+ years of age

• Entrepreneurial spirit

• A business idea you're ready to test”

The Start-up Accelerator is a 10-week cohort-based program designed to help entrepreneurs validate and test their new business ideas before officially going to market.

These cohorts will learn how to define their value proposition, define their target market, understand their market opportunity, test and pivot their idea based on direct customer feedback, and more, finishing with a final event of business pitches.

The Business Immigration Essentials Program (BIEP) is a business incubator designed to assist newcomers on their journey to starting a business in New Brunswick, Canada.

This program offers these newcomer entrepreneurs mentorship and coaching on topics such as starting your business in New Brunswick, validating your business, financial literacy, Canadian business etiquette, and more.

Entrepreneurs will also be assigned a mentor, network regularly with local business owners, and have an incubation membership at ConnexionWorks full-time for the duration of their program.

Entrepreneurship 101 is a 4-hour workshop that focuses on the entrepreneurial journey and experience.

This workshop prepares individuals on what it means to start and run your own business, including topics such as financial implications, time commitments, impact on personal and professional relationships, how health plays a part, the resources you’ll need upfront, and so much more.

Individuals participating will be able to walk away having a better personal understanding of the entrepreneurial journey they are about to embark on and how to best prepare for it.

This workshop may be a prerequisite for some ConnexionWorks programs and holds a fee of $101 (Financial Assistance Available).

Business Essentials is an educational branch of ConnexionWorks that offers entrepreneurs and businesses the opportunity to grow their skills in a wide variety of workshops.

These workshops range from 4 to 8 hours, can be offered by ConnexionWorks or a community partner, and cover topics geared to help individuals start their business (how to write a business plan, creating your own website, cash flow management, sales & building relationships, etc.), and to help further their skills with their existing business (human resource essentials, social media management and strategy, using technology for productivity, etc.).

Stay tuned for an upcoming calendar of Business Essentials Workshops. If you’re a professional interested in partnering with ConnexionWorks for a Business Essentials workshop, please send us a message.

The Paid Startup Program is a program offering young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 30 the opportunity to develop their business ideas within a 6-month paid internship.

This program coaches entrepreneurs incubation style, helping them understand the validation of their business idea, develop their business model, prove financial viability, and more.

Applications run through the ASD-S School System each semester (Returning 2022).    

The IDEA Centre is a co-op style program designed to develop student-led businesses in the Anglophone South School District ASD-S in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Students from various schools gather for 2 periods each day during the school year to develop and grow their business and social enterprises. They receive mentorship and expertise from entrepreneurs, social innovators and community builders while receiving school credits for their work.

The Aftercare Program supports each graduating entrepreneur out of a ConnexionWorks program on their journey post-programming.

Each entrepreneur will be assigned a mentor and will collaboratively set up an Aftercare plan to stay connected over the following 1 to 2 years of their business. The goal of the Aftercare Program is to help entrepreneurs stay accountable to their business, have on-call support when they run into challenges, and will help the entrepreneur see into future program opportunities at ConnexionWorks.

This program is automatically available to graduating entrepreneurs within ConnexionWorks.