Entrepreneurship Tips and Links
<< Awards and Judging Criteria | Contents | Microfinance Tips/Links >>Whether you plan to initiate an Organizing Committee at your school, or simply want to join a Competitor Team, participating in The Gumball Challenge is going to require a lot of work. Such an endeavor necessitates a certain degree of ingenuity and organization, and as such, we have provided you with a number of tips and pointers. In addition to the rest of this Starter Kit, we hope that the advice below will be helpful as you brainstorm and facilitate your eventual success.
Organizing Committee (OC) Pointers
Promote Diversity
Look for diversity when forming an Organizing Committee. Consider nominating at least one member from each team to the organizing committee.
Check our Website
Visit our website regularly at www.gumballcapital.org. It will be kept current with important deadlines and information.
Use Blogs
We encourage the use of blogs. This will allow the OC to report on their successes and failures while also being able to follow what other OCs are doing. We will even post the blog links on our official website!
Know Microfinance
Be familiar with the story of Muhammad Yunus! Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a banker and economics professor who is most notable for microcredit and his gifts of small loans to poor entrepreneurs unable to attain ordinary bank loans. His first loan consisted of US $27 to poor women skilled in the manufacture of bamboo furniture. Eventually, he founded the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for "his efforts to create economic and social development from below."
Facebook!
Create facebook groups! Social networks are immensely valuable in raising awareness and attracting students and student groups. The ability to create and publicize events, and ease of communication may add enormously to the success of your school's challenge!
Use your school
We encourage the OC to research and use university resources. Your school provides a number of valuable services right at your fingertips, but it is up to you to find and take advantage of them. OCs should use them as they engineer a way to make money. And remember, "MAKE" is the key word! The Challenge values entrepreneurship and 'getting your hands dirty' just as much as it values fundraising and creating wealth.
Advertise, Advertise, Advertise!
All OCs should try to actively publicize their endeavors. The more excited people you get onboard, the more successful your Challenge will be! Flyering, e-mails, and school newspapers are obvious choices. Look to out-of the box ideas such as students walking around in sandwich boards, large banners in unusual places, announcements at the beginning of classes, and performances by student musical groups to really get people talking about the event.
Tell us who you are!
Please encourage OC members to submit biographies to be posted on your website. We encourage the formation of personal relationships at every level of the Challenge and we hope you will get to know each other, just as we are looking forward to getting to know you!
Watch for Deadlines
We encourage the observance of deadlines. In the next section you will find a calendar of suggested and actual deadlines that all participants shouldabide by.
Competitor Team (CT) Tips
Building a Team
Seek motivated individuals who will stay on task and who will be eager to rally behind the cause. Target individuals with different skills and experiences that will contribute to a diverse and well-rounded team. Remember that the project should be enjoyable for everyone; try your best to facilitate good team chemistry.
Making Contacts
Network, Network, Network! When you are approach people for support, you are not asking them a favor for yourself, you're asking them to join you in your effort to provide financial independence to very needy entrepreneurs in developing countries all over the world. Their donation will perpetually touch many lives, helping people to realize their dreams, provide for their families, and support their communities. All in all, you are providing them with an opportunity to take part in something great!
Fundraising
Raising money is one of the most important components of the challenge and ultimately allows Gumball Capital to finance the projects of enterprising individuals. Create a compelling message that will aid you as you:
Ask for support from student groups, family and friends
Write fundraising letters that will enlighten others about what you're doing and how much your campaign really means.
Pitch your idea to local companies that may be interested in your cause.
Think of incentives to generate support. Advertise their logo on your fliers, for example. Campaign for matching grants. Ask the donor to match dollar for dollar what students donate. This will also motivate you and students on your campus as their efforts would be yielding double the results!
Remember, not all support will be monetary! If a restaurant is willing to make a food contribution, it may help attendance at other promotional events!Don't forget to articulate that donations can be written off during taxes. Gumball Capital is in the process of getting 501(c) status, which means that all donations will be tax-deductible. Finally, be sure to thank the people you speak with!
Enterprising Links!
This I Believe
Tom Peter altered the management landscape with his book In The Search for Excellence. His wisdom and passion comes through in This I Believe, where he dishes out 60 great tips for success. 2- Audacity Rules 23 - Cherish Play! 37 - DREAM! Dream GARGANTUAN! I love it.
Brainstorming
Where do great ideas come from? 10 Guidelines for Effective Brainstorming gives some great ideas on how to generate the maximum number of great ideas from your Gumball Team.
100 Ways to Kill a Concept
As an entrepreneur, tons of people (sometimes including yourselves) will try to shoot down your great idea. It all boils down to being afraid. 100 Ways to Kill a Concept outlines our fears and shows us how to defeat them.
Guerrilla Marketing
Once you have a great idea, you'll need to spread the word. Guerrilla Marketing gives you 93 tips for how to catch people's attention and make something happen.
The 12 Surefire Secrets to Entrepreneurial Success
The 12 Surefire Secrets to Entrepreneurial Success is little more dry but had some dead useful thoughts from a seasoned venture capitalist.
Tom Peters's Quotes
Pure inspiration/motivation by Tom Peters
Bootsrapper's Bible
Seth Godin is marketing's uber guru and his pdf/e-book Bootstrappers Bible is maybe too much for the casual entrepreneur. But for those of you who want to take what you've done with Gumball further, it is required reading. Chock full of enlightening stories, clever mantras, and sound wisdom, it's going put you ahead of the game. It's 1.13 MB, so it might take some time to load.
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