There comes a time in every budding entrepreneur’s life when they need to expose that deep dark ‘brilliant’ idea to the light and glare of the public. And one of the best means for doing that in an age of global sharing and collaboration is through events developed specifically for the task – Startup Weekends.

Startup Weekends bring together ideas and people who can act on ideas in a way that quickly tests and validates your dream within 54 hours. They do it at far less cost, time and personal angst than anyone can do alone. In a room of hipsters, hackers and hustlers you will articulate, refine, test and validate your idea in super-quick time.

And you can win prizes and enormous glory while you do it.

Startup Weekend Byron Bay kicks off on Friday November 20th and finishes on Sunday 22nd. It is cohosted by SAE Creative Media Institute Byron Bay and StartInno in the Ewingsdale Road Campus and Byron Bay Arts and Industrial Estate respectively.

The weekend is part of Global Startup Battle 2015 which means local creatives and entrepreneurs will be joining of thousands of others from across the globe for one of the most innovative weekends of the year. Byron Bay will be one of the 250 cities competing to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week.

It;s not all about tech either. Technology is often a driver and enabler of change but good ideas must also satisfy business needs and provide a purpose that compels a customer to take up the product or service. Hence rounding out your idea in a broad forum is critical to developing its validity. Startup Weekends around the world have brought together designers, creatives or anyone with business ideas together with tech to produce amazing things! Dr Dan Swan, lead organiser of Startup Weekend Byron Bay and Founder of Byron Bay’s startup innovation and coworking hub, StartInno, says: “Take artists and designers, they do what they do because it comes naturally, commerce however is another challenge. The same can be said for Tech. The growth in startups mean that commerce is no longer the domain of spreadsheets and beancounters, it’s a creative process in itself. Startup Weekends help people who previously weren’t able, become startup entrepreneurs instead of leaving vital decisions to others.”

So whether you have new ideas or just want to see and hear the latest in innovation go to Startup Weekend Byron Bay and grab a ticket for what is shaping up to be a great weekend

For more information or to contact the organisers: https://www.startinno.com/events/startupweekend-byronbay

[email protected] @startupbyron #startupbyron

The post Global Entrepreneurship Mixes With Local Creativity appeared first on .

The post How to grow your business – events with Sonia Friedrich appeared first on .

Mentor and Strategic Consultant and Verandah Magazine columnist Sonia Friedrich is giving a series of three events sharing insights on behavioural economics and business at Startinno in Byron Bay, starting on September 8.

For many in business and marketing the traditional methods of how to market and build a business have stood the test of time. To shake up old concepts that have built careers, industries and brands is no small feat. It also challenges our default position – our fear of loss. We are hardwired to stay with the status quo, unless there is a reason so significant it disrupts our inertia. It is easier to stick with what we know and apply our natural confirmation bias where our brain works to find those facts, case studies and successes that continue to support our position, and no doubt our career. It conveniently lets other information fall away.

As a new entrant, or in this case a new idea, arrives and shifts the goal posts forever, as in any market, not everyone survives. Tried and true is a common positioning we grip onto at this time. While some learn to play catch up, many fear the loss of what they know and can’t adjust or reinvent themselves quickly enough.

We fear loss more than we value gain by a ratio of about 2: 1. I felt this loss myself when the ideas and new concepts of behavioural economics and neuroscience shook up what for decades I knew, believed and spruiked to build business and brands. I had been successfully building markets and brands for more than 25 years and to have new ideas question my ability or suggest I was doing it wrong, was welcomed with a harsh dose of cynicism.  But I had been asked to work in a team of very smart people, a small team of four, to build new models that would apply behaviour economics and neuroscience to market research and brands in Australia and the excitement of building something new disrupted my default.

It was so much fun! Taking the ideas of the Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman and the work he did for so many years with Amos Tversky, together with a cast of other inspiring thought leaders, we spent months sifting through their excellence. If these ideas worked in theory and in experiments, we imagined they must work in business and in real life too. In the process I was converted. I threw my old theory, methods and practices out into the wind, as I learned and then played, and created new models to apply to life.

We took them to the market to see how they would go. It turns out they work in the business world too. We won projects by working differently. Our focus was simple – apply the knowledge of behavioural economics and change behaviour. The results were far greater thananything I’d seen before.

Since then I have applied behavioural economic theory to business and brands, beyond market research. I have helped individuals apply them to their life and initiate much needed life change

I have seen:

Multi- million dollar media budgets cancelled on the spot

A 40% increase in revenue by creating a pricing decoy that cost nothing to implement

Life change in individuals as they finally break through their procrastination and have the tools to use for the rest of their life…and so much more.

The managers and marketers of brands, together with the support companies they engage – advertising agencies, market research, public relations, media buyers, education will need to apply behaviour economics if they want to survive. Why? Because if they aren’t using behaviour economics, their competitors are. New businesses are emerging that use behaviour economics and neuroscience to create and maintain an edge. Strategic planners are being replaced by ‘choice architects’ and personal development is being replaced by ‘reality architects’.

There is a new language in business, it’s called behaviour economics and it’s time to jump on board.

Mentor and Strategic Consultant Sonia Friedrich will give a series of three events sharing insights on behavioural economics and business:

Event 1: Where are you losing customers?

Event 2: What’s a brand anyway?

Event 3: Irrational Pricing Strategies Win!

Book early to avoid disappointment, as all three events are likely to sell out. To find out more or book your ticket visit: startinno.com/events/growing-your-business

Find out more about Sonia on:  Soniafriedrich.com

Verandah Magazine is proud to be a sponsor of Sonia Friedich’s events.

The post Disrupting inertia with a new buzz in business appeared first on .

“I’ve been involved in numerous successful technology start-ups,” says Dan Swan, who has a PhD in Innovation in the Creative Industries. “I’ve worked in the US, UK and in Australia, and my experience in innovation spans the full project lifecycle which is where I see how I can help people wanting to start a business.”

For Sonia Friedrich, the impetus to work with Swan came from her desire to help entrepreneurs and business owners understand the human behaviour that lies behind business decisions. “I really want people to gain this information before they talk to marketers, advertisers, PR companies and the media because it’s so vital for them know how to present and communicate their ideas to customers and to investors.”

Working specifically on how customers behave towards price, Friedrich, who has a Bachelor of Business in marketing, and has worked for numerous Fortune 500 companies, says that the secret is in understanding what she calls, “behaviour economics. There’s been a lot of research done into the brain and how we (and therefore customers) make judgments and decisions. We understand the biases that are used to support personal beliefs and choices – but what I’ve learned is that we can directly change behaviours.”

Swan, who began StartInno to encourage local businesses through their start-up phase, is a firm believer in the concepts of networking, and co-working. “Byron Bay is a melting pot for new business,” he says. “Outside of the main cities we have the highest density of creative industries anywhere in regional Australia – to me the idea of business start-ups being able to access a community that includes seasoned entrepreneurs as well as fledgling business ideas is a great way to share what’s worked – and why it’s worked. My journey began by just starting, and so what drives me is to help others ‘just start’ as well.”

One of the main topics for the night will be to help participants understand the emotional engagement customers have with price and how to use it to their advantage. Topics will include:

• The path of least effort
• The pain of paying
• Decoys
• The power of free
• Why discounts permanently damage
• and more

Sonia Friedrich, business mentor and consultant

Dan Swan, StartInno founder.

For Friedrich, teaching business owners how damaging it can be to discount their price is something about which she is passionate.  “When I mentor business people on this it’s incredible to see the direct result that occurs from the shift in thinking that prices have to be discounted to never discounting – it’s a very powerful thing to learn,” she says. Until recently Friedrich was mentoring everywhere but Byron Bay, but – a bit like Swan – she too, as a resident of almost 12 years standing – has seen so many creative businesses start up here, that now she has applied her mentoring to herself. “I realised that I’d really rather not get on a plane to Sydney for work if I didn’t need to,” she says. “I’ve also found it’s very rewarding working with business owners in Byron Bay because small business owners are risk-takers. Unlike many multi-national companies where fear of change can set in, or people are worried about introducing something new because they fear they might lose their job, I find principals of smaller companies welcome the change – directors of small to medium size firms can see the advantage of these ideas and actually implement them in a few days or a week.”

To book tickets go to:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/attracting-customers-with-sonia-friedrich-tickets-16854039887?ref=ebtnebtckt

https://www.startinno.com/events/attracting-customers

For more information on Sonia Friedrich go to: www.soniafriedrich.com  For more information on StartInno go to www.startinno.com

The post The right price in the right place at the right time appeared first on .