Ifrane – As part of the ongoing “Entrepreneurship Week” taking place at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane on November 16 and 17, experts from Morocco and around the world came to assist young Moroccan entrepreneurs in refining their entrepreneurial ideas.
Separated in six rounds, many students gathered in the “office of employability and entrepreneurship,” a hall at the university which served as a start-up incubator, where they showcased their innovative ideas to the mentors.
This event was an opportunity for Moroccan start-ups to realize their full potential through “Speed Mentoring,” which provides one-on-one mentoring, master classes, and an angel round.
Speed Mentoring on Day 2 of “Entrepreneurship Week”
In an interview with Morocco World News (MWN), Deborah Bartlett, Chief Entrepreneurship Officer at Al Akhawayn University said that “we help our students discover their futures, which include futures in starting up businesses that create jobs and improve lives.”
Each startup presented their project’ business model for the mentors to scrutinize.
“In a time period of two hours, we examine a dozen startups, each lasting around 10 minutes of Speed Mentoring, so it is very intense,” Hopla Mob CEO Aziz Benslimane, one of the mentors, explained in an interview with Morocco World News (MWN).
Mentor-Startup interaction during Speed Mentoring process
Benslimane was amazed by the range of concepts the start-ups presented, some of which impressed the experienced entrepreneurs.
For her part, mentor and entrepreneur Chaimae Boulahsen, who had been coaching the students for a week before the hosting of this event, stated that she and the rest of the coaches are assisting the students in creating their business model canvas, which is an entrepreneurial and strategic management tool that enables entrepreneurs to outline and design their businesses.
Mentor examining stratup business model
“For me, there is a chronological methodology to it, which begins with the customer segmentation. If you don’t know all the details about your customers, you cannot deliver the value proposition to the market,” Boulahsen explained.
She went on to say that after moving from customer knowledge to the possible cost, which is the final step, one must return to the value proposition and determine whether it is consistent with their findings.
As she wrapped up her remarks, the Moroccan entrepreneur advised aspiring entrepreneurs to conduct extensive market research and to be well-informed about their customers.
Read also: Al Akhawayn University’s 4th ‘Entrepreneurship Week’ Celebrates Startup Innovation
