PopUp Business School Trade Show coming to Coastlands

Participants in Kāpiti's first PopUp business school will be sharing their business ideas with the public at a one-off trade show at Coastlands.

The budding business-operators will be at the Coastlands Garden Court from 1pm to 2.30pm on Tuesday 22 May to present the ideas they've been working on as part of the fee-free business course.

Sponsored by the Kāpiti Coast District Council, iwi partnership forum Te Whakaminenga o Kāpiti, WREDA (the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency), XERO and Spark the course helps participants understand the potential of their business idea and map out a pathway to success.

The trade show has been a feature of the two previous PopUp schools offered by the social enterprise PopUp Business School Aotearoa.

The school's founder Tony Henderson-Newport says the show offers course attendees a great opportunity to experience a retail environment.

"They'll draw real business knowledge from this involvement and engagement with potential customers.

"Showcasing their product or service in this way provides invaluable insight during the startup phase,” he says.

The facilitators have been almost overwhelmed by the huge interest in Kāpiti to be part of the programme, with over 60 people attending. Tony says the buzz since day one has been really impressive.

"The energy and excitement in the room has been everything we hoped for and more," he says.

He encourages people to come along and support Kāpiti's future start-ups at the Coastlands show.

"Everyone is welcome - come and see the energy in action for yourselves," he says.

A record number of people signed up for the school which has been successfully run already in Upper Hutt, Whanganui and Porirua.

For more about Kāpiti's school see the PopUp Business School Aotearoa website: http://www.popupbusinessschool.nz