Lahaina to Host Maui’s First-Ever National Entrepreneurship Week

The Maui Business Brainstormers are bringing National Entrepreneurship Week to Maui, with events across the island beginning Feb. 21 to 22 in Hāna and concluding on Feb. 23 at The Montage Kapalua Bay.

Admission is free for the Maui community, with a program geared towards startups, entrepreneurs, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. professionals, business owners and managers.

“Feb. 23 is West Maui’s turn to host a nationwide event focused on business education and information,” said the MBB organizers.

Anyone interested in attending the following sessions should RSVP online with Maui Business Brainstormers.

The following programs are being offered free of cost in conjunction with National Entrepreneurship Week on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017:

Guest Speaker David ‘Kahu’ Kapaku. Photo Courtesy

8:15 to 11:30 a.m. – “Fearless Entrepreneur: You were Born to be a Public Speaker”
David Kapaku’s workshop will cover ways to conquer fears of public speaking, 21 tips to improve your public speaking skills, how to create knockout presentations, and techniques to “make your voice count”.

Guest speaker Kahu David Kapaku, a Ph.D and graduate of Purdue University, blends his public speaking talent with his deep knowledge of Hawaiian values and culture. In addition to speaking engagements and emceeing private and public events, Kahu Kapaku is a coconut basket weaver, ordained minister, Hawaiian activist, musician, teacher, planter, Hawaiian consultant, storyteller and poet. Other interests include writing children’s books and stories. Kahu is also Distinguished Toastmaster, mastering the art of communication coupled with public speaking and leadership skills.

11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. – “Business in the Think Tank (BiTT)”

MBB organizers will facilitate a special “BiTT” session, with interactive participation encouraging attendees to discuss their business issues, share solutions, and learn best practices from each other. The group-based activity addresses topics related to starting, running and growing a business. Spirited discussions result in the exchange of informative hints and tips, education and fun.

Guest Speaker Lori Fisher. Photo Courtesy

1:30 to 2:45 p.m. – “Usability for Entrepreneurs: Designing a Positive Customer Experience”
Lori Fisher’s workshop will cover techniques to optimize the experience that your customers have as they try to find your product or service, get started with it, and begin using it. As you plan your business model around a good product or service, you must also design the “customer experience” that goes with it. Designing and testing the customer experience is not just something for big business – even the smallest entrepreneur can benefit from applying some simple techniques.

Guest speaker Lori Fisher is an experienced executive, manager, author, lecturer, presenter and mentor in the communication and user experience fields. Her areas of specialization are clear and effective communication, ease-of-use and customer experience, and aligning communication with business strategy. Her professional background includes 30 years in the software business as an executive at IBM, managing usability, design, and technical communications. She also taught management and business communications at UC Santa Cruz for over 20 years. She and her husband brought their Fisher & Fisher Consulting to Maui fulltime in 2014. She lives in Lahaina.

Guest Speaker Wayne Wong. Photo Courtesy

3 to 5:30 p.m. – “Get Your (non)Existent Business Plan Up to Speed”

Wayne Wong’s workshop will help you to see business plans through different eyes. Whether your business plan is in ‘Reverse’, ‘Park’, ‘Neutral’, or ‘Drive’, this is your unique opportunity to get it up to speed!

Guest speaker Wayne Wong is the Maui Center Director of the Hawaiʻi Small Business Development Center Network, providing no-cost business counseling and training to small businesses. He has three decades of information technology experience including several executive positions during the “dot.com” era. Wayne is also a four-time Grammy Award recipient as “Best Hawaiian Music Album” producer. He serves also on the MNHCoC board to acknowledge his Hawaiian heritage while helping to perpetuate and integrate the culture with western commerce constructs. Wayne has a B.S. from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Puget Sound.

National Entrepreneurship Week was launched in 2006 and was confirmed by Congress in House Resolution #699. Since its inception, the event grown dramatically each year, providing networking and educational resources to the small business community. The goal is to publicize the great contributions of American entrepreneurs and the variety of programs now available in every state to provide entrepreneurial “experiences”, preparing the entrepreneurs of the future.

Since 2012, Maui Business Brainstormers has been creating a landscape of opportunity for Maui individual, micro and small businesses. MBB is a non-profit volunteer organization, and has built its reputation by providing business educational events and opportunities at no cost and with no sales pitches. MBB is sponsoring Maui’s first-ever participation in National Entrepreneurship Week with 3 days of educational events across Maui.

Free online registration required for all events.