The Carleton University Students Association (CUSA) now has a permanent space on campus for its new entrepreneurial program, which aims to help students launch their own businesses.
The facilities will be open to students in September, and will offer tools to help students turn their business ideas into reality, according to CUSA president Folarin Odunayo.
The program aims to help students take the “next step” in developing their business ideas, Odunayo said, which may mean a number of things.
“Be it pointing them in the direction for legal advice, or pointing them in the direction for accounting help,” Odunayo said. “Anything they need to grow their business and to take their business from just an idea or something that they do at home to something that could actually be successful.”
Odunayo said the services are cheaper and more convenient than similar services offered elsewhere in Ottawa. Although the funding details haven’t been finalized, he said “basic” services will be free, with an option to become a paying member. The benefits of being a paying member aren’t clear at this time.
The project is a collaboration between CUSA, the Carleton Entrepreneurship Association, and 1125@Carleton. 1125 is a “living lab,” or a place where researchers and innovators can work on their ideas collaboratively, according to their website.
The new entrepreneur’s space is on the fourth floor of the Human-Computer Interaction Building, on the southwest side of campus near the Canal. It’s part of the two floors covered by 1125 where student entrepreneurs have access to the lab’s computer and communication technology.
Finding the space for entrepreneurs to come together was the biggest challenge in setting up the program, Odunayo said.
The Carleton Entrepreneurship Association brought forward the idea of having a space to help students bring their business ideas to life, and CUSA has been working with 1125 to set up the program for the last few months.
CUSA plans to host workshops to give students the tools they need to grow their business, according to Odunayo, and added that the space is ideal for networking and brainstorming.
1125 opened at Carleton in November 2013 and hosted events about business development and entrepreneurship throughout the year.
Odunayo said he was inspired to help students launch their businesses by the people he met on campus.
“I have a friend who makes beads, and I know this one student who has a clothing line, and I know this one student who’s a programmer. These are people with talent and with business ideas who could potentially be successful,” he said.
