South Taranaki District Council supports future entrepreneurs with return of programme

The Rebel Business School Aotearoa is returning to South Taranaki. Photo / Supplied

A free course aimed at helping entrepreneurs is returning to South Taranaki.

South Taranaki District Council has partnered with the Ministry of Social Development, Mayors Taskforce for Jobs, Venture Taranaki, Bizlink Hāwera and Fonterra to bring Rebel Business School Aotearoa back to Taranaki.

District council business development manager Scott Willson says the business school, one of the council’s economic and social development initiatives, proved highly successful the last time it was run in the region, in 2021.

“Over 10 days, Rebel Business School delivers 20 workshops designed to equip participants with the tools they need to start their own business. Topics include building a website for free, the quickest way to find a customer and how to start a business with no money. The course does away with traditional thinking by replacing business plans with actionable, no-cost steps.”

The course is free to participants who need only to commit to the 10 days of the course. Running from 9.30am to 2.30pm daily, the first seven days will be interactive online sessions and Hāwera will host the final three days, including a trade show of the newly created businesses and a graduation celebration.

Scott says the Rebel Business School brings local positive impact.

“This gives anyone in Taranaki the opportunity to start a business and make money doing what they love. Participants get to turn their idea into reality and even make their first sales within ten days. After the course, there is an excellent support network in place to help people grow their businesses. We had some success stories last time we hosted the course and I’m sure we will see some fantastic businesses emerge again this year.”

The Rebel Business School was brought to New Zealand from the United Kingdom by Kiwi Tony Henderson-Newport in 2017.

“More than 1400 participants have attended our events and formed product and service-related businesses in many different industries including retail, food, craft, service consulting and many more. It is inspiring to see the excitement grow in attendees as their business comes to life.”

While the course is free for participants to attend, Tony says it would not have happened without the generous support of its funding partners.

“We are grateful to our partners. They recognised what this opportunity means for the community and came on board. We are just so excited to get stuck in.”

For more information and to get involved go to: https://www.rebelbusinessschool.nz/taranaki-may-2023.html