Resources to help with your Go-To-Market and Innovation journey

Tools For Entrepreneurs and Corporate Innovators

The Innovation Centre has developed a portfolio of online tools, “How To” guides and other valuable resources to help entrepreneurs with their market entry challenges.

Online Tools

Practical experience in an easy-to-use form

How To Guides

First Steps for Entrepreneurs and Innovator (Presentation) – Got an idea for a new product or service, but don’t know what to do about it? Start here.

Business Plan Basics (Presentation) – Every new venture needs a business plan to get off the ground. Here’s how to get started.

Financing Your New Venture (Presentation) – Does your new business needs money to grow? Learn how to find the funding you need.

Validating the Market for Your New Venture (Presentation) – Objective market research is critical to understanding your customers and your competitors. Learn how to get cost-effective access to the information you need.

Managing Innovation (Presentation) – An introduction to the process of generating, evaluating and implementing innovations in an organization

Additional Available Guides

Pitcher’s Guide: Why Dragons don’t Invest (document)

Pitching your idea to potential investors is a nerve racking experience for most new entrepreneurs.  Nobody likes rejection, but the statistics say that most investment pitches are rejected many times before they finally find a buyer.  However, if you look at each session as a learning opportunitiy, you can find ways to make your pitch stronger every time out.  One of the most important items to learn is why your pitch was rejected and what would have had to be different for it to be accepted.

Prepared as part of the Canadian Innovation Centre’s work with CBC’s popular Dragons’ Den TV show, this guide identifies the primary reasons that potential investors reject a pitch and provides suggestions on how to overcome them.

Pitcher’s Guide: What should I include in my pitch? (document)

One of the most important success factors when making a pitch for investment is the ability to communicate your proposal in a concise and effective way.  To be successful, you need to convince your investor of the merits of your proposal in a way that is both factual and compelling.  One of the keys to success is to be well prepared, presenting enough information to inspire confidence without overloading the listener with excessive detail.

Prepared as part of the Canadian Innovation Centre’s work with CBC’s popular Dragons’ Den TV show, this guide identifies the most important items to include in your pitch and how to prepare for the discussions with your potential investors.

Pitcher’s Guide: How much money should I ask for and what should I give up? (document)

How much is enough?  When preparing a pitch to potential investors, this is a critical question.  Ask for too much capital and they will reject your proposal.  Ask for too little and you reduce the likelihood of your business suceeding.  And even if you agree on an investment figure, how much equity and control should you be willing to give in exchange?

Prepared as part of the Canadian Innovation Centre’s work with CBC’s popular Dragons’ Den TV show, this guide looks at how to determine the right amount to ask for and how to prepare for negotiations with potential investors.

Talk to one of our advisors about your specific needs!

The Canadian Innovation Centre has a wide range of services to help entrepreneurs, innovators and inventors transform their ideas into reality.