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On Thursday, two Auburn University professors partnered to bring a workshop to help business owners locally seeking to expand their business or start a new one. 

Associate Director David Mixson of the Auburn University’s Government and Economic Development Institute and Associate Professor LaKami Baker of Entrepreneurial studies presented the Entrepreneur Pop-Up Workshop on Thursday in the Vaughan Meeting Room at the Selma-Dallas County Public Library. 

This program was presented through a cooperation of the Auburn University Outreach and Economic Development Institute and the Auburn University Harbert College of business, which is sponsored in part by the EDA University Center Program, according to the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s website.

Mixson said the program is designed to help either existing small businesses or those that have an idea increase their odds of success.

To kick off the engaging event, Mixson introduced the crowd to a philosophy, better known as a relatively new way of thinking to help push forth the success of their business idea through a model called “The Lean Start Up.”

“The Lean Start Up really helps to eliminate waste during the process going forward,” Mixson said.

During the event, both facilitators split up the vast amount of information that was demonstrated to the public that explained further why the event was held, the stages of business that many in the room could be in, which led to them talking about the official role of an entrepreneur and how the mindset of an entrepreneur should be. 

Soon after, Baker introduced the concept of the Lean Canvas, which is a tool for developing business models and she also spoke on the importance of validating business ideas while ensuring that they meet market needs, which led to a conversation with the audience about why they think businesses fail in the first place. 

Lastly, the audience learned through both facilitators how to quickly create and test new ideas with their business before investing a lot of their precious time and money. 

Mixson said workshops similar to this, happen all over the state, at least four to five times of the year. 

Those who are interested in attending other workshops locally and across the state can contact the Dallas County Extension Office at 334-875-3200.