Bandar Seri Begawan - Creative business models of value represent one step towards providing a long-term competitive advantage for entrepreneurs.

This was said by Richard Mak, who was a guest speaker at yesterday's Ignite Workshop which was entitled "Developing Innovative Business Models" that took place at the iCentre in Anggerek Desa.

The workshop saw more than 40 participants in attendance, including business plan participants, incubatees, entrepreneurs, students and government sector staff. It was aimed at helping participants widen their scope of business innovations, which is not only restricted to the products themselves but service enhancements, technology and strategy initiatives that can increase sales and boost profitability.

Yesterday's workshop also sought to help participants understand key components of innovative business models and how to formulate opportunity-seeking strategies for high growth.

It was a highly interactive session and Mr Mak made it clear to the participants that it was not a lecture, but a dialogue that involved the participants themselves.

He went on to say that the four main components of Business Model Innovation are a strong customer value proposition, profit model, key resources and key processes. For business startups, he said, the four components are crucial in order for the entrepreneur to come up with a solid business model.

This is not Mr Mak's first time in Brunei, as he previously conducted a workshop in June entitled, "Recharge Your Entrepreneurial Power", which saw him introduce the world's first entrepreneurship board game called "Zeroes to Heroes".

The aforementioned board game is crafted for any individual who seeks to learn when to take risks, develop win-win partnerships, be an expert in negotiations, sharpen decision-making and self-enterprising developments.

Mr Mak is currently the Managing Director of Alpha-Plus Training, which specialises in innovation and entrepreneurship programmes. An award-winning entrepreneur, Mr Mak has received the `E-GLOBAL' award and is a 'Spirit of Enterprise' awards nominee. He is also the author of a novel entitled "Supercharge Your Life" and has more than 25 years of corporate experience.

In a press statement, the iCentre said that it will be conducting a number of Ignite workshops to assist potential entrepreneurs and foster the entrepreneurship mentality among Bruneians as a means to diversify Brunei's economic development and ICT industry.

"As part of their initiative, iCentre continues its proud tradition of preparing the participants prior to finalising business plans before submission by providing workshops to gain insights and groom their entrepreneurial skills," reads the statement.

The B$20,000 grand prize of the Ignite Business Plan Award is the biggest prize money to date for any business plan competition in Brunei Darussalam.

This year the award has attracted partnerships with Universiti Brunei Darussalam and AITI as partners, along with the support of the Brunei Economic Development Board, Microsoft and Asia Inc Forum.

More information can be found online at ignite.icentre.biz or via Twitter @icentre_brunei, as well as on the iCentre Facebook page.