How to turn your passion into a profitable business

Simon Alexander Ong leads this insightful evening class that shows you how you can weaponise the things you love and turn them into a thriving business.

Studies indicate that while around two thirds of all new business ventures survive at least two years, only 50% make it to the five-year mark - and only one third celebrate 10 years in business.

The rate that companies fold has changed very little over time, and these figures are consistent across a range of industries. Why do so many businesses fail? Could the answer lie in doing something you truly believe in?

Enter Simon Alexander Ong, a business strategist who has worked with the likes of Virgin, Barclays and Microsoft. Learning through the lens of his years of expertise, you will be shown how you can realistically turn your passion into a profitable business, or utilise it to boost the success of your current business.

Not only will you learn how to spot and avoid some of the many common challenges that businesses face, you will come away with an understanding for marketing a concept for little to zero cost, how to be seen as a true innovator in your industry, how to accelerate ahead of your competition, and how to get audiences talking about your products on your behalf.

Ultimately, and most importantly of all, you will come away with the phenomenal power of truly embracing an entrepreneurial mindset.

Course content

• The importance of vision in building a successful business

• How to market your business without spending a penny

• Get audiences talking about your product or service

• What it means to develop an entrepreneurial mindset

• How to scale your business to reach larger audiences

• Developing a powerful ecosystem for your business

• Why branding matters

• How to design an environment around you that makes it impossible to not succeed

• Effective networking that gets people interested in what you do

Tutor bio

Simon Ong strives to inspire people to see their world differently and ignite their imagination, enabling them to lead purposeful and meaningful lives. He is an international speaker who has spoken at events organised by the likes of Google, Salesforce, O2 UK, Barclays UK, Virgin and Microsoft. His views - from his work as a coach and business strategist - have seen him featured on BBC Radio London, LBC Radio's Business Hour, Forbes and Huffpost.

All Guardian Masterclasses are fully accessible but please contact us at masterclasses@theguardian.com if you have any queries or concerns.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website