You've thought about starting a business long enough.
It's time to make it a reality.
You have the idea. Maybe you've even made a few sales. But you're still piecing together advice from a hundred different places, unsure what to do first or if people will actually buy it. Spend 4 months alongside serial entrepreneur and media personality Mercedes Wilson turning that idea into something real, with the strategy, structure, accountability, and hands-on support to build it, launch it, and start making money.
I'm Ready to Launch
You don't need to feel more ready.
You need to start moving.
You've listened to the podcasts. Saved the posts. Googled how to start an LLC. Thought about the name, the logo, the website, the Instagram account. Maybe you've even made a few sales. But somehow, you're still trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together.
What should I do first?
Is this actually a good business idea?
Who is going to buy it?
What should I charge?
How do I make this official?
And how do I know I'm doing any of this right?
The problem isn't that you aren't capable. You've just never had someone give you the roadmap, help you work through it in the right order, and hold you accountable to actually doing it.
That's the Launch Lab.
It's time to go from “I have an idea” to “I'm in business.”
This isn't a class where you spend four months talking about entrepreneurship. You're going to build your business.
Build The CEO
Before you can lead a business, you have to start seeing yourself as the person capable of building one. Develop your confidence, leadership style, vision, habits, boundaries, and CEO mindset alongside the business itself.
Validate The Idea
Stop wondering whether people will buy. Talk to real potential customers, uncover what they actually need, test your assumptions, and shape an offer around real demand, not what you think the market wants.
Build The Business
Turn the idea into an actual business model. Define your customer, value proposition, revenue roadmap, goals, operations, and strategy so you know exactly what you're building and how it can make money.
Make It Official
Move beyond “I'm thinking about starting a business.” Work through the legal formation and foundational steps necessary to establish a legitimate company you can confidently put your name behind.
Build The Brand
Get clear on how your business shows up in the world. Develop your positioning, brand foundation, marketplace strategy, pricing, and the confidence to communicate what you do and what it's worth.
Launch + Make The Sale
This is where it gets real. Prepare your Go-To-Market strategy, put your business in front of actual customers, test your offer, make sales, gather feedback, and experience what it feels like to generate revenue from something you built.
Hands-on coaching from an entrepreneur who's built it, on-screen and off.
Mercedes Wilson
Serial Entrepreneur · Media Personality · Marketing & Communications Strategist Facilitator, The Launch LabMercedes Wilson knows what it takes to turn an idea into something real because she has done it herself, again and again.
An entrepreneur, longtime television personality, marketing and communications professional, and former nonprofit executive, Mercedes brings experience across business, media, leadership, branding, advocacy, and community impact. She successfully launched her own food business and grew its products into more than 150 grocery stores. She is also a 2025 Telly Award winner and has spent more than a decade building a career in television while simultaneously building businesses and leading organizations.
But what makes Mercedes uniquely suited to lead The Launch Lab isn't simply what she has accomplished. It's how she teaches entrepreneurship.
Mercedes believes you have to build the CEO alongside the business. That means talking about the strategy and the paperwork, but also confidence, discipline, leadership, energy, boundaries, resilience, and what it actually takes to keep showing up when building something gets uncomfortable.
She'll personally lead you through this experience, challenge you to take action, hold you accountable to the commitments you make, and help you become the CEO the business you're dreaming about will need.
Because you're not just building a company over these 4 months. You're becoming the person capable of leading it.
Come ready to build.
Every week, you'll learn something your business needs, and then you'll put it to work. Each session combines CEO development, hands-on Build Labs, real-world assignments, coaching, expert insight, peer accountability, and clear weekly challenges designed to keep you moving forward.
- You'll do the research to deeply understand your ideal customer instead of guessing or thinking you already know
- You'll build your business model instead of just learning what one is
- You'll work through your pricing instead of bookmarking another article about it
- You'll take the steps to make your business official
- You'll prepare to sell
- And then you'll actually go to market whether you're a product or service-based business
No more waiting until you feel ready. Confidence comes from doing the thing.
Not sure if you're ready? Here's how to know for sure.
The Launch Lab is for you if:
- You have a business idea you're serious about pursuing
- You've been thinking about starting for months, or maybe years
- You have a side hustle and want to turn it into a legitimate business
- You've made a few sales but don't have the structure or strategy to grow consistently
- You're overwhelmed by all the things you could be doing and need to know what comes next
- You want to validate your idea before investing more time and money into it
- You're ready for accountability, deadlines, feedback, and action
- You want to build a business that creates income, flexibility, purpose, and greater control over your future
The Launch Lab is not for you if:
- You already operate an established, consistently profitable business
- You're looking for advanced growth or scaling strategy
- You want someone else to build your business for you
- You're looking for passive learning without homework or implementation
- You're unwilling to talk to customers, test your ideas, receive feedback, or make adjustments
- You aren't prepared to dedicate time each week to actually building your business
You do not need to walk in with everything figured out. You just need an idea you believe is worth exploring, and the courage to finally do something with it.
The Launch Lab
Canisius University, Science Hall
1901 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14208
Sessions meet every Tuesday.
This is the lowest The Launch Lab will ever cost.
Founding cohorts get founding pricing: 50% off the standard rate, available only through registration close. After this inaugural cohort, The Launch Lab will be offered at its standard $1,498 investment.
Until registration closes on September 29, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
Everything included in your seat:
- 4 months of live, hands-on instruction with Mercedes Wilson
- CEO mindset + leadership development
- DISC Leadership Assessment
- Customer discovery + business idea validation
- Business Model Canvas + revenue roadmap
- Legal business formation guidance
- Branding, positioning + marketplace strategy
- Pricing + sales strategy
- Operations + launch readiness
- CEO Binder + business-building tools and templates
- Private 30-minute coaching session with Mercedes
- Expert Spotlight sessions with selected business leaders
- Weekly Build Labs + implementation assignments
- CEO Circle + peer accountability
- Two live Go-To-Market Days
- Graduation celebration
One-time investment · Founding Cohort
Claim My Seat NowFounding Cohort pricing ends September 29. After this inaugural cohort, The Launch Lab will be offered at the standard $1,498 investment. Program tuition does not include New York State business formation and filing fees. Participants who have not yet legally formed their business should plan for approximately $275 in additional filing costs directly with the state.
What if this is the year you finally do it?
Right now, it might still be an idea in your head.
A notebook filled with plans.
A side hustle.
Something you keep saying you're going to do someday.
What if four months from now, you weren't still talking about starting?
What if instead, you had something real?
A real business.
A real offer.
Real customers.
Real revenue.
And maybe most importantly, the confidence that comes from proving to yourself that you can actually do this.
You don't have to have everything figured out before you begin.
You just have to begin.
I'm Ready to Build My Business