Business Competition empowers students

When it comes to entrepreneurship and the value thereof – not only for start-up business owners but also for the community at large – the bhive Enterprise Development Centre (bhive EDC) in  the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Information Technology on the Vaal Triangle Campus of the North-West University (NWU Vaal) is making its impact felt.

The latest venture of this dynamic unit is to mobilise students to embrace entrepreneurship and by doing so pave the way for a possible future business enterprise.

According to Clarise Mostert, a lecturer within the School of Economic Sciences and a coordinating member of the Student Business Competition, the competition serves to encourage students to become future employers and henceforth job creators. 

According to Clarise student spinoff companies are of interest to all forward-thinking universities, particularly those that support research and teaching programmes in the field of entrepreneurship – such as the North-West University. “These entrepreneurial ventures provide tangible evidence that students acquire viable entrepreneurial skills while studying at the University,” says Clarise and adds that young entrepreneurs contribute to regional economic development, help to commercialise knowledge that otherwise would go undeveloped and help the University attain and expand its core mission undertaking. In the case of the NWU Vaal, the importance of entrepreneurship is valued as part of the Campus’s mission statement and as such students are encouraged to embrace an entrepreneurial ethos. 

More about the Student Business Competition

The competition runs over a period of two semesters to allow participants sufficient time to work on their business pitch whilst benefitting from several workshops aimed at strengthening both the academic and practical understanding of entrepreneurship.

One of the on-Campus partners closely involved with the Student Business Competition is the student affiliated body, Young Entrepreneur Business Organisation – or YEBO as it is better known. As an affiliated body to the Campus’s Student Representative Council, YEBO aims to improve entrepreneurship awareness among students and by doing so influence young people – especially university graduates, into having a positive outlook on business ownership. Apart from marketing the Student Business Competition amongst their peers, the team from YEBO is also pro-actively working towards finding a solution – in the form of entrepreneurship, for graduate unemployment.

The competition will be decided over several rounds during which the participants have the opportunity to view their scorecards in order for them to monitor their performance. The final round will see the top five entrepreneurs competing for a place on the winners’ podium.

Each participant will be assigned a mentor to coach him/her during the course of the competition. These mentors are all knowledgeable experts in their respective fields of focus and will add value to the existing body of knowledge in terms of entrepreneurship. The mentors are:

• Johann Landsberg
• Clarise Mostert
• Natanya Meyer
• Jani Jooste
• Charles van der Vyfer

Johann Landsberg	Dr Charles van der Vyfer	Clarise Mostert	Natanya Meyer	Jani Jooste

Competition timelines

The launch of the Student Business Competition officially takes place on Friday, 27 March 2015. 

For more information contact 016 910 3393 or visit them at the bhive EDC in Building 6.