This year, the NPL teamed with The Ideas Place and Warrnambool City Council, with generous support from the Demo Dairy Foundation to encourage the young people of the Corangamite, Moyne and Warrnambool Shires to learn skills in business creation and develop their career aspirations. Any young person from the above shires who was aged between 14 – 18 could enter this competition to create their own business plan, pitch it to industry members and compete for $1500 in prize money.
Entries could come from individuals or groups of no more than five. Business ideas created for the purpose of VCE Business Management classes (or similar) were acceptable. Likewise, if the young person, or group, had already taken the first steps of creating their own business, they could still enter that business. Assistance from teachers and parents was encouraged.
Over the first 5 weeks of the program, entrants were provided with weekly resources to guide them to create a Pitch Deck that summarised their business. At the end of the five weeks, they had completed their Pitch Deck and were instructed to submit it electronically. At this point, entrants did not personally present their presentations; they were judged solely on their content.
Finalists were selected by a panel of judges. Each finalist was provided with a business mentor to help them further develop their business idea and assist with the further development of their Pitch Deck. Entrants who did not make the finals received feedback on their business idea and Pitch Deck.
The finalists’ Pitch Decks were presented at a Pitch Night where the winner was selected.
Congratulations to James Wearne, the winner of the Young Entrepreneurs Program. His business ‘Eye of the Design’ will create personalised, custom items via 3D printing. James received $1,000 to kick-start the business and the careers team at his school got $500. All four finalists’ pitches were excellent and it was obvious that all finalists put in considerable time and effort. The runners-up were Keeley Robinson with Attire Hire, an innovative clothing rental service focused on sustainability, Coco Lin and Carina Gu with Dandelion Accessories Store who offer stylish, affordable jewellery options for teenage girls and Mikaela Woods with Graphix Design who specialises in crafting unique logos, advertisements and designs for businesses. All runners-up received $100. The young pitchers did an amazing job and we can’t wait to see what these amazing young people achieve! We hope the things they’ve learnt about creating and running a business, the connections they’ve made and the experiences they’ve gained in this program assist them in their future endeavours.
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