National Schools Entrepreneur Summit 2007 Revisited

The National Schools Entrepreneur Summit (NSES) 2007, organised by Youth Enterprise Academy, SMU Ventures and Talentpreneur Hub, is an annual platform for primary to tertiary institutes to come together to share and showcase their various entrepreneurial initiatives and achievements. It was held on Sat, October 27th 2007 at Singapore Management University and attracted more than 250 representatives from 45 schools.

Students and teachers from 19 schools and institutes were invited to take part in the Young Entrepreneur Showcase and was a great way for participants to be updated with the latest in the school I&E scene. Student participants received the opportunity to learn and interact with their peers from other schools as well as with young entrepreneurs who have started their business.

Summit participants also got to engage a panel of educators and entrepreneurs on relevant issues in the youth entrepreneurship scene. Individuals on the Panel included Mr Tony Seow, Guest of Honor and Founder & Managing Director of Purple Sage; Professor Desai, Associate Dean of Information Systems; Mr Suresh Shankar, CEO of RedPill Solution; Mr Ken Koh, Founder & Business Development Director, Youth Enterprise Academy.

Here are some snapshots from the event:

Business Planning : Avoiding Archilles' Heel

I've mentioned this before, but those who are familiar with Jurong Junior College would know that the school strongly supports the entrepreurial endeavours of its students.


This can be seen by the 4 student-operated businesses in the school, jointly run by the Enterprise Club.


The E³ Programme that Youth Enterprise Academy conducted for the students was to help them bolster their business planning skills to help them to grow these 4 enterprises, as well as to enable them to perform better for business plan competitions.


The students were quick learners, no doubt accelerated by their experiences in business operations. The marketing strategies and campaigns that they were able to come up with were great.


The Archilles' heel of any business plan is often the finance portion of the business plan. Students often make the mistakes of overprojecting initial sales, or tweaking the figures just so that the business would break-even in a year.


Investors and VCs however, can sniff out any financial loopholes faster than you can say 'oops.' And I was glad that none of the students committed those fundamental flaws.


Here's a quick look of what transpired over the 2-day workshop.

BU2: The Seven Flowers

Planning can be fun too!

A quick look at successful marketing campaigns by companies

And the final presentation after 2 days of hard work!

Easy Target

As I often share with my students in sales modules, I'm the kind of soft-hearted customer that is most susceptible to great salesmanship.


An exercise in bartering and negotiation during the Fundamentals of Selling workshop in ITE Clementi saw me facing off with a student who really knows how to work the situation to her advantage. Needless to say, I was sold into bartering my sassy handphone with her MP3 player.


A student outdoing her master? It's not something that's straight out of a Star Wars script.


Of course, I asked her where she picked up her skills from, and I wasn't surprised to hear her recite a long list of retail outlets, including, she proudly proclaim, Fox; of which she's one of the top performers. Her sales in the ladies section was good, but it was exceptional when she was moved to the gents.


I'm wasn't the least surprised. She has an easy and charming demeanor and a sincere way of reaching out to customers.


Another great example of a talented teen was the student workshop co-ordinator. He was exceptionally polite (and dare I say professional?) in receiving us and in attending to my and my facilitator's needs. He also showed great people skills in handling his peers and was clearly cut out to be a leader (or a business leader, seeing that he's a leader in the ETP Club).


It's these amazing gems that I meet in my work that truly inspires me. The next generation of youth will be amazing. Just wait and see.

Making An Impact On Your Immediate Environment

Our recent Creative Problem Solving workshops at ITE Balestier proves that sparks for creative ideas can be found anywhere and everywhere.

Or in this case, students were able to come up with creative solutions to everyday problems that they face in schools. Problems like the losing of tools during automotive lessons, or the inability to open doors when you're carrying bulky items (because your hands are full), or even how to improve the ways you move heavy objects like tires were put through their creative mills. The end results were, as always, remarkably exciting.

I look forward to see these ideas developed for the Tan Kah Kee Young Inventor's Award.

In the meantime, here's some snaps from the workshops at ITE Balestier.

I don't need no flipchart to present my idea!

Brainstorming for great ideas.

I've actually learnt a thing or two about automotive from these automotive students :)

Girls Rulz...

One of the girls in my class wrote that on her group's working plan. And I have to say that I must agree.

Working with the girls of St Anthony's Canossian Secondary School was a new experience and a definite blast.

The girls were able to express their interests, individuality and passion through their business plans in the E³ Progamme.

Some of the ideas that they came up with were really impressive and they really have some very good marketing skills!

A picture speaks a thousand words so here's a few to prove my point.

The girls assess various creative opportunities that they have thought up.

Time for some games! And teachers get to play too!

'I think she should do it!' The girls learn to co-operate 'arrow' one another.

One of the 2 winning teams in the competition, theWHATmag team.

Another team presents their business plan in a mini-competition between the two classes.

I personally feel that it's great that the girls have strong support from the school to act on and follow up from their business ideas from the workshop. I look forward to seeing these plans put in action next year!

All the best girls!

How to Raise Funds for Next Year

The recent training that I had with Temasek Secondary School's I&E Club reinforces the belief that good ideas, good BUSINESS ideas can come from anyone.

Case in point, the students from the club went through a round of InnoWorks™ to generate a fresh arsenal of fund raising ideas for the club.

Their best idea? I won't tell you but I'll give you a hint: similar to the idea of this RJC (or is it former RJC?) student's business idea.

Check it out here : http://donutsonline.zlhub.com/

Here're some snaps.

Mabel shares a funny moment with the students.

Giving the students some food for thought :)

Hard at work!

A group sharing an idea of theirs.

I look forward to see their ideas bear fruit next year :)

The Importance of Business Planning

Youth Enterprise Academy was invited by the JJ Enterprise Club of Jurong Junior College to give an assembly talk to share on youth entrepreneurship and business planning.
We subsequently invited Nicky Teo from Funeral Solutions and Ken Koh from Talentpreneur Hub to share their experiences with the youth.
Nicky Teo is one of those young people who creates ripples everywhere they go.
Given the industry that he is in, it's hardly surprising that most people will do a double take when they hear that a young chap is a funeral director.

When Nicky was invited to speak at an entrepreneurial assembly talk recently at Jurong Junior College on the importance of the business planning, he openly admitted that he didn't do any planning before venturing on his business. Prior to setting up his company, Funeral Solutions Pte Ltd, Nicky had years of experience by being actively involved in the funeral processes and rites at a local temple.
He decided to start out on his own and his company was born. He believed that it was important to be responsible to the client and not overcharge them. He felt that transparency was the best way to go when dealing with his clients and it because his unique selling point the industry.
He shared with the 800-strong audience that it was only after he became his own boss did he realised the importance of business planning to help shape the direction of his company. He found out that many of the mistakes that he committed could have been avoided had he taken the time to do proper business planning.
That message was firmly echoed by my good friend and colleague, Ken Koh, Managing Director of Talentpreneur Hub and Youth Enterprise Academy. Ken gave tips to the students on what to look out for before starting a business, citing examples from YEA itself.

Ken also shared on several local successful entrepreneurs who are below 25 and how they were able to succeed in their industry despite stiff competition.
The students at JJC enjoyed themselves with Nicky's and Ken's humorous sharing and Youth Enterprise Academy sincerely hoped that more students will be encouraged to venture out and start on their entrepreneurial endeavours, starting with the strong initiative and support from their college.

Kickstart Your eBay! @ SMU

The most recent Kickstart Your eBay! workshop saw participants from all walks of life, from the majority that is SMU students to professionals and students from other institutes.

Mark Yoong, eBay Education Specialist and Silver PowerSeller kickstarted (pun intended) the session with a brief description of himself and how he started his business and how his home is now his office. You have to see it to believe it, the scale of his operations and how it has completely changed his lifestyle.

Ventures, the SMU Entrepreneurship Society, played host to the programme, working hard to provide the venue for this sponsored programme between eBay, Talentpreneur Hub and Youth Enterprise Academy.

The objective of the Kickstart Your eBay! programme is to help you to start your own eBay business, and if you've missed the last one at SMU, fret not! There's going to be more workshops coming to an institute near you!

So stay tuned and watch this space for more updates of the Youth eBay Ambassador Programme!

National Youth Entrepreneurship Conference 2007

The first NYEC is organised by the Exoro Team (find out more about them here) to reach out to students from all tertiary institutes and also, to challenge them to prove their mettle at the National ExoroGame™ Youth Challenge.

Here, teams of 3 (each taking up the role of a CEO, CTO and CMO for Chief Executive, Technology and Marketing Officer respectively) from each school put on their business hats and go mano-a-mano against the other teams in the business simulation board game ExoroGame™. They must purchase, market, develop (and even patent) and price their products while keeping an eye out on their competitors and avoid falling too deeply into debts at the same time.

The process above sure sounds similar to the actual process of running a real business.

Talentpreneur Hub was invited to be a Supporting Organisation for the NYEC 2007 and it was really good to see some familiar faces from the schools that we have worked with turn up at the Challenge.

Colin from Settler's Cafe was also there and there was a lot of interest from teachers and students in the Settler's Lite programme. To find out more about it, visit the Settler's Lite website.

I thought that the most interesting highlight of the conference was Mr Ron Sim's sharing of his experience as an entrepreneur. Given that he has been on the enterprise path for the last 20 years, his stories really left me a lot to think about.

But more stories about it next time! Youth Enterprise Academy, together with Talentpreneur Hub, will be launching the biggest school entrepreneur event of the year! And you saw it here first!

So be sure to mark out the 27th October 2007 down on your calendar because everyone is invited to the National Schools Entrepreneur Summit 2007!

Stay tune for more information in the coming weeks :)

2 Sheeps for 1 Brick Please!

I had a pleasant surprise during one of my board games session for Kong Hwa School that was held at Settler's Cafe.

One of the creator of the stock market board game Dividends (pictured above), Evelyn Brunner from Fun Factory Games, actually dropped by to check out our board game programme!


Colin invited her, and even he initially thought that Kong Hwa School was a secondary school and told Evelyn, 'You got to come see these people use your board game to teach entrepreneurship to secondary school students.'

So they both were shell shocked when I told them that these kids are actually primary school students and yes, they ARE playing high-level games like Settlers of Catan and Dividends, and they play it well too. And no, you're not dreaming either.

Evelyn told me that Dividends was never really intended for children 12 years of age and below. That's because the stock market system and its concepts aren't easily understandable by the very young.

Remind me to drop her an email the next time saying that she can drop the target age group on the box from 13+ - Adults to 10+ - Adults.

I'm not surprised at how smart and creative primary school students are simply because I've work with them a lot. I get this warm proud feeling in my heart when I see them play Settlers of Catan and they trade and negotiate as well as anyone you can think of.

Bullying techniques? Check.

Reverse-psychology techniques? Check.

Long-term partnerships? Check.

Good head for business? (You want this ore? Sure, pass me 2 sheep and 1 wood and it's yours) Check.

So really, underestimate them at your own peril. Competitions like YESCOM have already proved that when it comes to Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the primary school students are as business-savvy (if not more so) as secondary school students.

Settlers of Catan Board Game Competition

Settlers of Catan isn't the easiest of games to play and can be quite difficult to pick up immediately, especially if you're an unseasoned player.


I conducted the competition for Serangoon Secondary School's I&E Day and expected students to stuggle with the game as the dynamics of european games can be quite different.

But judging by the response and the strategies that were deployed by the students of Serangoon Secondary Schools, they're no pushovers too. They traded, bargained, threatened and cajoled their way to victory. Kudos to them.

There were 2 rounds of competition, where winners of the first round would go on to play the second round. The winners of the second round would go on to win attractive prizes sponsored by Settler's Cafe.

Mr Yeo, the principal, commented on their initiative, stating the school has and will always support new learning initiatives such as learning through board games, and encouraged the winners to step up to take part in the Nationals, if there are any.

Good news for the champions then, there IS a Settlers of Catan National Board Game Competition. When is it going to happen?

Well, I guess you just have to watch this space, I suppose.

'Go Global' Business Case Seminar

The "Go Global" Business Case Competition saw the gathering of students from completely different cultural and educational backgrounds to tackle a business case study. Participants from tertiary institutions and international schools went through team-bonding and problem-based learning to synergise their strengths and efforts in solving an unconventional business case study.
One of highlights of the competition was a seminar with a panel discussion organized by Talentpreneur Hub held before the final presentation of the competition. The topic of the seminar was Youth Entrepreneurship and Opportunities Abroad. Successful local entrepreneurs Ms Elim Chew of 77th Street, Mr Douglas Foo of Sakae Sushi, Mr Colin Lim of Settlers’ Café and eBay PowerSeller, Mark Young gave the audience valuable insights on handling setback and venturing overseas. Young entrepreneurs of Talentpreneur Hub, Nicky Teo of Funeral Solutions, Serene Yeo and Goh Cheng Ze of Dotbox also shared about their start-up journey. An interactive session of Q&A following their sharing had many members of the audience motivated to further explore their own business ideas. Many of them commented that it was inspiring meeting the young entrepreneurs in person and learning about their start-up journey.In the following months, YEA will feature more events that serve as platforms for young people to cultivate their interest and knowledge in entrepreneurship in the months to come. Meanwhile, keep a lookout for details of the National Schools Entrepreneur Summit coming up in December 2007. This event will bring together student entrepreneurs from all over Singapore and offer a smörgåsbord of activities and talks to bring spotlight to the school entrepreneur scene!