Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for Schools (YES! Schools)

Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for Schools (YES! Schools)

Provides schools with grants of up to $100,000 to support structured entrepreneurial learning activities

YES! Schools was launched on 10th October 2008 with the objective of nurturing and encouraging students to be enterprising and innovative through ‘hands-on’ entrepreneurship learning opportunities. This scheme will provide funding support for schools to put in place a comprehensive structured entrepreneurship learning programme for their students.

Each year, the schools will have the following amounts to tap on to fund their projects :

a. Up to $100,000 per polytechnic;
b. Up to $50,000 per ITE college; and
c. Up to $10,000 per junior college/centralised institute/secondary school.

Eligibility

YES! Schools is available to polytechnics, ITEs, junior colleges, centralised institute and secondary schools. Projects from primary schools may be funded on a selective basis.

Evaluation Criteria

SPRING will evaluate projects submitted by schools based on the following criteria :

* Entrepreneurship and innovative elements
The proposal should highlight the innovative approach of the project in entrepreneurship learning;

* Holistic approach
The proposal should cover a comprehensive programme on the entrepreneurship learning activities to cultivate a mindset for enterprise among the students and/or teachers;

* Hands-on (experiential) learning component
The proposal should demonstrate the feasibility of the project and outline the steps taken to ensure effective learning outcomes for students. Projects should also require students to put to practical use the lessons learnt; and

* Reach of project
The proposal should indicate the number of students who will benefit from the project.

Apply for YES! Schools

Schools interested in applying for YES! Schools can do so from 1 November 2008.

For any enquiries on YES! Schools, please contact us via email : yes_schools@spring.gov.sg.


For more information on government assistance programmes, please contact the EnterpriseOne hotline at Tel : (65) 6898 1800 or email enterpriseone@spring.gov.sg.

Who says Etiquette class is boring?

I personally think that students nowadays can be rather blessed, the current education system is a lot more flexible and dynamic as compared to when I was a student, allowing students to be exposed to a lot more than just what they need to know to pass exams.

Business Etiquette and Networking is a very good example. We were invited by ITE College West (Clementi Campus) to train their students on business etiquette as well as business networking.

Students get to roleplay as professionals in various fields and then attempt to 'network' with one another. With hilarous results I may add.

Derick and I did the namecard and formality exchange.

'Hi, meet my boss, .....' the class learn about the do's and don't of formal business introductions.

'Nice namecard!' Live demo of what to do and say when meeting new people in a business setting.

The trick to knowing what is the correct volume to use during presentation is that when you cover your ears and speak, you should sound louder in your head than what you would normally be used to. This would mean that you're really projecting.

I've mention before that I really enjoy working with ITE students and I enjoyed having the opportunity to train and interact with the 120 Banking students. Thanks guys. You were great! Look forward to training you soon :) 

I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

'Secrets of Young Entrepreneur' Workshop

Global Entrepreneurship Week “the Week” is a world-wide initiative where more than 74 countries will, together with partner organisations, conduct a range of activities designed to inspire, connect, inform, mentor and engage the next generation of entrepreneurs. Global Entrepreneur Week 2008 will take place from 17th November – 23rd November. More information about the Week can be found here.

NUS Enterprise and Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) are the Country Hosts for Singapore and Youth Enterprise Academy is proud to be a part of this exciting global initiative as a supporting partner.

In line with the Week’s vision, we will be having a ‘Secrets of Young Entrepreneurs’ (SoYE) Workshop at the Singapore Management University (SMU) on Saturday, 22nd Nov 2008. SoYE is a 1-day workshop that introduces participants to the Entrepreneur Mindset, the secrets to discovering great opportunities in their environment as well as the essentials of successful marketing. The workshop will also be featuring young and successful entrepreneurs from the soon-to-be-released book ‘The 3rd Little Pig’ and they will be sharing their success stories with participants.

This introductory workshop is highly recommended for students, aspiring entrepreneurs and teachers. It's a great way for participants to understand the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and to get up close and personal with successful young entrepreneurs.

Date & Time: Saturday 22nd November 2008, 10am – 6pm
Venue: Singapore Management University
Cost: $40 per participant (Special rate of $25 for students).

Includes handouts.
Lunch and refreshments will be catered.

To sign up, simply send us the following details to education@yea.sg or call us at 6222 5672 with your

1. Name
   
2. Organisation
   
3. Occupation
   
4. Email
   
5. Contact Number

Click to view the Trainer's and Speakers' Profile.

Hope to see you there!

BlueSky Enterprise Day 2008

The BlueSky Enterprise Day 2008 has been jointly organised by the Action Community for Entrepreneurship, Talentpreneur Hub and the Youth Enterprise Academy to dedicate a half-day event running entrepreneurship related programmes for youths. It was held on Friday,18th July 2008, at the Hwa Chong Institution. Students and teachers from more than 20 primary and tertiary institutes were invited to participate in workshops, board games and exhibitions. These programmes were aimed to engage youths in various activities to inspire them to realize the possibilities of creative ideas and turning them into avenues of wealth creation.




The BlueSky Enterprise Day is part of the BlueSky Festival which is held annually to run initiatives that encourage and foster the spirit of enterprise amongst Singaporeans, namely the youth.




Gracing the event was the Senior Minister of State for Education, RADM (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, acting as Guest of Honour and took a brief tour of the exhibition area.





At the exhibition, various schools also held exhibits side by side along with other business companies supporting the event such as Now Asia, Microsoft and KooBits. Talentpreneur Hub and the Youth Enterprise Academy were on site to present business development and education programmes which are in line with the vision of Spring Singapore’s initiative to integrate youths into the culture of enterprise.







Student booths on the other hand, presented business programmes and activities that have been run by their respective entrepreneurial student clubs and co-curricular activities. There were also those who tried their hand at setting up and running their own shops selling soft toys and bookmarks among others. Most importantly are exhibits which showcased exemplary Singapore start-ups such as Charles and Keith detailing their humble beginnings to the successful businesses they are today.







Also gracing the event were educational albeit fun filled games held by Settlers Lite, also a local start up. Set in tables laid with board games, groups of students were treated to the fine but essential skills of networking and negotiating. Strategic game play was also evident in “Dividends” where players engage themselves in the trade of financial literacy. Central to the purpose of enterprise, these would prove to be invaluable skills in business and lay the foundation of enterprise in seamless and interactive activity.







Workshops were at hand to foster creative ideas and grease the wheels of innovation. In a series of talks, students participated in discussions with speakers, shared ideas and mapped out concepts in business. It presents a wonderful avenue for them to learn and interact with others to inspire potential entrepreneurs by planting the seeds of business acumen.

Join Us at BlueSky Enterprise Day 2008!

Register for the workshops now by sending your details to events@talentpreneurhub.com !

Hope to see you there! :)

Selling Made Easy

I suppose that I should really feel quite touched when students from the ETP Club who turn up for the Fundamental of Sales workshop even though they have already attended it before.

When asked why the repeat attendance they responded, 'Because your workshop is interesting mah!'

As a trainer, that's easily the biggest compliment your student can give you.

A good thing then that I always try to make sure that each workshop is a unique experiece with different examples, case studies and activities.

Here are the highlights of the recently concluded Fundamentals of Sales workshop at ITE West (Clementi Campus).

Showing them the ultimate Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon sales move

Students were split into 2 groups of buyers and sellers to try and see who can get a better bargain out of the negotiation process.

Students share a private funny moment.

Jeralynn and friend try to act cute. They succeeded.

Roleplaying is fun!

I really look forward to working with them again. Hehe, I haven't shown them the Raising Phoenix Marketing Stance yet.

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:

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 :)

'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!

Asia Pacific Speakers Summit

The Asia Pacific Speakers Summit 2007 held on 17 and 18 May brought together some of the best speakers and trainers from more than ten nations including UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Thailand. Participants at the event not only witness dynamic speaks and trainers in action, but they also gained fresh insight into the business of training, learning and retention.


Some of our student members at YEA had a chance to meet and interact with some of the best presenters and trainers in professional public speaking.
These students who have undergone training at YEA got a chance to sharpen their knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship under an exclusive continuity programme to cultivate their entrepreneurial skills on the various platforms offered at YEA. The students helped out at the reception and assisted the speakers in their presentations. Many of them realized the value of networking when they put to practice what they learnt about building lasting contacts in business.

Innovative & Technical Excellence

That's my acronym for ITE because that's the kind of impression I get from ITE students on the programmes that I work with them.

After the previous experience with ITE College East, ITE College West (Dover) approached us to do a InnoWorks™ programme to help their students generate new ideas for the Tan Kah Kee Young Inventor's Award.

And after a quick briefing, they got to work pretty quickly! Great ideas like a stackable tray with a drinks slot for the canteen, stackable auditorium chairs and even milk bottles with soothing music for babies!

Any student can be creative, but the ITE student temper imagination with practicality, thinking of practical ideas that applies to everyday life.

InnoWorks™ @ ITE College East

I always enjoy working with ITE students. They're creative, responsive and almost always eager to learn.

Some of them come up with really good ideas and are pretty good salespeople, like Orange in the above clip.

The idea isn't new. But they were the first students we've seen who designed a carrier for specifically for kids, with attention to the aesthetics and how it would appeal to children.
Of course, there's nothing like a visit to Red Dot Design Museum to set the creative juices flowing. I'm not going to post any pics of what's in Red Dot Museum. Heh. If you're curious, there's a link to Red Dot Design Museum somewhere in this blog.