Great Reasons to FLUX your Entrepreneurship Muscles

Encouraging students to develop entrepreneurship skills is one of the key objectives of the UCT Careers Service (CS). Not only does the service align with - and report on - entrepreneurship as part of the UCT Strategic Planning Framework 2020 vision, it also links to the national Department of Higher Education and Training’s aims to stimulate entrepreneurship development in higher education.

For this reason, the CS runs various programmes that promote entrepreneurship, such as a Student Entrepreneurship Week (#SEW) last year where participants were encouraged to see running their own business as a career choice. 

Another popular programme that the CS hosts is the FLUX entrepreneurship business game, where students of all degrees and years of study pit their skills against each other to solve a real-world business challenge. This year, consultancy firm Monocle Solutions has agreed to be the headline sponsor for the event, while CS employer partners will support it.

During the challenge, teams work together and present their business strategy and solutions to a panel of judges who consist of real employers that offer advice on HR, Strategy, Finance and Marketing.

Last year’s winning team, Micaella Rogers, Ndabenhle Ntshangase, Adam Taylor, Justin Winchester and Mame-Diara Mbaye scooped the ultimate prize of R12 000.

But what does it take to test your entrepreneurial skills and be at the top of your game?

Rogers, who was a first-year Business Science, Finance and Accounting student last year, says: “The event itself was a really exciting experience. It was so much fun to work with the concept and bounce ideas off each other. To see your idea develop into a concept was very exciting.”

Taylor, who is working towards a BCom in Financial Accounting, says the game is all about proving your business acumen, whereas fellow team mate and budding entrepreneur Ntshangase realised that it was the perfect challenge to practise his entrepreneurial skills. “When I started at university, I decided to take as many opportunities to grow as an entrepreneur. So [with FLUX], I was expecting to get something that would challenge me and get me to think outside the box and to see how far I could go. I wanted to do something that would help me push my boundaries,” says Ntshangase.

Lessons Learned

For Rogers, learning to “back” herself and believe that she could do the challenge was a valuable lesson. “We felt out of our depth. We expected not to measure up to the people around us, and if we had a greater level of confidence I think we could have done better from the start,” she says. The game also helps participants think beyond what they learn in their course work. “There is more to the business world than what you are taught [at university], and you must explore both ends,” she says. The business model the team created helped her apply for a fellowship.

Taylor believes that students don’t have to wait for certain stages in their lives or studies to fulfil their goals. Trying was most important. “You don’t have to be a postgrad or have a degree in Finance to do this challenge. The experience in and of itself is very valuable.”

For Ntshangase, who is studying Bcom Economics and Law, it was all about overcoming a feeling of intimidation when he realised who he was competing against.  “I learned that I can work well under pressure, and I feel that I needed FLUX to show me that,” he says.

Words of Wisdom from the winners

So what advice could the winners give future FLUX participants?
Rogers says that taking decisive action is key: “Being able to make it simple and clear and incorporate the advice you’ve been given, really works to your advantage.” 

What Taylor found very valuable was the one-on-one time spent with judges. “If you listen to what they say, you can do really well. When we got advice from the experts we made sure to incorporate it into our idea. Think about a strategy, risks and why you think your idea will work. That shows that you can think find solutions,” he says.

Ntshangase says that FLUX is recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about entrepreneurship. And the best part of the challenge? “The highlight was winning it,” he says. 

For more information about upcoming FLUX entrepreneurship games, visit MyCareer.