FLUX April 2016 Winners

UCT STUDENTS WIN ENTREPRENEURSHIP GAME
Story by: Natalie Kammies
Image: Fuad Abrahams

Strategy, determination and a top-notch business pitch helped six UCT students land the title of the FLUX 2016 winners at the entrepreneurship challenge on campus recently. Team Izikhokho, which comprised Siwaphiwe Sibeko, Charné Samuels, Jane Shiyo, Lovemozre Kunorozva, Steve Price and Philip Montsho, scooped the R12 000 prize at the business game. FLUX, which took place at the Library Learning Lounge, is a business challenge run by UCT Careers Service in collaboration with their employer partners and UCT Libraries. This year 16 teams battled it out for the ultimate prize.

During the game, students were given a real business challenge and were required to compile a business plan based on this. Teams worked together on their business pitch and were given access to employer-partners experts who advised on HR, marketing, finance and strategy matters. Teams were then placed before a panel of judges to pitch their idea.

But Izikhokho’s business idea proved to be a winning formula. They aimed to create an online platform called Home Cooked, which would connect people who were unable to cook with members in their community that were willing to offer this service - at a fee. People would go on to the website and forward their request to a registered service provider who would then provide the meal.

Philip Montsho, a mechanical engineering student, met his fellow Izikhokho teammates for the first time on the day of FLUX. However, this didn’t stop them from working together to snatch the prize.

‘This event was a great place to showcase our skills. It was interesting to see how we could bring together each others’ skills even though we didn’t know each other,’ said Montsho.

Fellow teammate and master’s in commerce student, Steve Price, found great value in speaking to the experts.

‘A lot of their ideas helped refined what we did. You need an open mind about what you think will work. There is value in listening to your other teammates and backing them because you are part of a team. Be willing to accept that you might get it wrong,’ said Price.

Nawaal Boolay, head of Employer Relations at UCT Careers Service, described the event as a great learning opportunity for students ‘...not only about business ideas and the nitty gritty of running a business but also about working under pressure, pitching and giving presentations, selling their ideas and working as a team.

‘We would like to extend a huge thank you to all our employer partners who played the role of business experts and who gave advice and guidance to the teams. We really appreciate your energy, knowledge and enthusiasm. We could not run this event without you.’

David Casey, Director of the UCT Careers Service, said FLUX fulfilled UCT Careers Service’s strategic goal to act as a catalyst for change with regard to career development, in collaboration with its employer-partner stakeholders.

‘This one-day programme gives UCT students the opportunity to begin exploring entrepreneurship as a career option, while simultaneously helping them develop the entrepreneurial skills and business mindset needed when starting your their business and working in the business field,’ he said.

Gwenda Thomas, Executive Director of University Libraries, said they were delighted to partner with UCT Careers Service for the second year running.

‘Again, the success of the event demonstrates what can be achieved through campus collaborations.  By optimising our library spaces to connect the FLUX partners with our talented and energetic students from across the disciplines, they have the opportunity to discover and have a completely new and different experience of the library space. 

‘Essentially, the time-honoured role of the academic library is to facilitate the creation and transfer of knowledge – by locating the FLUX business challenge in the Library Learning Lounge – it exposes our students to libraries as dynamic incubator spaces for entrepreneurial discovery and knowledge sharing.  Congratulations to the winning team, the employer partners and all the students who stepped up to participate in this challenging initiative,’ she said.

UCT Careers Service will be running another FLUX business game on 16 September 2016 so watch MyCareer, the Careers Service website and social media platforms for more details.