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Have you been inspired by the recent student “Green” movement? Is the future of our planet something that concerns you? It’s easy to admire those who are making waves in the environmental/green/sustainable space, but you may have wondered many times how you could make a real contribution to the cause. Maybe you have the germ of a brilliant idea for a product or service which could potentially be a game changer in this area?   The “Most Creative Business Idea Competition” is a brand spanking new part of the Student Enterprise Programme (SEP) and it offers you a platform for having your voice and idea heard by a very wide audience!   This could be your chance to shine, to bring a whole new innovation to the world through coming up with a business idea in the area of renewables/the environment/sustainability/the marine/climate change. It doesn’t matter if your idea could potentially solve just a small problem. When it comes to this very important area, every little change counts! And you don’t have to have a prototype or any sales made. Plus, you could win a €500 voucher. What’s not to like?

So, how do you take part?

If your class is registered to participate in the Student Enterprise Programme and you will be sixteen years old by 28^th February, 2020, then you can submit an entry. This is an individual competition based on a two minute long video pitch, so the idea has to be yours and it’s up to you alone to produce and star in the video!

Full rules are available on www.studententerprise.ie but, here’s a summary of what you need to know:

• Your idea must tie in with the “Go Green: Be sustainable” theme.
• Students MUST BE OVER 16 YEARS of age at the time of entry and in SENIOR CYCLE to enter. Anyone appearing in the pitch video must also have been 16 years old or older at the time the pitch video was made.
• You must enter as an individual.
• You have to make a video of yourself “pitching” your idea and post it on your You Tube Channel, on a public setting.
• Your video can’t be any more than two minutes long.
• The idea can’t be one which is being used by a team in the Student Enterprise Programme.
• You don’t have to have a prototype or a product made/sold to take part.

Sounds simple, right? A two minute video pitch – a piece of cake. Hmmm… You might be well used to taking selfies, but chances are, you haven’t listened back to yourself speaking or seen yourself on video very often. You may be a Snapchat pro, but have you ever tried recording yourself explaining a concept on video? Probably not. You will get lots of helpful tips on the Student Enterprise website about making your video, but when it comes to the practicalities of composing and recording your pitch, the following could be really helpful.

1. If you’re not used to the sound of your own voice, practice reading something out loud. Concentrate on diction, pronunciation and pace. Don’t rush it and don’t forget to breathe! A nursery rhyme will do for a start! Record yourself on your phone. Listen back and get used to the sound of your own voice. You don’t sound that bad – honestly! Get over it….

2. Graduate to taking a video of yourself reading out the piece you have chosen. Watch it back. Make notes of what you could change. Re-record. Do this a good few times until you are comfortable with the end result.

3. Sit down and think about your idea. studententerprise.ie ( “New Competitions/ Go Green: Be Sustainable/More information available here”) gives you five pointers about the content of your pitch. If you stick to these you can’t go wrong. Write out your script. Don’t worry about the length of it just yet. Read and record.

4. Edit your script. Remember that it can’t be more than two minutes long. This is probably the trickiest part. You may have to rearrange sentences. Read it out loud. Make sure it makes sense. There is a world of difference in writing an essay and writing a video script. Short, snappy sentences are the order of the day!

5. Ask someone who knows absolutely nothing about your idea (but make sure it’s someone you trust so they won’t steal it on you) if they understand the concept and if you have explained it properly. This is a very good way to ensure that you are being crystal clear and that you have thought out your idea properly. Stick to the point. Explain it like you would to a five year old!

6. Edit your script again!

7. Decide on the location for your video and any props you might like to use. You will stand out from the crowd if you can do this creatively. NB. If you are using an “extra” in your video, that person MUST be at least sixteen years of age at the time the video is made.

8. Wear a bright colour (but not white). Don’t wear very patterned clothing (best not to wear stripes).   Have a good, contrasting background. Don’t take a video of yourself in front of a window (unless the curtains are closed!) or you will look like Beyonce with a halo! Make sure you pick a quiet location. There should be absolutely no back-ground noise.

9. If you are moving/ walking about, using props in your video, make sure you and they stay within shot.

10. Have fun with it! The judges’ attention will be caught by an engaging, informative, energetic presentation of your fabulous business idea!

My name is Kate Madden and I am an ex-finalist of the National Student Enterprise Programme. I co-founded my business FenuHealth.com with my younger sister Annie to enter the LEO Student Enterprise Programme in 2016.

FenuHealth supplies a range of products to the equine industry. The main products that we have on the market are to help stomach problems in horses. We entered the competition nearly three and a half years ago, and since then, we now have nine products on the market, nine people working on our team, and we export to fifteen countries worldwide!!!

So, how exactly did we do this?????

This is how:

-When we first looked into the LEO Student Enterprise Programme, we found the idea of the competition intriguing. We decided that we needed to find a good, strong business idea because we wanted to make it to the National Final in Croke Park. We had previously entered and won a prize at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. We decided that we were going to turn our science idea into a business reality.

-Firstly, we did what every other student enterprise does: We set up our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We managed to get help help to design an appropriate logo so we could begin to create our brand. An important factor for us was to build a brand that would stand out from the crowd and make people want to buy it. We chose our main colour schemes and began creating our product labels and brands.

-Our social media did not get much movement at the beginning. Like every other student enterprise, we were over the moon to gain over 500 followers. Now we have over 70,000 likes on Facebook, almost 50,000 followers on Twitter, and over 1,000 on Instagram. How did we manage to grow that much?

-We gained media attention. As our business is within the horse industry, we were selling our initial products to racehorse trainers and people within the industry. We managed to get a very well-known racehorse ‘PadyDePlasterer’ to try and use our products. From this, we gained large media coverage within our industry of equine nutrition. Each time we had a radio interview with RTÉ or a television interview with At The Races, we also plugged our social media accounts and asked people to follow them, and it worked! Media coverage is very valuable for start-up enterprises and businesses because the more that people know about your business, the more the will interact with you.

Nowadays, we get asked regularly for any advice that we would give to entrepreneurs, both young and old… and here is what we say:

1. The first piece of advice we give is what we call “KISS”- Keep It Stupidly Simple. When we are a new and rising business, you need to keep the concept of your products and the mission of your business very simple. Many of the top and well educated businesspeople around the world still do not understand some of the tricky business jargon to date. Keeping the concept of your business simple shows that you fully understand what you are talking about, and it also allows the person who you are talking to to understand your business fully also.
2. We also advise new start-ups or young businesses to speak to the top people if you want tot get something done. If you want help with something, ask the CEO or the boss of that large company because all they can say is ‘No’, and more times than not, they will say ‘Yes’! All you can do is ask! The top people often have more experience and wisdom within the area that you are asking about, so you will probably get a good answer!
3. Our first successful product was our 152^nd attempt! Imagine if we had stopped at 151 – the moto – #NeverGiveUp.
4. Overall, our business experience has been really positive. We are lucky that we can both continue a full-time education while running a business, but that is purely because we chose to only take on the best and right people for the roles on our team. Each member of our team is capable and knowledgeable within their given area to do a good job in what they need to get done. We have gained lots of help from the Local Enterprise Office and Enterprise Ireland since we began FenuHealth, and we are excited to see what is yet to come…

If you or any of your friends are thinking of partaking in the Student Enterprise Programme, do not hesitate to get in contact with us via our social media channels and we will do whatever we can to help.

Best of luck!

Enjoy the journey!

#NeverGiveUp

In Need of a Little Innovation Kickstart???

SEP students the length and breadth of the country are right now busy hashing out potential business ideas and trying to find that needle in the haystack that will make them their first million!!! Or at least give them a shot at getting to the National Final of the Student Enterprise Programme in May 2020!!!

Mind-mapping, brainstorming, identifying problems and looking for solutions ….. you’re doing it all …… but what if you’re still hitting a brick wall????

Idea generation can be a struggle and it’s easy to get disheartened if that great idea just isn’t coming to you as quickly as you’d like.

If you find yourself stuck in a bit of an innovation rut and are getting bogged down, why not put the pen and paper down and have a bit of fun by checking out the weird and wonderful business ideas that entrepreneurs right across the globe are coming up with right now! You’ll be amazed to see what people can turn into a business!

There are some fantastic websites out there that showcase some of the top new business ideas from around the globe. Sites such as www.springwise.com and www.trendhunter.com are a great resource for aspiring young entrepreneurs just like you.

From novelty sock vending machines and bike helmets that can detect accidents and call the emergency services to backpacks that turn into school desks and 3D printers that allow kids to design their own toys – you’ll be truly inspired by the products and services that are being developed out there right now.

Why not ask your teacher to devote a class to exploring some of these online resources with you and your classmates and see if this helps inspire you in any way in your own idea generation journey.

When you go back to your own brainstorming you might find you’re thinking outside the box a bit more and that elusive business idea might just come to you!!!