To start new businesses:
British Council, SLASSCOM train graduate entrepreneurs
Technology driven globalization is creating unprecedented
opportunities for anyone from anywhere to create business in a way which
was unimaginable several years ago.
Lionel Bunting conducting the workshop. Also in the picture at
the head table from left: Swarnamali Abesuriya (SIYB), Gill
Westaway and Prof Gareth McCormick. |
The next generation of Google, Microsoft, Facebook and YouTube can
come from anywhere in the world. The potential to create significant
business in the globalized world will only be limited by one's
imagination.
Twenty young, bright and aspiring graduate entrepreneurs, selected
for their innovative business ideas were trained on business planning
and enterprise start-up in a five-day residential workshop series
conducted by two eminent enterprise trainers from the UK.
This workshop was conducted as the second stage of the Graduate
Enterprise Challenge '09.
The British Council and Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service
Companies (SLASSCOM) have come together to lay the foundation of
technology entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka.
Graduate Enterprise Challenge '09 (GEC) is a business plan
competition that is open to undergraduate and graduate students in Sri
Lanka.
It is jointly organised by the British Council and SLASSCOM
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Forum.
The workshop participants were chosen from a business idea
competition held in March 2009.
Eleven teams were selected based on their innovation of idea, use of
ICT and feasibility of their proposed business ideas.
Two members from each team participated in the residential workshop
from March 28 to April 1.
The workshop was jointly conducted by Lionel Bunting from the
University of Central Lancashire and Prof Gareth McCormick from Leeds
Metropolitan University.
Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB), an enterprise training
organisation in Sri Lanka also facilitated the workshop by conducting a
business simulation game. During the workshop participants learned
essential areas of business planning such as business models, market
research, competition, market segmentation, e-Marketing, product pricing
and sales forecasting.
Each team also had to present their business idea in the form of an
"elevator pitch" thereby training them on selling their business idea or
plan within few minutes.
Their presentations were evaluated by the trainers as well as members
of the GEC '09 organising committee and were given immediate feedback.
The final stage of this program will consist of mentoring the
participants to prepare their business plans and to present them to
potential investors.
The 11 teams are currently preparing their business plans.
Upon completing the workshop, Madhumal Gunetileke an undergraduate
student from the University of Moratuwa said, "I am sure I speak on
behalf of all the others when I say that it was truly a life changing
experience for all of us.
Though we went there to learn some tips on starting businesses and
writing business plans, I believe we all got a lot more out of it than
we ever thought initially and we are looking forward to the competition
up ahead." |