In term two we had the pleasure of teaming up with the Beenleigh Yatala Chamber Of Commerce to host the Young Business Leaders Program for aspiring young entrepreneurs in Logan. This program saw 50 amazing students from grade 7-12 working to build and launch their own small businesses with the support of local business.
The program kicked off with a one day 'Hackathon Day' that saw students coming together to form teams, decide on a business idea and start to build their foundations around branding, marketing and product design. Set the challenge of finding a business that they could launch with $100, students had a big focus on building a minimum viable product (MVP) to get them started.
After building their foundations, we jumped straight into a term long after school style program that saw students working with our team for 1.5hrs a week to bring their businesses to life. Each week saw our team delivering a masterclass on different topics to help students develop their ventures, before then handing over to the students for mentoring, and work time.
One of the most exciting elements of this program was that the local chamber was able to work with businesses in the community to raise a funding pool for each team to access up to $100 to pay for the materials they would need to develop their first set of products.
At the conclusion of the program, students showcased their products at the Beenleigh Yatala Chamber Of Commerce senior chamber breakfast as they received feedback from senior chamber members. Top teams were also invited to pitch their ideas to the chamber, with students winning prizes from Bendigo Bank to put towards their business ventures.
We wanted to say a big thank you to the Beenleigh Yatala Chamber Of Commerce, Bendigo Bank, Bert Van Manen MP, and Logan City Council for helping make this program happen. And a huge congratulations to our young entrepreneurs for creating such fabulous ventures.
To find out more about how you could organise a business program with your school, make sure to head to our Incursions Page to browse programs. If you have a young entrepreneur looking to bring their idea to life, make sure to check out our Young Entrepreneurs Hub. And if you're looking to run a program like this for your community, Contact Us to find out more.
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