The judges with the winning group. Photo/ Grace Odlum
The judges with the winning group. Photo/ Grace Odlum
Commerce students at Paraparaumu College have participated in a product pitching competition much like Dragon’s Den or Shark Tank.
The competition was the Young Enterprise Scheme BP Business Challenge and was held last week.
The Young Enterprise Scheme BP Business Challenge is free to all New Zealand schools, and encourages students to learn the basics of business, including strategy, marketing, production, and financial management.
It was sponsored by BP and the Ministry of Youth Development and the college’s head of commerce Mark Fearon said it was designed to show students what business will look like and how it operates.
All the students competing were in Year 11 and taking classes in economics and/or business.
They were instructed to come up with a product or a service which they then had to pitch to a team of judges including local successful businesspeople Greg Selby from Whittakers, Olga Speranskaya from Denim for Dogs, Paul Harris from DKSH, and Anke Figur from AD Architecture.
There were 10 groups made up of six or eight students, and the ideas they had varied from robotic referees to a subscription-based app that pairs you with the perfect personal trainer.
Working in groups meant the students got to take ownership of a specific area of their business.
The judges listened to each group’s pitch before going away to deliberate, and when they came back, they said it was a hard decision and that “your [students’] ideas are all real”.
The winning pitch was created by a group of six students - Jessica Barber, Ruby Shaw, Raff Ayson, Ryan Jackson, Theo Hobley, and Gianne Cajagas - which was for an app that sets off an alarm that will not stop until you complete a particular task.
Jessica Barber, left, Ruby Shaw, Raff Ayson, Theo Hobley and Ryan Jackson. Missing is Gianne Cajagas. Photo/ Grace Odlum
Some of the examples the group gave were walking a certain number of steps/metres or taking a photo, but they said you can choose your own too.
Fearon said he was really proud of all the students, especially because it was only the third week into the school year.
“You’re all winners,” he had told them before passing over to the judges.
All of the students received certificates, but the top three groups also received prizes which included Lindt chocolate and other goodies too.
While it was only the college’s first year trialling the competition, Fearon said he is looking forward to running it again in future years.
