Judging by their talents, students will have enterprising futures

Russell Bell PHOTO/FILE

It is important that you give credit where it is due especially where people have done something truly special.

On Friday afternoon I found myself at City College as one of five judges of the Young Enterprise Trust event, where students had to think up a product and take it to market.

The students had to develop a strategic plan, write a budget, produce a marketing campaign and then "sell" the concept to independent judges in an environment similar to a sales pitch. And you know what? I was left totally stunned by the creativity and execution of each and every team.

From the first team that I visited (who actually role-played their TV commercial) to the last, who left me thinking about calling a venture capitalist to take their product to market, each group set an incredibly high standard especially when you consider that they had only two days to prepare.

The Young Enterprise Trust offers enterprise programmes for students ranging in length from three days to a full year. The City College version was a three-day challenge, but it was much more than an exercise in business tools you could see teamwork in operation, pride in the work which was undertaken and that the students were really extending and enjoying themselves.

Separating the teams was difficult and it was pleasing to see that certain teams excelled in particular areas. Case in point was the marketing work undertaken by all the teams.

Being an owner of a marketing business, it is exciting to see the talent out there and the design work to create the logos of two teams in particular was outstanding.

The highlights:

The logo and branding of a product that combines sherbet and lemonade two products which hold pride of place in the Russell Bell "Consumer Product Hall of Fame".

The student concerned should seriously consider a career in advertising and/or design!

Footwear with in-built massage capability.

A vitamin drink developed specifically for Third World distribution.

A virtual reality combat game that encourages kids to get off the couch/iPad /phone technology. Mrs Bell, who is promoting a family fitness regime at the moment, would fund this one into production herself!

Hoodies and beanies with in-built sound systems the eventual winner.

While there was a single winner, four of the five listed above tied for first place on my voting sheet. But on reflection, the team from Radical Sounds, designers and producers of the hoodies (above) did have an edge. Their presentation was flawless and they did the little things really well right through to creating a business card for each judge.

I told the students that Friday afternoon was "one of the best of my career" and it was. I think that was because the passion of the students was contagious and that they had grasped some really important strategic business tools.

The value of this should not be lost on all of them and I hope that they treat the few days they had last week, not as a diversion from the usual school fare, but as an entree to what may be bright future careers in business.

Congratulations to City College and its students well done!

Zenith Strategic Solutions is Wanganui's specialist business consulting practice. For help with your business' strategic direction and opportunities contact Russell on 021-244-2421.