Jozi’s teen entrepreneurs mean business

23 November 2015

 

Seven small enterprises developed and run by Johannesburg’s future Mark Shuttleworths and Patrice Motsepes scooped a total of R100 000 in prizes at the inaugural TeenPreneurs Festival at Wits Business School in Parktown at the weekend.

 

Elated representatives of the seven burgeoning enterprises ascended the winners’ podium on Saturday after edging out 18 other equally innovative contestants following a day-long exhibition at the venue. Held under the auspices of personnel development and entrepreneurship leadership organisation Beyond the Lemonade Stand and the City of Johannesburg, the tough high school entrepreneurship competition was the first of its kind in South Africa and possibly the continent.

 

The competition – sponsored by the City of Johannesburg, Old Mutual, Wits Business School, Small Enterprise Financial Agency, Red Bull, Enke and Levis – was aimed at exposing, celebrating and rewarding teenagers operating their own businesses and encouraging them to take their enterprises to greater heights. It is envisaged that the competition will, following its success, become an annual event.

 

Some of the wares on show during Saturday’s exhibition included T-shirts, caps, shirts, bags, handbags, hats and jackets.

Three enterprises – Swank, GM Lub and Novae Photography – each won R8 000 cash plus a business coaching course valued at R20 000. Three other enterprises – Township Innovators, Unisex and ST Softdrinks – each walked away with cameras and cellphones. The cameras and cellphones were worth R3 000 each. The People’s Choice award, worth R5 000, was won by Switch Beauty.

 

Tsholo Mogotsi, City of Johannesburg’s Director of Economic Development Facilitation, said the City believed in supporting young entrepreneurs as they represented the future of Johannesburg. Mogotsi said it was encouraging to see school-going entrepreneurs making money while creating employment for their peers. He said what made Johannesburg tick was the ingenuity and creativity of its people, including young entrepreneurs.

 

“Everyone who comes to Johannesburg wants to make money. But what we also want to see is the youth not only making money for themselves, but also creating employment for others,” he said.

 

Mogotsi encouraged young entrepreneurs to keep on trying and not be discouraged by failure. Thokoza Mjo, founder member of Beyond the Lemonade Stand, said her company believed in finding, accelerating and financing teenage-led enterprises. Mjo said teenagers had the ability to create economic opportunities to benefit their peers, the community, the city, the country and the whole continent.

 

“We also believe in teaching the young to seek solutions to challenges facing the continent,” she said.