Developing young entrepreneurs one boot camp at a time

The boot camp follows a two-week computer training course held in eight provinces across the country.

During the boot camp, youths are put through various business and skills modules, and at the end of the camp, some of the business ideas created by the youth are considered and awarded seed capital.

The camp, facilitated by Susan Steinman, will follow the Business Model Canvas and will focus on business modelling and pitch preparation. Business modelling is about understanding the business environment, competitors, products and services, markets and stakeholders and their roles.

Participants will test their business ideas and rudimentary plans against the various elements of the Business Model Canvas. At the end of the training, participants will have a more robust business model and business plan which earns them 40 credits towards a higher certificate in management accredited by the Southern Business School.

The pitch preparation educates participants on how to pitch to potential investors. Studies have shown that one of the reasons why micro and small businesses fail is due to the lack of skills and preparedness for pitching investors.

During the training, participants will engage in a series of practical exercises. They will then pitch to a panel of real investors. Successful pitches will result in those social enterprises receiving start-up funding.

“All of these outcomes address the core areas of the Youth Employment Accord launched in 2011, and contribute to reducing the youth unemployment levels,” says loveLife senior manager, Business for Social Change, Peggy Pillay said.

“We invite businesses to work with us because we have a tried and tested model. This training is designed to address both the supply side and demand side of business,” she said.

“On the supply side, the labour market will have a pool of employable young people; and on the demand side, many of the small enterprises that are established will be able to be accommodated in the enterprise development programmes of the private and public sectors.”

Through this camp, loveLife hopes to raise the skills of young people and make them more employable and able to start and sustain their own businesses with the support of mentorship and coaching, and to attract support from the private sector for the programme.

“We need the youth of our country to be productively engaged. loveLife has the development background, the national infrastructure and the ability to reach scale, so we invite established businesses to work with us,” Pillay said.

Details: 011 523 1000.

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