Business plan competition for entrepreneurs announces Johannesburg regional winner
JOHANNESBURG – Entertainment Neighborhood business plan was well presented, informative and comprised all the essential sections required.
The 2018 SME Toolkit Business/Partners Business Plan Competition for aspiring young entrepreneurs announced Lucky Shabalala as the regional winner for Johannesburg.
This after Shabalala submitted his business plan for his company, Entertainment Neighborhood, a video gaming company which provides video gaming facilities to individuals from low-income households in the townships at a reasonable cost.
Shabalala started the company by using his personal gaming console which he set up outside a local hair salon.
Today, Entertainment Neighborhood consists of eight PlayStation 4 consoles, eight UHD TVs and 32 video games.
Petro Bothma, group enterprise development manager at Business Partners Limited and programme manager for SME Toolkit South Africa, announced Shabalala as the winner at a ceremony held in Johannesburg.
Now in its ninth year, the competition aims to promote South African entrepreneurship among individuals between the ages of 18 and 35. Bothma said this was achieved by bridging the gap between simply having an idea to actually launching a start-up business.
As part of the free-to-enter competition, he said Shabalala joined young entrepreneurs across the country by taking part in one of the 18 regional business workshops on the intricacies of compiling a business plan and managing the many functions of running a business.
Following the workshop, each entrant was invited to submit a complete business plan to the competition judging panel.
“The business plan for Entertainment Neighborhood was chosen as it was well presented, informative and comprised all the essential sections required,” said Bothma.
“It also showed Shabalala’s aim to grow the business further and make affordable video gaming facilities available in various low-income communities, thereby providing consumers with entertainment as well as the opportunity to pursue professional careers in gaming.”
Each regional winner is awarded a mentorship support voucher to the value of R6 000, and are introduced to valuable business networking opportunities to assist them with growing their fledgeling businesses.
The competition received 800 entries from young entrepreneurs across the country, after which 100 business plans were submitted for judging.
Eight regional winners were selected from across the country and will contend for the overall national title to be announced at an awards ceremony to be held in Johannesburg on 21 November.
Details: ahlumile.mahlinza@mslgroup.com
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