Features
Teens as Entrepreneurs
High-school students get to develop business ideas with experts and successful entrepreneurs, then test their products with Gawad Kalinga communities
By Michelle Cortes; Illustration by Frantz Arno Salvador
The country's first inter-high school entrepreneurship competition, "Teenpreneur Challenge," was conducted recently by the Entrepreneur School of Asia (ESA) in Libis, Quezon City, as part of its advocacy of youth entrepreneurship and social responsibility. It was organized by ESA in cooperation with the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship and the GoNegosyo Movement for the benefit of the Bayan-Anihan Livelihood Program of the Gawad Kalinga (GK) communities.
A total of 25 teams of 10-12 students from 19 high schools participated in the competition. The teams went through a pre-qualifying round last January 27, during which they competed in a series of entrepreneurial games and challenges. They then underwent training workshops on planning, brainstorming, marketing, creativity, product positioning, and product improvement, after which each team was given one month to work with a GK community on how to improve the packaging, pricing, and quality of a particular GK product.
The product improvements were tested by an evaluation panel, after which all of the improved products were marketed at the Teenpreneur-Gawad Kalinga Bazaar during the recent GoNegosyo Tourism Expo at the SM Mall of Asia. The winning entrepreneurship teams were honored last March 3 in awarding ceremonies graced by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The team from the Tabernacle of Faith Christian Academy won the first prize for coming up with the most improved product-a Gawad Kalinga gift box made of papier mache enhanced into a personalized, multi-functional product.
The Xavier School team and the San Beda College team bagged the second and third prizes with an improved peanut butter product and a designer candle product, respectively.
The other participating schools were Assumption College (San Lorenzo), Elizabeth Seton School, Immaculate Conception Academy, Immaculate Heart of Mary, International Christian Academy, Kostka School, Lourdes School of Quezon City, Makati Hope Christian School, Miriam College, O.B. Montessori School, Philippine Science High School, Reedley International School, San Benildo Integrated School, St. Bridget School, St. Paul's College (Pasig), and St. Paul's University (Quezon City).
The training workshops for the participating student groups were conducted by lecturers from ESA and its partners from the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. Thirty-three successful entrepreneurs, mostly members of the Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc., volunteered to mentor each high school team as part of the second workshop held last February 3.
Vivienne Tan, chairperson of ESA and founding trustee of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, explains the rationale for the Teenpreneur Challenge: "The youth programs of the GoNegosyo Movement have already reached the young professionals and college students but there is still a gap in the high school level. This is what the Teenpreneur program seeks to address. If we can inculcate entrepreneurial values early enough among the next generation, then we will have bigger chances of finally creating a country of entrepreneurs."
Joel Santos, ESA co-founder and chairperson of the Teenpreneur Challenge, describes the methodology of the Teenpreneur program: "A teenpreneur team has the product, the training, and the mentors. We teach its members social responsibility, innovation, and diskarte [approach]. We want them to be resourceful in finding a way to make a particular product sell. In this sense, Teenpreneur is different from the expos of other schools because it's not a business plan competition. It's more of actual business practice with a social conscience."
A total of 25 teams of 10-12 students from 19 high schools participated in the competition. The teams went through a pre-qualifying round last January 27, during which they competed in a series of entrepreneurial games and challenges. They then underwent training workshops on planning, brainstorming, marketing, creativity, product positioning, and product improvement, after which each team was given one month to work with a GK community on how to improve the packaging, pricing, and quality of a particular GK product.
The product improvements were tested by an evaluation panel, after which all of the improved products were marketed at the Teenpreneur-Gawad Kalinga Bazaar during the recent GoNegosyo Tourism Expo at the SM Mall of Asia. The winning entrepreneurship teams were honored last March 3 in awarding ceremonies graced by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The team from the Tabernacle of Faith Christian Academy won the first prize for coming up with the most improved product-a Gawad Kalinga gift box made of papier mache enhanced into a personalized, multi-functional product.
The Xavier School team and the San Beda College team bagged the second and third prizes with an improved peanut butter product and a designer candle product, respectively.
The other participating schools were Assumption College (San Lorenzo), Elizabeth Seton School, Immaculate Conception Academy, Immaculate Heart of Mary, International Christian Academy, Kostka School, Lourdes School of Quezon City, Makati Hope Christian School, Miriam College, O.B. Montessori School, Philippine Science High School, Reedley International School, San Benildo Integrated School, St. Bridget School, St. Paul's College (Pasig), and St. Paul's University (Quezon City).
The training workshops for the participating student groups were conducted by lecturers from ESA and its partners from the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. Thirty-three successful entrepreneurs, mostly members of the Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc., volunteered to mentor each high school team as part of the second workshop held last February 3.
Vivienne Tan, chairperson of ESA and founding trustee of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, explains the rationale for the Teenpreneur Challenge: "The youth programs of the GoNegosyo Movement have already reached the young professionals and college students but there is still a gap in the high school level. This is what the Teenpreneur program seeks to address. If we can inculcate entrepreneurial values early enough among the next generation, then we will have bigger chances of finally creating a country of entrepreneurs."
Joel Santos, ESA co-founder and chairperson of the Teenpreneur Challenge, describes the methodology of the Teenpreneur program: "A teenpreneur team has the product, the training, and the mentors. We teach its members social responsibility, innovation, and diskarte [approach]. We want them to be resourceful in finding a way to make a particular product sell. In this sense, Teenpreneur is different from the expos of other schools because it's not a business plan competition. It's more of actual business practice with a social conscience."
