School competition sparks future entrepreneurs

Sat, 10/04/2008 11:33 AM | City

Artricia and her two classmates, Diandra and Zahrana, confidently explained the business plan for "their" mobile beauty salon, Spike, to a panel of judges during the final stage of the National Student Entrepreneurship Award 2008 competition on Saturday.

The second-year students at Lab School high school in Kebayoran, South Jakarta, described Spike as the first mobile salon in the city to offer complete head-to-toe services, including cutting, shampooing and massaging.

"The main concept is beauty without the hassle. It will transform you from dull to cool," Zahrana said convincingly.

"All you have to do is make one call and our salon bus arrives at your home. It's a great choice for busy housewives who want to pamper themselves but can't get out of the house," Diandra added.

The beauty salon might not yet be a reality, but their presentation stunned the judges and audience.

They two dreamed up Spike because of their hobbies: dressing up and grooming.

Diandra, whose parents are entrepreneurs, hoped someday she could actually set up the mobile salon.

"I want to be a businesswoman and run my own business. I've already started out by distributing ice cream products this last year," the 16-year-old told The Jakarta Post.

"I've been through highs and lows with that business. It taught me a lot about how to deal with financial loss. The greatest thing about the distribution is I can earn more pocket money," said Diandra, who earns 20 percent from her ice cream sales.

Artricia, whose parents are not business owners, expressed her optimism for working in business.

"I'm interested in becoming a businesswoman because it seems more dynamic than any other profession. I plan to go to business school after graduating from high school," she said.

The three were among dozens of high school students participating in the competition organized by a training company, YoungBiz Indonesia.

The students, who worked in teams of two or three people, presented business plans they had developed.

In the final round, 10 groups from seven high schools showed off various innovative and creative business concepts.

A finalist team from Global Jaya high school, for instance, presented an event organizing service for teens called Live it Up! Another from Al-Izhar presented Ezy Housekeepers, a housekeeper service provider.

Ivonne Lingga from YoungBiz Indonesia said the contest was aimed at raising young people's awareness about entrepreneurship.

"We hope the students will be more open to business and consider entrepreneurial activities as an option once they graduate from high school," Ivonne said.

A judge for the contest, Herris Simandjuntak, said the students were quite innovative in creating business plans.

"They tended to modify existing business concepts. I didn't see any team which was completely thinking out of the box. However, this is a good start for them. This kind of competition sharpens their business sense," Herris said.

"Business is a promising field. These students can later become job creators who provide jobs for others instead of becoming job seekers.

"Schools in the city should actively promote entrepreneurship skills with their students. They can cooperate with educational business institutions in the city to provide business training." --JP/Triwik Kurniasari

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