The Caribbean Young Entrepreneur “Going Global” Competition
Hosted by CENUK in conjunction with Priority First UK
CENUK is one of the leading UK based organisations which directly targets the all-round development of the Caribbean Diaspora in the United Kingdom. Recently, CENUK hosted in collaboration with the Jamaica Stock Exchange and the High Commissions of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the Missions of the OECS countries, the Caribbean Diaspora week with the focus on business enterprise and the Stock Exchange, in the UK and Jamaica. Priority First UK is one of the many proactive business entities in the UK and its focus is business management and development.
Rationale for the Competition:
Photo courtesy nonamos.com
The Competition, which has two segments, is organised in direct response to the need to heighten interest in the business and technological skills and capabilities of the youth of the Caribbean Diaspora. Its objective is to highlight entrepreneurial skills and creative aptitudes among students who have business studies and or other technological skills as part of their curriculum in the high school and colleges across London.
The focus of the competition is to encourage students to garner insights into the present business environment of London with an aim to create solutions and/or develop their own business plan and/or product for the future in order to input resourceful innovations into the sluggish business environment. It will therefore reward highly those participants who create business plans which can be useful in the UK and/or in the Caribbean. The entries will be used to showcase the creativity of our youth as they prepare themselves for success in the emerging business environment.
The Competition:
The competition directly targets young people between the ages of 16-20 years, living in the UK but of UK Caribbean heritage and /or with a Caribbean background. Competition venues will be at each of the four (4) Caribbean Missions, namely Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the OECS. Competition will start on the 19th November 2012 during (UK Enterprise Week).
It will also provide the backdrop for CENUK 2nd Diaspora Business Week 25th – 30th March, 2013. The grand finale of the competition will signpost one of the main events of the Diaspora Business Week 2013. Each contestant will be invited to attend workshops to enhance their concept of the business environment and their entrepreneurial journey through the process.
The Competitions
The Quiz
1. The Quiz which will highlight the outstanding contributions made by the Caribbean Diaspora in all areas of general business knowledge, health, engineering, entertainment, music and sports of our ‘young entrepreneurs’. Solutions will also be sourced for present problematic situations and scenarios.
2. The Quiz team will comprise of five (5) members.
3. The preliminary round of competition will be played off between Teams of the five (5) schools.
4. The final round will be held at a venue to be announced later between the winners of each of these Preliminary rounds
The Business Plan
1. The ‘young entrepreneur’ entrants will have to develop a workable business plan which can provide goods and/or services which will be highly marketable in the UK or overseas in the Caribbean.
2. The plan must be original and produced by the team members
3. A detailed well-presented and well-documented development of the idea leading to its final presentation must be presented in manner according to specifications outlined.
4. The preliminary judging of the plans will be held at the same venue and time with the Quiz competition for your particular group.
5. The Details of the presentations of the Plan will be given at the briefing at the planned workshops.
6. The Grand Finale which will be held at the said venue with Quiz Final is to be announced later. However, all the successful plans and presentations will be on display to be adjudicated for overall placing.
The Criteria:
The basic criteria for the selection of the best plan must be
1. Very practical, useful and cost effective.
2. Winners will be rated according to their plan ideas; based on general knowledge, innovation, marketing and sales criteria, operations and financial management.
3. All presentations must be original work produced by the team.
4. Format for the presentation will be provided at the briefing at the workshop sessions
5. Completion dates are to be announced
6. Judges decisions are final
Winners of both aspects of the completion will be “crowned” CENUK ambassadors at a gala play off at the Grand Finale and will be expected to return to their school or college and run entrepreneurship workshops.
The Judges
Judges will be chosen from a combination of Business leaders, Diplomatic Corp and Academia.
The prizes
1st 5k and a period of apprenticeship at a leading firm in the UK
2nd 3k
3rd 2k
Workshops
Each workshop will cover
• the requirements of a business plan
• raising and managing finance
• patenting and copyright of intellectual property
• marketing strategies
• business development
For more information contact CENUK at [email protected]
