With South Africa’s extremely high unemployment rates, especially among youth, it is time that the basic principles of entrepreneurship, such as problem-solving, risk-taking, creativity, critical thinking and financial literacy, are taught at school
Aspiring entrepreneurs in some of South Africa’s small towns and struggling townships recently participated in the ‘Pitch & Polish’ competition that aimed to uncover the brightest business minds.
‘Pitch & Polish’ has been described as a lateral-thinking competition launched earlier this year to expose would-be entrepreneurs to enterprise development training and thinking.
It was a stage set for talented entrepreneurs across South Africa to pitch their business proposals and stand a chance to win valuable prizes. This national competition was the brainchild of local businessman Allon Raiz, who runs an entrepreneurial support programme.
Raiz is the chief executive of Raizcorp, and two years ago the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader.
His competition challenged ordinary citizens in some of the most unreachable parts of the country to think up brilliant business proposals. Business owners could also enter the competition.
“This innovative new competition offered entrepreneurs outside the mainstream economic centres of South Africa the opportunity to gain exposure to and learn from international entrepreneurial thinking— It is a response to the current economic crisis,” explains Raiz.
“Entrepreneurship can impact a country’s economy on a large scale, as empowered individuals grow their businesses, provide opportunities to others and transfer valuable skills and knowledge.”
Raiz secured Brandhouse Beverages as the competition’s main sponsor. Its corporate social responsibility manager Phumza Rengqe says the beverage manufacturer wanted to play a role in “finding these future business stars and helping them unleash the power of their vision and ingenuity.”
“Job creation and the growth of our economy will come from small business, many of them in the informal sector. The future of South Africa lies in harnessing the informal sector and energy of our entrepreneurs. Many of these gems are struggling, undiscovered and across small towns and villages,” says Rengqe.
Other sponsors that joined the initiative included cellular network MTN, South African Tourism, RMB Private Bank and the City of Cape Town. Raiz relied on his business contacts at the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation and challenged them to “give back” by joining the competition’s judging panel, which entrants had to face and sell their ideas to.
“Let’s get involved in this inspiring challenge to stimulate profitable entrepreneurial initiative in some of South Africa’s most overlooked communities. Contribute your knowledge and insight,” he told his colleagues.
The Entrepreneurs’ Organisation members responded and joined with global insight gained via a network of more than 7,300 business owners in 42 countries. The organisation’s members have to own or part-own companies with a turnover of more than US$1 million a year.
It was established by a group of young entrepreneurs in 1987. The judging panel also included fellow ‘Pitch & Polish’ competitors and a senior member of the local community where the competition was held.
Entrants showed up at stops in small towns or townships in Rustenburg, Nelspruit, Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, Kimberley, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane and Johannesburg. Free fullday entrepreneurship workshops were also held at each competition audition.
Raiz developed guidelines and criteria for the judging panel. He also had a presentation formula that aimed to empower the budding entrepreneur.
“Every entrant had three minutes to deliver a business pitch, three minutes for questions and answers with the panel and three minutes of constructive feedback from the panel. The feedback was a critical component of the competition, because its primary objective was to provide participants with a watch-and-learn experience and allow them to polish their business ideas,” says Raiz.
Ten semi-finalists eventually presented their pitches to an audience of 320 international visiting entrepreneurs at the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation’s week-long conference held in mid-November in Cape Town.
Three finalists were selected; each one has been linked with a company abroad and was awarded an all-expenses-paid trip for a week of mentorship with their host company. Prize money throughout the competition totalled almost R90,000.