We must foster culture of entrepreneurship in our youth

ENTREPRENEURIAL intentions in South Africa have dropped by almost 30% (from 15.4% to 10.9%) when compared to 2013 and almost halved when compared to 2010.

They are now significantly lower than for the African region as a whole – with an average 3.6 times higher than South Africa says the The GEM Consortium (South Africa 2015/2016 report). Although incubators and accelerators help to grow entrepreneurial success, they have not been sufficient to impact entrepreneurial intent as per the report quoted above.

Incubators provide a rich environment for innovative entrepreneurs, including mentoring, networking, business development and financial management. They involve physically relocating the business in one central work space with many other start-up companies.

The startups in these incubators could all be venture funded by the same investor group. The business can stay in the space as long as it needs to, or until it has grown to the scale it needs to relocate to its own space with ongoing support.

Accelerators are ventures or schemes that promote and aid the rapid growth of selected new small businesses in their various industries. During this time, they receive intensive mentoring and training, and they are expected to iterate rapidly. The start-ups must “graduate” by a given deadline which is typically within a 3-6 month period which culminates in a public pitch event or “demo day”, where the start-ups present to investors.

What is needed in South Africa is a pipeline for both accelerators and incubators that will provide the foundation for a sustainable supply of entrepreneurial ventures.

Primestars Marketing [with the support of sponsors including Sasol, MTN, NYDA and Tsogo Sun, amongst others] provides such a pipeline using Ster-Kinekor Cinemas as “Theatres of Learning”.

Through this medium they are able to reach hundreds of thousands of learners all over the country. The programme is fostering the creation of a culture of entrepreneurship amongst South African youth. Primestars activates the pipeline through their Step Up 2 A Start Up programme which consists of three core elements: 1. The production and screening of an educational film. The objective of the movie is to inspire a culture of entrepreneurship. 2. A social entrepreneurs tool kit given to all participating learners. The tool kit is a practical step-by-step guide for educators and learners on how to identify and foster entrepreneurship in their schools.

They include lessons on the key elements that make up the entrepreneurial process. Also contained in the tool kit will be details about the National Social Entrepreneurs Competition, Boot Camp and Awards Ceremony. 3. A National Social Entrepreneurs Competition, Boot Camp and Awards Ceremony. The national competition provides a practical vehicle through which learners can apply their skills. They stand a chance of bringing their entrepreneurial and social/ environmental flair to life.

Winners from all nine provinces become finalists. Finalists attend a boot camp in Johannesburg during which learners spend time refining their business model, meeting inspirational young social and environmental entrepreneurs and learning about what it takes to start and build a socially conscious business.

Following the boot camp, an awards ceremony will be held on December 6 at Gold Reef City where the finalists will be rewarded with prizes and bursaries.

The Primestars methodology will help learners to embrace a new way of thinking about creating and launching a company ie how to start quickly with lean resources; develop a business model; rapidly prototype the product and get customer feedback to make adjustments based on real information instead of projections. Learners then have the insight needed to make the decision to tinker or rethink their approach, scale up or even abandon ship and move on.

Entrepreneurial activators such as Primestars play an important role in providing the vital pipeline incubators and accelerators need in order to grow start-up businesses.

Support from the public and private sector for activators is essential for entrepreneurial development. This will help reduce unemployment among the youth in the country and help grow the economy.

“Programme will teach our youth how to start a business