Video gaming business wins

BUSINESS PARTNERS COMPETITION: PROVIDES USE OF FACILITIES AT R10 PER HOUR TO POOR

Regional winner’s business plan impressed the judges.

The 2018 SME Toolkit Business/Partners Business Plan Competition for Aspiring Young Entrepreneurs has announced Lucky Shabalala as the regional winner for Johannesburg for his company, Entertainment Neighborhood, a video gaming company.

Entertainment Neighborhood provides the use of video gaming facilities at R10 per hour to individuals from low-income households in the townships of Vereeniging.

Shabalala started the company using his personal gaming console which he set up outside a local hair salon.

Today, Entertainment Neighborhood consists of eight PlayStation 4 consoles, eight UHD TVs and 32 video games.

“Now in its ninth year, the competition aims to promote South African entrepreneurship among individuals between the ages of 18 and 35 by bridging the gap between having an idea to actually launching a start-up business,” said Petro Bothma, group enterprise development manager at Business Partners Limited and programme manager for SME Toolkit South Africa.

As part of the competition, Shabalala joined young entrepreneurs across the country in one of the 18 regional business workshops on the intricacies of compiling a business plan and managing the many functions of running a business.

Following the workshops, each entrant was invited to submit a complete business plan to the competition judging panel.

“The business plan for Entertainment Neighborhood was chosen as it was well presented, informative and comprised all the essential sections required.

"It also showed Shabalala’s aim to grow the business further and make affordable video gaming facilities available in various low-income communities, thereby providing consumers with entertainment as well as the opportunity to pursue professional careers in gaming,” said Bothma at the regional awards ceremony on October 31.

Each regional winner gets a mentorship support voucher to the value of R6 000 and is introduced to valuable business networking opportunities.

The SME Toolkit Business/ Partners Business Plan Competition for Aspiring Young Entrepreneurs competition received 800 entries and a 100 business plans were submitted.

The eight regional winners will contend for the national title to be announced later this month.