Calling all budding entrepreneurial undergraduates
There is just two weeks to go in this competition where students are challenged to come up with a money making idea and make it a reality. Whether a business start-up idea, one-off event like a charity ball or sporting activity, or any 'big idea', the quest is on to raise as much money as possible for the PwC chosen charity; School For Social Entrepreneurs (SSE). The student's business venture will be supported by seed funding [where necessary] and one-to-one support from a PwC industry mentor.
If raising money for a worthy charity was not incentive enough the winning students will receive a place on the PwC Talent Academy and a paid PwC summer internship. The winners will not be based purely on the most money generated but factors such as the wider impact of the idea will be considered; any longer term benefits; potential [and actual] return on investment; what was learned from being a Business Champion and the strength of the presentation of the idea.
An opportunity for a career kick-start
Undergraduates, who will face the highest levels of graduate unemployment in over 10 years, are being given the opportunity to kick-start their careers by fine tuning their employability skills.
Alasdair Wilson, CEO at The School of Social Entrepreneurs, said: "Students are given the confidence to realise a dream and make it happen through action learning. They begin to trade from scratch. This live business competition promotes a generation of fresh thinking, well rounded individuals who are driven by social, financial and environmental factors. It is a brilliant opportunity for students to stand out from the crowd with an eye catching and inspiring CV."
Richard Collier-Keywood, PwC managing partner, said: "It doesn't matter whether your ambition is to work in a big corporation, or a local SME, the notion of entrepreneurship is central to your success in business. Business Champions is tapping into students' skills and ideas at one of the most creative stages in their life, and giving them the opportunity to test their commercial and business nous in a safe and supportive environment. Someone out there is sitting on an absolutely cracking idea which will be brought to life for the benefit of their community and their career. Opportunities for incubating business ideas at university don't come much more exciting than this."
Get those proposals in
Sonja Stockton, PwC director of recruitment, said: "The competition gives students the opportunity to develop business insight and the kind of employability skills which can ultimately be taken into a graduate job."
Candidates must submit their proposal through the Business Champions website by 19 November 2010 with funding and mentoring decisions announced by Friday 26 November.
Competition details
1. PwC is working with Bright Futures, a national student Organisation geared towards helping students make informed career choices and network with top employees.
2. Competition Calendar:
• Entries opened: 4 October 2010
• Entries close: Friday 19 November 2010.
• Funding and Mentoring decisions released: from 4 October to 26 November 2010
• Bright Future's Business Champions Development Days: At regional office 7 and 10 December 2010
• National Finalists Announced: March 2011
3. Applications will be accepted initially based on the following criteria
• Potential return on investment (and the less investment needed the higher the % return on investment)
• Likelihood of success in the timescales
• Creativity and innovation
• Wider impact of the idea
• Any longer term benefits
• Overall strength of the submission
• Judging of the approved Business Champions ideas
4. The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) is PwC's chosen charity to which all profits from Bright Future's Business Champions will go. The SSE exists to provide training and opportunities to enable people to use their creative and entrepreneurial abilities more fully for social benefit.
