Bizstartup.ie - NewsBill Cullen to advise young entrepreneurs

One of Ireland’s best-known entrepreneurs, Bill Cullen (pictured), will be inspecting the students’ work and passing on advice to them, based on his own entrepreneurial experiences.

Since last September over 10,000 secondary-school students have researched, set up and managed their own real-life student enterprises, and over 280 of them involved in 77 individual enterprises have now qualified for the national finals in Croke Park on 27 April.

Student entrepreneurs will showcase their talents

Students will set up an enterprise exhibition display stand on the morning of the final to showcase their products and services, which include merchandise to encourage good manners, animated cartoons to help teach Irish, web portals and business magazines. Multiple interviews with the judges will then follow and each student entrepreneur will also have to submit a business plan.

The up-and-coming entrepreneurs will be judged on criteria such as innovation, market research, production, personal development, finances, business planning, interview techniques and risk management.

According to the County and City Enterprise Boards, which organises the Student Enterprise programme, students learn how to brainstorm business ideas and identify solutions for everyday problems, and are encouraged to use their own talents in their entrepreneurial roles.

“The thousands of young entrepreneurs in the Student Enterprise Programme who have spotted gaps in the market, who have turned an opportunity into a real-business, demonstrate how important it is to continue supporting an enterprising culture in Irish society, starting in the classroom,” said Ger Enright, chair of the Enterprise Education Committee with the County and City Enterprise Boards.

^{Photo: courtesy of Jason Clarke Photography}