Student Enterprise Awards In association with Enterprise Ireland

OUT OF THE CLASSROOM, INTO THE BOARDROOM

Colm Hackett, Manager, Regions and Entrepreneurship, Enterprise Ireland

The upcoming Student Entreprise Awards is exactly what is called for in this highly entrepreneurial country says Colm Hackett.

It may not quite be The Dragons' Den but all over the country third level students are preparing to present business plans in the hope of getting their hands on a share of €44,000.

The 2006 Student Enterprise Awards, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, Ulster Bank and Invest Northern Ireland, is Ireland's largest student competition both in terms of prestige and prize money.

The awards were designed to develop and promote innovation and enterprise amongst Ireland's third level student population and offers third level students across Ireland a chance to compete for the coveted title 'college entrepreneurs of the year.'

Dr Tom Cooney, a lecturer in entrepreneurship in the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), and a strong advocate of the awards, says, "in all honesty, entering the Student Enterprise Awards is probably the best thing a student will do in college. By taking part, they have to apply what they do in class to a practical situation, and the skills they develop and use cut across all the different functions of a business. Students learn how to work as a team and to understand the different weaknesses and strengths of the other members of the team."

CHALLENGE

Dr Cooney rates the awards so highly that he got rid of the traditional exam at the end of third year and replaced it with entering the awards. There was one major challenge to be faced, however.

Explains Dr Cooney, "over the years we found that the business students could put together a great business plan but were not so strong on coming up with innovative ideas. The engineering students, on the other hand, had all the ideas but couldn't do the business plan. So DIT introduced a speed-dating' event where groups of students from the faculty of engineering got the opportunity to present their ideas to groups from the faculty of business with the hope of forming teams of like minded people."

THE BENEFITS

The benefit of entering the awards is not confined to the prospect of winning some cash, as Dr Cooney is anxious to point out. "This is something that looks impressive on a CV. Students I have spoken to tell me that one of the first three questions they get asked at an interview is about the awards. This means that they can prepare their answer, talk about being innovative, being capable of writing a business plan and understanding cross-functional teams," Cooney informs.

There are broader benefits too. "We may be still some way behind the USA in our acceptance of entrepreneurship and the awards will help redress this. It will help get rid of an old stereotype that entrepreneurs who succeed are gangsters and those that fail are chancers. I would also like to see some more thought going to social entrepreneurship, seeing it just in terms of creating new ventures is too narrow. Starting up a charity should be seen as entrepreneurship; it's just that the goals are a bit different. But it is certainly moving the concept forward."

DEADLINE

The Student Enterprise Awards are open to all full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students attending any third level educational institution on the island of Ireland.

So whatever the field of study, if you're a student who has a novel business idea that you think has commercial potential, this competition could be the very first step towards establishing your own successful business.

Application forms are available from third level institutions and the closing date for the 2006 Student Enterprise Awards is 6th March 2006.