Each year the programme builds on global trends in entrepreneurship and seeks to inspire participants to explore these trends in the context of their surroundings, looking for business solutions to real problems in their communities. To date, the programme has reached nearly 65,000 learners nationwide.
With the Fourth Industrial Revolution in full swing, technology-based businesses will provide solutions to many of these problems, creating unprecedented opportunities on which youth can capitalise. As such, the theme chosen for this year’s Step Up 2 A Start Up programme is “Think Tech. Do Business”, encouraging learners to embrace technology as a platform for small business creation.
Technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, the internet of things, augmented reality, virtual reality and more, are creating new industries, products, services and occupations at an extraordinary rate. While the industrial era offered a world of work that was largely predictable, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has ushered in an era of massive interconnectedness and boundless potential.
“Standard Bank is committed to entrepreneurship and we promote it among the Youth through exposing them to relevant financial skills that can turn their ‘hustle’ to commercial value and get them closer to their Next. The partnership with Step Up to A Start Up and Prime Stars Marketing complements the current Standard Bank ‘My Fearless Next’ campaign and our long-standing support of small businesses” said Thulani Sibeko, Chief Marketing Officer.
“Sasol has once again come on-board as a national sponsor of the annual Step Up 2 A Start-Up initiative, aimed at providing secondary school learners with the right tools to become entrepreneurs. Sasol is supporting the programme for the fifth consecutive year. The theme for this year’s Step Up 2 A Start-Up is “Think Tech. Do Business”. High school learners will be challenges to come up with innovative ideas that speak to the theme and also recognise the era that we are in, which is that of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” said Abey Tau, Corporate Affairs, Sasol Social Investment.
Online platforms are improving how supply meets demand, digital machines are overcoming their past limitations and excelling beyond human capabilities and companies are outsourcing key aspects of business at much lower costs. As the cornerstone of this year’s Step Up 2 A Start Upprogramme, learners will be exposed to how technology lowers the barriers of entry, levels the playing field and enables start-ups to compete in an age of increasing automation.
“Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) is a proud partner of the Step Up 2A Start Up initiative. Our involvement is based on a firm belief that this programme nurtures a culture of entrepreneurship among school learners from townships and rural areas. The programme is exposing them early to entrepreneurship attributes required to successfully venture into business. School learners also get a chance to start small enterprises and get to be exposed earlier to available support from Seda and other institutions. We are mindful that these businesses will also face risks, some will fail, some will succeed and certainly, all learners that pass through this programme will remain potential and intentional entrepreneurs. The lean methodology approach which is followed is an extremely practical, effective and fun for learners”- CEO of Seda Ms Mandisa Tshikwatamba.
“We are always happy to support initiatives that assist in creating sustainable enterprises that contribute to community upliftment and job creation. We also believe that this begins with our youth as our business leaders of the future. We are encouraged that our support of the Step Up to a Start Up programme will help to unearth some amazingly talented young innovators, who will go on to build sustainable businesses and industries in line with our national aspirations of creating home grown industrialists,” says Mtunzi-Hairwadzi, General Manager, MTN SA Foundation.
Sustainable economic development is only possible through small business development and new venture creation, and South African youth must be groomed to lead this charge. This is the sentiment expressed at the programme launched by Ms Lindiwe Zulu, Minister of Small Business Development, highlighting how youth can harness their digital future to build start-ups that will solve problems in their communities and the world at large. International businessman, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and longtime advocate for the Step Up 2 A Start Up programme, Mr. Robert Kiyosaki, reinforced the need to develop entrepreneurial skills at a young age.
From the 18th of August to the 8th of September 2018, learners in Grades 9 – 11 will begin their journey into the world of tech entrepreneurship at one of 14 Ster Kinekor cinemas nationwide. Here they will enjoy a custom produced educational movie titled …, the story of a young lady who discovers technology, designs a business and changes her future and the future of her community. In addition, the lessons learnt in the movie will be reinforced through a Toolkit given to each participant. The Toolkit will assist the learners to implement the skills learnt and will allow them to develop their own business ideas and models.
As the Step Up 2 A Start Up programme enters its second phase, learners will be given the opportunity to compete in an entrepreneurial competition by submitting their business model canvasses for assessment and adjudication by a panel of industry professionals and sponsors. During this process, at least nine top business models will be identified and the teams responsible will be invited to attend a boot camp in Johannesburg. This boot camp will hone and polish participants’ skills as they start to think more about developing and starting their businesses based on the ideas they submitted. The boot camp concludes with a prestigious Gala Dinner and Awards ceremony.
Primestars believes that given the right assistance from passionate individuals and organisations, our youth will be able to create and develop new businesses, which in turn will have a positive impact on the economy and reduce the rate of youth unemployment in South Africa. We need to help our young people realise that there are infinite possibilities available to them.
Organisations interested in supporting this initiative may contact Primestars Marketing.