1) Self-Reflection:
For this competition, it took me a long time to prepare. We need to come up with our own idea individually and the best idea among the team members will be represented as the team's idea. I took my time to think about the best innovative idea as I aim to solve a real problem that is critical to the society and yet is innovative. With the base idea and the help from my bestfriend from IIUM, I chose a solution which I name it as RenovApp, an application for a protected renovation/maintenance services platform which is a protected, centralized and monitored platform that provides access to legitimate renovation service providers by applying a certain security procedures to try to minimize and solve common renovation/maintenance service scam with unprotected and risky contract agreement.
Coming from a renovation and construction family background, this problem is a very common and critical that has not yet to be solved until this day. Hence, I chose this scope of problem to be presented as the base of my solution idea. Fortunately, this idea was chosen to represent my team in the competition. Dealing with other 4 members, I learnt a lot. A lot. I learnt about my own tolerance, about my weaknesses in presenting the idea to my team members and I learnt how bad my communication skill is. 4 members, all of them were male, most of them were smart guys, confident and reliable. That's the problem. If I have anything to object, it is 1 vs 4. So we argued a lot (under control). Sometimes, I was right, sometimes, I was wrong. But, the thing is that, I am confident with my knowledge on construction and renovation area by observing my father for over 20 years in this industry and I got to rethink, whether it was arrogance or an attempt to establish a dominance. It was not, it was just that I want things to go on the right track. That is why, we had arguments. Hence, I learnt on how to restrain, communicate and articulate myself in front of them in a correct way in a correct situation. Sometimes, I tried to guide them from the resources I had despite not being their leader and sometimes, in the area that I am not familiar with, they do come up with something for the procedure specifically on the escrow payment procedure for the idea.
At the end, I volunteered myself to be the presenter during the competition because I want someone who would give all of his heart to present the problem and the solution. From this, I prepared myself to pitch the idea within the allocated time and I realised the more I practiced, the more I gain the confidence as I am not a person who can just go impromptu. Thus, it really did help me to figure things out and gain confidence in my own way. I just hope that I could improve myself on that, genuinely and praise to God, we managed to get 2nd place in the competition and received RM 1000.00. We were then chosen to represent UTM in a business idea competition (3rd ABIEX ATMA JAYA) in Jakarta on 5th-8th June 2024 which we then secured the 4th place in the competition. It was an experience for me. It was unforgettable. Not did I just learn about my team members and how to deal with them, but most importantly, me myself, I learnt a lot about myself and figure out things to improve my weaknesses. I just wanted to say thank you Lord, because it feels that this fortune just came out of nowhere despite of my inability and weaknesses that I possessed. Also, I figured that RenovApp is an idealistic solution and not a realistic idea because it comes with too much risks and cost. Hence, I choose to keep it as an idea and not to aim to make it come true.
2) Mini Report:
Participation Justification:
The participation in the competition is due to the requirement that every student must came up with their own business idea for UBSS1032 subject (Introduction to Entrepreneurship) and the chosen idea will be representing each team and the best idea among those groups will be chosen to be representing the section for the stated competition. Essentially, it was an opportunity for students to showcase their creativity, problem-solving abilities, and entrepreneurial thinking.
Associated Graduate Attributes:
Communication skills-
Effective communication skill is vital for any entrepreneur. Whether it is pitching an idea, negotiating with potential partners or conveying a vision to stakeholders, a clear and persuasive way of communication is crucial. Participants had to articulate their business concept clearly within the allotted time.
Confidence-
Presenting in front of audience requires confidence. Confidence not only in the idea itself but also in one's ability to convey it convincingly and this program tried to help students to achieve this goal. Investors often look for those who emanates belief in their creation.
Adaptibility-
Entrepreneurship is a dynamic journey. Being adaptable which is open to feedback, willing to adjust to unforeseen challenges is crucial. The competition likely exposed participants to be as flexible as possible to improve their ideas testing their adaptabilities.
Ability to reflect on weaknesses-
Acknowledging weaknesses is a strength. By recognizing areas for improvement such as communication skills or teamwork dynamics or the weaknesses of the idea's logics, does not matter whether it is on one's self or for the ideas itself, it still exhibits one's ability to grow and to succeed. The competition allows the students to be able to reflect on their weaknesses and allows them to actively work on them.
Problem-solving skills-
Problem solving skills is exhibited by the ability of students to come up with a solution to a problem for a business. This is also essential throughout the whole journey of building the foundation of the ideas on how to make it real, bring it as closest as they could to the reality such as the possible partnerships that are ought to deal with and the procedure to make it work.
Content of the Activities:
All of the participants gathered at UTMXCITE S01, KTC building for the pitching competition at 8.00 am. The competition started at 10.00 am right after the arrival of the judges. Our team was the third team to present our idea. Not being the first or the last allows us to observe others' presentations and adjust our approach if needed. Several questions were asked and some comments were given by the judges to the team members. There were 9 finalists joining the competition and they were all given 5 minutes to pitch their idea. Then, there was a breaktime, where students could enjoy the Roti Canai provided by the organizer and after that, the results were announced. Top 2 winners which are LoraPacer and RenovApp, our team get to represent UTM in a business competition in Jakarta and will be receiving RM 1000.00 from the organizer.
Conclusion:
The journey through the competition was more than just about winning. Actually it was never about winning, the goal was mainly on how the idea can be conveyed up to standard and to bring the best out of it. It was about personal growth, learning, and self-discovery. Whether RenovApp becomes a reality or remains an idea, the experience has already enriched our entreprenurial mindset.
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