UKQE 3001 ExCEL (Report 2)
On 15th November 2019, some of my course mates and I had joined Start-up Weekend JB (SWJB) at S01, Kolej Tuanku Canselor (KTC), UTM which is organized by UTM Centre for Student Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship (UTM XCITE) in collaboration with Techstars, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), and Start Malaysia (formerly StartupJohor). It is a 54-hours event that brings together designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and experts from all expect to do amazing things and anyone is welcome to pitch their start-up idea and receive feedback from their peers. This event also acts as a platform for those who join this event to brainstorm ideas which could be the next trending in entrepreneurship.
This program offers introduction to members on different business venture ideas and innovative thought in taking care of issues just as developing participation among the members through a few exercises. Alongside that, members would likewise learn numerous business-related ideas and terms, for example, 'Plan of action Canvas’ or also called as ‘Business Model Canvas', 'Validation Board', 'Business Pitching' and significantly more. The reasons I joined this event were because of the invitation from my course-mate and also the attractive awards would be given if we won in this event.
On the very first day, we were welcomed by the organizer team with lunch and having our first activity - Ice Breaking! From this activity, I had known other undergraduates UTMJB from other faculties especially those who are international students. At first, all of the participants were separated then collaborated in a team of 9 and tried to promote a new product on the spot as an warm-up for this event. For my team, we got the key words like ‘Pumpkin’ and also ‘Oil’. Therefore, my team had a plan with introducing a cosmetic product, ‘Pumpkin Oil Lipstick’ which was lipstick without petroleum and it would be a more friendly product to users. This is very interesting and challenging at the same time because we had to discuss and conclude the idea in a limited time period. Then, all of the team took turns to present their ideas on the stage. All teams had pitched their fascinating thoughts.
After that, the event was continued with asking participants who had an idea to pitch related to the theme were invited to pitch on the stage. A voting session was begun right after they pitched. Those ideas or plans had higher votes and continued to proceed and form a team of 5 to start their brainstorming on that idea. My team planned to have a system related to collecting materials that can be recycled. Originally, the system was called “Grabbish” but then there was some similarity with the “Grab” application. In order to avoid confusion of consumers, we changed the system name as “TRASHGOLD” which means we made trash into gold.
There were some mentor sessions for all the teams to discuss their idea with mentors and improve their idea after guiding on the second day. A team of mentors from different foundations will manage the members in arranging and executing their marketable strategies and thoughts. Typically those guides are UTM alumni and lecturers who have tremendous information and encounters in business, just as business visionaries, who have effectively set up their own family new companies adventures. Final pitching session was on the last day and the representative of the teams would have to pitch the idea in front of three panels in order to win a development grant. Despite the fact that my group didn't win, we still took in a ton from this program.
During the warm-up session, I was nervous at first because I was not a native speaker of English but I needed to speak in order to communicate with the foreigner students in my team. Ideas are meaningless without proper execution. I had to force myself to speak up my idea no matter what they thought about my speaking skills. However, I found that my team could understand me completely on what I was trying to say and really supported my idea to promote “Pumpkin Oil Lipstick”. One of the members helped me during the pitching session. So I felt more confidence when my team was going to pitch. From this warm-up session, I gained knowledge of planning a business idea, pitching and also making friends with other participants to form the team working.
After that, I joined a team which planned to do a system of collecting recycled materials from the community in order to increase the percentage of involving the community to do recycle activity. We tried a lot of ideas and plans to make our plan more complete. We also consulted some mentors who were on the spot so that they could point out the weaknesses or the things that my team should take note of. The whole process was repeated with thinking, planning and consulting till everything was completed. All of my team members also spent the whole night doing the presentation slide, confirming the flow of the system and getting prepared with a pitching session tomorrow. This process was exhausting and tiring at the same time because my team burnt midnight oil and sacrificed our sleeping time in order to make the ideas perfectly.
From this event, I learnt that starting a business is challenging, not to mention keeping the business longer and making it profitable. This is my first time to take part in this kind of competition. Previously, I thought that starting a business was very easy as long as you got the idea to start your business but the reality is not like that. Throughout the event, I gained a lot of knowledge about how to start-up a business and the way to analyse the business plan. The theme of this start-up programme is Eco-Innovation which your idea should be related with the environment and eco-friendly. This theme makes me think more about development is not only making humans develop, but also taking care of our environment as well. During the process of development, we also need to ensure that the process of the development is sustainable and eco-friendly. 17 Sustainable Development Goals were introduced to all participants and the idea we proposed needed to fit in at least one of those goals.
Throughout the whole programme, I also learned that communication skill is very important in order to speak out an idea and negotiate with mentors when discussing the idea we proposed. In business, negotiation skills are significant in both casual everyday interaction and formal business transactions, for example, negotiating of offers, rent, administration conveyance, and other lawful agreements. Great negotiation skills will contribute fundamentally to business achievement, as these skills will assist you with building better connections with the customers or business partners. Moreover, this programme makes me know more about entrepreneurship and business management after listening to the mentors’ guide and talks. We created the presentation slides, strategies of business and also planned the way our business works through a series of group discussions together. The most unfortunate point is we did not win the competition although my team did perform well with our team-working but it was a memorable experience that showed me the hustle it can be to start a new business.
For me the most significant aspect is learning the way to make a start-up. This is challenging and hard to manage when there is my first time in contact with entrepreneurship. After the committees and mentors of the program had guided my team, I realised that actually the most important thing of starting a business is to analyse the problem faced and give a solution that can solve the problem accurately. In this process, a lot of research and also a business mentor are needed in order to understand the market and also your potential opponent. The last point to make a successful start-up is not to skip any opportunities that help you get more understanding on your business, like being a volunteer to help organizations which are related to your idea or planning.
I am happy with what I have experienced and would like to say congrats to those winner teams and hope that their ideas will turn into successful ventures in the future and develop the community with their fresh ideas. I also wish my team will join this event for the next time since this program brings benefit to us and together we will make our planning happen. As you can see, the event did bring me a lot of knowledge and benefits, it makes me feel like one more achievement is unlocked in my university life so be confident and feel free to step out of your comfort zone and seek your chance to contribute to the society and community by sharing and generating the spark of your ideas then make it come true. You may find that the world is getting better because of your innovation idea.
Photo session:
Ice breaking - Pitching the idea with my teammate
Consult session - Mentor is giving her views to my team
Closing ceremony - Taking group photo with my course mates