Why are we doing this?
Fish
on Toast has won 3rd best Entrepreneurship Society in the
UK for the last two years running. We have a strong team with a large
skill-set and we want to utilise those skills to create a new and exciting
entrepreneurship competition that will reach out to a larger number of students
from all across the UK. We
believe in giving young people the opportunity to develop their business skills,
and more specifically their entrepreneurial skills; especially if this is
something they are passionate about and genuinely want to pursue as a
career after graduation. This competition will draw out some of the most
remarkable people that desire to show their skills and innovative ideas
who are worthy of earning recognition and reward for their efforts.
The
competition will allow us to build strong connections with other
Universities throughout the UK, which could hold many opportunities in the
future for us, including the opportunity to network with other students
and their institutions to establish more activities like these in the
future. Developing these relationships may also help us to learn of any
connections our peers and other universities may have that could benefit
any business ideas we might have in the future. Plus, the fact that we
have created and organised this competition, means that we can develop
recognition and a positive reputable name for our Entrepreneurship Society
and the University of Southampton as a whole.
About the competition:
In
preparation for the competition participating universities will conduct a
recruitment and selection process where they will select two candidates
from their institutions to take part in the competition. The recruitment
process will require applicants to send a two minute video about who they
are and what their business idea is. The business idea can be any idea
that requires funding of up to £50,000.
Once
candidates are selected, at each respective institution, the finals will
be held in Southampton on Saturday 28th February 2015. To help decide
which students will actually present their business ideas, students will
participate in a number of preliminary round tasks. Tasks will include
problem-solving activities as well as spontaneous and creative tasks that
will require the individual to present an impromptu business pitch for a
difficult or unpopular brand or topic. Tasks can be sponsored individually
by corporations who can also send representatives to help judge the
competition.
These
tasks will then allow us to select the top five students to present their
own business ideas to the audience and to our panel of judges. The presentation
will be in front of four judges outlining their business ideas and the
judges will choose a winner who will receive £1500 and possible investment
into their business idea.
How are we doing this?
The
competition has been organised by members of the Fish on Toast Committee
and other students with a large range of skills to cover all key roles and
tasks. Also, the organisers will use their established contacts and links
to get professionals involved in judging and monitoring performance in tasks
of the competition.
However, in order to put on a large
event like this and make it hugely successful we require funding. The cash
prize of £1500 will be funded by all the Universities who are taking part in
the competition, however, there are still other resources which are required so
that the competition can physically take place. These include marketing and
communications material as funding to cover other resources on the day of the
competition such as catering, travelling costs for judges and panellists and other
associated costs with putting on the competition.
Without the support of people like
you, the competition will be much harder for us to facilitate. The UK has some
amazing students with great business ideas who could be the next Sir Richard
Branson, Sir Alan Sugar or the next Michelle Mone and we want to help them
succeed!
Where exactly will the money go?
The
money will be spent as follows:- Travel
for 10 universities @ £40 per journey (multiple journeys)
- Travel
for judges x3 @ £200 per journey & use of time (multiple journeys)
- Venue
hire £780
- Totaling
to over £2,000 with a minimum £500 to be able to run the event!
Rewards
To thank you for your support we
would like to thank you by providing you with the following rewards:
- £1
- A sincere 'Thank you!' for showing your support
- £5
- A personalised thank you card from the team at Southampton
- £10
- A signed team photo
- £20
- Personal thank you video
- £50+
- Invitation to watch the finals
Find us here
Find out
more about Fish on Toast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoBritain?fref=ts
Keep up to
date on how we're doing by checking back on this page for updates on how planning
for the competition is going!
Help us succeed. Thank you for your
support!