Two years ago, Oliver Williamson was a student at the Grove School when he took part in the Young Enterprise Company programme. The following year he mentored a team at the Grove School. This year he is one of the YE volunteers judging the award for Best Internet Presence.
The team that wins this award will have demonstrated knowledge and skills in IT and communications applying their learning to E-commerce, social media presence, digital marketing and use of the YE Market Place online selling platform, which provides a unique experience for young people taking part in Young Enterprise programmes to sell their products online.
Judging the teams this year, Oliver said: “As young entrepreneurs progress to become the young sellers and vendors of the future, they will realise that selling is not just about shopping centres in high streets – and they must be able to address a much more global market.”
At the second trade fair held in The Darwin Shopping Centre in Shrewsbury, Oliver was pleased to report that most of participating companies had come prepared with an online presence in place.
He said: “Some students are taking advantage of Depop – a social shopping and online selling app – to direct visitors to YE market place to buy products.”
Talking about the value of the trade fairs as part of the learning experience, Oliver said how important the face to face selling experience is as it helps students understand the needs of customers and how they must adapt their businesses to take these into account.
Speaking about his own experience of taking part in the Young Enterprise programme, Oliver said that it had taught him the value of pre-planning and learning from the consequences of decisions. He also said he had benefitted from improved confidence and organisational skills: “Young Enterprise provides such a range of experiences that it appears in some way on almost every line of my CV.”
Young Enterprise will be celebrating the achievements of this year’s entrepreneurs at The Park Inn in Telford on 2 May. Students will be sitting down to dinner with some of Shropshire’s top business people who will be presenting awards to teams who have excelled in some way. As well as completing a business plan and financial statements, students have delivered a 4 minute presentation in the lecture theatre at Wolverhampton University and explained their business to judges in an 8 minute interview.
Young Enterprise thank Wolverhampton University for hosting the presentations – and providing inserts for the Midcounties Co-operative ‘goody bags’. Thanks are also being given to businesses who sponsor the Celebration Event – there are two awards still available for sponsorship – please contact David Graham at Young enterprise Shropshire if you would like to present an award this year.
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