Teen Startup first hand business world experienced
Gone are the days of asking our kids, “So what are you going to be when you grow up?” Today, it’s not just about asking our children, but about paving the way for the dreams they have. Young people have accounted for 70% of global unemployment over the last decade. Youth unemployment is a global problem and Bhutan is no exception with almost 20,000 job seekers entering the Labour market every year.
Aside from the lack of job opportunities, our educational system often fails to appropriately prepare our pupils for life beyond school. Hence, the startup came up with the Teen Startup Program in order to prepare young entrepreneurs for the future and give them a head start in life. The Teen Startup program bridges the gap by instilling in kids’ essential skills like creative thinking, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial thinking.
On 27th December 2021, Participants of the Teen startup program, joined by Mr Ram B Gurung, Ms Namrata Pradhan, Mr Dipan Pradhan and Mr Jigme Tenzin, the founders of Startup First had the wonderful experience of visiting AB Ventures, housing.bt, Nado Poizokhang, CSI market and Bhutan Blossoms in Thimphu. This program was solely organised to get the kids interested in entrepreneurship, feel more engaged and expose the kids to the working environment.
The kids were given the opportunity to create a product or service that they were passionate about, and then pitch their business ideas to increase aspirations and give them the confidence they needed to achieve their goals as part of the workshop. The teenagers improved their business skills, as well as their communication and presentation abilities. They were given hands-on experience with entrepreneurship.
The team at AB Ventures gave information on the services they provide to Australian clients to further motivate the youngsters to begin their creative journey. The youngsters were also taught about social media strategy, branding, blogging, and other related topics. They were paired with experienced professionals to explore and learn how to use graphic design platforms like Canva. Teens were given the opportunity to ask questions and receive comments on their business ideas and posters during and after the session to make it more interactive and engaging.
Victor Gurung, the CEO of AB Ventures, who has played a key role in developing Bhutan’s entrepreneurial environment, interacted with the children, emphasizing the significance of understanding clients and audiences. He explained to the kids how understanding the appropriate information about their target audience, their hobbies, and their personal lives may help them with their business ideas. He came up with engaging scenarios that the children might relate to their own lives.
Similarly, the kid’s visit to Bhutan Blossoms helped them learn more about starting new businesses. They gave the kids an overview of their company, showed the kids their processing unit and explained about their eco-friendly products. The kids were really inspired and motivated to know about market opportunities for Bhutanese products abroad.
The kids had fun with the activities and learned a lot about innovation and entrepreneurship at housing. bt! Looking at the keen interest of the kids, housing.bt gave the kids the opportunity to work with them on squeegees window cleaning and riding on the boom lift. It was a great learning experience for the kids. Housing. bt family was amazed to see that at this young age the kids have so much sense of purpose in life and passion to become entrepreneurs.
The companies also inquired as to why we are so passionate about preparing children to become entrepreneurs. For us, the reason is simple, but life-changing. At Startup first, our goal is to empower kids to be future-ready and to realize their greatest potential. Through our programs, we will spark ideas and innovation that can offer solutions to many of our current technological and social problems. Ultimately, we empower and capacitate our children to create their future.
The field visit proved to be a success as all the companies visited provided the teenprenuers with an excellent opportunity to observe people at work, see how they do things, and even learn new skills that may help them in the future. Amazed by the entrepreneurial ideas of curious and enthusiastic teens, The companies wished them success and blessings in their life ahead.