LAHORE:
The Business Club at the Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST) organised its National Business Idea Competition on Friday.
A total of 25 teams from universities all over Pakistan competed in the event and submitted innovative proposals. The judges for the competition included renowned businessmen.
Student teams from the Institute of Management and Sciences (IMS), Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology Islamabad (SZABIST), COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad, Attock, Wah Cantt and Sahiwal, (CIIT) Hailey College, Karachi Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Lahore University of Management and Sciences (Lums), Institute of Business Administration IBA Sukkur, Kinnaird College, Superior University, University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences (UVAS), Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering and Technology (GIKI), International Islamic University, Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB) and the Lahore and Islamabad campus of FAST participated in the event.
The objective of the competition was to engage business graduates to develop innovative proposals for national development.
The competing teams consisted of three to five members and prepared presentations on their chosen idea including its marketing, human resource and financial aspects. The themes for the competition included social entrepreneurship, agricultural entrepreneurship and technology entrepreneurship. The participants were asked to present business ideas that were feasible and sustainable in the long term.
Students were given a month’s time to work on their ideas. They were required to design logos, slogans, complete research work and draft a cash flow and profit expectations chart. The competition included three rounds and a jury of businessmen questioned the students regarding their projects.
Round one consisted of registration of each team’s executive summary. The FAST Business Club was in charge of selecting the 25 top business ideas from 65 entries. In the second round, students submitted ads, documents and presentations. A participant Adnan Alam said “it was like a viva examination and a job interview rolled into a single session. We were pitching an idea but we also had to know how it would work out in the actual market.”
The five judges met the participants in different rooms. Each presentation was limited to 10 minutes. FAST Business Club president Bushra Adeel said “the purpose of the event is to look at business from a fresh perspective. We tried to use classic business techniques and apply them to innovative ideas. There were no bars on ideas. As long as the teams could convince the judges that the idea could work they were in the running.”
Seven teams were selected for the final round. The finalists were allowed to review their presentations and had to present their ideas to an audience of over 100 people. A jury of five rated projects including solar panels, online shopping, restaurants, tube wells, electricity generation etc. The students showcased video advertisements and an electronic presentation to underline their understanding of marketing.
Jury member Fakhar Lodhi said “Overall, we saw some brilliant ideas. Given Pakistan’s current economic state many of the ideas pertaining to sustainable development definitely have a place.”
Jury member Ambreen Waheed said “the important thing is that they are generating innovative business ideas. We need to look at social businesses more often. Such competitions encourage students to think about their future in the business world.”
Lums students were awarded the top prize for their idea involving tube wells and won a cash prize of Rs25,000. COMSATS students from Sahiwal came in second and FAST Lahore students stood third.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2011.
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