Students come out with innovative business ideas

Over 100 students participate in BVCEC from various schools

KARACHI: High school students presented unique business ideas as they competed at the first Bay View College Entrepreneurship Competition (BVCEC) held at Bay View College’s campus in Clifton on Saturday.

The campus, which is located adjacent to Mohatta Palace and is a beautiful structure itself, was abuzz with excitement and nervousness as students rehearsed their speeches and business models. Over 100 students from prestigious O and A-Level institutions were divided into a total of 24 teams that went through four different rounds.

Round one was called ‘Brand Activation’ wherein the participants were allotted various brands, such as Nescafe, Jazz, Fair and Lovely, Magnum and L’oreal among others and asked to set up stalls showcasing their respective products and pitching to the judges in an attempt to persuade them to buy the product.



Round two went a step further and took things ‘Behind the Lens’ as teams were asked to prepare one-minute television advertisements for their respective brands, which were screened at the campus. “The students were given complete artistic licence to best present their product,” said a member of the organising committee.

While not much can be said about the production value of the advertisements, since they were homemade videos, the storylines adopted and marketing strategies applied piqued the interest of the judges, who had a visibly difficult time coming up with much criticism.

Round three was when things became quite heated as the participants were required to ‘Handle the Journos’, a play on the expression ‘fundos’ (fundamentalists), implying that journalists can be rather ruthless given the nature of their profession.

The contestants had to take part in a press conference simulation where they were grilled by pretend journalists. To this end, each team was assigned a renowned brand and provided a real life crisis to tackle as representatives of their respective brands.

The crises ranged from Apple’s battery swelling and Coca Cola’s bottle contamination cases to Pakistan International Airlines’ workers strike and Habib Bank Limited’s New York branch case. The students had read up on highly technical issues and dealt with the onslaught meted out to them with great resolve.

The final showdown was where the contestants had to present their business model canvas (BMC) for their original ideas in a round called ‘Show Your BMC,’ not as creatively named as the other ones. A BMC is a chart outlining a firm’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers and finances.



The business ideas were judged based on their cost structure, their revenue streams, their key resources and activities and the customer segments they aim to target. “We’re going to hear some interesting propositions but they need to be realistic,” said the judges.

Some of the most remarkable ideas included a wristband that aims to store kinetic energy generated from one’s body to charge their mobile phones. Another incredible business proposal included an emergency button that sends one’s location to a customised contact number. “This can be used by heart and other patients, by women traveling alone and, most importantly, by parents who are worried about their children whenever they are out,” concluded the team members, the final point more relevant to them than anything else.