By Priscilla Ho YuXin
Creative and idea-rich students were graced with the opportunity to participate in a business pitching competition held by the School of Business and Management at Han Chiang University College of Communication (HCUC).
The pitching competition aims to inspire the tertiary students to be the young and competitive entrepreneurs who are dynamic with today’s innovation and technology. Besides, it acts as a platform of exposure for the students to interact as well as to cultivate courage and develop entrepreneurship skills.
The Dean of the School of Business and Management, Dr. Jocelyne Lee Jia Lin, expressed her gratitude to the organising committee.
She said that through this pitching competition, students will gain valuable experience on how to kick start a business and learn how to convey their ideas in a manner that is appealing to the audience.
“When pitching their ideas, students will receive feedback on the viability of their ideas, this experience could assist and equip them for the challenges ahead. It is not an easy task to find interested parties and rejections are a common thing,” she told the HCUC News reporter.
She hoped that in the future, with the knowledge and experience that the students gained from HCUC, they are able to grasp opportunities to enhance their livelihood and the people surrounding them and make a difference in society.
In light of the theme “Aiding the Economic Situation of Our Country,” the participants were highly encouraged to pitch business ideas that were complimenting the country’s situation where they can offer solutions or bolster the country’s performance economically.
“As we are gradually coming out from a slower economic pace, there is still a lot to be done. Using this theme, we attempt to look into the thoughts of the future generations on what can be done to assist the country,” Dr. Jocelyne explained the theme.
Two teams took part in this competition, Team Alpha and Team Miracle which each consisted of two members. Both the teams were required to prepare a 25-minutes presentation to pitch their business idea and a 5-minutes Q&A session after the presentation.
Goh Tian Hui and Tan Jian Han from Team Alpha presented the idea of a crafting workshop mixed with a coffee shop named Craft & Co. The mission of Craft & Co, according to Team Alpha, is to create, enhance and let the people feel loved in our workshop as their mission is to make the days cosy and happier.
The judges posed questions to the members of Team Alpha and suggested some recommendations on certain improvements to the company name and their pricing strategy. Goh and Tan were complimented for airing fresh ideas of combining craft and coffee.
“I would like to say congratulations to you guys. You have a very good idea since crafting and coffee shops are still a new type of business in Penang,” Tee Yu Yan, one of the judges, said.
Members of Team Alpha, Goh & Tan are explaining Craft & Co’s background.
On the other hand, Team Miracle consisted of Ooi Wi Her and Cindy Keng May Wei conveyed the concept of an escape room. Their mission was to provide an incredibly interactive and immersive experience to every customer as a path to achieve their vision of becoming a leading escape room organisation.
Besides suggestions and comments, one of the judges was impressed with their idea of offering two packages. Firstly, the basic escape room focuses on solving the code and breaking the lock. Secondly, the premium immersive escape room involves role-playing and problem-solving throughout the storyline. In the end, the judges found the presentation of Team Miracle to be more informative and engaging.
“The idea is quite interesting and the business idea, the business model, as well as the practicality, are actually doable, I feel that,” the judge Ting Mao Seng expressed.
Team Miracle is presenting the idea of their escape room which aims to deliver unprecedented experience to the customers and implement Virtual Reality (VR) in the future.
Both the teams will be nominated for the “Best Business Idea Award” during the upcoming Golden Achievement Awards (GAA) and gain a chance to emerge as the winner.