I find it so frustrating that our supposedly ‘best leaders in the country’, instead of inspiring us with great policies that are going to mean a bright future for our country, resort to short term manipulations of people and events to please the masses and ugly slander campaigns.

It made me think of the Australian Business Icon competition which I competed in last year. The environment of the Business Icon competition is very similar to an election campaign in which you compete in teams to win a challenge but are also monitored on an individual level.

I could not imagine any of these young, motivated, passionate contestants getting up in front of the judges, tearing into the other groups and wasting time telling the judges why the other groups and contestants should not go through. We were way too passionate and excited at our fresh, innovative ideas to be worried about anything like that.

What we need is our political leaders to take a leaf out of the Business Icon book – If you have great ideas/policies that you are passionate and excited about – and that you think are going to change our country for the better – then you should have no need to tear the other groups/parties down through negative debating and personal attacks.

In fact – I wonder if it has ever occurred to our leaders that maybe it would be better for the overall goal to take a more collaborative approach to politics and build on each other’s ideas…

This power struggle has to end.

Business Icon Victoria 2010 Final Event

Photographs are courtesy of Jorge de Araujo Photography

It gets me thinking about what it means to be an entrepreneur. According to Wikipedia, an entrepreneur is “a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome,” so in laymen’s terms someone creative and driven.

So typically Gen Y is deemed lazy and selfish with no drive; yet so many in this generation are our newest millionaires or billionaires with the sources of this income derived from entrepreneurship.

Do Gen Y’s have the edge because of our crazy all about me attitude? Can Gen Y step up and lead this world of ours with creativity, innovation and drive? Do Gen Y’s stand out from their older and wiser counterparts in this new craze of entrepreneurism?

I think the answer is yes because Gen Y, although a little self obsessed and egotistical, are spirited and excited about new things and advancements made in all forms so with a  bit of luck and a bit of direction; young entrepreneurs could be the newest craze!

Benjamin Smith - Winner of WA Business Icon 2010 in action at the final

The 2010 WA Business Icon competition reached its conclusion on Monday with a huge event at the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency in Perth.

The final four contestants had arrived back in Perth the previous afternoon from their gruelling research expedition to Singapore, leaving little time to rest and prepare.

In front of a panel of eight high profile judges and an audience of over four hundred, the title of WA Business Icon was taken out by Benjamin Smith.

Ben is an Edith Cowan University graduate, currently working in local government whilst studying for a Master of Commerce at the University of WA and tutoring students from ECU’s faculty of Business and Law.

WA Business Icon Final 2010 at the Hyatt Grand Ballroom in Perth

Notebooks are being rapidly filled up with facts and ideas.

Despite getting little sleep and almost no time to freshen up before the meeting, everyone thought it was a tremendous opportunity and many new relationships were established. The finalists took every opportunity to meet and talk with as many people as possible, getting as much background hints and information that they could to assist with their rapid assimilation into the Singaporean business world, education and culture.

By 10am, the finalists were on the other side of the city being briefed by Contact Singapore on all the important statistics, trends and information they need to know.

Photos below show the finalists with the Australian High Commissioner and the breakfast networking event.

The finalists were taken to the airport from tonights Networking function at Westpac in a very funky white stretch limo courtesy of Bellagio Limousines.

Their task now is to create an innovative campaign for Contact Singapore that attracts young Australian Professionals to live and work in Singapore.

Contact Singapore is an organization within the Singapore government.

The contestants have a hectic itinerary ahead if them meeting representatives from Singapore government and business.

The finalists will be presenting their campaigns at the final in Perth on Monday.

Fundraising event at the Old Melbourne Hotel

With only 48 hours up their sleeves, the contestants pulled off an amazing evening of performance, auctions and speeches raising over $18,000 for the charity.

Contestant Adele Pisano

The contestants arranged for an array of auction items ranging from some 2 night getaways to designer jewelry, signed memorabilia and everything in between. The auctioneer, Terry Harding pumped up the crowd and everything was sold.

The crowd of over 50 people also enjoyed a cultural delight of singers and dancers from the countries that Opportunity International supports.

Task two is now done and all involved couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

The remaining twelve contestants are now working on the problem of developing up sustainable living communities in the Pilbara and other remote areas. They have been told to front up for judging tomorrow afternoon with their passport and a bag packed. The results will be announced during a networking event at Westpac in St Georges Terrace tomorrow evening. The four chosen finalists wont be going home that night, they’ll be heading straight for the airport and on to the next incredible international final task!

Don’t miss the outcome of this when the exhausted finalists face the judges next Monday midday at the Hyatt in Perth. Tickets are available but numbers are limited for this truly impressive event. For further information, visit wa.australianbusinessicon.com/final-event/

Contestants working at the first task on day 1 of the Business Icon WA competition

Many were here a good 30 minutes before the briefing began at 7.30 this morning.

A major difference with this years Business Icon is the advent of cameras filming their every move, big brother style. Tomorrow at 4pm is the deadline and judges line up to hear the teams’ presentations and make their decisions. Who is going through to the next round?

Rosie Thomas - Business Icon Victoria 2010 Winner

Some of Victoria’s most entrepreneurial young minds have just come to the end of one of the most gruelling weeks they have ever experienced; pushing themselves and their resilience to the brink.

Victorian Business Icon 2010 saw 32 young entrepreneurs battle it out for the title. All of the competitors excelled in the four business focused tasks they were given and shocked the sponsors with their creative, innovative ideas; especially given the very short time frames for completion.

At the final event luncheon held at the CQ Function Centre and MC’d by Channel seven reporter Amy Parks, the final four contestants presented their final task to a crowd of over 200 and a panel of six high profile judges. They were then asked eight minutes worth of tough business focused questions. In the end a winner was chosen based on the judge’s decision and an audience vote.

The 2010 winner, Rosie Thomas, is a Melbourne local who co-founded PROJECT ROCKIT, an anti-bullying/youth leadership program. Rosie is a highly creative and innovative youth professional, dedicated to facilitating the hopes and dreams of young people.

SOME of the best and brightest young business minds have just come to the end of one of their most gruelling weeks ever.

“This is a great networking opportunity even if you don’t get to the final,” 24-year-old Marlene Pulls said. “You get to meet all these amazing people who are driven, cool and have a different focus in their lives. It makes you so inspired and enthusiastic about your life.

“I had three hours sleep last night, the intensity is at 1000% and we are all working our butts off because we all want to win.

“In my group, we are all leaders, so sometimes you have to back off. Part of being a good icon is to communicate the right way, respect other people and work as a team.

“You don’t have to be the loudest, but you do have to assert yourself and get your ideas implemented.”

Fellow contestant Aron Du-Shane, 23, is doing a dual degree in business marketing and interactive entertainment at QUT.

The Brisbane man also runs his own company helping small businesses with marketing strategies.

“In a word, this competition has been busy,” he said on Thursday. “When I heard it was going to be on the Sunshine Coast, I thought it would be lots of fun and that I might get to the beach.

“But the tasks have been very time-heavy and there are lots of really talented people here who keep you on your toes. . .”

Mr Du-Shane said the week had been a blur.

“I called a friend of mine on the first night and she asked me how I was holding up,” he said. “I said it’s like The Amazing Race on steroids.

“It is very intense. We are all such big personalities and we all have big opinions. We’ve had a couple of conflicts in our group, but nothing too serious.”

Read the full article at the Sunshine Coast Daily.

A large task done in just 24 hours in teams of 3. The judges had a hard time selecting them but the final 4 came through with determination and passion. I can’t wait to see the final task that will be delivered on Wednesday in front of hundreds of people at the CQ Function centre in the Melbourne CBD.

Good luck to James Hopton, Lucy Wu, Brook Hornung and Rosie Thomas.

Final Four in Victoria Business Icon being briefed on the last task.

]]> http://www.aelc.edu.au/news/climate-change-finds-four-potential-winners/feed/ 0 http://www.aelc.edu.au/news/qld-business-icon-on-win-news/ http://www.aelc.edu.au/news/qld-business-icon-on-win-news/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:43:10 +0000 Beau Dog http://www.aelc.edu.au/?p=2727 The Queensland Business Icon competition is over for this year but the buzz still remains. This story went to air in Queensland during the competition.

This year, it was our turn with task two of Victoria Business Icon. The AELC wanted a social media campaign focused on further branding itself in the student space worldwide and got it we did!.

The four teams had approximately thirty hours from briefing to making their presentation in front of the judging panel.

To give you an idea of what can be done in that short time by the determined and talented young contestants, have a look at this video. Friday morning, the contestants were briefed on the task. By that night, this video had been conceived, scripted, shot, edited and uploaded to YouTube for the world to see. Even more amazing, the video was only one part of that team’s presentation – it fitted into a much bigger scenario.

All four teams came up with similarly impressive social media campaigns, in less than two days! This is shaping up to be quite a competition.

Yes, the team that created this video won that round and yes, you will definitely see AELC putting some of those fabulous ideas from all teams into practice.

www.aelc.edu.au/services/internships/

Channel 7 Weather Report, Live at Business Icon Bollywood Event, Melbourne

A live cross during the Weather from Channel 7 in Melbourne with David Brown, was one of the highlights of tonight’s Business Icon Bollywood event. In just 36 hours the 32 young entrepreneurs raised $14430.05 in support of charity Opportunity International.

The event featured Bollywood dancers and performers, auction items such as a signed jersey from the Carlton football team, massages, theatre tickets, mobile phones, holidays to  Queensland and a plethora of other goodies sourced by the competitors as they vied for a place in tomorrow’s challenge.

24 are now through to round two with the winning team going through in its entirety for raising $6018. Mighty effort – go the Blue team!

For more information on the Australian Business Icon competition run by AELC, visit www.australianbusinessicon.com

Channel Seven news presenter Amy Parkes at Business Icon Vic 2010

Today Victorian contestants got their first taste of the Business Icon concept for 2010 – A Bollywood themed charity event to be delivered tomorrow night with no budget and including a live Channel 7 Weather cross and news story.

News presenter Amy Parkes, interviewed Tracey Hodgkins (AELC CEO) the event designer and competition founder along with several of the eager young contestants. The excitement was palpable and everyone is focused on the task at hand. We are expecting great things.

Jenna Waters - Queensland Business Icon Winner 2010

We now have the first of the 2010 Business Icons and Queenslander Jenna Waters earned the honor.

The Queensland grand final task  was to create a concept and funding model for a holistic health and well being centre in Caloundra. The four finalists had  two days to prepare a presentation in front of 300 people with judges such as Tim Fairfax to impress. And impress they did!

Jenna collected prizes including an Internship, organised by AELC, a 16 gigabyte iPhone from Telsra Countrywide, $2000 cash, a holiday from tourstogo.com and business tools from Results Corporation

All four young finalists, Tahnee Brahim, Aron Du- Shane and Hazel Martin along with our winner Jenna were outstanding.  Congratulations to all!

Next the competition moves on to Melbourne where we will be looking to find the Business Icon Victoria winner.

I look at what my friends are doing now and earning now and a little part of me thinks that maybe that a more conventional direction would be a much easier choice – a much safer choice.

My problem now is that after having my eyes opened up to what is out there, to the entrepreneurial way of life, to the potential of being able to do anything and participate in interesting business ventures – I don’t think I would be able to go back to being happy in the cushy grad job.

I would crave the excitement, the adventure, the learning opportunities and maybe even the risk that drives you to achieve. Now I have my eyes opened up to world, there is no going back.

I am hoping that in the long run this career path will be more fulfilling and hopefully more profitable then the conventional career path. It will definitely be more exciting. But until then I think there will be many more days on this roller coaster ride when I question that decision I made months ago.. Ah ignorance is bliss.

More photos and information on the Business Icon Facebook pages. Everyone is Welcome!

Our fantastic Queensland organiser for the Busines Icon Competition, Lahnee Thomas

A team from AELC, including last year’s WA winner, Rebecca Olsen, is in Brisbane to manage the event.

From there, the the competition moves to Melbourne and finishes up in Perth.

Business Icon test Australia’s finest up and coming young entrepreneurial minds in a competition that is something like a cross between “The Apprentice” and “Masterchef”.  Amazing opportunities are opened up to the winners and finalists, and even many previous contestants have described the experience as “life changing”. One previous winner is now on the BRW Young Rich List.

For more information on the competition, visit www.australianbusinessicon.com

To put it shortly – the workshop was fantastic! Unlike Accounting 1100, I did not feel like I was in a foreign land. All the concepts were explained simply and easily and then practically applied to fictional business scenarios, giving me the practical skills to apply them to my own business. The group of people that attended the workshop were a mix of external business owners and internal Westpac branch managers all of whom were lovely and took the time to make sure I was keeping up with them. I left at the end of the two days feeling like I was financially savvy enough to design and understand my business financials and that if I got stuck, I was able to contact the right people to give me a hand.

I have to admit, prior to the workshop, I was a little sceptical that a bank was teaching financial education. I thought that maybe it would be a way for them to pitch their loan options etc, however I want to stress to all you sceptics out there – the workshop was all about giving business owners the skills to make their business more financially successful and able to obtain more cash without needing to get into debt. It was fantastic to see a bank teaching business owners these methods that can ultimately save your business or to significantly increase your profits – without help!

My key learnings from this workshop:
1) You can have a profitable business that will fail if you do not have good cashflow.
2) Knowing your “Breakeven” point can be a fantastic tool for your business
3) In order to have a successful business it is important to have a working cycle that is moving quickly and smoothly
4) Reading and understanding profit and loss statements and balance statements and how you can identify areas that need change.

So for any business owners that are wanting to learn how to get the most out of your business finances or for any newbies like me that want to learn how to start a business and keep it running – I would really recommend this workshop.

If you are interested go to: http://www.westpac.com.au/business-banking/services/business-courses/beyond-survival-workshop/

On one side sits a young, single woman, still living at home. Her main risk in this venture is the money she has invested (which in the scheme of things is not very much) and many, many hours of her time. Unlike many entrepreneurs that choose this path later in life and often have houses, children, families, debt… – the amount of risk she is taking to start her business is low.

On the flip side sits a young, inexperienced women who has the drive and determination but lacks the business knowledge and skills of someone who has been in business for 5, 10, 15 years. She is forced to spend much of her time reading and researching on various topics and even then finds that she does not have the practical experience to make the best choice. She just has to learn as she goes.

The only way to somehow turn the fates in your favour as a Gen Y in the business world is to work bloody hard, find a group of wonderful mentors that can share their business knowledge and experience, and try and attend as many practical courses that are  relevant to your business as possible.

It is a hard slog.. but dont worry, you only have a light load of risk to carry on the way 

This was the first hurdle placed before applicants nationwide in the 2010 Australian Business Icon competition – one of three questions. Those who impressed the judges with their thinking will be invited to an interview from which the final contestant pool will be chosen to compete in this year’s competition.

So, how did Australia’s brightest and best tackle this misleadingly simple test? Generally, brilliantly! Following are a few samples the judges have noted as being at the top end of the scale. Note that the judges are interested only in the quality of thinking, not grammatical perfection. English as a 2nd language is no barrier to success in this competition.

“Humans are creatures who take pride in achieving greatness. History has shown that climbing a mountain represents a sacred rite of passage for boys who are entering their manhood. It represents an important stage in life as the boys have to prove their worthiness by conquering nature before they could embrace adulthood. An old legend further describes a partially blind man who scaled the peak of a mountain only to descend the mountain with perfect vision. This led to a believe that something supernatural, some higher supreme being rests high above sea level. The rest is history when many religion and culture mark the peak of a mountain as a holy place and many make pilgrimages to the top of the mountain to be one step closer to the supreme being. The truth is that even in the modern century, where old superstitions are shunned as rubbish, the keen interest to prove oneself has never weakened. The desire to conquer the unthinkable burns deep down amongst the strong. I believe that this is the primary motivating factor behind the increasing number of climbers who continuously challenge themself by scaling the Mt Everest of any other mountains around the world.”

* * * * *

“Childhood dreamer: the person who said in Prep he wanted to climb Mt Everest and hung his head in disappointment because an adult and a bunch of munchkins laughed and told him that was a silly grown up dream. Next time we find him on the peak of Mt Everest saying “I told you so!”

The hardcore adventurer is the person with an unsatisfied lust for excitement. Nothing stands in the way of this individual, even fear itself trembles in his presence. To this man a mountain is just another challenge from his dreams to satisfy his hunger for “excitement.”

The bored professional is the person after many years of soul destroying work finds that he is unsatisfied with his life and wants to do some thing different and fulfilling instead of working through the dull piles of paperwork that vaguely resembles mountains when he day dreams of climbing them.

People may come from different groups though they share one thing an inspiring mountaineer once told me, they all are “dreaming the dream, doing the dream, living the dream.” Meaning they never let any dream no matter how big, be considered impossible by others.”

* * * * *

“Climbing anything changes the way you see everything else. Its not about making things looks smaller, its about seeing the whole idea. When we stand at the foot of our idea we can’t see the top, we can’t see where it ends. You only see the beginning.

And as we climb and we see the top of each rise in the mountain we think ‘this is it, this is as far as this idea goes’ but its only the latest milestone in life.

we always think “this is what I’ve worked for”, but its just a part of what we’re working towards.

The human race was meant to keep moving forward, to keep looking up and wonder what the view is like from somewhere else. All our innovation, all the quality worth measuring is in our strive to find a new perspective. And there will always be mountains to climb, because for us the universe does not end at the top of mount Everest.”

* * * * *

I started by racking my brain to try to dredge up any graphic design friends that I may have crossed paths with over the past few years – only to turn up empty. So where to from here? I needed a logo that would be designed quickly, well and cheaply. Impossible? Not quite!

99 designs is this fantastic, innovative website that brings businesses and graphic designers together from all over the world. The way it works in that you upload your design brief for whatever graphic design task you have eg: Logo for a tween fitness business  - and then you allocate prize money to your brief. Their database of designers then competes for your prize money – they upload logo designs that match your brief, you give them feedback and then they make the changes. What you end up with is a number of talented designers from all over the world working on your graphic design challenge, competing to win your prize money. At the end of the contest, 99 designs sorts out the exchange so that you pay the designer the prize money and in exchange receive the intellectual property. How cool is that!!

My logo was designed by a woman who lives in the Philippines, it cost me approx $300 US and I LOVE IT! I had the most fun designing the brief, waiting for designs to be uploaded and giving feedback until I got what I wanted. And the best thing is – if you don’t like anything you get a full refund! Tell me a graphic designer that will do that for you.

A few tips for anyone who decides to use 99 designs:

-          Make sure your brief is clear and exciting to read so that you attract more designers.

-          Don’t worry over the first few days – the best designs come in towards the end of your contest.

-          Keep in touch with your designer in case you need any other graphic design stuff done with a similar style.

-          If you have any questions, email the 99 designs team, they are lovely!

I apologise for the huge plug in this blog – but credit should be given where credit is due and my logo process was an affordable breeze thanks to this great site!

My constant analysing drives my boyfriend crazy when I am not able to make my mind up about what I want for dessert or god forbid which movie we will go and see – however I have found that it has come in quite handy when making business decisions. Being able to look at and analyse all my options when it comes to making critical decisions about the direction of my new business is something that I have found quite natural, like picking which new restaurant to go to, I am good at gathering adequate information, relevant research and expert opinions.  However, unlike these mundane everyday decisions, in my business, when it comes to crunch time, there is no one else but me to make that final choice. And like most business people will tell you, if you spend forever researching, you will never get anything done so at some time you have to say enough is enough and make the best decision you can based on what you know.

What is funny about business decisions is that you are not always qualified in every area to make them. I find myself constantly reading and researching so I can make a fairly informed choice about things that prior to this adventure I have never had to come across before! Blogging for example – yeah I have read them, but did you know there are millions of different blog layouts that you can have, each of them with different functions and tabs and styles – I certainly didn’t! Yet I have to be informed enough about them to make an adequate choice. I have found it quite bizarre, especially coming from a world of parents, university and employment, where I was often told what to do and how to do it, to move into this business world in which people are turning to me to make the final choice.

It is this weird mix of feeling: the buzz of power and excitement aswell as an underlying murmur of fear and responsibility.

But what would happen if I made the wrong decision? And who along their own business journey has done everything perfectly? Would my business adventure come to an end? Probably not, I would much more likely learn from the mistake, adapt my concept and keep moving forward. As a reader, you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a number of bad choice blogs along the way and I am hoping that although maybe a challenge and frustration for me, they will be the most entertaining and valuable reading for you – so please enjoy!

My first mind, and this probably comes from the EEO policies that have been drilled into me from HR lecturers, thinks that when it comes to a role, business, position, how well you know the person shouldn’t be part of the criteria and in fact can cloud your judgement when picking the most ideal candidate. My other mind, thinks that if that’s the way the world works – and it seemingly does, then people should suck it up and use it to their advantage. Don’t whinge about your friend getting the job over you because they know the manager – go and meet the manager yourself!

I think that it is important to spend time, not only on studying or developing a fantastic business plan but on networking and meeting the people that you know are going to be helpful, interesting or valuable to know in the long run. I think, from what I have seen so far, that building relationships is one of the best skills an entrepreneur can develop in order to ensure the success of their business. Build relationships with people more experienced then you, listen to them, learn from them and use their knowledge to build your business. There is no point making the same mistakes as others if you can avoid it – so save yourself time and money and talk to people. You will find that if you have the courage to put yourself out there, attend the scary networking events and ask people questions, they will often be happy to talk to you and give you some advice. It can even be fun!!

One of the biggest advantages I have as an entrepre-amateur is a fantastic group of contacts and this is mainly due to WA Business Icon which has connected me with not only a wonderful group of intelligent, passionate students but also some prestigious business leaders and experienced entrepreneurs. I have been amazed as a young entrepreneur, the amount of time and effort people will put into helping me in all business areas – finance, franchising, planning etc. I cannot express enough the gratitude I have towards all the people who have shared a few words of wisdom or taken the time to show me the ropes in their main fields of knowledge – It is because of them that I not only have the courage to develop GymBtween, but why so far, the road has been so smooth.

To the other entrepre-amateurs reading this blog, my advice is this. Be confident, have the courage to ask questions and don’t be deterred by a knockback. I think many of us Gen Ys are used to hiding behind our technology – we text instead of call, we email instead of meet – Put down the phone, close the laptop and get out there and work the room!

You often hear of entrepreneurs who have fluked their way through the planning process – who have gotten so caught up in the passion of their idea that they have forgotten to sit down and plan – and a few of them have still been successful, so why is planning so important?

If you go to any business workshops or listen to anyone that has successfully started a business they will stress to you the importance of having a business plan – of knowing where you want to be and the steps you want/need to take to get there. This was one of the first major things I began to do after protecting my intellectual property – and I found it to be an interesting process.

For someone who is very new at this, who has not yet even got a program put together, any staff under their belt, or any income, it is very interesting, exciting and a little bit overwhelming to think about where you want to be in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years and consequently the large amount of time, work, sweat and tears that you will have to put in to get there. This is especially difficult when your idea is constantly evolving. I have found this process to be such a huge role in dictating my short term decisions that I wonder whether if those ‘lucky entrepreneurs’  would have sacrificed a day to sit down and plan whether it would have made them more successful or at least saved them a day or two of business heartache down the road.

I have found the planning process of my ever changing concept to be not so much a solid step by step guide but a vision of my end goal which makes it much easier to know whether you are moving closer or further away from where you want to be. I think it is very easy to get off track, to get distracted or lost when starting a business and having a business plan is like your shining star which you need to follow.

I am thinking that this is the never ending task of a business owner!

Tracey (AELC) – my business GPS (among other things) got me moving on the right track. Although each business is unique and you are ultimately mapping out a new pathway that has not yet been fully explored before – there are still a number of common steps that every entrepreneur must take.

As explained to me by Tracey – The first of these is to protect your intellectual property. For anyone with a new idea or business it is important that your first step is to protect yourself. This means trade-marking any business names, logos etc that you have developed. In Australia, http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/index.shtml is a good place to start. You may also need to look into patenting your product or service if it is completely unique. Your second big step is to register your business name – during this process you are able to run a search to make sure that your business name is one of a kind.

Step three is to purchase and register your domain names. For those who are business-rookies – like me – a domain name is a website address, for example, my website  www.gymbtween.com.au .

It is essential, in these techo-times to have a website that is easily accessible by your customers. What is important to understand about these addresses is that they can be pointed to which ever site you like. For example, I can have gymbtween.com, gymbtween.com.au, gymbetween.com  etc all pointed to the one same website so that no matter what derivative of my business name (whether it is spelled correctly or incorrectly) or whichever end used such as .com, .com.au, .org – my customers are still directed to my one main website and competitors cannot purchase similar names and profit from customers that are looking for me. A business hint to help you get into pole position: when purchasing domain names don’t just purchase the one address, but all available addresses that are associated with your business name. There are a number of different sites through which you can search for, purchase and register your domain names.

Once you have an address you need to have the online real-estate to assign it to. You will usually have to rent online space for a certain amount per month depending on your needs. This is called hosting and is again something that I had never heard of prior to my business adventure.

One of the pearls of wisdom I have collected along the road to a hopefully successful business is that it is important to have a strong, sturdy base to build your business on. If you ignore or skip steps at the beginning it is going to be a big problem for you as you grow – and we all want to grow. Like a racing car with faulty parts, although it may have saved you money when you originally purchased it, it is going to cost you more time and money to repair those parts in the long run and this will let your competitors catch up to you.

As an entrepre-amateur, one of the hardest things I have found so far is to rap my head around is the idea of starting something where you are not really sure where it is going to end up. Whether it is my often compulsive need to plan or if this is something that scares most people starting a business I don’t know. What I do know is if I start this race strong, follow the guidelines and don’t cut corners I will be much more likely to have a smoother journey and reach my desired destination – whatever that may be – in record time.

Contestants in the Western Australian and Victorian competitions last year were profiled in booklets which were given out at the finals to guests, sponsors, judges and a host of potential employers and networking connections. We will be doing the same thing in Queensland this year.

What a great way to get your smiling face and fantastic accomplishments under the noses of people looking for people just like YOU!

Imagine the boost to your employability profile with a copy of this attached to your CV.

Just one of the great benefits from competing in Business Icon.

You can download and view last year’s booklets:

Contestant Profiles Booklet – Victoria 2009
Contestant Profiles Booklet – Western Australia 2009

Know anyone you think is up to the challenge of Business Icon? You can nominate them!

http://www.australianbusinessicon.com

Rebecca pitched a concept for a new business “GymBtween” at the final of Business Icon. Now Rebecca has the opportunity of taking that idea and turning it into reality.

Follow her experiences as she blogs about the process and everything she learns along the way. If you are interested in entrepreneurship and the processes of starting a new business, then this blog is going to be essential reading for you.

“Now join me on my journey from student to the real world. Celebrate the triumphs with me and learn from my mistakes as I tackle this new and exciting experience.
So, I am an Entrepreneur at age 21. GymBtween, age 0, here we go!”

The first post, “WA Business Icon Changed My Life” is online now.

BLOG: So I Am An Entrepreneur

As an entrepre-amateur I often wonder how does anyone become an entrepreneur? Starting your own business is not really a career path that is pushed by schools, unis or parents. Entrepreneur is not in any job guide or on any career site. You cannot take entrepreneur 101 at uni or TAFE – in fact these institutions make you ready to move into already established organisations, not teach you how to start your own.

When I tell people that I am starting my own business, I am met with expressions of surprise. So what qualifications do you need to become an entrepreneur? You need an idea, a concept that is unique and sellable. You need to find a hole in a market and then have the determination and drive to develop a product or service that fills that hole. This combination of creativity, business savvy and determination to see it through is rarely found in one person – yet it is the key to entrepreneurial success.

I have always had the determination and drive, I would learn the business savvy along the way, and about 6 months ago I was challenged to come up with an idea – and this is how:

As you look back on your life, there are a number of defining moments – choices that you made that have resulted in you ending up where you are today. Sometimes you know that they are big choices – you spend time and effort researching and agonising over them, other times they are a snap decision that results in something extraordinary – the beginning of an adventure.

My snap decision was to fill in an application for the WA Business Icon 2009 competition. A very wise tutor at my uni had told me about the competition a few weeks before and I thought this would be a great thing to put on my resume to give me an edge when moving into industry. The competition as I knew it was a WA version of ‘The Apprentice’ in which contestants competed on tasks and got eliminated after each round. There were a number of industry leaders that were involved in the competition including Rick Hart and Richard Goyder (CEO Wesfarmers) and all contestants were invited to attend networking events in which many prominent WA business leaders were available to network with. I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to make some contacts in industry for when I graduated in 2010 so I was hanging out by the phone hoping that I would get the chance to have an interview.

I was called a few days later and asked to attend an interview at the AELC offices in Midland and a week later received a phone call asking me to be one of the 32 contestants in 2009.

Getting results on the phone during an early round of the WA Business Icon competition at CCI

On day 1 of the competition, 31 other contestants and I turned up at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Western Australia. We were excited, nervous and keen to start the roller coaster ride called Business Icon 2009.

Over the next week, we were trialled and tested in a number of real life business scenarios. In one week, my team members and I created a viral marketing campaign for a new business, raised over $2,000 for two wonderful not-for profit organisations and created a climate change program for the City of Swan. These were current business challenges that many of our young minds had not even considered before – you should have seen the energy and creativity that arose from a group of intelligent young people that put their fresh point of view to a modern day issue.  After each challenge, one group won which meant that all participants went through to the next round, and from the other groups, people were judged on their individual input. Individual input was judged by the moderators who were our ‘flys on the wall’ – they followed us around and recorded the input and activities of all team members.

It was interesting to have a group of people in a room, all of whom were used to being leaders, trying to reach a common goal. I imagine it is a small scale version of world leader meetings when everyone, although with a common goal – such as climate change, is also trying to fight for their own interests – that of their country. If anything is ever going to get done, you are forced to compromise, to give and to take, to push in your areas of strength and to let others push in your areas of weakness. For future competitors here is a bit of hindsite advice: you have a better chance of getting through the rounds if you have a cohesive team that works productively.

Wearing Angel Wings, fundraising during the competition with other competitors

On the Friday night, after our climate change challenge which was done in a group of three, we attended a networking event. For any future contestants – this night and the final dinner is the real prize. Whether you were eliminated in the first round or survive through to the final four, you are still invited to attend both events. Make sure you do some research, know who is there and who you want to talk to and make the most of this amazing opportunity to mingle with some of your state’s biggest business leaders and HR managers.

At the networking event we got to mingle with the judges and people from industry in a social environment. You could feel the nervous energy in the air because it was during the networking event that they announced the final four. By the end of the week, after pushing through 15, 16 hour days, I remember feeling absolutely exhausted. Finally, the judges had made their decision and Rick Hart, the gentle giant, whipped out his bit of paper to put us out of our misery.  This was a big cut – down from 12 to 4.

You could cut the tension with a knife as Rick called out the finalists. I could hardly believe it when my name was called! As the news sunk in the adrenaline starting pumping and I felt ready to tackle our final challenge.

Our final challenge was to create a product or service for the new ‘tween’ market which includes 8 – 12 year olds. They are a difficult target market in that they want to be seen as being older and more sophisticated, but in reality they are still children – so the challenge is finding a product that appeals to the ‘wanna-be’ grownup tween and the parents who see their kids for the age they are. This product or service also had to be ethically and morally sound which was a challenge in a target market that wants to be grown up and is being pitched products such as push-up bras and facials.

We had to come up with our product or service, create a business plan and pitch the idea to our 8 judges who were acting as venture capitalists – oh, and in front of a 300 strong audience. Piece of cake! Not! We were given the outline on Friday night and had to pitch it at 12pm on Monday – essentially we had 48 hours to come up with a concept and an entire business plan.  The pitch had to go for 5 minutes, followed by 8 minutes of questions from 8 prominent judges.

As a student, I never contemplated how many decisions and areas need to be considered when starting a business. Start with the concept – that you think is fairly simple – and then think about management, human resources, marketing, finance, target market, insurance, business models and the list goes on and on. We had to consider all these areas in 48 hours and try to plug the holes in our concept so that we didn’t fall apart in our 8 minutes of question time.

My concept was an active program for tweens that involved some young fit healthy rolemodels coming in to teach movement to music choreographed classes.

On the day, I have never been so nervous. My heart was jumping out of my chest. I was as prepared as you could be for 48 hours, I had finished my presentation at 8pm the night before, spent a few hours rehearsing, got a really good night’s sleep, got up early and continued rehearsing until it was time to go. When we got to the event, names were drawn out of a hat to determine the order we would go in. I was up first. In hindsite, this was probably a good position to be in – I was able to get it out of the way, I was the first up so I had the audience’s attention and I was able to watch all the contestants after my presentation.

I felt like my presentation went well! After feeling a bit shaky at the beginning I found my feet and cruised through the presentation that I had rehearsed over and over. Then came the tricky bit, the 8 minutes of unprepared questions.  Again, the first question was a bit shaky, but I just slowed down and thought about all the research I had done. The rest of the questions were like a blur, I could hardly remember a word I had said up on stage, but as I sat down, I felt happy and confident and so proud that I had gotten up there in front of all those people and held my own.

With judges, including Richard Goyder and Ric Hart, at the final of WA Business Icon 2009

By the end of the presentations, It didn’t matter to me if I had won the competition, I was so happy with how far I had come, but as it turned out, I did win – and it felt amazing to have all my hard work recognised. I remember thinking that Business Icon was the most amazing experience and it had come to an end. Little did I know it was only the beginning!

Since the competition I have had an amazing few months. I wake up every morning and I pinch myself because I can’t believe the kind of opportunities that are presenting themselves to me. I have received emails from many wonderful, interesting people congratulating me on my achievement. Every time my phone rings with an unknown number, I hold my breath because I don’t know who is going to be on the other end of that line. I have been in the paper and I was a guest speaker at the Melbourne Business Icon final event.  I have attended a number of networking events and met some amazing people.

But the most amazing thing to come out of the competition is a new path – An opportunity to make my idea a reality – an opportunity to start GymBtween.  This was an opportunity too good to pass up. I am now being incubated out of the AELC offices and have access to an amazing office full of business resources in both books and friends. I have a number of different mentors who are there to advise me in a number of different areas – finance, IT, franchising, you name it. I have an amazing, successful, business savvy woman who gives up her very valuable time to listen to me, teach me and give me more and more things to think about. I have an amazing support network of family and friends. Without these things – this journey would be a much harder and lonelier road. So with this blog I hope to share them. I hope to be a guide for those who are taking the same journey –  share my experiences, learn from my mistakes and don’t be afraid to break the mould and take on your own adventure.

Video of my GymBtween presentation at the 2009 WA Business Icon Final.

Now, videos of the four finalists pitching their “New products for the Tween market” to the judges are online.

Visit http://www.wa.australianbusinessicon.com to view the videos.

Luba competed against three other finalists, Tom Haberfield, Glen Vollebregt and Alastair Wills in front of several hundred guests and a daunting judging panel at the RACV Club in Melbourne on Monday, 31st of August.

Luba is an Events Manager with the Department of Transport, an Electoral Officer for Lynne Kosky MP and an Elected Councillor for the City of Hobsons Bay. She also has a double degree from Victoria University.

The Girls Have It!

Pictured above is WA Business Icon 2009 winner, Rebecca Olsen (left) with the newly crowned inaugural Victorian winner, Luba Grigorovitch. Rebecca flew to Melbourne from Perth to speak at the final.

For more information visit www.vic.australianbusinessicon.com.

You can follow the progress of the competition at www.vic.australianbusinessicon.com/blog/.

Business Icon has been run for the Advantage Foundation by the AELC in WA and QLD since 2005. Next year we are hoping to see a truly national event with NSW included.

The events management team from AELC is overseeing the running of the competition and gathering Photos and Video.

Earlier this month, ECU student Rebecca Olsen won the WA Business Icon crown for 2009.

Rebecca rose through the ranks of the 32 high calibre contestants who had started out in Round 1 to become one of the four finalists who had to face the judges live in front of a packed ballroom full of Perth’s business elite.

Leading the judges was prominent local business identity, Rick Hart. Seated beside him, Richard Goyder, CEO of Wesfarmers and the man at the head of Coles. Six other daunting judges made up the panel.

The finalists were given their task Friday night and had the weekend to come up with an idea, research it, put a complete business and marketing plan together and then prepare to pitch that idea to the judges. Rebecca’s win was unamimous with the audience vote also agreeing with the judges’ decision.

Rebecca is in her final year at Edith Cowan University, studying a double degree in psychology and business majoring in human resource management.

I’m interested in the merging of psychology and business and would ultimately love to use both skill sets, possibly as a corporate profiler.

The other finalists were Benjamin Hamer, studying a Bachelor of Business at ECU, Kylie Judd, an engineering and commerce student from UWA and Nathan Howe who is studying corporate and investment finance at UWA.

So what will this year’s fabulous winners have waiting in reward for their efforts?

Winner will receive:

• Westpac “Beyond Survival” Business Course valued at $1,190
• A five hour “Kicking for Goal” professional development package valued at $1700
• A Flight Experience simulator experience valued at $1000
• $2000 cash

The three WA Business Icon 2008 runners up received:

• A two hour “Kicking for Goal” professional development package valued at $700
• Westpac “Beyond Survival” Business Course valued at $1,190

Thanks to our valued major prize sponsors:

Westpac

Australasian Executive Coaching

Flight Experience

This video introduced the task and what was required of the contestants to the 450 people in the audience on the night.

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Watch a summary video of the entire 2008 WA competition leading up to the final at www.wa.australianbusinessicon.com.

Watch more videos from the final including Meet the Contestants and The Winning Presentation by Tara Franzinelli.

Featured here are some photos from the first task which was to hold a fundraising art and jewellery exhibition at the Lakeside Joondalup Shopping Centre. With only a couple of days to organise and run this event from scratch, contestants did a fabulous job, mounting a highly successful show over two days that raised around $10,000 for charities the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Advantage Foundation.

An audience of 450 watched Tara face the judges along with three other finalists at a spectacular event within the Midland Railway Workshops last Saturday night, 18th October.

The judging panel included corporate luminaries Richard Goyder, CEO of Wesfarmers, Sam Walsh, CEO of Rio Tinto and Ric Hart, MD of Ric Hart stores.

The finalists, Ruveen Dias, Nesh Sooriakumaran, Kylie Adams and Tara were delivered into the room to the head of a very long red carpet via a gleaming white stretch Hummer.

Once on stage they each had to deliver a management plan to assess and deal with the possibility of a disaster striking Kwinana and effectively wiping out the states Diesel supply. Transport operators in particular would be hardest hit, leading on to all manner of problems and inconvenience for consumers and other stakeholders who depend on a constant supply of Diesel fuel.

In keeping with the transport theme, Jonesway trucks stood surrounding the stage and room.

Everyone saw plenty of the action with live video beamed to screens around the venue as MC Gerry Gannon guided us smoothly through the night. The massive audio/visual installation was supplied by Matrix Productions who were totally professional and accomodating, an absolute pleasure to deal with and have our highest recommendations. There is no way we could have staged this event so successfully without the help and input from Matrix, way above and beyond the call of duty.

More photos from the evening, courtesy of Ken Drake who volunteered his services, can be seen at Zoo Studio.

So if you are wondering what all the excitement about the upcoming WA Business Icon™ is all about, take two minutes out to watch the video and get a feel for the whole event.

The video is on the Queensland Business Icon™ home page www.qld.australianbusinessicon.com.

Tasks given to the contestants included fundraising for the not-for-profit organisation Brightest Young Minds, creating a marketing plan for Brisbane City Council and designing a sustainability proposal for Maunsell.

Business Icon™ was founded by Tracey Hodgkins and is managed by the AELC for the Advantage Foundation Ltd. For the first time in the four year history of the competition, which is run in both Queensland and WA, the finalists were all female.

Finalist’s Nicole Walsh, Renee Robbie, Sarah Firth and Laura Christie were given the task of designing a theme park in the Australian Outback.

You can see the girls putting their presentations to the judges on video at www.qld.australianbusinessicon.com.

The Western Australian competition will be held in October this year. The final event at the Midland Railway workshops is shaping up to be a real spectacular with a judging panel including WA business leaders, Richard Goyder (CEO Wesfamers), Sam Walsh (CEO Rio Tinto) and Rick Hart (Rick Hart stores).

2008 Queensland Business Icon™ finalists - from left: Sarah Firth, Laura Christie , Renee Robbie (winner) and Nicola Walsh

Do you want to compete in a Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” style competition?

Do you want to be crowned WA Business Icon™ 2008?

Do you want to win a holiday valued at $5,000?

Are you 18-25?

If this is you apply now!

Visit www.wa.australianbusinessicon.com to submit your application.

• Applications Open: Wednesday 14th May 2008
• Applications Close: Sunday 31st August 2008
• Competitions Dates: 8th – 18th October 2008

The Competition

WA Business Icon™ comprises four (4) pre-organised innovative and entrepreneurial business-related tasks. The contestants who perform best move onto the next task (or round) in the competition, while contestants that don’t reach such a level are eliminated from the competition. During the first three tasks, contestants are allocated to groups and must complete the task within a specified timeframe. Each group is provided with an objective and a set of rules that must be adhered to, however the contestants will determine how they approach the task. Moderators are assigned to each group to observe behaviour, supervise activity and answer questions. Each year the competition has a theme, though task details are kept strictly confidential until the competition begins.

Each group is required to present in front of a panel of judges at the end of each task. These judges, are professionals from various public, private or not-for-profit organisations will then announce who progresses onto the next task and who will have to leave the competition. Note that whilst contestants will be working in a group environment, judging will be based on individual performance.

The fourth and final task is performed individually and will be held at the “Final Event” on October 18th 2008. The winner of WA Business Icon™ 2008 will be announced at the conclusion of the Dinner whereby he/she will take home cash and prizes to the value of $5,000!