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Life has a way of providing distractions to keep you from focusing on what you want to focus on, and sadly what you have to do more often than not takes precedence over what you want to do.
I was recently reminded of something that had piqued my interest a while ago but I had since forgotten about – the FNB Enablis Business Launchpad competition. Enablis is a global non-profit organisation that “aims to help entrepreneurs in developing countries”. Through this competition they offer entrepreneurs a chance to present their business plans and stand a chance to win some prizes as well as gain a bit of exposure and meet some potentially valuable connections. For submissions, they distinguish between ideas in development and expansion plans for existing businesses, which I think is excellent.
I see this competition as a possible step for Project Neo – although I’m happy with the concept overall and still believe it could be furthered without this sort of intervention, I’m interested for two specific reasons:
- To test the concept [and business model, I would presume] in a wider forum in order to see what areas need the most work and thinking – could be a valuable part of the business development.
- The chance to participate in this sort of competition and be able to see the process unfold and what the real value delivered to potential entrepreneurs in SA actually is [I want to know if these types of initiatives really do help businesses get started, or if they're just nice fluffy competitions that don't do much other than make noise].
The competition itself offers a few prizes [including an Xbox, which my boy will love, if I can tear him away from the PS2 
] as well as the “opportunity” to meet with possible funders. Interestingly, they don’t offer funding as part of the process itself, but rather the chance to meet potential funders. Not bad in itself.
The concern I do have – I’ve struggled to find decent information about the 2008 competition. While a list of finalists was included on the Enablis 2008 site [among them was none other than Eric Edelstein, an experienced online entrepreneur in his own right], I haven’t been able to find a listing of winners. I did manage to track down the 2007 list of winners [1,800 business plans were submitted then!] but none of those names are familiar to me. Just makes me wonder about the follow through on the competition – I’d love to know how and when the winners are followed up and whether the success stories are ever published. I think that type of information would be brilliant for other aspiring entrepreneurs to read. If you know whether it exists or where it is published, please leave a comment here to let me know.
Do you think it would be worthwhile entering?
Only one way to find out! Entries close 18 August 2009, so if you’ve got your own ideas I suggest you head over to the Enablis site and check it out for yourself. Maybe I’ll see you there
I’ll keep you updated with progress if I do go ahead, and will also then report back on my experience of the real value generated through the process.
In the meantime, you can follow my progress with Project Neo here.
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