Young South African Entrepreneurs – It’s Your Time To Shine

The SME Toolkit South Africa is proud to bring you the 2011 Young Entrepreneurs Business Plan Competition. Proud sponsors Business Partners, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and IBM have come together to provide a platform for you to showcase your fantastic business idea or early stage business.

If you live in or near Johannesburg, Durban or Cape Town, we want to hear from you. The competition will consist of 2 phases in each region:

Phase 1

• Complete the entry form below and send it to us before the closing date
• The top 20 entries in each region will be invited to attend a full day workshop aimed at helping you manage your business

Phase 2

• Workshop participants will then have to submit a formal business plan
• 5 Business Plans will be selected to go through an interview round after which winners will be chosen

The winners in each region will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony to be held during Global Entrepreneurship from the 15^th to the 21^st of November, a global movement aimed at celebrating and motiving entrepreneurs amongst young people.

Criteria for entry

To qualify to enter the competition, the contestant must be:

• A registered user of the SME Toolkit (To register, click here)
• 18 to 30 years old
• A South African citizen
• In the idea phase or the business must be less than 2 years old

The prizes on offer, including Business Partners Mentorship and IBM laptops, and the media can help you take your business to the next level. The closing date for the competition is Friday, the 30^th of September 2011, so download the entry form now and impress us!

Source: SME South Africa