​A business plan for mobile tutoring services was the winner of the PPS Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management competition hosted in collaboration with the Department of Business Management at Stellenbosch University.

The competition challenged second-year Business Management students to come up with an innovative idea to solve a social issue in their community and to submit a business plan to that effect.

The winning group – Fundani Tutoring Services – identified and addressed the issue of children who can't attend formal schooling in underprivileged Stellenbosch communities. The group created a business plan to offer mobile tutoring services to grade 8-12 learners in Kayamandi and Cloetesville, narrowing the gap between primary education and high school, and improving the transition from matric to tertiary level.

The group – consisting of Ondela Soyeza, Ndinani Tunce, Kwanele Phuza, Rutendo Chibanda and Sakhile Mhlanga – won R5000, as well as R5000 for the charity of their choice.

According to Rutendo, the competition gave them the opportunity to do a good deed while improving their entrepreneurial skills. They realised that operating a business is not easy and that it requires perseverance and dedication to make it work.

“Moreover, we gained team-working skills and business acumen on how to quickly understand and tackle a business situation when it arises," she added.

The group chose the Legacy Center in Kayamandi as their beneficiary.

The runner-up was Backk Omni Processor. This group, consisting of Kyra Meiring, Amy Harrison, Kimberley Kambasha, Chikondi Gunde and Brendan Janse van Rensburg, received R2500. They created a business plan for a product that utilises different bio solids and wet waste to generate clean drinking water and electricity, while improving the social and environmental circumstances in disadvantaged communities.

According to Selma Kruger from PPS, the catalyst for this initiative was the 2018 One Young World Summit, as well as a desire to promote social entrepreneurship.

“We want to show that organisations and institutions like PPS and Stellenbosch University can and should work together to advance the thinking of young leaders in critical problem solving and the upliftment of local communities.

“We were quite impressed with the standard of the business plans. The country is in safe hands if you are the future leaders tackling these issues," she told the students.

According to Mr Goosain Solomon, lecturer, the competition shows that they value the work their students are doing.

“In addition, the partnership with an external stakeholder, PPS, is indicative of the potential for synergies as well as the relevance of our endeavours."