Regent Business School’s redHUB recently held a ‘Shark Tank’ competition which saw aspiring entrepreneurs competing neck-on-neck before a panel of judges.
Five self-employed beauticians, Simran Mathura, Mercy Rutendo Membe, Danielle Wakelin, Neo Patience Maboe and Naomi Natalie Thubisi were the ultimate survivors and secured a prize of R10 000 each to put towards starting their own small businesses.
Hoosen Essof, operations manager: Gauteng for Regent Business School, said a ‘Shark Tank’ format was chosen for the competition due to its familiarity, though the Regent one was not as harsh as the television version.
Essof explained the business school, through the redHUB unit, recently ran a pilot programme for a course called ‘Starting Your Own Business’ for nine final-year students from the Face-to-Face Beauty and Makeup Academy. The aim of the course was to equip participants to under what is required to start and manage one’s own businesses.
The grittiness of the course was evident when the contestants pitched their ideas to the competition panel. “Some of the ladies were very nervous, yet they managed to do enough to talk their way through the pitch and the Q&A session.
A few were very confident and wowed the judges and audience. However, they all benefited from getting the experience of what a ‘real’ pitch is like, and this will pay off when the time comes,” said Essof. He said that the competition had been an all-round good learning experience for everyone involved.
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