15 March 2018
A new class of young entrepreneurs is ready
It’s that time again! The ninth edition of the Saxion Entrepreneur Award, an initiative of EW Facility Services and the Saxion Centre for Entrepreneurship, has kicked off. Together, the organisations will once again look for the best student entrepreneur of the college. In addition to receiving an amount of €5000, the winner will be coached by EW Facility Services for a year. Remarkably, more participants than ever have entered as a team this year. It promises to be a challenging and competitive contest!
Kick-off
Bas Cornelissen, General Manager of EW Facility Services and André Roos, Director of the Saxion Centre for Entrepreneurship gave the go-ahead at START!bySaxion on 8 March. The participants got to know more about the organisation and fellow candidates and were informed about the nature of the process. In addition, they had the opportunity to register on site for a series of four substantive workshops that would help the participants to further shape their business concept.
Sparring session with business coaches
After their success last year, substantive discussions about the business concepts were also held in small groups. The discussions were led by business coaches consisting of entrepreneurs, the jury members, Saxion teachers and people from the industry. This way, the participants could immediately start fine-tuning their business concept.
The next step
The next step in the contest will be submitting a video pitch and a detailed financial plan to the jury members. The jury members will then select participants to continue to the second round: a two-day business boot camp.
Making dreams come true
Until the final on 30 May, it will remain a surprise who EW Facility Services will help to make his/her dream of owning a company a reality. Bas Cornelissen: "After the innovative ideas of last year, we are very curious about the business plans that the students have come up with this year. I have already heard a few great ideas during the kick-off and, like the other jury members, look forward to the development that these young entrepreneurs will undoubtedly go through."
