Search on for social entrepreneurs

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

TO encourage the youth to “see problems as opportunities,” the British Council is in search of young entrepreneurs who have business plans that aim to address social concerns.

Open to Filipinos aged 16 to 28 years old, the British Council is opening its third “I am a Changemaker” competition next month and promises P100,000 cash seed money to the winning business plan.

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Ana Tan, press relations manager of the British Council in the Philippines, said they hope to get more participation from the youth in the Visayas area, noting 21 entries out of the 70 applications sent in for last year’s competition.

Last year’s winner from the Visayas was a Cebuano group, Gasa sa Guso Group, a project to bring an alternative livelihood to the residents of Pangan-an Island in Olango by seaweed farming.

The project aims to provide a vehicle for taking innovations from idea to reality and is considered a real-world exercise for improving on starting a business, pitching ideas to possible investors and building networks.

Investors

Tan said that even if some applicants did not win, they were able to raise the interest of some investors who were present during the competition.

The enterprise proposal should mainly focus on addressing a social problem. Tan said that social enterprise is broad and there are countless ideas that can be proposed.

The venture should have demonstrable financial viability, whether for profit or non-profit. The proposal should not be entered on behalf or as a sub-project of a private company or local government unit and should not have won in other business plan or project grant competitions of the same magnitude.

The entries will be judged on its overall concept, community impact, sustainability, risk assessment and contingent plans, market, and management team.

As for the Starbucks prize, they will be judged on community service or involvement, environmental stewardship, ethical sourcing, diversity and wellness.

There will be four winners each from Luzon, National Capital Region, Visayas and Mindanao and a fifth winner to be awarded by Starbucks’ Shared Planet.

In last year’s case, the Gasa sa Guso Group won the Visayas award and the Starbucks’ Shared Planet Award, which meant they went home with two prizes.

The group noted the need for an alternative source of livelihood for residents after they were in the island for an outreach project to rehabilitate their library facilities.

Miguel Antonio Garcia, one of the members of Gasa sa Guso, explained that the catch was very little and this started the idea of thinking of an alternative for the residents.

Seaweed farming

They came up with seaweed farming. They are also coordinating with the Department of Education’s Lapu-Lapu City Division to incorporate seaweed farming and entrepreneurship for high school students and hope this paves the way for them to start managing a cooperative and seaweed farming.

Today, Garcia said they are still waiting for the right permits to be released. In the meantime, they have begun with their educational training.

Tan said that aside from awarding winners with seed money, they will also have an outside body to monitor them to see how they can spend the prize money wisely.

They will begin accepting applications next month until 5 p.m. of Sept. 23.

Shortlisted proposals will be announced on Oct. 7 while the startup training will be on Oct. 24.

Final presentation and awarding will be on Oct. 28.