IT'S not often that six bubbly teenagers, aged 15, can claim to develop an original business idea that makes seasoned business leaders sit up and take notice. And it's even rarer for such a plan to win the first prize in a stiff competition.
Eryn Chan, Jeannette Chua, Heather Lee, Rachel Lee, Cheryl Lim and Karina Lo from Singapore Chinese Girls School (SCGS) were able to do just that with their innovative "Bus with Us" transport placement company.
The six girls beat other impressive business plans submitted by students of Xinmin Secondary School, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Raffles Institution at the Asian business@school finals in Singapore, sponsored by The Boston Consulting Group.
The Bus with Us company logo shows a yellow bus filled with happy first-graders. The SCGS students want to be "first movers" to co-operate with bus companies in Singapore to ferry primary school children to and from enrichment centres, schools and the students' homes.
The six students observed that working parents find it increasingly inconvenient and impossible to ferry their primary school-going children to and from enrichment centres for tuition and other classes.
Their company, Bus with Us, wants to go into business and create a win-win-situation: matching the demand of parents with the ambition of transportation companies trying to maximise bus usage in otherwise free periods.
This impressed the jury under the auspices of Kim Wee Koh, partner and managing director in the Singapore office of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
"The winning team convinced us through their well-thought-through presentation," noted Ms Koh.
"But let's not forget how much work goes into these business plans. That's why we decided to award second prizes to the other three teams from Xinmin Secondary School, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Raffles Institution too."
The business@school teams who impressed the jury at the regional event have been acquiring real-life business knowledge for the past 10 months.
In the first two project phases, participating students analysed a large company, and then visited a smaller company to get to know the business first hand.
business@school also enhances their teamwork and communication skills, Ms Koh noted. In the last phase of the project, the teams put their acquired knowledge and skills to the test in developing their own business ideas and presenting them in a competition.
The 1,900 students participating in business@school come from over 70 schools in Singapore, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. They are supported by their teachers and voluntary coaches from BCG.
Apart from Ms Koh, the other jury members were: Gan Seow Ann, executive VP and head of markets, Singapore Exchange Ltd; Vikram Khanna, associate editor, The Business Times; Calvin Leong, head of strategy, Neptune Orient Lines; and Michelle Moore, director, Channel Development, Nokia.
