It’s unusual for a school to win the Young Enterprise East Auckland Company of the Year two years in a row, especially when some of the best colleges compete hard for the big prize.
Last week, Ormiston Senior College walked away with the top award for the second year running. It also had two business groups win the prestigious East Auckland Company of the Year Award.
The school made a clean sweep at the Regional Awards, winning eight awards in all.
Assistant Principal Mark Snoad is thrilled with the new track record.
“Normally there is one top award in every region. But east Auckland gets two winners because of the size of the region, inclusive of schools in Flat Bush, Botany, Howick, Pakuranga, Glendowi and Tamaki, making east Auckland the biggest region in New Zealand. And imagine we won both of them!” he says.
Two teams from Ormiston Senior College– Quick Jandal and Festivilia, will now represent east Auckland in the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) National Awards in Wellington on December 6.
YES is an experimental programme where students set up and run a real business.
The next generation of business stars from the College also bagged two top spots for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
One of who was Vaneel Ram CEO of Festivilia, a children’s book. The team also won the Excellence in Sales and Marketing, apart from east Auckland Dragon’s Den Champion and east Auckland Company of the Year.
Vaneel says that the Festivila team approached 120 schools and have driven around 2300 kms on road. With a turnover of $9000 and a profit of $3000 they are now taking their business to the next level. The enterprising business team has already started working on their next children’s book.
“We’ve registered as an official New Zealand Company and are pretty serious,” says the 17- year-old.
Sinithia Kumar, CEO of Beaute, took the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Beaute is a 100 per cent natural facemask made from Manuka Honey and nutmeg. “It’s both for men and women,” she says.
The Thinking Big Award was won by Quick Jandal, a Food Delivery App that also won the Dragon’s Den Finalist east Auckland as well as the east Auckland Company of the Year. Akshay Kakkar, CEO of the company says that they are now preparing for the Nationals where the YES Regional finalists will be pitching throughout the day for the top spot.
An online tie rental service business called Tieger by 17-year-old Pranay Prasad won the Excellence in Business Management Award.
A Dragon’s Den finalist, Pranay says that he is now working on expanding the range of accessories on hire to include cufflinks, pocket squares, and tie bars.
All award winners acknowledge the role that the teachers play in empowering them. “They treat us like business entrepreneurs and not like students in our college. They are lenient and allow us to go to the bank during school hours. They take calculated risks and trust us,” they say in unison.
Another advantage is starting YES from Level 1 which provides a solid foundation and helps set the bar high, they echo.
