Saturday 15th December 2012 saw the Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) Business Hive, a registered society within BAC, hold their inaugural Enterprise Day. Held at BAC, the event brought together over 60 students, industry captains and VIP business leaders to share knowledge and challenge the status quo in the way business is run today.

The Enterprise Day, a project of the Business Hive, sees student members provide Business Solutions to Botswana’s SMMEs.

Speakers kicking off the forum included the Executive Director of BAC, Mr. Michael Lesolle, who discussed strategic positioning and future relevance of enterprise. Guest speaker, CEO of the Choppies Group, Mr Ramachandran Ottapatthu, spoke about the role of entrepreneurship in economic development and the imperative to develop the young entrepreneur.

He encouraged the students to continue to show an active and engaged interest in business and the business community. He further impressed that young entrepreneurs should not wait to perfect themselves before venturing into business, rather to focus on the strengths that they already have to make winning businesses, citing that imperfections will always be there and will take continuous effort to improve.

Speaking on the Business Hive, Mr. Lesolle says, “This is a perfect fit for the national, and hence the college’s, vision and I am both excited and proud of this initiative. The Business Hive was launched last year in an event that pulled key industry players from across the country. Through the Business Hive, we are affording students a platform upon which they can link models of entrepreneurship to practice, translating the knowledge they gain at BAC into real-life, hands-on experience.”

The day’s program comprised of two key legs, the first of which was the Enterprise Solutions competition.  Four groups of students, who have been working closely with the two select companies which were selected as case studies for the semester just ended, presented their Business Solutions before a panel of adjudicators.

The panel of adjudicators comprised of local professionals who stand out in the business community, including: Ms. Zoe Issacs, Director of Business Development, BOCCIM; Mr. Adam Jones, MD, Kgotla Communications and Mr. Peter Kesitilwe, Director of Corporate Services, LEA; The winning team, which was represented by Edward Johnson, Amanda Chembezi and Tshepo Letshwiti, won judges over with their business solutions for the Scortchfield Bakery in Tlokweng.

The second leg of Enterprise Day saw an opportunity for Business Hive members to interact and exchange views with the invited entrepreneurs. This occurred in the form of two workshops: “Marketing for the Entrepreneur” and “Accounting and Tax for the Entrepreneur.”

Concluded Ms. Veronica Ofaletse, a patron of the Business Hive, “At BAC, we strive to encourage students to Stand Out. Enterprise Day, and indeed Business Hive as a whole, is yet another testament to their ambition, innovation and potential to significantly shape our society and our economy.”

In her words, she stressed that “Competitions are vital because they force these young minds to be innovative! A student, who otherwise would have gone through the schooling system, passed exams and typed up a CV to go look for a job, now gets to use the ideas they have for Enterprise and develops them into a winning business.

So, we will always encourage a competitive environment, the real business world is very competitive therefore, as we “Shape Future Leaders” we must introduce them to this atmosphere the earliest.  As we digest the incredible insights and knowledge shared today, we are already looking forward to the next Enterprise Day.”