Local student, global success

Takapuna Grammar student Myeonggyun Lee has already experienced his first taste of international business success as part of the winning New Zealand team in the Global Enterprise Challenge.

The New Zealand competition, which was run by the Young Enterprise Trust and sponsored by Massey University, was held at the University’s Albany Innovation Campus at the weekend.

Mr Lee’s team, Just Water, took out the national contest, before going on to come second in the international competition and winning the Creativity Award.

Global Enterprise Challenge is a 24-hour competition for young people aged 16-19, with some 2000 students taking part from up to 140 schools and colleges worldwide. The 2012 challenge was to develop an idea for a micro-business start-up that could create jobs for young people.

Mr Lee’s team of seven came up with a business idea called GlobalSEEDZ, where young people would be given a “garden in a box” to grow produce. After harvesting their vegetables, they would sell them back to GlobalSEEDZ.com for distribution.

“We thought we would get government and councils involved to provide funding, and young people would be able to start their own businesses,” explains Mr Lee.

“It’s an idea that can start small locally, but then grow to become global. And as their business grows, people can get more people involved and create more jobs.”

Mr Lee, who was born in Korea, has lived in Auckland for four years. He is planning a career in hotel management and believes the Global Enterprise Challenge experience has been invaluable.

“I learned how to interact better with other people, and how to write a business plan and do a good presentation,” he says. “But the most important thing was communication. We used Facebook all night to communicate and I realised that it’s a really important part of business because you need to get things right, and you can’t do that without communicating well.”

Mr Lee says he was encouraged to participate in the event by his business studies teacher at Takapuna Grammar. “She said that it was going to be really fun and she was right,” he says.

The Enterprise in Action weekend at Massey University was officially opened by tertiary education minister Steven Joyce, who told the students how he started up The Edge radio station with five mates and $500.

“The definition of a successful entrepreneur is somebody who sees the possibility and goes for it, but is grounded enough to understand that execution is also pretty important,” he told participants. “Entrepreneurialism is a very unique skill, and you are starting out on that path. No pressure, but your country needs you to succeed.”

Mr Lee and his teammates each received a $2000 scholarship towards study at Massey’s College of Business, and all other students taking part in the challenge received a $1000 scholarship.

Professor Ted Zorn, the head of Massey’s College of Business, said the University was committed to supporting young entrepreneurs as they would go on to help shape the future of New Zealand and the world.

“New Zealand is a nation of small businesses, they are the backbone of the economy,” he told students. “At Massey we want our staff and our students to make a contribution to the nation’s prosperity, and we hope these scholarships will encourage some of you to join us.”

He also encouraged participants to apply for a Captain’s Club scholarship for future leaders, worth $5000, at one of the University’s three campuses.

For more information and to see Just Water’s video entry in to the global competition visit:
www.globalenterprisechallenge.com

For more information on Captain’s Club Scholarships click here.

Watch a video presentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-yve35lvB0