Global Entrepreneurship Week |27 November 2020

Seychellois start-ups inspire next generation of entrepreneurs

On Saturday November 21, 2020, a group of secondary students took part in a workshop hosted by technology start-ups Mavericks and WonderWeiss. The activity was organised as part of the run a business for a day series marking Global Entrepreneurship Week 2020.

WonderWeiss is a local clean-tech start-up founded in late 2019 which focuses on developing sustainable innovations in the form of tools and mechanisms to provide solutions to existing environmental problems such as illegal unreported unregulated fishing. The company is made up of a collective of young professionals from various fields of expertise headed by founding members Andry Accouche, Marie-Reine Mahoune and Chris Rosette.

Mavericks is a software development start-up founded in 2017 by University of Seychelles alumni Dorian Marie, Louys Belle, Francesco Rocci and Arnold Victor. The company’s aim is to bring new digital solutions to facilitate public services and localise production of custom software in the market.

The group of 15 students comprising S4 and S5 students from Mont Fleuri, Plaisance and Beau Vallon secondary schools and International School met for the one day workshop that took place at the Mont Fleuri secondary school hall.

The day itself was structured into 2 parts, the first part consisted of a series of short power style lectures conducted by members of both companies and expert guests such as economist Ingrid Sinon, digital marketers Dominique Sabino and Marla Simeon from whiteboard - Digital marketing agency.

The power lectures engaged on various aspects of entrepreneurship under the titles; ‘Become your Own Boss’, ‘Qualities of a Successful Entrepreneur’, ‘Innovation & Blue Ocean Strategy’, ‘Embracing Technology’, ‘Working Lean & Agile’, ‘Product Design & Development’ and ‘Finance Essentials’.

Practical aspects such as App design, software development techniques & Live App implementation were also explored through a live coding session by mavericks members Francesco Rocci and Louys Belle.

A networking hands on activity was also carried out in between the power lectures whereby the students were divided into groups according to interest such as Technology, Economy, and Environment etc. From there students were tasked with coming up with one business idea from which the facilitator, Marie- Reine Mahoune, would link the different ideas with other groups that their expertise could help further the idea along to showcase networking.

The second part of the session consisted of a practical workshop where the students were divided into groups. From there they were given the task to brainstorm a business idea as part of a pitching exercise. The exercise required students to focus on what problem their business idea was solving for consumers and from there build a case for their business proposition. The students enjoyed the activity and came up with creative pitches which involved storytelling to support their business ideas.

The day came to a close at 4pm where the students received certificates for their participation and filled in a short survey to relay feedback to the organisers.

Andry Accouche, chief executive of WonderWeiss, described the activity as a success.

“We showcased our potential and expertise in their respective field. WonderWeiss is exploring the possibility of potentially organising a similar workshop for adults. I would like to thank all members of the facilitating team for their dedication and noted that even though they were on location at 7am, the team managed to remain enthusiastic and energised throughout the whole day. It also shows that entrepreneurship is hard but there is value in it. Entrepreneurship is much more than simply business finance and numbers, a valuable lesson for the future entrepreneurs in attendance.” 

Speaking from data collected in their post workshop questionnaire, Mr Accouche noted that the students found the practical sessions much fun and very interactive and most of them said they are looking forward to potentially another workshop. He remarked that he is excited to see their progress and that the group may potentially organise a second workshop next year.

This activity was conducted in conjunction with the Global Entrepreneurship Week which is the largest and most visible one-week campaign affiliated with entrepreneurship, which occurs annually every November and celebrated among more than 170 countries with approximately 10 million people across the globe. This year, Seychelles hosted the GEW and secured multiple participants such as WonderWeiss and Mavericks to assist in promoting the values of entrepreneurship in Seychelles.

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the workshop.

Contributed by the department of Entrepreneurship and Industry