Beyond The Lemonade Stand (BTLS) is hosting its annual Teenpreneur Fest to showcase, celebrate and help accelerate small businesses owned by teenagers. The festival promises 4 master classes and teen pitches and exhibitions with the top teens standing to win great prizes to take their businesses to the next level.
“BTLS is hosting the Teenpreneur Fest to expose, celebrate and reward teenagers actively earning an income through operating businesses,”
said Thokoza Mjo, the founder and director of BTLS.
The fest, which is free and open to the public, is set to take place on the 7th of October at the Tshimologong Precinct in Braamfontein running from 09h00 to 16h00.
On the day, teens with businesses will attend master classes with established entrepreneurs on failing forward, innovation and technology, social media and storytelling. Thereafter, they will be afforded the opportunity to pitch and showcase their businesses before the top teens are selected by a panel of judges for the award ceremony.
Teenpreneurs have until the 25th of September 2017 to apply in order to pitch and showcase at the fest. The application form link is on the Beyond The Lemonade Stand Facebook page.
The top 3 teens will each receive a cash prize of R10 000, a laptop, printer and smart phone, while the top 3 runners up will each receive a cash prize of R 5000, a laptop, printer and smartphone courtesy of Canon, The Anzisha Prize and Old Mutual.
An Investment Analyst by profession, social entrepreneur, Mjo founded BTLS in 2014 to facilitate access to the market for teen-led enterprises. “I believe in an Africa with economically active youth,” she says on why she first founded the organisation.
The organisation plans to have backed 300 teen-led businesses by 2021, with 900 jobs created through those businesses, with a total of R 2 000 000 sent into the field to drive the impact.
