All you need is one pitch to take your business to the next level

To pitch a business idea or start a business is a delicate situation. Your motivation can be killed with a yawn or someone looking at their phone. It can be scary to share your ideas with potential investors because you fear the word “NO”. ORT SA provided a friendly, warm environment where 11 potential businesses pitched their ideas at the ORT SA Business Plan Competition held on Monday, 3 March 2022.  This opportunity was created by ORT SA and directed at the Nedbank sponsored YES beneficiaries to help kick-start young entrepreneurs who don’t think out of the box, but rather get rid of the box completely.

The Business Plan Competition culminated with 3 winners, providing them with capital to assist with turning an idea into reality:

  • 3rd runner-up Tiisetso Kgatla – Tiisetso Catering: received R3000 prize money
  • 2nd runner up Sonwabiso Selani – Infinite Housing Agency: received R7500 prize money
  • 1st place Mpumelelo Prince Blakkie – Impumelelo Furniture: received R10 000 prize money

In addition, these three winners will be part of the ORT Jet program where they will receive mentoring, networking, and training to enhance their business acumen. What made the ultimate winner stand out is his tenacity. He explained how he is constantly upskilling himself, no matter the obstacles in his way. Every month he would use his stipend to buy small tools, to build up his inventory for his furniture business.

Moreover, he had a detailed plan on how to get all his power tools and how he planned on growing his business slowly from one customer to many. The R10 000 will accelerate his plan by a few months – he can now buy most of his power tools and start working on bigger projects sooner rather than later.

As a result, everyone participating in the ORT SA Business Plan Competition will have their business registered Additionally, all the youth who pitched, regardless of whether they were in the top 3, will be invited to participate in ORT Jet’s 7-week Business Bootcamp. The Bootcamp will provide them with valuable skills for building a successful business.

The participants rose to the challenge, had passion and conviction in their business ideas, and displayed their creativity.