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18 May 2023 | Story KEKELETSO TAKANG | Photo PEXELS
Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences promotes student engagement and employability

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) drive towards student engagement and graduate employability necessitates the development and implementation of value-adding initiatives. One such initiative is the Business Management Start-up offered by the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

The initiative is not only aimed at getting potential (nascent) entrepreneurs (students, lecturers, stream of external entrepreneurs) actively involved in entrepreneurship, but also to keep them engaged and take them through a value chain to enable them to establish and run a sustainable business. The Business Management Start-Up Initiative will equip students with practical experience, along with the theoretical knowledge that they will accumulate, thus delivering resilient, capable, proudly Kovsie students to industry.

Students will fundamentally understand how business works, improving their employability when they enter a business as employees, and providing them with the skills to become self-employed.

Students can look forward to several interactive sessions with knowledgeable presenters, who will guide them through a well-structured process to continuously evaluate their business ideas against the knowledge gained. Moreover, the active involvement of mentors implies that students will have access to expert sounding boards for advice and motivation. Lastly, due to the partnerships with external stakeholders, students will be exposed to ‘real-life’ industry situations, exposing them to a wealth of industry-specific knowledge.

And just in case that is not enough to get you excited, let the possibility of funding for your new venture be the last drop of motivation you need to fill your tank for action!

Come join the Business Management team every Wednesday between 13:00 and 14:00 in the Flippie Groenewoud Gebou (FGG) 378 to be part of this exciting opportunity!

For more information on the initiative and the topics, click here.

News Archive

Kovsie conquers Googlefest Zurich pitching competition
2014-07-29

  

Marlize Holtzhauzen
Photo: Supplied

Marlize Holtzhauzen, a final-year Business Management and Leadership student at the UFS Business School, was recently awarded the 1st prize at the Google pitching competition in Zurich, Switzerland.

Holtzhauzen’s winning entry, Rapid Response, is a mobile application for use in emergency situations. In an emergency the application allows the phone to be used as a panic button which contacts emergency services and notifies the family of the user. The app, co-founded by Gerrit Cloete, was selected as one of 10 South African technology start-ups. These were part of the Swiss South African Business Development Programme under the auspices of the Swiss South African Joint Research Programme.

Since its launch on 1 July 2014, the Rapid Response app has had over 400 downloads and is available on app stores. It has also stirred interest in Europe and the USA and is already in use in Southern and East Africa. Holtzhauzen says good team work and a great product will ensure the success of this start-up in the future.

Other South African entries included Drew van der Riet from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN): Advanced Prosthetics Engineering. Gavin Jones of the University of Cape Town (UCT) also entered. He is a Technology Commercialisation practitioner candidate working on the commercialisation of a UCT innovation for the rehabilitation of stroke patients.

For more information contact Marlize on +27(0)83 3270 177 or visit the website www.rapidresponse.co.za .


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