Molding Malaysian Youth through UCSIU Bizplan

UCSI University’s Faculty of Management & Information Technology (FoMIT) together with Centre of Excellence for Research, Value Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CERVIE), are organizing an internal business plan competition called the UCSIU BizPlan Competition 2010. This is the internal version of the national level MSC Malaysia – IHL Business Plan Competition (MIBPC), which UCSI University has been a part of since 2008.

This year FoMIT and CERVIE are inviting participation from UCSI University students of all faculties to submit their most creative business plans in the Product-based category or the Service-based category. Four workshops were held for those who wished to participate, to prepare and give them more ideas on how to come up with the best business plans.

On 30^th September 2010, Frontiers attended the conclusion to the series of workshops with a workshop entitled “Elevator Pitching” by speakers Miss Roslina Abdul Latif from Faculty of Music, Social Sciences and Design (FOMSSD) in South Wing’s Block C Auditorium.  The purpose of this last installment was to teach participants about preparing their storyboards for the 2-minute video that they have to submit as part of the competition.

Miss Roslina started the session by showing to the audience a picture of a pig wearing lipstick, saying, “You can put a lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” The message that she was trying to send out was that to pitch in a new idea, a story must be original, not just creative.  It has to be unique although uniqueness means nothing unless the idea is bought.

With a very interesting presentation, Miss Roslina, having vast experience in the newsroom and broadcasting with TV3, explained the three steps of preparing a storyboard; Story strategy, Story development and Story implementation.  A good story brings the audience back to the client; it must not divert away from the client’s goal, which is to sell their products or services.

A good point was also made when Miss Lina played a video of “elevator pitching.” Just like the term, a sales pitch was made in an elevator, which made some of the audience confused. No, it does not mean that a presentation must be made to the client in an elevator. The video was plainly telling the audience to “time yourself”; that a sales pitch must be made in the shortest time possible, otherwise the client would lose interest.

Miss Shahrinaz Ismail from FOMIT later told the audience that the best video in the competition will be given a special prize.

Previous workshops were, on the 15^th of September, an introduction to UCSIU BizPlan Competition 2010 (UCSIU-BPC 2010) by speakers Miss Eva Lim from FoMIT and Mr. Ong Kian Ming from the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS), and on 24^th of September a workshop emphasizing on the marketing financial analysis of a business plan by speaker Mr. Chong Aik Lee, also from FoMIT.

The competition, which is open to all students of UCSI University, has extended its registration deadline to October 29^th. Participants will also be submitting their business plan proposals and 2-minute video presentations on the same date.

The organizers will announce the shortlisted finalists on November 15^th where these finalists will compete with their final presentations on November 25^th. The MIBPC National Level Competition will be held on December 15^th. Winners of the competition will receive attractive prizes including RM50, 000 seed money as the grand prize as well as the opportunity to pursue to the project incubation level.

This competition is a great way for the next generation to challenge themselves and discover their talents in not only business but also in science and technology. This is a vital step to mold the Malaysian youths of today towards becoming the successor of the nation’s leadership and driving force.

UCSI University students who are interested can go to http://www.ucsiubizplan.com for more details.