THE VISION OF THE SA TEEN ENTREPRENEUR FOUNDATION IS TO CULTIVATE AND PROMOTE THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT IN ALL OUR TEENAGERS THROUGH SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITIONS. WE TARGET SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, CHURCHES AND YOUTH CENTRES.
All this said, I think we should look at examples
around the world where young people have made a significant contribution to their economies by taking a step of faith into the innovation dimension. The stories of the following teen entrepreneurs will serve to demonstrate that it is possible to stimulate our teenagers into innovative machines, if we as a country can recognise their potential. First, Fred De Luca aged 17, borrowed $1,000 to start the now famous Subway sandwich restaurant. Today that business brings in over $9 billion yearly in sales, and has over 32 000 outlets. Mark Zuckerberg, who created Facebook, the most successful website ever built. Matt Mullenweg, who at 19 started Wordpress. Anand Lal Shimpi, who at 14 years created AnandTech website, Carl Churchill who founded DMC internet at the age of 15; Farrah Gray who was already a successful businessman even before he reached his teens; Remero Bryan, Jason O’Neill and Fraser Doherty and the list goes on.
The most distinctive feature of the above- mentioned teenagers is that they all come from developed countries, Europe and America. Why is this so? This is a question we should continuously ask ourselves. It brings to light that as a country and even as a continent we are not doing enough to encourage our young people to aspire to innovate. Perhaps we do not have very good role models to inspire our young people or we simply do not have the frameworks in place to nurture innovation. While science and maths have a lot to do with innovation, they are not the only parameters.
The article by Jonathan Walters (2011), Understanding innovation,
what
• Frustration with the status quo • A response to crisis • A focus on prevention • An emphasis on results • Adaptation of technology • An inclination to do the right thing
(commissioned by PriceWaterhouseCoopers)
In South Africa and indeed the rest of Africa, the above factors that stimulate innovation are present, but still innovation remains elusive in most places, especially among our young people. Realising that
14 Management Today | September 2012 The Innovation Journal inspires it?
And what makes it successful? lists a number of parameters and factors that inspires innovation:
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111