Are you an aspiring entrepreneur? Or perhaps interested in business, but unsure where to begin your adventure?
Look no further than Junior Achievement of Souther Alberta’s “The Company Program”. Now, if you’ve been following Youth Are Awesome for a while, I’m sure you’ve heard of this amazing opportunity in previous blogs showcasing the products of different companies such as Arietta, Cohaero, or iSpark.
The Company Program is a unique opportunity provided by Junior Achievement, one of the world’s largest non-profit organizations dedicated to helping youth attain a knowledge of business, economics, and entrepreneurship. JASA has been in Alberta for 48 years, and has had a huge influence on the youth here. Perhaps I should explain how? The Company program is “a student venture” in which youth from Grades 9-12 are put into groups of approximately 20 people. Come October, these 20 other youth are your coworkers, your vice presidents, and one of these innovative individuals (or even yourself) will be the president for the next several months.
On your journey throughout the year, you will meet up with your group once a week (with the exception of exam and winter breaks) and come up with a unique product to sell. You have to take into the consideration how much your product will cost to produce, packaging, etc. Your group is also responsible for a business plan and a shareholders report. Don’t worry if it sounds somewhat complicated, your group will be accompanied by a JA professional consult volunteer to help you along the way.
For those skeptics out there, here are just a few more great reasons to join the Company Program.
- It’s essentially a part time job. You may even earn commission for selling your product!
- You learn a lot about marketing, economics, entrepreneurship
- Many scholarship opportunities
- You meet so many great people and make new friends
- You’ll master your elevator pitch in no time
- Improve your team – skills
- Attend workshops
- Gain valuable networking opportunities
- And who doesn’t enjoy dressing up as a mascot at the Trade show?
We all work hard during the year, selling our product, advertising and giving our pitches. In the end? It pays off. Companies may win awards in different categories, such as having an innovative product, or having the best trade show booth. Last year, the 3 teams with the top rated commercial pitches had a chance to be featured on television to present their pitches.
The Company Program is a really great program. This is my second year, and I can’t wait for the program to start. If you haven’t already closed this blog page to go sign up, do so now! (If you’re already signed up – tell your friends to as well!) The deadline for registration is October 9, 2012 – so be sure to make haste.
