In line with Singapore’s national drive to forge sustainable development in the digital era, SUSS organised the Business Plan Competition 2022 to promote awareness on sustainability and digital entrepreneurship. This year’s competition took into consideration two core aspects of Singapore’s development: (1) pursuing novel initiatives that promote sustainable development and (2) harnessing the digital economy.
Participants of the SUSS Business Plan Competition 2022
Associate Professor Allan Chia, Dean of SUSS School of Business, kicked off this year’s Business Plan Competition finals with a welcome speech, followed by a brief introduction by Associate Professor Huong Ha, SUSS Head of Business Programme. Participants were then introduced to the judges before the start of the final presentation.
The esteemed panel of judges: Dr. Tang Pak Kay, Business Development Director at Xgate Pte Ltd (top left), Ms. Ivy Tse, Chief Executive Officer of Halogen Foundation Singapore (top right), and Associate Professor Ding Ding, Vice Dean, SUSS School of Business (bottom centre).
After an intense competition with 60 high-quality submissions, five teams were declared winners:
First Place: “Team Boing” from St Joseph’s Institution.
Team Boing from St Joseph’s Institution emerged first place with their business plan to create and promote efficiency through the streamlining of logistics for surplus food across various enterprises by establishing an online commerce platform for sellers and buyers.
“As environmentally-conscious advocates, we want to become the new generation of entrepreneurs that capitalises on digital platforms to reduce global food waste. With our participation in the SUSS Business Plan Competition, we were determined to not only have our proposal for BestBy implemented in a marketplace, but also the opportunity to diminish the waste of surplus food. We have developed a keen interest and a broadened understanding of the urgency for food wastage to be addressed lest more detrimental consequences arise. In doing so, we strive to model food waste reduction in hopes of creating a more sustainable environment."
- Celine, Jeremy, Keane & Zheng Yi (Team Boing)
Second Place: “KaPaw&Co” from Singapore Polytechnic.
In second place - Team “KaPaw&Co” from Singapore Polytechnic with their business plan to produce upcycled food for paws using discarded food waste and sell the products through convenient e-commerce platforms.
“During the competition, we received plenty of constructive feedback during the Q&A session and we were elated to hear helpful questions that enabled us to reflect on our business idea and improve it. The skills we learnt leading up to the competition would be the design thinking process, where we took our idea out from the ideation phase and turned a dream into reality.
We also learnt that it takes courage and commitment in order to be able to have an impact on the society and to solve problems – it involves more than just the knowledge or skillset of an individual. Lastly, we also learnt from the other teams and were inspired by the other team’s business ideas.”
- Irfan, Megan, Michael & Premkkumar (Team KaPaw&Co)
Third place: “Team 1” from Hwa Chong Institution (College).
In third place - “Team 1” from Hwa Chong Institution (College) with the idea of establishing an F&B enterprise to reduce food wastage by developing an innovative app with multiple features and functionalities.
“We wanted to venture into an area such as entrepreneurship as it is interesting and outside of our school curriculum. Thus, the SUSS Business Plan Competition presented us with the perfect opportunity and we took it up. We were looking to test our critical thinking skills, creativity, and innovation, as well as apply some Economics concepts we studied in school, and this competition was the perfect platform to do just that. We learnt how to ideate practical and viable solutions to real-world problems, while tying it all back to sustainability. We are glad we had an enriching learning experience!”
- Alaric, Daniel, U Ham & Yanyu (Team 1)
Fourth Place: “Más vale maña que fuerza” from St Joseph’s Institution
In fourth place - Team “Más vale maña que fuerza” from St Joseph’s Institution with their business plan focusing on reducing the parasitic load in a house using infrared sensors to enhance sustainable development living with lower greenhouse emissions.
“I joined the SUSS Business Plan Competition as I believe that it has a very strong relation to building a sustainable future. I have been very concerned about the rapid changes going on in the world's climate. Hence, I believe that the competition was a great opportunity to find out and determine to what extent climate issues could possibly be solved with a good business idea. Overall, it was a great experience. I learnt how to differentiate between business ideas that are feasible and effective, and what are unviable no matter how great they sound.”
- Jeongwook (Team Más vale maña que fuerza)
“I am someone who desires to be an entrepreneur, running a successful business in the future. As such, this competition gave me ample opportunity to learn, to grow and develop not just as a future businessman but as a person, where I worked alongside my teammates to put together a solution to help make the world a better place.”
- Sean Chin (Team Más vale maña que fuerza)
“I joined this Business Competition as I viewed it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain experience in the realm of business ventures, which is something that not many students actively seek out. When one thinks of starting a business, they probably think of a businessman with years of experience. However, I wanted to try my hand to see what I could do with the limited knowledge I have and the creativity at my disposal, as well as the teamwork and camaraderie of my teammates. Through this competition, I learnt more about what is necessary to make a good business plan and the importance of creativity in it.”
- Sean Tey (Team Más vale maña que fuerza)
“I participated in this competition for two important reasons. Firstly, I believe that building a sustainable future is crucial for not just Singapore, but for humanity as a whole. It is especially so where climate change is becoming a global issue that should not be ignored. I feel that sustainable development is vital if we want to leave behind a habitable planet for future generations. Secondly, this business competition was a great opportunity to expand my current skillset and acquire more knowledge about starting and running a business, as well as the key aspects to take note of to do so. This knowledge will be applicable in future to a certain degree no matter what occupational path I follow.”
- Dhiren (Team Más vale maña que fuerza)
Fifth Place: “Level One” from Nanyang Polytechnic
In fifth place - Team “Level One” from Nanyang Polytechnic with their business plan on clothing production with the application of advanced technologies to achieve environmental sustainability.
“Not only does our team see the Business Plan Competition as an opportunity to present our unique innovation, but the idea of contributing to Singapore’s national drive to forge sustainable development in this digital era makes it even more intriguing for us to take part in this meaningful challenge. Over the course of our preparation, our team has developed critical thinking and analytic skills. The feedback we received from the judges were also useful in improving our current innovation and coming up with better and feasible ideas in future competition.”
- Gabrielle, Jia Liang, Jovi & Zitong (Team Level One)
Besides the top five winning teams, five teams were awarded consolation prizes for their quality business plans. Heartiest congratulations to all the winning teams and thank you to all teams for participating in the third SUSS SBIZ Business Plan Competition 2022! Stay tuned for our fourth SUSS SBIZ Business Plan Competition to be held in 2023!