Two words come to mind when we think about starting a business in booming China – “Competitive” and “Challenging”, but what did these words mean for our students who visited Shenzhen for the six days overseas Impact Startup Challenge in July?
The students had to overcome restrictions finding information online while adapting to their classes, navigation and food apps solely communicated in Chinese. These challenges meant a quick change of attitude and perception, which proved their experience invaluable. They learnt to manage their expectations, worked alongside their local teammates and built their confidence through the daily interviews.
“Get out of the building (GOOB) interviews were quite scary at the start, but it gets better as the locals were helpful and welcoming as I thought.” Lee Yeong Sheng, Bachelor of Science in Marketing, shared.
Visiting Royole and meeting young entrepreneurs from Lighter Blockchain Tech, Go Fun, inspired our students too. Gathering useful insights and tips to improve one’s entrepreneurial grit helped in the development of smarter strategies in approaching their final test - pitching to investors.
Emerging as top winner in Shenzhen is Tay Hui Min from iSkin with her team’s idea of a “pocket dermatologist”. Their solution is a mobile application that analyses and guides users to build their unique and personalised skin regime.
Want an invaluable entrepreneurial experience? Join our Impact Startup Challenges (ISCs). Check out the upcoming ISCs here.
For more information on how to apply, email us at [email protected].
“Highly recommended! As much as the programme is quite hectic and tough, I feel it is a great experience to immerse yourself in a market that is different from Singapore. It is unlike any other overseas school trip whereby you visit companies and wow over by their latest technology etc. Instead, we had the opportunity to “test out” their market, connect with the local investors and gain mentorship from their truthful feedbacks.”
– Vanessa Han Wei Lin, Bachelor of Science, Marketing (Full-time)
“I enjoyed being in a different country and experiencing so many new things. I also enjoyed the independence that we experienced during the trip as we were allowed to do our interviews anywhere we wanted.”
– Nur Humaira Halmi, Bachelor of Human Resource Management (Full-time)