CCV Biennial Business/Entrepreneurship Scholarship 2017

 

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CCV Biennial Business/Entrepreneurship Scholarship 2017

Introduction

CCV is an independent service provider specializing in the distribution of information on jobs, career development and training opportunities in the Western Cape region, especially Cape Town which is the regional capital and second largest city in South Africa. We facilitate contact between employers, recruitment agencies, job seekers, expatriates, graduates, internship seekers, school leavers, colleges and training institutions.

Employment is the number one problem faced by the young and old in many countries around the world. In inner cities, social ills such as poverty, prevalent crime and drug abuse can be attributed to lack of employment and low wages which are not enough to sustain a family. This brings us to another point. You cannot talk about solving unemployment while downplaying the importance of education and entrepreneurship. We believe that education is the gateway to success because a professional qualification / certification from an accredited tertiary institution, college, university or vocational training school increases your chance of being employed in your field of interest.

However, while there is no doubt that education provides a springboard to a good life and income, not all students are destined for a professional job. In this regard, we believe that students should be equipped with entrepreneurial skills that allow them to think out of the box and create something for themselves, something that they are passion about and which can be turned into a business that they can depend on, and never have to worry about employment again. This is where the CCV Business/Entrepreneurship Scholarship comes in.

Objectives of the CCV Entrepreneurship Scholarship

The CCV Business/Entrepreneurship Scholarship seeks to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship among young people who are enrolled at an accredited college, university, vocational centre, technical school, tertiary institution, training institution or high school.

Participants are encouraged to think out of the box, create a business plan that requires small starting capital, explore marketing ideas and generate a sustainable income that can be a substitute for a 9 to 5 job or solution to unemployment.

Participants should see potential in their business ideas and they must envision the change that it would bring to their lives and the community. They should imagine what it would be like if unemployed friends, relatives, family and members of the community were empowered through self employment and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are not only business creators but they create jobs too. One more entrepreneur in town means one less unemployed person in the streets.

Participants should endeavor to create a business plan that either solves a problem in a specific niche, provides value to the client / customer, improves upon existing products / services, introduces a creative idea, introduces a new niche or caters to an audience that was previously un-served or underserved.

This program should encourage students to explore ways of being financially independent because as we know, paying your way through college or university can be very expensive, especially if you are not one of the priviledged students with supportive guardians and benefactors.

Value of Scholarship

If you meet the scholarship requirements and you are chosen as the winner of the Biennial Scholarship, a sum of money ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 USD will be sent to your school. Business Plan submissions by participants are graded from class A to E, depending on weighted factors such as quality, business research, creativeness, viability, originality, uniqueness, innovation, feasibility, cost, presentation and financial projections.

Editions/Seasons

The CCV Scholarship is awarded every 2 years. The first edition is the 2017 Edition.

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Participation Requirements

Only those who meet the following requirements should apply:

  • Be a student at an accredited institution of learning – high school, college, university, vocational school, technical school, polytechnic or training institute.
  • Be accepted for admission or enrollment at an accredited institution of learning
  • Be a full time student or part-time student who attends classroom lessons at an accredited institution of learning.
  • Submit a detailed and updated CV or resume with contact details of your school, college or university, and at least 3 traceable references.
  • Submit a detailed Business Plan plus Summary
  • Submit a Motivational Letter explaining why your business plan should be considered.

 

Business Plan Requirements

Your Business Plan should be at least 8,000 words in length. Participants are required to submit a detailed Business Plan which includes the following:

Executive Summary

  • Describe your business idea.
  • Describe the mission and objectives of your company/business.

Company Summary

  • How are you going to fund your idea or raise capital?
  • What are the financial risks associated with running your business idea
  • Provide charts and tables of capital outlay and start-up expenses for the first year of operation

About Your Business Idea

  • Describe the services or products that you are going to offer
  • What problem does your business/product/service solve? Please explain
  • Does it provide value to the user? Please explain
  • Does it provide improvements on existing products/services? Please explain
  • Is it a creative idea? Please explain
  • Is it a new concept or idea? Please explain
  • Does it serve a hidden market? Please explain
  • Does it serve a neglected market? Please explain
  • Please explain the change that your idea will bring to the community
  • Please explain how you are going to be financially independent with this idea
  • Is there room for expansion or providing extra services in the future? Please explain

Inspiration / Motivation Behind Your Idea

  • Please give the background and justification for your idea
  • What inspired or motivated you to come up with the idea?

Implementation

  • How are you going to implement the business plan?
  • Describe the infrastructure, expertise, key personnel, assets, technology, registration requirements, control mechanisms, financing, any resources that you are going to need or requirements that you need to fulfill to implement your business plan.

Market Analysis

  • Write a report on the market analysis and research of your business idea
  • Compile a competitor analysis
  • What advantage do you have over your competitors?
  • Who are your target clients/customers?
  • Provide charts and tables to depict market segmentation

Marketing Strategy

  • Describe marketing methods that you are going to use to get clients, as well as launch and promote your products/services.
  • Describe your pricing strategy and ways to retain clients
  • Provide Sales Forecast charts and tables of the first 3 years of operation.

 

Financial Projections

  • Provide a Break-even Analysis chart and table
  • Provide Projected Profit & Loss charts and tables of the first 3 years in operation – Annual Profit, Monthly Profit, Annual Revenue and Monthly Revenue.
  • Provide Projected Cash Flow charts and tables of the first 3 years in operation
  • Provide Projected Balance Sheet tables
  • Provide a table of Operational Costs of the first 3 years in operation
  • Provide Projected Measures of Performance of the first, second and third year:
  • The Return on Investment Ratio
  • Operating Cost to Income Ratio
  • Profit to Income Ratio
  • Income/Cost/Profit Ratio
  • Loan Pay-Back Period

 

Management and Personnel

  • List the job positions and number of vacancies that you are going to create in your company:
  • Management Team e.g. CEO
  • Administrative, Professional , Support and other Skilled workers e.g. Accountant, Office Assistant, Sales Consultant
  • General workers e.g. Cleaner, Messenger, Van Driver
  • Create a table of Annual Salary Expenses of the first 3 years in operation.
  • As the Founder/CEO of the company, please list the Long Term plans (5-10yrs), Medium Term plans (1-3yrs) and Short Term plans (3-12 months) of your company.

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How To Submit Your Application

Send your application via email with the following documents attached separately:

  • Detailed Business Plan in Microsoft Word (DOC) file
  • Detailed Personal CV or Resume in Microsoft Word (DOC) file
  • Motivational Letter in Microsoft Word (DOC) file

Alternatively, you can combine and compress your files in one ZIP folder, which you can send to us. To compress files into a single folder, you will need to install a program like iZARc or 7zip on your computer.

Email your materials to info@cityofcapetownvacancies.com

Your email heading should be titled as follows:

[Your Name: Application for CCV Scholarship 2017 Edition]

Example:

[Michael Dukakis: Application for CCV Scholarship 2017 Edition]

Deadline

The deadline for submissions is 31 October 2017 and the winner will be announced before the end of November 2017.

 

FAQs

Who Can Participate?

You are welcome to apply if you are a student who is enrolled or has been accepted for enrollment or admission at an accredited institute of learning (high school, college, university, vocational or technical school)

Which Countries Can Participate?

Students from any part of the world can participate. You only need to be a registered student at an accredited institution of learning.

Field of Study

We accept students from any field of study who wish to pursue entrepreneurship as a life skill or means of lifestyle improvement and better living. Whether you are in Business, Commerce, Marketing, Information Technology, Hospitality Industry, Medicine, Psychology, Engineering, Arts, Administration or Applied Science, you have an opportunity to turn your career into a business opportunity.

 

Terms and Conditions

Our CCV Entrepreneurship Scholarship is based on merit, meaning that on successive editions, it will be awarded to participants with an outstanding business plan that impresses the evaluators on a range of considerations such as quality of research, creativeness, viability, originality, uniqueness, innovation, feasibility, cost, presentation and financial projections.

We are not obliged to award a full scholarship on every edition or season. This will depend on the quality of submissions that we receive. If the submissions we receive are not up to our standards, alternative awards and consolation prizes may be given.