NFTE Regionals / Semi-finals and Nationals
It’s not easy to be a teen entrepreneur during these extraordinary times. Even the most experienced business leaders are challenged in finding ways to survive the pandemic. We hear so much about perseverance and resilience but it is one thing to talk about it and another to live it. While we cannot change the circumstances, we can change how we respond to the challenges.
At Foróige’s Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), we are witnessing young people discovering their resilience. They are stepping up with their innovative startup business ideas undeterred by the ambiguity of today.
Time and again we hear entrepreneurs recount how they learned to withstand the inevitable blows that come as part of starting a business. They tell us that it is during these times that they developed a resilience previously unknown to them.
Young Entrepreneur Competition 2021
March and April is a business time for a lot of young entrepreneurs taking part in the NFTE Regional Competitions. Once again due to the current pandemic, NFTE Regionals Competition is taking place online.
Hundreds of regional finalists will present their startup business idea to a panel of judges this month
Across 16 counties, young people have overcome the challenges of Covid restrictions to set up new businesses and develop innovative business ideas. It has involved thinking outside the box to create sales and thinking of solutions to new problems. The young people have managed to do this without being in the classroom or youth project.
31 regional panels of business owners, university lecturers, Foróige staff, and many more experts in the fields of entrepreneurship have given their time to judge and provide feedback to each finalist.
The successful business will go on to represent their school at the NFTE Semi-Finals that will take place at the end of April. The national winners of three categories, Social Enterprise, Best Innovation, and Young Entrepreneur of the Year will be announced in early May
The caliber of entries in this year’s competition is making the judge’s decisions very difficult. Best of luck to all the businesses involved. Curiosity, creative thinking, and resilience are some of the key skills for success for any entrepreneur, and this year has shown that the NFTE young entrepreneurs have this in abundance.
Without a doubt, young people will carry their experiences of the pandemic with them into the future, and from this year’s competition entries we are seeing that they are driven to build a stronger, more just society.
The NFTE programme empowers and encourages young people to seek out connections beyond the classroom, to use new ideas, and take action towards making a new world and taking their place in it