There Are No Bad Business Ideas (2. strana)

BUSINESS You have been working with your team to develop a range of events focused on business. In your experience, what is the subject students struggle with the most in the fields of business and financial literacy? I am not an expert in financial literacy. In business, I believe some of the largest hurdles lie within one’s own courage, the fear of failure, maintaining motivation and the search for good partners that are able to join in on developing an idea and persevere in that effort. Owning a startup is a great dream that many students have, however, the clash with reality is often a tough pill to swallow. Even just developing an idea to the point where it can be presented to investors and other partners is equal to months of hard work that has to be done out of your own motivation. The risk that a project would fail is very large, therefore those that dedicate themselves to developing multiple ideas in a row are displaying a truly commendable effort. Nonetheless, learning through firsthand experience is extremely valuable, so even though the risks are great, students also stand to gain a lot through this. In relation to what you just talked about, do you view the topic of ‘business’ to be central to the learning experience? Should the university perhaps dedicate itself more to it? Whether we like it or not, we always carry at least some remnants of society’s opinion that a university student’s main focus should be to study their field of choice and prepare for the application of their knowledge at a future job. Currently, however, we are noticing that a considerable number of students are starting businesses during their academic career. This was confirmed by a study conducted at VŠBTUO in the fall of last year. Around 11% of students start businesses while still in school, while another 7% start one within three years of graduating. These statistics are starting to grow large enough for VŠB-TOU to strengthen activities that support student’s efforts in business and are the reason behind the university’s inclusion of creativity and business themes in strategic development plans. After all, we believe— and witness daily—that our students are brimming with ideas that could be turned into legitimate business propositions; they just do not realize it yet. Personally, I tell students that there are no bad business ideas, only those that never leave the drawing board. You talk about creativity and business, which in the Czech language share a root word, as two different topics, is there a purpose behind this? Yes, I talk about these two terms as separate topics for a reason. We need to realize that we currently live in very dynamic times. Society used to take decades to fully absorb and process big changes and new trends, however, nowadays, this is done within a single year or a couple months. Our parents and maybe even some from my generation can go about their entire career lives with the knowledge they gained in school; that era has come and gone at this point. For example, according to a prediction made by Manpower Group, around a third of all current professions will have their job descriptions drastically changed within the next five years and the number of brand new positions will increase by 15% within that same time period—and that is only the beginning. This is the reason why it is not only important to teach students knowledge within their fields, but also to support so-called key competences that will help them develop their careers as well as themselves even after they have graduated. It is precisely this sort of ‘creativity’ that will become a recurring theme in many activities in not only our Career Center, but many others as well. We want to support students in the development of their critical thinking, their ability to spot opportunity, their ability to execute on said opportunity, strategic thinking and planning, leadership, selfrealization, self-reflection and many other skills. Are you therefore preparing a new programme or event? How do you plan on developing the creativity of your students? We have already devoted a lot of time towards business and creativity and we intend to continue. We have plenty of events planned but we also already have a basis to build upon. In 2017, we launched the cross-faculty optional course ‘Startup Business’. Originally, our plan was to teach a couple students each year how they can develop their ideas into potential businesses, however, over the course of the last couple years the number of students signing up to the course climbed well above one hundred and its popularity is increasing. We think that one factor explaining this boom in popularity could be the frequent inclusion of experts, successful business owners and mentors that decide to share their know-how with the students and inspire them with their stories. We also heard that this year you are hosting the ninth anniversary of your business support programme, Green Light. For us, Green Light is a source of experience which we can then use long term to help us support a business culture at the university. This programme features not only student projects but also academic ones. Thanks to the Moravian Silesian Region’s support, Green Light has been open to any local party or individual for nine years now. Its uniqueness stems from the fact that the programme helps advance ideas with business potential under the supervision of mentors with plenty of experience. Essentially, it helps turn an idea into a business. Could you give us an example of a successful attendee of the programme? We have helped over one hundred businesses get started. Many of these projects received private funding from domestic as well as foreign sources. One notable project from last year’s Green Light is Nilmore. This group managed to develop a circular textile that, once used, can then be recycled back into its fibres and used to make more clothing. The team developing the aforementioned project is made up of current and past students of the university. It is specifically this model of connecting students with practically experienced people that seems the most fruitful and gives projects the finishing push to become complete. The courage to take risks, the desire for uniqueness and independence, strong self-motivation and practical experience—these aspects form the ideal cocktail for potential success. Personally, I am very glad that these traits are present even within our team. Maybe that is how we can work on developing so many projects and still manage to find ways to enjoy it. Ms Šimoníková, thank you for the interview. POSITIV 4/2021 ǀ 21