The Student Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Programme from Eurasian Resources Group

The Student Entrepreneurship Ecosystem programme was launched by Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) three years ago, as part of the leading diversified natural resources group’s commitment to sustainable development and support for local communities. The achievements and results of the programme were announced at a dedicated youth forum held in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is home to a large proportion of ERG’s operations and the company is 40% owned by the Kazakhstan government. Attendees of the youth forum event included Mr Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, along with senior members of the Board of Directors at ERG.

The Student Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Programme

More than 5,000 students have accessed and completed training on start-up development and business entrepreneurship courses through the Student Entrepreneurship Ecosystem programme, coming from one college and nine universities in the regions where ERG operates in Kazakhstan.

The programme is implemented in partnership with the Almaty Management University and Tel-Aviv University Friends Association, launched as a long-term project by Eurasian Resources Group. As a result of the programme, dozens of new ventures have been launched, and hundreds of business ideas developed.

Chairman of the Board of Directors at ERG, Dr Alexander Machkevitch, describes the programme as a unique corporate initiative, creating opportunities for young graduates to create future employment and make their mark on the business community. The vehicle helps to improve the quality of life for many local communities by stimulating entrepreneurship.

Student Innovation

A series of innovative new business ideas were announced at the youth forum event, developed and generated by the 144 current participants in the programme. These ideas included heated ‘smart’ insoles for shoes, a new white cane providing navigational assistance features for the blind, and magnetic zippers to help people living with motor disabilities. A new start-up concept was also spearheaded by ERG called Trackathon, which featured a smart wristband for earphones, an arm prosthesis that is voice-operated, and a new type of movement-powered mobile phone charger.

Business Grants

The winning team from 2018 was also featured at the event, having received a grant for their invention of a chemical formula to be applied to shoe sponges designed specifically to clean dirt and stains from white trainers and soles. The commercial production launch for this product is planned for summer 2019. Dr Machkevitch commented on the continuing pride felt at ERG for instigating the Student Entrepreneurship Ecosystem programme, which aims to inspire and stimulate the next generation as well as help to make home regions more sustainable.

Isabel Dos Santos is known to millions of Angolans as a self-starter, and a force for change. Her impeccable work ethic coupled with an egalitarian approach to driving change are hallmarks of her leadership brand. This self-styled empowerment prodigy has fueled a regional movement of reshaping existing frameworks and rebuilding them with inclusive systems and structures. Lady Boss Blogger caught up with Isabel Dos Santos to discuss details of her latest projects in an eye-opening interview.

Q: What Makes Isabel Dos Santos a Power Broker in Socio-Economic Circles?

A: Good day, I am certain that my determination to right the wrongs in socio-economic circles is the reason why this perception exists. As an African woman, I can tell you that it is difficult to break into the domain known as the ‘Big Boys Club’. Entrenched systems and frameworks make it difficult for women to access opportunities, resources, capital and contacts that are clearly geared towards men. I have been a tireless proponent of women’s rights for as long as I can remember.

My upbringing was such that I was taught that hard work and determination always pays off – gender never factored into the equation. From a logical perspective, empowering women makes all the sense in the world. Your economy grows, opportunities develop, and there are multiple positive externalities for society as a whole. The subjugation of women is a failed formula. We know that women are exceptional at everything they do. They are productive members of society, they are the bedrock upon which society is built. When we empower women with all the tools and abilities they need to succeed, then we see a quantum leap taking place in society.

Q: What Have You Done to Champion the Cause of Women in Angola and Beyond?

A: The work is ongoing. We need to keep the momentum going in everything we do because we certainly don’t want any of our hard work to be wasted. In terms of what we’ve already achieved, perhaps the most remarkable development is that of a ‘social consciousness movement’ in Angola and beyond. Women are stepping up and finding that they have the necessary support to further their skills and educational training; they have companies that are willing to train and promote them; and they have the right to pursue their dreams wherever and however they see fit.

We must remember that entrenched patriarchal frameworks are the status quo across much of the developing world. Egalitarian structures are a relatively recent phenomenon in developed countries too. As a leader of multinational corporations headquartered in Angola, I can personally attest to the difficulties faced by women trying to get a foot in the door, or simply trying to get ahead in socio-economic circles. We must raise awareness of these issues. We must champion the cause of equality in the workforce. We must shatter age-old beliefs that women are destined for certain types of work.

Over the years, I’ve been invested in female empowerment at every level. One personal favourite was a strawberry plantation initiative. This bold plan in Humpata in the province of Huila was a success story for rural women. Some 120 women were given the opportunity to take charge of their own future. We equipped them with the tools, skills and training necessary to be their own bosses. Now they are a productive outfit. They are self-sustaining and they are contributing to their local economy. They can better provide for themselves and their families and it’s having a domino effect across the region, and at macroeconomic level too.

Leadership training and development takes time. That’s why we have poured tremendous resources into education and skills training. One of my companies, Unitel has always supported Agricultural Development in Angola. We have sent 6 farmers to England to study at the Royal Agricultural University, and post-graduate studies are readily available too. Unitel has developed myriad programs to empower women through hiring and promotion. We have the Women for the Future Scholarship program to get many more women involved in the IT and telecoms sector. For me, nothing is more important than service to my countrymen and women. Gender equality is what drives me and I will always stand beside women for a fair and just society.

Q: You Mentioned Macroeconomic Level – What Do You Think Angola Needs from Foreign Powers?

A: Great question. No country is an island – we need the global community to get involved in developing our infrastructure and committing to Angola’s development. I recently had the distinct privilege of attending an international economic symposium with major world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian premier hosted a gala dinner with 50 high-powered global business leaders and I had an opportunity to impress upon these CEOs and business moguls just how much Africa needs FDI (Foreign Direct Investment). Our continent currently boasts three major benefactors including China, India, and Russia.

Over the years, China has outstripped all other nations with over $120 billion invested in Africa, followed by India at $80 billion, and Russia at $17 billion. During the soviet era, Russia was deeply committed to Africa with massive investments in systems, frameworks, infrastructures et al. We are hoping to reignite Russian investment in Africa. Angola has remarkable potential, with the continent’s largest oil reserves, and a burgeoning pool of talent to tap into. I will champion this cause at every international conference I attend because we need macroeconomic investment to bring us up to speed, particularly in telecommunications and transportation infrastructure.

Readers who want to learn more about the incredible work being done by Isabel Dos Santos are welcome to follow her on social media. Connect with her through Sharing by Isabel Dos Santos, Instagram, and Vimeo to stay up to date with her work and projects. 

It doesn’t matter how good your relationship with your key contact is, it’s the executive that has the final call. This means your relationship with your key contact can be perfect. They can be engaged and love your product, and then turn around and tell you that their company will no longer be funding you.

While this can appear like there were no warning signs, there almost always are. Red flags can be hidden, but they’re still there. This is because your key contact isn’t the one who makes the decisions; it’s the executive. So, while it’s important to keep up a great relationship with your key contact, and keep them involved and loving your product, it’s also important to keep your executive engaged.

So, as well as keeping your key contact happy, you need a different kind of relationship with the executive who is making the decisions for your business to thrive as a company. The two relationships will be different, as your key contact will want to know more about the product itself and how it’s working, whereas the executive will be more interested in the value and future proofing of the product. Either way, good relationships with any colleague is key to success.

How do you build this relationship? Where do you begin? Luckily, we have five ideas for you.

Find the Right Executive

This is usually going to be the first step you do, as it will be easiest to find the right executive at the beginning of a relationship with a client. Over time accounts and a good relationship with an executive can be lost, and this needs to be re-established, rather than finding a new one.

Set Goals with Them

If you can, you need to involve the executive in your goal-oriented thinking. This will add transparency in the direction your product or company is going in. Whether you can or cannot involve the executive, you must involve your key contact. Transparency will help them see the value of your product.

Manage and Talk About Expectations

If you’re not in direct contact with the executive already, organise a call and meet up with them to talk about both yours and their expectations. Communication is key in this case.

Give Them All the Results, All the Time

Any daily communications with your key contact may not be relevant, yet, your results will always be relevant. Executives will want to see that you are moving towards your established goals. If you’re behind, it’s more helpful to talk to them, rather than try and hide it. This is because then you can talk about how your strategy is changing to catch up with your goals.

Ensure All Parties are Resilient to Change

Change is inevitable in any business, so you need to ensure that there is resilience on both your end and that of your executives. Things may change on your end that your executives will need to be able to handle, just as your executives may request changes on your end that you will need to be able to address. Many people agree that a low level of resilience can badly affect work performance, so it’s something that shouldn’t be overlooked.

So, if you build a better relationship with your executives as well as your key contact, you can avoid any shocks. Furthermore, it will be easier to implement improvements in your company if you have a better understanding of your executive and their business requirements. If things start to go wrong, you’ll be able to catch it early enough to change course if needed as well.

Cash flow can help to monitor the health of your business on a daily, monthly or yearly basis. A cash flow monitors how much money is coming in and out of your business which can help with budgeting, determining when sales need to increase and in managing loan repayments.

A positive cash flow is when move revenue is coming into the business than expenses going out, which is an ideal situation for most companies. However, a positive cash flow isn’t often likely, especially for smaller businesses and start-ups.

Increasing your cash flow isn’t all about making profits, although that definitely helps. But there are other ways you can manage your cash flow to help ensure that you are staying in the black.

• Create and update your cash flow forecast

One of the most important ways of increasing your cash flow is to always conduct a cash flow forecast on a regular basis. Most businesses plan a forecast for between one year and five, depending on the size. However, it is always useful to do shorter forecasts as there can be more accuracy in them.

They can be used to predict when you may need a cash injection so that you can plan accordingly on a month by month basis to make sure your costs are covered.

• Communicate with suppliers

Managing when money is coming out from suppliers can be key when managing your cashflow. When new suppliers come along, perhaps try and adjust the payment dates on a different day to others so you’re not paying everyone in one go.

In addition to this, if you’ve built up a relationship with regular suppliers you can try to re-negotiate payment plans or see if you can bulk order to get discounted rates.

• Conduct a risk assessment

It is always worth doing a risk assessment for the cash flow of your business; you never know when unexpected costs may occur. Try to envision every solution for your business when putting together your cash flow forecast to identify and risks that you might face. It also may be worth putting an extra pot of money for the business somewhere to cover these risks.

• Stay on top of budgets

You can use previous years’ expenditure and cash forecasts to compare against the current years’ expected budgets. If there was something that cropped up last year that you haven’t budgeted for then it may be worth taking another look at your cash flow.

Budgeting can play an important role in ensuring you have enough cash every month to cover your expenses so it’s always worth doing, in addition to your cash flow forecast. It can help to identify areas of spending that you could be cutting to increase your cash flow.

• Improve business efficiency

In 2019, there are plenty of opportunities to improve business efficiency through the use of technology. Enhanced telecommunication through networks and the internet can help businesses communicate automatically without even the need for human interaction. This can drastically improve on the efficiency and performance of your operations.

These types of solutions can help to save both time and money, meaning your business can be more profitable with a much healthier cash flow.

• Review your pricing

It’s not always ideal for customers when businesses up their prices, but it may be that you aren’t charging enough for some of your services. In addition to this, you may have increased your business size and feel that you’ve gained skills and knowledge that will benefit your customers.

Don’t underestimate your company and its position within the market. You can stay competitive whilst still giving your prices a rethink.

• Target new markets

Innovation can be vital for companies to stay afloat. Industries and markets are constantly adapting. Targeting new markets could help to bring an extra influx of finance to your business whilst still being able to offer the same products.

Investing in marketing or additional sales could help you boost your profits.

• Keep on top of management accounts

By managing all your accounts efficiently, you can make sure you’re being paid on time as well as paying others. Keeping all your documentation including invoices, balance sheets, purchase orders and contracts can ensure that your accounts are being managed properly and can help to make sure money is coming in and out of the business at the right time.

• Negotiate company voluntary agreements

It may be, if you are really experiencing difficulties that you can re-negotiate some payment terms. You could extend some of your repayment terms and pay over a longer period of time instead. Alternatively, company voluntary arrangements can help to reduce the cost of your repayments and give you a bit more time to source the funding.

• Find additional funding

If you have planned your forecast and budgets and feel that some months you will be low on cash, it may be worth trying to find an additional source of funding to cover yourself. This may be through a bank loan or creditor. Alternatively, you may be able to crowdsource or find new investors that can help give you a quick cash injection when you need it.