Community project aims to find 'The Next Big Thing'

The partnership sees Cape Peninsula University of Technology Business School provide a six months online entrepreneurship and empowerment program to educate, train and empower young South Africans to become successful entrepreneurs. The aspiring entrepreneurs will be required to submit a business proposal at the end of the program of which 100 will be short-listed and the Top 10 will receive a grand prize of R500,000 each to start their new business ventures and be 'The Next Big Thing'.

The economic figures of South Africa are at a record low and the impacts of Covid-19 have exacerbated the situation for the worse with many companies having to close down and leaving many South Africans jobless. With its two intakes per year, The Next Big Thing initiative is expected to create more than 1,500 jobs and add 20 guarantee successful entrepreneurs in the business market every year, thus enabling economic growth and better living conditions for South Africans.

With the urgent need to tackle the unemployment and poverty crisis in South Africa, an annual entrepreneurship summit will use The Next Big Thing initiative as a case study to address and discuss how entrepreneurship can be used to stimulate jobs creation and economic growth. The goal here is to bring influencers and key decisions makers from government, business, academic, youth representatives and other various stakeholders to tackle the poverty and unemployment crisis which the country is facing.

The Next Big Thing initiative is coming to TV and the aim here is to create an entrepreneurial society where the youth will dream to create, invent and be useful for their country. It is called “The Next Big Thing Reality Show” to capture emotions, activities, presentations and feedback from judges.

Important Dates

• Registration: 5 April 2021 (was initially March 15, 2021)
  
• Program start: 2 May 2021
  
• The Next Big Thing Entrepreneurship Summit: 5 November 2021
  
• The Next Big Thing Small Business Awards: 5 November 2021
  
• The Top 100 finalists: 5 November 2021
  
• Top 10 Grand Prize winners: 11 December 2021
  
• Reality Show: 5 November - 11 December 2021

For more, go to https://www.thenextbigthing.co.za/