SAB Kickstart Joins The Hookup Dinner In Support Of Young Entrepreneurs

The South African Breweries (SAB) youth entrepreneurship programme, SAB KickStart, has partnered with The Hookup Dinner, an event that affords small business owners and budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to connect with one another and get valuable input on their business ideas.

Founded by Lifesgud.com, The Hookup Dinner is driven by five Johannesburg-based entrepreneurs. It is a networking initiative that gives start-up businesses from across the country a platform from which to connect, engage and contribute to each other’s success.

Participants at The Hookup Dinner, either professionals or entrepreneurs, have the opportunity to test their business ideas in an audience-judged 180-second elevator pitching competition called #JustPitch180.  This allows entrepreneurs to hear their ideas out loud and to evaluate them in an objective setting, as well as get quick and authentic feedback from the audience.

Each month, one winning pitch is determined by majority vote. The winning entrepreneurs are entered into an annual competition that takes place at the final dinner of the year.

Passionate and driven entrepreneurs are invited as guest speakers at each dinner and talk on a topic associated with entrepreneurship and their experience in the business world.

Lifesgud says the event has so far helped to foster and nurture a spirit of authentic networking through the pairing of people who can add value to each other’s enterprises.

Additionally, The Hookup Dinner allows big business in South Africa to engage with entrepreneurs on how to advance through the various corporate entrepreneurship programmes on offer.

SAB KickStart is one of South Africa’s longest running corporate youth entrepreneurship development programmes and has supported the creation of more than 3 500 businesses.

Young business owners who have graduated from the programme over the last 18 years will participate in The Hookup Dinner.

“With The Hookup Dinner, SAB hopes to provide a further opportunity for other young business owners starting out to connect and engage with some of our successful SAB KickStart Alumni who have overcome a number of hurdles to build healthy and sustainable businesses contributing to the creation of jobs and to the economy.

“We also see this initiative as an innovative form of building a culture of entrepreneurship amongst a diverse group of young people.  The increased awareness of entrepreneurship at this level can make a positive impact on our country’s challenges of unemployment, poverty and the growing wealth gap, ” says Boipelo Nkadimeng, SAB Enterprise Development Manager.

SAB KickStart’s partnership launch coincides with the 1st birthday anniversary of The Hookup Dinner, to be held tomorrow, Friday, 2 August 2013 from 6.30pm (18.30pm) at The Open, 20 Kruger Street, Mainchange Maboneng District, Johannesburg.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Robyn Chalmers

Head of Media and Communications, SAB

Tel: 011 881 8679

Email: robyn.chalmers@za.sabmiller.com

For the latest SAB KickStart news, follow us on:

Twitter: @SAB_KickStart #TheHookUpDinner

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SAB KickStart

Background

SAB KickStart started in 1995 and has supported the creation of more than 3 500 businesses owned by individuals between the ages of 18 and 35 years. Its objective is to support the growth of high impact and sustainable youth owned business that will contribute effectively towards job creation in South Africa.

The programme offers a complete Enterprise Development eco-system (training, grant funding, Business Development Support, mentorship and access to markets) for sustainable impact.

At least 60 entrants into the competition-format programme are offered business training. Of these candidates, the Top 15 to 18 candidates with the best business plans are provided with grant funding following a thorough needs analysis of their business. A growth development strategy for their business is developed and this determines their customised mentorship programme over a period of approximately 10 months.

The top 3 national candidates are each provided with additional grant funding and an international learnership in their specific industry.