Waikato Business News August/September 2020
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
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24 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS <strong>August</strong>/<strong>September</strong> <strong>2020</strong><br />
CAMBRIDGE<br />
St Peter’s students<br />
enter into the Dragons’ Den<br />
Experienced business commentator and writer Andrew Patterson<br />
is set to take on a new challenge later this term, co-ordinating<br />
this year’s Dragons’ Den at St Peter’s, Cambridge.<br />
Modelled on the popular<br />
television series, the<br />
programme allows<br />
students, either as individuals<br />
or as part of teams, to conceive,<br />
plan and then pitch their<br />
business ideas to a panel of<br />
judges gaining valuable feedback<br />
and hopefully sparking<br />
an interest in entrepreneurship<br />
along the way.<br />
The popularity of entrepreneurship<br />
and learning how to<br />
establish a business is growing<br />
amongst young people, particularly<br />
as they see the way<br />
technology is fundamentally<br />
reshaping the job market.<br />
Patterson says it’s a<br />
term that resonates well<br />
with students.<br />
Tractor & farm machinery<br />
sold & serviced across the<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> & Bay of Plenty<br />
“It promotes this idea that<br />
a business doesn’t just create<br />
itself. The only person that can<br />
make it happen is the person<br />
running the business.”<br />
St Peter’s alumni include<br />
the Mowbray siblings who<br />
after leaving school went on<br />
to establish ZURU toys, now<br />
one of the largest private<br />
toy companies in the world.<br />
Their entrepreneurship journey<br />
started at St Peter’s and<br />
they often return to the school<br />
to impart their knowledge<br />
to current students.<br />
This year’s Dragons’ Den<br />
will kick off in the coming<br />
weeks when students will be<br />
invited to sign up either as<br />
individuals or in teams.<br />
At the end of the competition<br />
four winners will walk<br />
away with $250 in cash to put<br />
towards their new business.<br />
“Wouldn’t it be fantastic<br />
to see one of these ideas<br />
grow into something larger<br />
in the future, because as I<br />
often remind students every<br />
large business started off once<br />
as a very small business,”<br />
Patterson says.<br />
St Peter’s, Cambridge<br />
Executive Principal Dale Burden<br />
says “we actively encourage<br />
our students to be creative<br />
and to think outside of the<br />
box.Entrepreneurship captures<br />
this philosophy very well and<br />
Alumna Anna Mowbray of Zuru Toys presenting to students.<br />
it is an important ‘takeaway’<br />
from a St Peter’s education.<br />
The Dragons’ Den is an<br />
example of entrepreneurship<br />
in action.”<br />
- Supplied copy<br />
CAMBRIDGE<br />
183 Victoria Road<br />
07 827 7159<br />
OTOROHANGA<br />
1 Progress Drive<br />
07 873 4004<br />
ROTORUA<br />
22 Fairy Springs Road<br />
07 343 1915 www.gaz.co.nz<br />
Andrew Patterson.<br />
Open Day<br />
Sunday, 20 <strong>September</strong><br />
Register online<br />
Limited spaces for 2021
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