Student Entrepreneurship – ‘Eco Sale Expression’ by class of MC22S5A

            The definition of entrepreneurship is the act and art of being one who undertakes innovations, finance and business insight in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity. The most obvious form of entrepreneurship is that of starting new businesses.

On the 22^nd and 23^rd of October, the third year Public Relations students of MC22S5A conducted an event to fulfil part of the requirement of their subject for PR counselling subject. The main objective of this event is to give the exposure to all final year students on how to conduct an event.

A lot of excitement has been created for the event and that is enhanced with the collaboration of an organization that is a very staunch supporter of the environment in the form of the Earth Again Foundation. The event was designed to collect funds for an event that will be held by the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM) which is the IPRM conference 2013 that will be held from May 20^th to May 21^st, 2013.

            Students from class A have taken this opportunity to gain fund by selling brownies, a variety of drinks and Malay delicacies such as the “keropok lekor”, “nasi lemak”, “keropok ikan bilis”, “pisang goreng”. They also sold non-food items such as ICE watches, beautiful accessories, vintage clothing and children stationeries.

Amongst all that excitement, one of the class members who owned a pet shop of exotic animals made a section entitled ‘take a picture with your favourite animal’. Exotic pets such as the snake, the tarantula and sugar gliders were brought to the event just for those who want to take pictures with these rare animals for only RM2 per animal.

            On the first day, they succeeded in selling around 150 pieces of “nasi lemak” at RM 2 each and the next day, they sold another 100 pieces. Hanafi Ismail, a class member who is an expert in making homemade brownies also had a booth. The home made brownies were sold at the price of RM2 each. While, “keropok lekor”, “pisang goreng”and nuggets were sold at RM1 for every four pieces.

            One of the most attractive items that were sold by the students are the accessories. A pair of earrings was sold at a most affordable price of RM2. Branded watches were also selling for a very low price of RM17.

Other than fellow students, the lecturers also gave their support towards the Eco Expression Sale event. They were in and around the area to cheer them on and some of them were kind enough to buy some items and contribute to the fund. All of this in the end resulted in the profit making of more than RM1000 ringgit from an event that only ran for two days. Thanks to these students, the environment it seems still has hope for a better future.

            There are a lot of positive effects from having an entrepreneurial event. Students who have an entrepreneurial mindset are accountable for their own actions, they are aggressive and for the most part know how to execute. They also have the communication and sales skills that are necessary to be successful in business today. By recruiting young entrepreneurs, they bring new perspectives and youthful ideas into the workplace.

            Besides, entrepreneurs naturally develop soft skills, such as communication skills and teamwork skills that employers are desperately looking for right now as they scout to find the next generation of leaders at their companies. This activity is crucial especially towards the public relations students as a preparation for them to step into the working world.

            Furthermore, people exposed to entrepreneurship have more opportunity to exercise creative freedoms, higher self-esteem, and an overall greater sense of control over their own lives. As a result, many experienced business people, political leaders, economists, and educators believe that fostering a robust entrepreneurial culture will maximize individual and collective economic and social success on a local, national, and global scale.

            The class of MC22S5A have shown an excellent example in leadership and teamwork which can only serve to motivate and inspire the rest of the mass communication students. The efforts they have shown proved that hard work coupled with the right talents can create a force that is unstoppable in achieving noble goals such as preserving our beloved mother earth.