Business School inspires young Australian entrepreneurs

The inaugural Festival, hosted by an organisation called startup.business, brought about 70 students, teachers and family members to the Business School for a day with experts in entrepreneurship.

"We believe that holding the festival at such a prestigious and respected venue had an influence in creating a sense of trust in, and respect for, the event even though it had never been held before," said startup.business' Liz Jackson.

Startup.business describes itself as an education company designing entrepreneurial Learning in Action programs, based on collated data and research, which "educate aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs globally to grow themselves and their businesses."

The students who attended the Sydney Festival had earlier taken part in a startup.business Young Entrepreneurs Learning in Action program which looked at solving local and industry-related agricultural issues using an "innovative and entrepreneurial mindset."

"Through the program, students had brainstormed, tested, created and pitched a total of 63 business ideas addressing topics such as farm safety, animal welfare, reducing waste, access to water, land degradation, and technology to improve productivity," Ms Jackson said.

"Many of the students who attended the Sydney Festival had not previously seen university as a career pathway as they had not ever been exposed to such a prestigious campus," said Ms Jackson.

"They left at the end of the day with a very different viewpoint and a sense that the University of Sydney Business School was a place that is embracing innovation and new ideas and that tertiary education has evolved to meet the needs of their generation."

"We would most definitely like to continue to partner with the University of Sydney Business School for International Business Kids Day in 2019," Ms Jackson concluded. "The outcome this year was truly incredible. We saw young people embrace the true value of 'Business Not As Usual', the core theme of the Business School."