Youth Entrepreneur Summit 2019 (YES) organized by the Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura, which was a three phased competition for young entrepreneurs concluded on successful note on the 17th of February 2019 at the Trade Expert City, Colombo. The success of the project does not count only on the success of the final ceremony but also on the impact it has made on the ventures of the contestants.

The winners shared their thoughts on how ‘YES’ illuminated their journey to initiate and establish their startups as follow.

Winner- Monali Wijekoon

I’m Monali Wijekoon and an undergraduate of university of Colombo, faculty of law. Since my childhood I had a dream of starting my own business. That thought guide me towards the 100% organic manure production.  I have planned to prepare a manure with 100% organic ingredients without adding any artificial ingredients. Our surrounding is filled with lots of natural substances. So we can use them as a fertilizer for our soil. Present people don’ t concerns more about the goodness of the soil.

Furthermore, there were some financial difficulties at the basic level. Under that circumstance I had got the opportunity to join this competition. unexpectedly I had the chance of winning this competition where it encouraged me and helped me with the financial background. I encourage you all to be a young entrepreneur and a free thinker and guide your mind towards your own business and be a successful idol.

1st runners up- Ishini Kuruppu

With its aesthetically pleasing designs, AESIR & VANIR, also known as A&V, is a unisex urban and minimal wear brand that has come to conquer – ‘What we bring is more than just clothing. We bring culture. A style to change to, to grow with. A&V introduces unique urban and minimal clothing including a range of t-shirts, hoodies and caps manufactured and designed as a ‘movement with change’, evolving the vibrancy to reflect youthfulness and its power.

Hearing about YES 2019 was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I was always hesitant to take a chance to represent my own brand but it was clearly the perfect platform for me to showcase my business idea. I simply could not miss a good opportunity. I was filled with excitement to see where it was taking me from the workshops to the business idea pitch. Through all of this I was able to gain not only tips to work on my ideas but also learn the ups and downs that could get in the way of an entrepreneur’s journey. This was definitely an amazing experience and I thank the YES Committee for it!

Second runners up-Dammika Tharindu

“I got to know about yes from my friend. By that time, I already had this business. But didn’t have enough knowledge on the business environment, how to deal with business professionals and their community and current competition among businesses. Even I have participated in several other competitions I couldn’t achieve much success. But I was very much delighted when I got selected to the 2nd round of the competition. Then I was able to compete with all other young talented individuals and achieve second runners up.

The guest speeches given in the summit were very important. I gathered many experiences and gained lots of knowledge from business experts in the field. Also I was able to build up a network with other entrepreneurs. The knowledge and experience I gained from yes is very valuable for me an as a young entrepreneur. This was a turning point of my life. I give my heartiest thanks to RACUSJP for their effort to encourage young entrepreneurs.”

Talking about my start up ‘Siththama’ is all about artistic creations. specially we focus on house and garden decorations and unique gift items. The specialty of us is customer can purchase different kind of artistic creations like sculptures, murals, paintings, abstracts portrait drawings etc as customers wish. We offer all these things under a same roof. Particularly we provide vast number of handmade creations specially made for lovers to express their feelings to each other in a creative way on special occasions like anniversaries and birth days. Our mission is to provide the best items which are made from high quality materials that can highly satisfy the customer.

https://www.likedin.com/company/aryu-herbals    https://www.instgram.com/

Not only the winners, but also Maneeshi Perera, our very own Rotaractor who got short listed to the final 12, declared how she has got benefited from the thus created platform.

“YES is actually a good platform for potential entrepreneurs and I took most of it.I participated for it before I start my business and the experience I gained from YES helped me to startup my business with confidence. Hope YES will continue in future also to motivate and encourage the potential entrepreneurs.”

“My business is manufacturing ladies footwear named “Shoe Me.” The concept is to make my own brand label of ladies footwear to the market and to make strides in the shoe manufacturing field by innovating and introducing mind blowing footwear designs by my own and come forefront with truly novel products.”

Links ( FB , Instagram ) :

FB : http://www.facebook.com/shoemesrilanka

IG : www.instagram.com/_shoe_me_

YES, the signature project of RACSJP truly marks its significance in the Rotaract Diary as it lent the hand to many young entrepreneurs to step their feet in the respective industries.

by Rtr. Udara Liyanarathna