Dreaming of becoming an entrepreneur?

Nescafe Kickstart™, the programme where dreams become a reality for young people, is back in an all new format. The Nescafe Kickstart™ Entrepreneur Edition, which is open to all aspiring entrepreneurs aged 18 to 25, is offering cash prizes totaling RM38,000.

This is the 5th season, you can log on to www.kickstart.com.my to view past seasons’ winners and videos, and read how Nescafe Kickstart has changed their lives.

Season 3’s winner Oh Joo Nee has opened a dance studio, and Nescafe Kickstart has changed her 9-5 job to become a young entrepreneur.

Season 2’s winner Francis started his own company, be his own boss and was given the chance to run a business that he really dreamed of doing—an entrepreneur of Recycle Rewards Programme.

Season 1’s winner isn’t in the website, but i happen to know him. His name is Aidan Aquinas Chew.

We hang out often for lunches and i’m always impressed by how driven he is towards achieving his dream. He now owns his own company called Traffix, which deals with intelligent parking system. He was selected as one of the 17 of Malaysia’s Most Outstanding Individuals, along with Amber Chia, Tony Fernandes, Sheila Majid and Jaclyn Victor.

According to Faces, Aidan bagged the Grand Prize of RM180,000 after going through eight months of challenges, sleepless nights and intense pressure. Describing the journey to success as “the experience of a lifetime only a few would ever have had the chance to go through”, Aidan is bringing innovation into life, despite being one of the youngest finalists. He was only 21 when we won the competition.

I think for now you would like to know how you can become like one of them?

First of all, all participants will have to answer the Entrepreneur Evaluation on the website, where those shortlisted to progress to Stage 2 will have to fill up a Business Plan Overview. The Nescafe Kickstart judges and members of the public will then vote to determine 20 finalists for Stage 3.

These finalists will then have to come up with a video pitch of their product/service/solution and the person with the highest votes from the judges and members of the public will be crowned the winner of the RM10,000 grand prize.

The two young people with the second and third highest scores will win RM5,000 and RM3,000 respectively. All 20 finalists will receive RM1,000, provided they submit their video pitch.

The Nescafe Kickstart™ website has also been updated with a new look and new sections.

Members can create and share their thoughts in the new Blog section, which will also feature Nescafe Kickstart’s resident blogger, Bella.

The Members’ Area is open to those who sign up as members of Nescafe Kickstart, including the Reward Programme, Red Mug Zone, and it is a lot of fun!

Registration for the programme is open from now until Dec 7. Submissions can be done online or via SMS.