The Young Enterprise Scheme is a nationwide experiential business programme where secondary students set up a company, create real products or services, and make real profit or loss.Sixteen companies representing six Southland schools were entered in the awards.
Fiordland College was represented by Philip Crouchley, Ryan Peychers, Sam Dainty and Jackson Larrivee who have formed a company called AppTrap through which they plan to produce an iPhone application providing information on goods and services for visitors to Fiordland. To raise the capital to fund the development of the application the company has secured a contract with the Department of Conservation to build stoat traps which will be used as part of the Kids Restore the Kepler Project. A key part of their trap contract has been their development of modifications to make the traps kea proof. In some areas keas have learned that they can spring the traps by pushing sticks into them.
Every aspect of the project has been a learning curve for the Year 12 students – from how to set up and run a business, and teaching themselves the computer programming skills needed to create the application, to the practical and inventive skills needed to make the traps.
The boys have part-time jobs in the hospitality industry and it was their observations about how heavily tourists relied on iPhones, iPods and iPads that seeded their business idea.
“We’re aiming for a complete offline tourist guide to Fiordland,” Philip said.
Offline is a crucial element. The AppTrap team were keenly aware of Fiordland’s limitations when it came to wireless broadband and cellphone coverage. Their app will enable visitors to download all the information they need before they get here and be able to access it even when they’re out of coverage.
The Young Enterprise Scheme is a year-long competition which is judged progressively from a product’s conception to its eventual production and success or otherwise in the marketplace. The regional winner, decided at the end of the year, will represent Southland in the national finals. However, the AppTrap members hope their idea will have longevity far beyond the scope of the competition.
“This could set us up,” Philip said.
Last week’s competition saw the team take three of the six awards on offer. They won the Environment Southland award for most environmentally friendly product or service, the South Port NZ award for the company with highest growth potential and the Southland Chamber of Commerce award for best Dragon’s Den presentation.
For their efforts they pocketed $800 in prize money which they will use to buy materials for their stoat traps.
The next stage will be the assessment of business plans which must be submitted by May 20.
Ryan said they had great community, school and family support. His father was on the Fiordland Conservation Trust which was a partner in the Kids Restore the Kepler project, Philip’s dad worked for the Department of Conservation, Sam’s dad was a photographer who had helped with images for the program while Jackson’s father had offered the perspective of the local business owners who they were ultimately trying to sell advertising space to.
A prototype of their application is nearing completion after which they will be marketing it to local businesses – in effect, selling advertising pages within the application. Once complete, the application will sell on the Apple App Store for $1.29.