On 29 July the Alumni Relations Office hosted its penultimate webinar in the Young Alumni Virtual Series. With a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation, this webinar sought to assist our alumni with navigating the difficult terrain of early business development, and the process flow of an idea generated into a thriving business. 

Guest speakers for this webinar included Professor Anesh Maniraj Singh (Director of Institutional Advancement at UWC), Ms Lana Franks and Dr Wesley Clarence – both from the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI).The path to success and managing one’s expectations were the central themes of the webinar. With real life experiences of success and failure detailed by Prof Singh, he enlightened the audience with a first-hand account of his business ventures, together with hands-on advice for achieving success. 

Lana Franks and Dr Clarence detailed the business trajectory from ideation to existing business and offered advice on where to start and how to progress, especially within the current business climate and given the changes that have been brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Trust in oneself, the journey, riding the wave and trust in your support team are all common denominators for successful start-ups. Time and effort cannot be emphasised enough - one has to make sacrifices in order to attain eventual success. 

As our guest speakers noted, success does not happen overnight. There will be many hurdles to overcome in order to build your brand. Ultimately, if you are willing to make the sacrifices and learn from your mistakes, entrepreneurial success and business ideation will always be worth it in the end. 

Click here to view a recording of the webinar. 

For more information, please contact the alumni office at alumni@uwc.ac.za. 

The Alumni Relations Office will be hosting its final session in the Young Alumni Virtual Series, focusing on Women and Empowerment, on 25 August 2021. Registration details for this session will be made available via email and our social media pages within the coming weeks.

Don’t forget to update your contact details to receive communications from our office, and follow @uwcalumni on social media.