Seven KPS sixth form pupils are taking part in Young Enterprise, a charity that helps pupils set up and run their own business. Pupils take every step that is involved in running a real business including creating and marketing a product, raising funds, selling shares and then finally dissolving the company, splitting their assets and paying dividends. This is supported by a volunteer adviser from a local business.
The KPS Young Enterprise team have created a product called Halcyon, an encrypted USB. Visit their website for more information https://www.halcyontech.net/ and view the promotional video below:
The KPS Young Enterprise team attend their first trade
Report by KPS pupil and Halcyon Financial Manager Crystal Saraie
On 13th of February 2019, our whole Young Enterprise team at Kensington Park School, compromising of seven lower sixth form students, made their way to Old Spitafields Market for their first trade show.
Our product is a USB key encrypted with American military grade encryption, to provide a secure and protected experience when saving important files and data. There is currently a one million dollar bounty for anyone who can hack it, and so far, no one has been able to. We wanted to create an innovative product that is related to our modern society. What is better suited than a USB key, when most of us are using computers regularly? Our product avoids data loss problems and responds to hacking issues that we face in the 21st century. Our team includes a manager, a programmer, three marketers and two financiers.
Over forty schools attended the fair, which started at 10:15 am and lasted until 15:30 pm. It was a busy day of meeting customers, judges and other competitors. A total of six judges circled the market, with at least three coming around to each stall for a maximum of two minutes during the morning. Our team took shifts, with four people always at the stand and three working on promoting our product and bringing customers around at all times.
From colour changing rocks to pollution tracking devices, this year, our competition was impressive- and at 14:00 pm, when the winning companies were announced, our team was met with disappointment. There were four categories: best trade stand, best customer service, best product/service and best overall company. Although we did not win any of the prizes, valuable experience was gained. Many new connections were made, and ideas fostered. Truly, for our first trade fair, impressive progress was made in sales and encounters. One of the judges commended us on our great initiative to interact with our customers outside of our stand, as three of our pupils went around the fair to meet new and potential customers. However, we were also made aware of the current limitations our product faces, furthering our understanding of our product and enabling us to adjust better to those issues in order to improve it.
Overall, it was an incredibly enriching experience that consolidated our teamwork, and refined our own understanding of our product and service. As motivation runs high to improve our product further, we look forward to our next fair in March!
