We often hear remarks that our pupils and students don't get enough practical knowledge which would be useful for later in life. This year a pilot project called My Enterprise was carried out in a number of Slovenian high schools. It was carried out together with the non-profit international organization JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement Young Enterprise), which offers students the possibility to learn about company structures, how to do business, analyze markets and one’s own capabilities, find funding sources, start-up a business and learn about the procedures of closing down a company.

An enterprise as a project task
In one year young people were offered the possibility to go from an idea to setting up a company, doing business, and then closing the company and dividing any real earnings. A special commission graded all the participating projects and pronounced the Donum Dulce (Sweet Gift) company as the winner. Donum Dulce was set up by third-year students from the č-class of the Episcopal Classical Secondary School in Ljubljana.

"In our school project tasks are mandatory in the third year. Our professor Mirjam Lindič offered participation in that project as one possibility. As we all kind of already knew what an enterprise was, we decided to accept the new challenge," explained student Veronika Kavčič. Together with her schoolmates Vida Štrancar, Ela Hudovernik, Petra Zoubek, Jera Hrovat and Franjo Matej Podnar they began setting up their own company.

They made cosmetic products all by themselves
They decided to make and sell natural cosmetics. "I thought about what we could actually do. Something that was easy enough to be made, but still done in a professional way to attract buyers." Their parents gave them some advice about natural cosmetics. They also searched for information on the Internet and in books, and also attended a few courses.

"We made all the products ourselves. We got the ingredients from different suppliers. We made sure that all the ingredients were indeed natural. We collected certain ingredients by ourselves - like calendula - and this was our advantage, as ingredients found in clean environments have better quality," is how Veronika described their concept.

They started working on their project in October and quickly realized that December – the month of giving – would be the most suitable for their business plan. So they hurried up. "We really had a lot of work. We all spent different amounts of time working on the project. One of us even worked 109 hours, while altogether we worked around 300 hours." At the end of the year they received a big order. They had to put more time into making the cosmetic products than they had expected. Otherwise they would have lost an important deal, and with that also a substantial earning.

Encountering bureaucratic obstacles
The group also had to deal with bureaucratic obstacles. The area dealing with student companies is still not well regulated in Slovenia. "It was also difficult to work with other business partners, but we still found a way," explained Veronika. Their mentor also helped them a lot. She was always in close contact with the Slovenian Junior Achievement Young Enterprise, who managed the project. Their mentor also helped with additional information, whenever the group encountered a dilemma.

Award for best student company
Their good work and effort paid off at the end, not only in regards of experience and earned profit, but also by receiving the award for best student company. They will now represent Slovenia at the upcoming international fair for student companies in Tallinn, Estonia. "Preparations are already underway. We're finishing with writing our report and then we'll also need the translations, video presentations... We will also need to take a look at our supply of products and create our presentation. We wish to prove that Slovenia has trustworthy people. Despite the occasional bad reputation Slovenian companies have, we also wish to prove that there still are companies ready to work and make an effort in the European market," is how Veronika rounded up their ambitions.

According to Veronika this project opened a new window of opportunities for her group, enabling them to realize their own business ideas. "General knowledge is very important. We live in a globalized world and you can't accomplish anything without knowing foreign languages. I notice among friends and other people that finding employment is very difficult. The school world is much different than the real business world. We aren't prepared enough to make the jump," is what she thinks.

That is why she would introduce mandatory practice for all students, in order for them to get a sense what practical work is really like. "I've learned that to do something well, you need a good team, in which everyone works for the common goal. At the same time, I've also learned that it's nice to work, if the work that you do makes you happy. If you're really interested in something, there is no reason not to succeed."

Company closed, more possibilities ahead
At the end of their project they closed down their company. Those were the rules. They aren't adults yet, to be able to continue their business path independently. "Next year we will also have the »matura« (baccalaureate), and we think that acquiring good knowledge is one of the keys to success. We will surely educate ourselves even more in certain fields and maybe venture again into the world of business. With this project we gained an additional opportunity for job seeking in the future,” says Veronika looking into the future with optimism.