Tuesday at Sakewew High School, local high school students got a chance to learn how to start their own businesses.

It was a workshop put on by business students with the Enactus group from the Edwards School of Business, University of Saskatchewan. Enactus is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire students to improve the world through entrepreneurship. 

“This day is about teaching students the value of entrepreneurship and kind of opening their eyes if they haven’t considered it before as a career option,” said Alexander Shimla, a project manager with Enactus. 

He explained entrepreneurship was a viable option for students. They found that for a lot of kids so much emphasis was on getting a job. 

“We’re here to try and show them that they can be their own boss and create that job for themselves if the opportunity presents itself,” said Shimla.

The day at Sakewew included a presentation to students on entrepreneurship as well as a session where the students would come up with their own ideas.

The presentation was sponsored by K + S Potash Canada and based on their Legacy mine project near Moose Jaw. Students were tasked with the challenge of coming up with business ideas to serve all those workers who will be needed at the new mine. A large piece of potash was passed around the students.      

There was also a chance at the end of the day to make a business pitch to be able to win prizes.

The event was geared to aboriginal students from high schools throughout the area: Sakewew, NBCHS and John Paul II. Sakewew High School has partnered with Enactus for the last number of years. Enactus also has a program called the Aboriginal Youth Idea Challenge where aboriginal students are able to present their ideas and compete for startup capital.

Enactus has found that aboriginal students are a good audience for the message they are presenting. 

“This is a group that can definitely use Enactus, and so we’ve kind of partnered with them,” said Shimla.