Students, from left, Akla, Fontein, Alyssa, Isabella and Vanessa, have made the finals of Victoria University’s ‘I Plan A Business’ competition. 68392 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVS
By Alesha Capone
THREE Altona teenagers, who prepared a business plan to create the pawfect paradise for pets, have made the finals of a Victoria University competition.
During their Business Management classes at Mount Saint Joseph Girls’ College, students Alyssa Mifsud, Vanessa Abela and Isabella Sanfilippo came up with the idea for an enterprise called Happy Canines.
Their business plan has made the shortlist of finalists in Victoria University’s ‘I Plan A Business’ (iPAB) contest, which was open to Year 10-12 students from across the West.
The winners of the competition will be presented with their awards at a ceremony at the Sunshine Convention Centre on Wednesday night.
The girls entered the contest after teacher Terry Manoussakis told them about the event.
Alyssa, Vanessa and Isabella said their Happy Canines idea was for “anything associated with dogs such as doggy day care, dog walks, obedience classes for dogs, dog photography and grooming”.
“We also came up with the idea to provide a service to the elderly and children, which allows them to interact with dogs that have been rescued by us from the RSPCA.
“We enjoyed working with each other and coming up with something that hasn’t been created before.
“Although challenging, Mr Manoussakis kept us on track on how to research the information we needed.
“It was a great experience to create, plan and design our business, as well as being able develop our research and analysis skills for us to use in our future learning at VCE level.”
More than 130 students submitted over 60 entries to the iPAB contest and other Mount Saint Joseph students have also been listed among the competition’s finalists.
Fontein Sdregas has made the Year 11 individual finals shortlist, while Emily Pakis and Akla Nanayakkara have been nominated in the Year 11 group category.
Their fellow Mount Saint Joseph students Kara-Anne Buhagiar, Rebecca Santiago, Sarah Zaldarriaga, Stacey Penny, Stephanie Burt, Taylor Crotch, Veronika Mihaljevic and Vina Huynh will also receive certificates during the iPAB ceremony.
