An amazing 2 weeks to be concluded with 5 amazing final presentations
On the last day of the course, on Friday 26th of August, the 5 groups were to present their cases in front of a 2-man jury: Jorge Trinidade and Lee Porter. Jorge is from Figueira and has a lot of experience with businesses in Portugal, as well as internationally. Lee is Australian and has started several businesses and currently mainly advises other business owners towards success.
Group 1 came up with the amazing idea to offer company retreats to certain unexploided parts of Portugal. DiveIntoNature would focus on the need of several businesses these days where there’s a lot of potential in team-buidling within companies. On the other hand they would exploit several parts of their own country which are now basically being ignored by 99% of the visitors, despite the fact it has so much to offer.
Group 2 had a focus on Figueira da Foz, catering for a target group looking for high-end surf and gastronomic experiences. It was interesting to see how they had chosen their target group and which channels they are planning on using. During the 1:1 sessions I have been critical on some of their ideas and it was great that they truly showed how to put work into coming up with solutions.
Group 3 focused on an existing business (already operating) and how to expand that. The current theraphy sessions will still be offered with some extra services in the pipeline. It was great to have this group as their ideas (combined with some of my input) will be put into practise, on quite a short notice. Much more to come!
Group 4 presented an idea which kind of was closest to the business I ran myself. The two guys are planning private high-end travels through the centre of Portugal. Also in this case, several of the topics discussed during the 1:1 sessions came back in the presentations. However, still by far most of their ideas came from the students themselves.
Group 5 presented an idea around offering different types of watersports to a specifically chosen target group. I was very happy when seeing a selected accommodation to be working with and the fact that insurance was part of the financial statements also made me proud. However, it was their passions that fully came back in this project that will leave the longest lasting memory.
This 4 hour session on the last day was an amazing ending to an outstanding course. I am truly happy about everyone’s input (100% attendance throughout the 2 weeks) and dedication, despite the fact some students were living about 1.5h away from the campus.
