The growth platform: Business Incubation
Among all the available discovery year programs in Universiti Brunei Darussalam, business incubation, for some, is the last pick. Why is that? Some people do not view the experience gained from incubation as particularly valuable compared to other programs such as internships and study abroad. But i beg to differ!
Are you really looking for growth? The growth that will push you to become a better person in all aspects of your life! Here are some reasons why I think incubation could be the perfect discovery year program for you!
Before we start on the benefits of business incubation. Here is brief background information on what activities to expect in incubation. The core premise of incubation is to frame students’ minds to become entrepreneurial in every aspect of life. The program requires students to create a startup with zero capital to solve problems or improve society’s lives. The program also includes caffe-innovation sessions, a talk show where the participants discuss matters relating to entrepreneurship. Such discussion is open to the public. Finally, students are also required to participate in group innovation, exercising their creativity and creating innovations to solve problems in Brunei. Although it sounds challenging, you won’t be walking alone. Your journey in incubation will be supported by mentors and your peers. So let’s get into why incubation is such an underrated program at Universiti Brunei Darussalam!
Firstly, the environment is conducive to learning and growth. Students are encouraged to fail and learn through their mistakes. Unlike the traditional way of starting a business, the startup is formed through experimentation, where products and services are improved as time progresses. It means it’s okay to fail! As a startup, we must fail hard, fail fast, and get back up again to serve our community. This forces students to shift their mindset about failure and open their way to a growth mindset, where failure is not personal but rather a learning process, so we can succeed. This will help when stepping into the employment world, where you feel you have a deficient competence level and might beat yourself.
Other than skills that we learnt on how to run a business, such as developing business ideas, social media marketing and many more, incubation also pushes you to improve yourself on other skills such as public speaking, teamwork, communication skills, and minute-taking, writing the newsletter, photography and videography. This aspect in incubation could be very beneficial when you enter the employment world. Your skill set expands, and you have more to offer in your curriculum vitae, and most importantly, learning all these skills that you are not comfortable with and continuing to be persistent with your learning helps you adapt to any working environment that you find yourself in. You might not like the work assigned to you, but at least you have the mental capabilities to cope and thrive in that particular assignment.
Finally, incubation is an opportunity for everyone to feel like they belong. Everyone in incubation struggles as they manage their startup. This could be due to a lack of skills and creativity in solving the problems. But through team spirit and a sense of belonging, facing the same challenges together every day gives everyone the motivation to try their very best despite failing. Yes, we argue. Yes, we fought. But in the end, we all still respect and support each other. In my opinion, this sense of unity is one of the best experiences that incubation can offer compared to other discovery year programs.
