Three Maniototo Area School students have reaped the rewards for three innovative business ideas, and excelled in the 2021 Young Enterprise Scheme. 

Whakatauki Flames, Daisy Rayne Designs  and Maniototo Sheep Counting are three businesses started by three students: Reef Becker, Kassidy Pont and Zona Howell, respectively. 

Deputy Principal Nikki Meyer says she and the school community are very proud of the students’ performance in the competition and their innovative ideas. 

“We had a very successful year at young enterprise with three teams in the top 10.  

“These teams then had to go and pitch again at the semi-finals in Dunedin at the St David Lecture Theatre.

“We also picked up two regional awards: Maniototo Sheep Counting (Innovation award) and Whakatauki Flames (Cultural Award).

“All three teams also finished in the top five for peoples choice on the night.

“So overall - very happy and proud of their achievements.”

Maniototo Sheep Counting’s Zona Howell, Whakatauki Flames’ Reef Becker and Daisy Rayne Designs’ Kassidy Pont. 

Whakatauki Flames founder Reef Becker says she thoroughly enjoyed joining the Young Enterprise Scheme this year. 

“My business is Whakataukī Flames, I make candles with whakataukī on them. 

“The reason I make these is to bring back a little bit of the Māori language and also to support Rangatahi through tough times.”

She says the competition challenged her in new and exciting ways, which sharpened her skills and brought valuable life lessons. 

“(The Young Enterprise Scheme) helped me to achieve my goals in the business but also to come out of my comfort zone and do things I wouldn’t usually do such as pitching in front of judges, meeting lots of new people and evolving my business. 

“I got into the Top 10 and Semi-Finalist for Otago and won a cultural award from this.

“In the future, I will take the lessons I’ve learned and use these skills in the outside world.”

Reef Becker’s Whakatuaki Flames candles.

Maniototo Sheep Counter’s Zona Howell says her sheep counter works exactly like a normal hand held sheep counter, however there’s a key difference. 

“My product can be screwed to the side of a single sheep race (meaning one sheep fits in a single file),” Zona says. 

“As the sheep goes down the race it will go past my sheep counter where the weight of their body pushes the metal bar into the hand held counter which is sitting behind the bar they run past.

“If the sheep decide they want to back up, my product has been built so that the bar stops the sheep from going backwards, keeping the sheep running through the race and getting counted as they go.

“Once you have finished with your race full of sheep and want to know how many went through the race you can simply pull out the hand held clicker, see the number and reset it if you are starting again or putting another mob of sheep through.”

Maniototo Sheep Counter’s Zona Howell. 

 Daisy Rayne Designs founder Kassidy Pont says she worked hard on her idea and was overjoyed with the results. 

“Throughout the whole year, I enjoyed learning about my product and starting to make my prototype and getting a plan underway to make it. 

Her product, which she makes and sells, is Picc Line Sleeve covers.

“These PICC line covers are used for patients that are getting long-term treatments like chemotherapy for cancer, for people to get liquid nutrition, for infection treatments, they are also used for people to get other medications into their bodies. 

“I enjoyed meeting and hearing patients’ stories. It was sometimes very hard to make and get the product made and also have to get the paperwork done. But I managed to get it all done!

“Some lessons that I have taken away are that it isn’t as easy as I thought it was to run my own business and get everything done all by yourself. 

“I learned that you can’t just make your product, you have to learn and do research about it and then contact a whole lot of people and get feedback.”

Daisy Rayne Designs’ PICC Line covers. 

She says the lessons she learned are more about herself and have helped make decisions about her future. 

“I don’t think I would ever be the person to own my own business in the future, but I definitely want to carry on with my PICC line covers next year. 

“This year definitely helped with my organizational skills and made me do things quickly as I had a lot to do.

I’m excited to carry on with it again next year.”