Maniototo Area School students are putting their creative problem solving and entrepreneurial skills to the test in their business studies course. 

The subject pitches the task of starting real businesses and pitching the idea to the Young Enterprise Trust with the hope of gaining a share of grant funding. 

Nine businesses have been featured, with students catering to the sweet tooth or attempting to solve problems to help people live better lives. 

Maniototo Area School teacher and deputy principal Nikki Meyer says the businesses being run this year are as varied as they are alike.  

“The students have been working hard on their business and have pitched to Young Enterprise with some outstanding results.  

“Next they need to promote and start sales so keep an eye out for products being sold locally that interest you.”

Rattle Ya Dags - Hope Devitt

Hope Devitt (pictured) has started her business, Rattle Ya’ Dags, which turns sheep dags into biodegradable garden mulch. 

“Kia Ora, my name is Hope Devitt, I am Year 11 at Maniototo Area School and I am Rattle Ya’ Dags. 

“My product we are making is an eco-friendly, biodegradable garden mulch made from sheep dags.”

Whakatauki Flames - Reef Becker 

Reef Becker is making candles with whakataukis as his business, called Whakatauki Flames.

“I am making and selling candles for my business,” Reef says. 

“I am not only making candles but I am making candles with whakataukis. 

“The whakataukis are to support Rangatahi Maori in these times. 

“New Zealand is low in maori resources so I have decided to make candles supporting Te Reo Maori.”

Paper Cycle - Erylle Del Mundo, Sandee Barroga, Jasmine Balloch, 

Erylle Del Mundo, Sandee Barroga and Jasmine Balloch have started Paper Cycle, which makes recycled notebooks. 

“For our business, we have chosen to make a notebook out of used and printed paper. 

“We decided to make these notebooks because paper wastage is a huge problem at our school as students and teachers consume massive amounts of paper each day so our product can help minimize all the paper going to waste. 

“We will make a variety of notebooks made for different purposes like diaries, art books, and notebooks students could use for school. 

“We will also add artworks to the cover of the books to make them more eye-catching for our target customers.”

J-MGA LIBRO-Maligayang pagdating sa New Zealand (Welcome to New Zealand) - Jayson Dumapis

Jayson Dumapis is making a book aimed at teached English to Fillippinos and introducing them to New Zealand. 

“My product is a book that would be made out of recycled paper from another business product that I will be using. 

“My target market will be Filipino kids aged 5-10 that are either newcomers to New Zealand or in the Philippines. 

“This book is supposed to help Filippinos learn English and introduce them to New Zealand. 

“This product will be sold in places like the airport and in Filipino book stores.  

“I got this idea because I was eight years old when I came to New Zealand for the first time. 

“I didn’t know about New Zealand’s culture, their language and places.”

Custom Crates - Troy Elliott

Troy Elliott has turned beer crates and recycled timber into a four-string electric bass guitar.

“I am making a four-string electric bass guitar made of beer crates and recycled timber,” Troy says. 

“It is a telecaster style body with a 20 fret neck and a scale length of 850 mm. 

“It is a semi-hollow body with dual single-coil pickups.”

Daisy Rayne Designs - Take Your PICC - Kassidy Pont

Kassidy Pont has made PICC line sleeve covers for people who are recovering from long-term treatments like chemotherapy. 

“The product that I have chosen to make and sell is Picc Line Sleeve covers,” Kassidy says. 

“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. 

“My plan is to make PICC line covers that are comfortable, pretty, and have easy accessibility to the PICC line. The normal PICC line covers don’t have easy accessibility to the PICC line. 

“I am planning on maybe making a flap on the cover so that it is easy for the doctors to get to. 

“I am planning on making the covers out of materials such as merino walls, alpaca wool, cotton, or satin.”

Maniototo Sheep Counting Inc - Zona Howell

Zona Howell at Field days in Mystery Creek with her invention in the innovation tent.

“My sheep counter works exactly like a normal hand held sheep counter however my product can be screwed to the side of a single sheep race (meaning one sheep fits in 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.

Sweet As Treats - Tayla Munro

Tayla Munro’s ‘Sweet As’ Treats gift box. 

“‘Sweet As’ Treats is a Food Gift Box business based in Central Otago, New Zealand,” Tayla Munro explains. 

“The purpose of this business is to provide easy gifts for busy people, and for those who struggle to think of gift ideas.  

“I am offering a variety of themed gift boxes, and I’m planning on introducing more themes in the future, depending on how well they sell.  

“The few that I’m going to start off with are; a blue themed one, a red themed one, an ‘all chocolate’ one, and a snacky one.  

“Each box would contain a range of ‘Kiwi’ savoury and sweet treats, based on the theme of the chosen box.”

Cats Do What They Please - Charlotte Gregan and Harmony Devitt

Charlotte Gregan and Harmony Devitt have written a children’s book called ‘Cats Do What They Please’.

“‘Cats Do What They Please’ is children's book intended for those between the ages of six and 11 years and is a story about peer pressure and how to say ‘No’,” Charlotte and Harmony explain.

“The story is about a young tom cat called Olive who is pressured into a ‘fun’ night in town by Hutch and his friends that consists of; taunting dogs, rolling in catnip and playing ‘Chicken’ on the main road. 

“As the night progresses Olive builds up the confidence to stand strong against Hutch and his friends and say ‘No’ when they attempt to pressure him into joining.”

Images contributed.