Innovative business ideas and ethical issues were among the many topics raised as a means of nudging students toward developing an entrepreneurial culture at the Young Entrepreneurs or TREP$ Marketplace 2013 at Sahara Mall in Riyadh.

Some 120 students from 11 different government, private, and international schools competed with one another in the event.

TREP$ serves as a stepping-stone for students from which they can move confidently into their chosen field of expertise. The contestants were required to think out of the box. They also had to work with their parents so as to make their projects a family activity.

However, the students were in the driver’s seat each step of the way from finding materials and designing products to tracking sales and inventory on the day of the event.

“It was a tough job for them, from taking the risk to starting their first business. But they all agreed that it was well worth the endeavor of being an entrepreneur,” observed Syed Ehsan Zafer, program manager for TREP$. Wednesday was slated for girls and Thursday was for boys in the presence of their parents. The TREP$ Marketplace was buzzing with activity, with the event culminating in the 6th week.

TREP$, an American program, is an abbreviation of “young entrepreneurs” or “kids in business.” It is a seven-week program comprising six weekly workshops, each lasting about one and a half hours.

It was organized in the Kingdom by the Prince Salman Science Oasis (PSSO), a non-profit organization charged with developing a science center. Through the science center and its related activities, PSSO aims to enhance the awareness of science and its practical applications in terms of socio-economic benefit.

PSSO conducts programs targeting different age groups of kids. The main facility of PSSO is coming up shortly on King Abdullah Road.

TREP$, said Khalid Taher, supervisor general of PSSO, is one of the programs that they have been running very successfully since its launch in 2009. The goal is to bring about positive change in nearly 1,400 students.

“Earning money is not the objective of the TREP$ Program. Rather it provides a platform for students to learn how to bring a good idea through different stages of product development,” he said.

Taher, who is also the mayor of the Madinah region, said the marketplace illustrates the viability of their idea. “One of the key elements TREP$ attempts to foster in students is the value chain from team work to dream-work,” he said. “The students collaborate on teams, pooling their expertise to compete with each other in groups on the weekly business challenges in the workshops.”

He said that his TREP$ team just completed a crash course of TREP$ for the American International School, Riyadh (AIS-R) where they did the 7-week program in just 5 days at AIS-R campus.

The TREP$ program was part of AIS-R’s “Week Without Walls.” The school’s 7th and 8th graders chose from three available activities: Scuba diving in Jeddah, a trip to Madain Saleh, and the TREP$ Program.

“In 2012, we had 20 AIS-R students who did TREP$ at PSSO, DQ and this year the number increased more than 3 times. This proves the viability of the program having sound fundamentals for kids,” Taher said.

During Workshop I, students discussed the product development process and ideas and competed on teams for the “Candy Bar Challenge”. Workshop II involved learning about identifying expenses and about start-up costs. Workshop III emphasized creating a business plan for their business. Workshop IV focused on business ethics, legal issues, spending, saving, and reinvestment possibilities. The 6th week was dedicated to launching their business – the TREP$ Marketplace.

The young entrepreneurs set up booths and tracked sales to calculate their profit. This weekend, Workshop VI, the students will attend their last workshop to review their performance, share their experiences and provide feedback.