Mentoring the Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow

An initiative supported by Wittenborg Amsterdam to form a business club for young entrepreneurs in Amsterdam Zuidoost recently had its first meeting.

According to Wittenborg senior lecturer Amy Abdou, the Ondernemers Club was formed after a group of local kids aged 11 – 14 years expressed an interest in entrepreneurship. Among them is the former child mayor of Amsterdam Ilias Admi (13) and Dutch television star Darryl Amankwah (15). Darryl can currently be seen in the Dutch TV-series Kamp Koekieloekie. He wants to develop his entrepreneurial ideas further and, like Admi, wants to capitalise on his current popularity as a speaker and presenter.

Admi is already registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce as a self-employed person and has ambitions to be a professional guest speaker. In fact, he is already in demand as a guest speaker and panellist and has a following of 4,000 on Instagram.

The other members of the club include Emil Versteegh (11), whose company Make it So sells ideas and designs. His website is a work in progress and he would ultimately like to win a bid from a larger company to design something in the field of transportation. Finally, there is Molara Seerdorf (25) who aspires to become an actress, develop concepts for television and write screenplays. She is currently co-owner of My Skin Poppin that offers vegan care products.

Wittenborg EBA student Luuk Ornstein – who is also a writer and an actor – will be one of three mentors at the club alongside Abdou, who teaches Social Entrepreneurship at Wittenborg, and Daniel Versteegh, a local entrepreneur and founder of AI Captain.

“If the kids come up with a good idea, we will support it through mentoring,” said Abdou. “We want to become a reliable place where young people can get good information about starting their own businesses. The Ondernemers Club will be a place for young entrepreneurs who need a toolkit to grow, a place where they can develop and enhance their entrepreneurial endeavours.”

The Ondernemers Club also wants to develop new methods to help young entrepreneurs and in the future create an educational package for young people who are interested in entrepreneurship, investment and raising capital. There are plans to launch an educational arm of the club to speak to other young people about entrepreneurship and talent development in Amsterdam Zuidoost.

WUP 25/11/2021

by Anesca Smith

©WUAS Press