The Challenge
The Apprentice Challenge recently wrapped up, proving that an entrepreneurial mindset—combined with grit and creativity—can turn a small investment into significant profit.
We saw incredible creativity across the board. Students chose diverse paths to profit, from selling unique crafts to outdoor wellbeing classes.
Several teams jumped into the competition, and after 10 days of hard work, pivoting, and selling, we saw varying levels of success, demonstrating that the journey of a founder is never a straight line.
Crucially, several teams successfully made over £100 in profit—proving that you can turn £10 into a triple-digit return in less than two weeks.
Celebrating the Journey
While all participants kept the profits they generated, the top teams earned more than just money. They learnt real-world skills.
Every participant gained invaluable experience in strategy, sales, risk assessment, and financial management—the core skills needed to succeed in any venture.
- The Profit Prize: The team with the highest total profit secured the coveted title, demonstrating the best combination of innovation and execution and received a certificate of entrepreneurship and a Emerge T-shirt for their efforts.
- Best Journal Prize: We were particularly impressed by the incredible video diaries and daily journals documenting the emotional and logistical rollercoaster of the challenge. The team with the best documentation—showcasing their failures, pivots, and eventual successes—won an Emerge hoodie!
Announcing the Winners
The winners of the Apprentice Challenge were announced at the first masterclass of the semester. Our congratulations go to:
The Big Bake
"Sugar? Yes, please!"
Launch and Adaptation
- We divided up roles to be more efficient: Maya would be responsible for marketing, Esther and Marissa bought the ingredients, Jinyoung and Minji made the Dalgona.
- The first time making the dalgona initially didn’t work. However, we adapted the recipe and our method and with a second attempt we were successful and made a small batch of 25 to sell for tomorrow.
- We created a spreadsheet to keep track of expenses and took photos of the physical receipts to ensure we have a second copy (in case of losing receipts).
Selling Strategies and Teamwork
- We attracted customers by handing out free samples (the originally failed products of dalgona from day 1) which introduced the concept of our business and consequently invited people to come and try out the game.
- We decided to use 2 different prices for the products: £1.50 for easy level (circle shaped dalgona) and £1 for the more difficult one (carrot shaped) where the choice gives the opportunity to earn more revenue.
- It was most effective when mentioning Squid Games which is where we got our inspiration from to capture attention before explaining the rules of the game and purpose of our project.
Overall we learnt from this challenge that it isn’t about the final result but about the process and journey to how we got there.
Entrepreneurship isn’t just about making money but being creative with the product itself but also thinking outside the box to resolve dilemmas.
It involves a lot of perseverance and courage to expose yourself to audiences you’re not sure would appreciate your product but it’s all about trial and error to find the right customers and perfecting the product.
"Sugar? Yes, please!"
Marissa Law, Jiwon Yoon, Minji Jeong, Jinyoung Baek, Maya Goksel
Pop-up Pilates
Thank you to Emerge for the opportunity to take part, and to everyone who attended sessions.
This challenge is proof that small ideas, consistency, and creativity create real growth, and you don’t need a huge investment to start!Amelia Snape
Student Founder
We congratulate all the students who took part. Your willingness to put your skills to the test and embrace the challenge embodied the true spirit of a founder. Keep an eye on the winners—they've proven they have what it takes to turn an idea into profit!
Inspired to take on the next challenge? Keep an eye on the Emerge channel for more opportunities to put your entrepreneurial skills to the test!
