Aspirant Entrepreneur to Use Qualification to Unlock Her Potential

BY: .

Young entrepreneur and Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship student Ms Taskeen Mohammed celebrated continuing her family legacy of academic excellence by graduating with a distinction on 10 April.

Being part of a family where both parents possess Doctoral degrees created high expectations for Mohammed but she was confident she would make them proud.

‘When we heard about my achievement screams of joy and happiness filled our home as we were thrilled to add to the family’s academic achievements. It is an amazing feeling to know your hard work and dedication to a course has provided you with a rewarding accomplishment. I view this as a stepping stone to even greater accomplishments,’ said Mohammed.

As the owner of Cupcake Couture PTY (LTD), a home business that specialises in cupcakes and wedding cakes Mohammed intends to utilise the knowledge she has acquired from the qualification to help her develop her entrepreneurial ambitions of running a successful bakery.

‘The course was a riveting experience that opened my eyes to a whole new world of business. The Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship brings together all the exciting concepts and practices of business into one classroom. It is a highly beneficial qualification to any business practitioner as it takes you back to the very basics of business,’ she said.

For her research, Mohammed got to explore the relatively new field of technology entrepreneurship under the guidance of School of Management, Information Technology and Governance academic, Dr Ziska Fields. The research examined the role of incubators and universities in technology entrepreneurship and their significance for the breeding and training of technology entrepreneurs.

Mohammed will present the journal article on her research at the 2014 IBC Conference in Namibia in August. The Conference affords participants the chance to trade and educate, to debate and connect, to challenge, strategise and innovate with the various companies and leaders shaping the market.

‘The paper specifically looks at trends and themes in technology entrepreneurship which is a relatively new area in South Africa.  Its findings suggested that universities within South Africa need to show greater involvement in assisting tech entrepreneurs to successfully develop and market their technology products.

‘I developed two conceptual models about how these institutions can be further involved in nurturing a tech entrepreneur,’ she said.

Fields congratulated Mohammed on her achievements and elaborated that comments her  paper were received from reviewers and amendments were being made.

‘Taskeen has been working very hard and the Conference paper gives her the opportunity to share what she has learnt in the Programme. The Conference will offer her valuable comments on her paper and networking opportunities,’ said Fields.

-        Thandiwe Jumo