Working with Virtual Business, Practice Real-World Skills

Entrepreneurial Spirit Encouraged at the High School Level by Virtual Company Indonesia

In realizing the vision of a golden Indonesia in 2045 and facing 2030–2040, when Indonesia will experience a demographic bonus, Indonesia must make a lot of preparations. At that time, the population of productive age (15–64 years) will be greater than that of non-productive age, namely that non-productive age has a proportion of more than 60% of the total population of Indonesia. Indonesia needs entrepreneurs, especially young entrepreneurs. Because the country alone cannot create job opportunities. Based on records from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, Indonesia has currently only reached an entrepreneurship ratio of 3.47%. Meanwhile, to be categorized as a developed country in 2040, Indonesia must have a ratio of entrepreneurs reaching 12% of the population. Containers are needed that enable the younger generation to cultivate entrepreneurial enthusiasm, instincts, and skills.

Since its founding in 1996, HighScope Indonesia School has been committed to developing children's decision-making abilities through a unique and practical learning approach. As an educational institution that believes that the best learning is one that is as close as possible to real life, the school tries to provide its students with various skills and experiences that they can apply when they are in the world of work later. The school's curriculum is designed to provide students with a variety of experiences that hone their decision-making skills. Starting from elementary school to middle school, every year all HighScope Indonesia School students participate in Conscious Business Day which prepares students to practice planning and carrying out entrepreneurial processes, gain experience, and foster an entrepreneurial spirit in real situations. At the high school level, HighScope Indonesia continues its commitment to fostering an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age by organizing a program called Virtual Company Indonesia (VCI). VCI is a business simulation program for high school and vocational school students. This year, the schools participating in this program include SMKN 20 Jakarta, SMKN 51 Jakarta, SMKN 43 Jakarta, SMA HighScope Indonesia -  TB. Simatupang, and SMA HighScope Indonesia - Bali.

VCI's annual activity program starts with the Business Plan Competition, which took place on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, at the HighScope Indonesia School, TB. Simatupang. In this competition, every virtual company connected to VCI will take part and compete in this event by exploring their business ideas and managerial competencies in managing their virtual company in front of a jury consisting of business experts and practitioners. This event provides the opportunity for participants to hone their skills and broaden their knowledge because, apart from being evaluated, business people from various industries are also invited to share their experiences and provide motivation to the participants. This year, the participants received assessments from Jessica Halim (founder of demibumi.id), Muhammad Jupaka Syahputra (serialpreneur), and Susan Emir (CEO of Rumah Sabine). Here are the winners from each category:

●        Outstanding Presentation: Waroeng Pitu (Advanced), Techsana (Basic)

●        Best Marketing Strategy: Bimata (Advanced), Scentopia (Basic)

●        Best Innovative Idea: Energym (Advanced), Seutas Tuju (Basic)

●        Best Business Plan: Anise (Advanced), Berenice (Basic)

This business plan competition received a positive response from the judges. Muhammad Jupaka Syahputra, a serialpreneur, was very impressed with his experience as a judge. "When I heard that there was a business competition at the SMA-SMK level, I was initially surprised, because it's quite rare. The event was very exciting, and the performance of the participants was quite beyond expectations. Because when I saw their presentation today, it was no longer at the high school and vocational school level; it was already at the investment deck level that I usually receive from Small-Medium Enterprises. " It turns out that at their level, they can already make decks that are very proper and well-managed in terms of details and their own business identity." Jessica Halim, founder of demibumi.id, added, "The most interesting thing about being a judge today is that I was also inspired by the participants' ideas. So we can see what the new vision and mission for the younger generation are like and what their mindset is like. We also open our minds, so actually, this program is not only good for them but also good for other entrepreneurs to look back at the future."

The participants also expressed their impression of the event. Rahayu from SMKN 51 Jakarta felt that this event was very useful. "This VCI program really provides benefits for me and my teammates. We have really sharpened our public speaking, which usually only involves speaking in front of the class; now we have to speak in front of many people. Then we also tested how to make products that are attractive to consumers." Areta from SMKN 43 Jakarta said, "There are lots of benefits, especially for me as a vocational school student. From thinking about what products to make to exploring creative, innovative, new ideas that have never existed before, Then the learning becomes more exciting, and working on this with friends becomes more unified and solid too."

This series of events was continued with the VCI Trade Fair, which was held for one  day on Thursday, April 25, 2024, at the HighScope Indonesia School, TB. Simatupang. At this year's Trade Fair, as many as 11 virtual companies founded by high school and vocational school students who are members of the VCI Program exhibited and sold the product or service concepts they had developed to exhibition visitors consisting of parents, teachers, and school staff, as well as students from various levels of education. Each virtual company creates a booth as a representation of their company concept and also as a place to showcase and sell their product or service concept to Trade Fair visitors. Each virtual company prepares its own strategy to record as many sales as possible during the trade fair, starting with sales programs, booth design, brochure design, dress code, etc. Trade Fair visitors can make purchase transactions using a simulated credit card provided by VCI.

The following are the winners of the 2024 VCI Trade Fair:

●        Best Catalog Design: Anise (Gold), Bucket Coin (Gold), Waroeng Pitu (Silver), Bimata (Silver)

●        Best Website Design: Anise (Gold), Energym (Gold), Waroeng Pitu (Silver), Huco (Silver)

●        Best Video Commercial: Anise (Gold), Waroeng Pitu (Gold), Seutas Tuju (Silver), Scentopia (Silver)

●        Best Sales Pitch: Scentopia (Gold), Waroeng Pitu (Gold), Anise(Silver), Energym (Silver)

●        Best Booth Design: Waroeng Pitu (Gold), Anise (Gold), Energym (Silver), Bimata (Silver)

The participants shared their experiences at the 2024 Trade Fair. Dea from SMKN 20 Jakarta said, "The benefits of this trade fair are many, one of which is training public speaking, training salesmanship skills too, and also building connections by getting to know many students from other schools. .” Gus Adi from HighScope Indonesia Bali High School was very happy because he could represent his school for the first time in a series of VCI activities. "This event is truly a wonderful experience for me because I get to meet the other virtual companies and businesses from different schools. I also got a chance to meet and talk to the other students and discuss how they came up with their business ideas." The following are virtual companies that will participate in the series of VCI activities in 2024.