This week, The Circle presents a creative student startup: A student guidebook called No Sweat.

Entrée is what Tan Su Zhen, Jolene Sim Hui Ching, and Ho Kar Ming - students pursuing Bachelor of Commerce and Applied Finance in Taylor's University College - call themselves collectively. Entrée's idea was one of five that were awarded with RM25,000 during the Maybank MoneyTree Young Entrepreneur Startup (YES) Challenge not too long ago. 

So what was the business idea?

Just imagine: How cool would it be, the moment you step into college as a new student, you immediately receive a guidebook - a no sweat! kit - which functions as a one-stop guide to the area around you, telling you where is the best place to find food, entertainment, fashion and many more. Additionally, there would also be the inclusion of other benefits such as telco prepaid packs, travel passes, debit cards, discount vouchers and many more to the make students feel right at home and assimilate into their new environment. 

What if... all this was done for students for absolutely FREE?

For this purpose, Entrée aimed to gain their revenue via advertisers who wanted to access the student market. This is an attractive platform to advertisers, as it allows them confirmed and direct access to approximately 18,000 students bi-annually, being the only publication distributed directly via enrolment packs to students the moment they enroll into college.

In a nutshell, Entrée is an outsourcing company which specialises in adding value to existing orientation programmes for colleges and universities. 

The core product is the "no sweat kit" which functions as a guidebook with value added benefits for students. 

In addition to this are two support products:

-No sweat events - Orientation events and tours as additional benefits for participating colleges and universities

No sweat website - Website and social media that provide on-going support to update students about their surrounding environment

What Entrée did since they obtained the start-up capital of RM 25,000?

Jolene Sim, Ho Kar Ming and Tan Shu Zen have successfully designed, distributed and launched a prototype of our business idea. The "no sweat kit" have since been distributed to all newly enrolled students at all six campuses for Taylor's University College and can also be obtained at six locations outside campus in Subang.

The team have since engaged sponsors and advertisers such as DiGi, CIMB, Celebrity Fitness, Domino's Pizza, MoneyTree, Jojo Little Kitchen, Umami House of Steamboat, and have managed to obtain various benefits for newly enrolled students at Taylors such as prepaid packs, debit cards, discount vouchers, fitness centre trial passes and much more.

They're also co-organised the orientation carnival at Taylor's University College Pre-University Campus at SS15 in which they added value and excitement to the orientation carnival by bringing in third party vendors such as Enspire Bazaar. The purpose was to not only orientate the students about local clubs and societies but also about their surrounding geographical area.

This business idea has also since evolved to include an online platform which has a pending government grant worth RM150,000 with Cradle Investment supported by SOTA (Standard Online Tourism Agency). 

The Orientation Carnival

Unlike other orientation carnivals done by Universities, the Orientation Carnival at TUC Pre-University campus is the first orientation programme that was co-organised not by just any other student body but a student created company.

 Entrée added value to the orientation carnival by bringing in third party vendors to also orientate the new students about their surrounding geographical area as well as to find as much additional benefits and goodies for the students.

 Entrée managed to give away more than RM600 worth of freebies and goodies on that day inclusive of movie tickets, prepaid packs with RM30 free airtime, merchandise from bazaar vendors, coupons, vouchers, and much much more.

 The Orientation Carnival also marked the climax of an 11 day roadshow tour for Entrée Malaysia and no sweat! at all six campuses of Taylor's University College.

To email Jolene Sim: jolene@entree.com.my

Tan Su Zhen: tan.suzhen@entree.com.my

Kar Ming Ho: karming@entree.com.my