A large number of silver-aged people reaching retirement age are still full of energy, hoping to continue to work or even start their own business. Senior entrepreneurship has become a trend in many countries. The senior entrepreneurship is not only creating and redefining the value system for the working seniors, but also evolving the perception of ageing. Through continuous learning and work, it helps seniors to establish their roles to gain independent and dignity at work.
Kick started in September 2020, the Season 8 Programme of “PolyU Jockey Club ‘Operation SoInno’” consist of a series of activities under the theme of “Silver Age Startups”, for encouraging senior citizens to use their accumulated skills, knowledge and experiences to kick-start their socially beneficial projects.
Teams Entering Action Project Stage
Seven teams of 50+ social entrepreneurs shared their social enterprise ideas on the "One from Hundred Thousand" Social Innovation Symposium which was held on 28 November 2020. After careful considerations by our judging panel, the three projects below were finally awarded the seed grants and entered the "One from Hundred Thousand" Social Innovation Symposium "Season 8: Silver Age Startups" Action Project stage (in no particular order):
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Congratulations to the above teams for being awarded the seed grants! We look forward to seeing their performance for the six-month social enterprise projects!
The four stages of the Programme
Programme Details
Stage 1: Social Entrepreneurship Seminars
- Social Enterprise ABC
18 Sep 2020 | 3:00pm - 4:30pm
What should senior entrepreneurs pay attention to when starting up a new business? How to set the business goals and position for the second career?
William Wong, the founder of “Happy Walker” who started his business for three years, and Joseph Kam, the founder of “Umbrella Repairing”, are invited to share their experiences and insights in operating a start-up. They will also share the challenges and gains of running the projects.
🔼 Guest Speakers: Mr William Wong (Happy Walker) + Mr Joseph Kam (Umbrella Repairing)
- Lean Startup and Social Enterprise
21 Sep 2020 | 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Lean startup is a popular set of entrepreneurial methods in the past decade. Rather than making self-centred judgments, it emphasizes on understanding the needs of users, and enables systematic records and analysis of the entrepreneurial process. It is also applicable in starting up social projects and social enterprises.
🔼 Guest Speakers: Mr Freddy Law (Senior InnovationConsultant, Executive Director of Education for Good) - Social enterprise establishment and risk management
25 Sep 2020 | 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Entrepreneurs always face administrative and legal issues when starting up their own business. This seminar talks about practical issues for social enterprise set-ups, including the laws, regulations and guidelines for starting a business, and the legal risks that may be faced by a business starter.
🔼 Guest Speakers: Mr Spencer Wong (Commercial Attorney) - Social enterprise operation and sources of resources
28 Sep 2020 | 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Risks in business operation is inevitable. How can one equip oneself when designing social innovation projects to face potential risks? On the other hand, there are many resources support in society for entrepreneurs. How can silver-age entrepreneurs access to these resources? What should they pay attention to when choosing different entrepreneurial support programmes?
🔼 Guest Speakers: Mr Albert Au (Startup Consultant and Tutor)
Stage 2: Co-creation Workshop
- Orientation and Team forming
10 Oct 2020 | 10:00am - 1:00pm
🔹 Individual or group sign-ins without 4 members will be grouped to form a team of 4-5 members
🔸 Output: Each team has a rough project idea to enter Design Thinking Workshop 1 - Design Thinking 1
16 Oct 2020 | 2:00pm - 5:30pm
🔹 Model of “Real” “Win” “Worth"
🔸 Groups need to apply "Design Thinking" in their social enterprise projects
🔹 Output: Each team member has to conduct two potential customer/ stakeholder interviews to enter Design ThinkingWorkshop 2 - Design Thinking 2
30 Oct 2020 | 2:00pm - 5:30pm
🔹 Data review from interviews: need analysis and competitor research
🔸 Business design: Drafting the Mission Statement
🔹 Design Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
🔸 Output : Each team have to conduct at least 1 MVP to enter Workshop 3 - Design Thinking 3
13 Nov 2020 | 2:00pm - 5:30pm
🔹 MVP review and refinement of business design
🔸 Output 1: Preparation of submission of a proposal at Symposium where 6-month milestones identified clearly
🔹 Output 2: Preparation of presentation deck at Symposium
Stage 3: Social Innovation Symposium
28 Nov 2020 | 9:30am - 1:30pm
🔹 Co-creation Team presentation
🔸 Guest Speakers sharing on Social Innovation and Social Enterprise
Guest Speakers
 Dr Ka Kui Tse Co-Founder of Impact Partners HK "Social Innovation Thought Leader of the Year 2020" Awardee by Schwab Foundation |
 Mrs Rebecca Choy Yung Business entrepreneur turned social entrepreneur Founder & Chair of Golden Foundation Chair of Social Enterprise Summit |
 Ms Zip Cheung Social Entrepreneur CEO & Founder of OHH Dear Communications |
Judging Panel
 Mr Raymond Chu Assistant Director of Institute for Entrepreneurship of PolyU |
 Mr Horace Lit Executive Manager, Charities (Grant Making - Elderly and Family Services) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club |
 Mr Timothy Ma, MH, JP Co-opted Task Force Member of SIE Fund |
 Ms Irene So Executive Director of Zeshan Foundation |
 Mr Damien Wu Director of Digital Transformation of Chinachem Group |
Stage 4: SoInno Action Project
Dec 2020 to Jun 2021
🔹 Winning co-creation teams to prototype their Social Enterprise project
