Sassy sisters dream big

 An all-girl group of entrepreneurs taking NCEA Level Three Business Studies at Rodney College are dreaming big with their business called SASS, after successfully making it into the regional Dragons Den final.

The combined brainchild of Sarah Ward, Shannon Te Amo, Marine Gayford, Dannielle Aldworth, Alice Malyon, and Caprice Howard, the business-minded group is part of the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) which aims to grow and develop young future New Zealand entrepreneurs by enabling them to set up and run their own business.

Students have been learning to adapt to changing circumstances, experience successes and failures, and how to collaborate in teams.

SASS aim to make people feel more beautiful and confident by creating and distributing a unique hand-made, natural, organic coffee scrub or exfoliant which comes in three exotic scents – Coconut Vanilla, Black Forest and Peppermint.

Dragons Den is a key component to the YES competition and SASS has already presented a five minute business pitch about their amazing coffee body scrub to four knowledgeable ‘dragons’, successfully progressing through the regional heats to make it into the regional finals.

A $1000 cash prize would help the business become global say the girls. Sales and distribution are underway with the product hoping to reach shop shelves soon.

The team are donating 20 percent of their profits to the Cancer Society, a foundation very close to their hearts having lost a loved one to the disease.

SASS. has been mentored by Michelle Keast who, together with her husband, has a wide range of knowledge gained from running their own business SwitchGear Business Accelerators.

“I’m really a sounding board for their ideas,” says Michelle. “From a good result last year they have done considerable research from a health perspective and developed a greater range of product having, initially, the foresight to process what is essentially an industry by- product.These girls believe in the potential of their business and are confident that they will be able to create a recognised brand for coffee body scrub.”

Regional finals will be held Monday June 27. n Online sasscoffeescrub.weebly.com

SUCCESS: Business is looking up for, from left, Sarah Ward, Shannon Te Amo, Marine Gayford, Dannielle Aldworth, Alice Malyon, Caprice Howard.