INTEGRITY Business Enterprise

The journey of Young Enterprise has been an unforgettable experience for our team, ShowerSmart. We have all learnt so much as a team and grown as individuals thanks to the challenges we faced in creating our products.

To say that it was a slow start from September 2021 would be an understatement. While other teams were beginning the production and selling of their products, we were still discussing what we wanted to create and what impact our business should have. We did, however, all know that we wanted to create something that was innovative, solved a real-world problem, and something that would challenge us all to give our best.

It was under these values that the original ShowerSmart Showerhead was born. It was designed to be a smart and eco-friendly showerhead that could integrate into any home system and give accurate data on how much water people were using while taking their showers. By doing this, the idea was to change consumer behaviour and encourage people to take shorter showers, reducing both their impact on the environment and how much they spent on water bills. We designed a fully functional web-app to accompany our showerheads so that customers could easily see their own data.

Our first iterations did not match the standards we had set for ourselves and were often laughed at. However, the team endeavoured to embody the spirit of a start-up company – belief. We persevered to improve our product in time for the Dragon’s Den and Surrey competitions. While we were proud to come away from both these competitions as overall winners and winners of the innovation award at the Surrey competition, feedback from the judges and our customers signalled the need for a totally new concept. Thus, the ShowerSmart Mini was born.

With an innovative concept with plenty of room to elevate, the team had their work cut out for them in the development, marketing, and selling of the product. Every member of the team was committed to stepping out of their comfort zone to learn new skills required for bringing the business to life. From social media marketing to LinkedIn messaging to report writing, the team collaborated to grow the business and grow tremendously as individuals.

The Southeast England Finals gave us some invaluable final interview practice against some of the best companies around the region all showcasing their exciting products.

The tense final moments of that competition made what had once been a distant dream for all of us at ShowerSmart into a reality – we were through to the National Finals.

After facing an interview with a panel of judges, creating a promotional video, and writing a 10-page business report, we are proud to have come away from the competition with the prestigious Innovation award. The National Finals were undoubtedly our highest moment.

We spent months sitting together in our boardroom sharing ideas and laughs in equal measure. Each of us could not have had a more rewarding experience throughout our entire Young Enterprise journey as we all learnt skills which will help us in the real world.

A heartfelt thanks must go to Mrs Timberlake and our business advisor, Max Beech, for their tireless efforts to help us succeed. We simply would not have got to where we did without their guidance and support throughout the process.